Mumbai’s motorsport fraternity came out in large numbers and dished out top class driving as they went through the motions in the Rotary Rotocross for two and four-wheelers at the Somaiya grounds in Sion East, Mumbai on Sunday 29th January 2012.
The Sportscraft-organised event, promoted by the Rotary Club of Deonar, under the aegis of FMSCI, to showcase and promote three core projects: Polio Corrective Surgeries, Burns & Skin Donation and Rural Drinking Water & Sanitation Project, was a resounding success.
The event was supported by Parle Products Pvt. Ltd. (Makers of Quality Biscuits, Confectioneries & Snacks), Eureka Forbes Ltd., Savex Computers Ltd., Sri Ganesh Group of Companies, GIC Housing Finance Ltd.
There were 72 four-wheeler and 66 two-wheeler entries in the exercise of autocross. At 71 Fali Patel was the oldest participant. He and brother Kersi Patel, a couple of years younger, went through the exercise with aplomb showing good riding skills. Also in the fray was Fali’s son Yezdi and Kersi’s sons Rustom and Zubin in the motorcycles category. The other father-son entries were that of Behram Dabar and son Cyrus, and Shyam Punjabi and son Rahul in the four-wheeler category..
While Shamim Khan, astride a Honda CR 125, rode with exceptional finesse in the foreign motorcycles upto 250cc 2 & 4 stroke, to emerge the fastest rider in the two-wheeler section, Kaushik Shinde, driving a Baleno, gave a lesson in the finer points of speed driving to emerge fastest in the cars.
Shamim was a class above the field in the foreign motorcycles class. The Nashik rider used the experience of dirt track racing to place ahead of Vineeth Kurup (Yamaha YZF) and Harshan Kadbhane (Yamaha YZ250), both of Nashik, who finished second and third respectively.
Shamim also won the class for scooters upto 160cc 2 & 4 stroke. Astride a Rodeo, he timed 2 minutes 18.99 seconds, which earned him first place, ahead of Nashik’s Shashank Shewale and Mumbai’s Rustom Patel, who were second and third respectively.
The Rotocross was an exercise in the finer nuances of driving. It tested one’s skills in competition on a specially-laid out course. The idea behind the event was to inculcate the safety aspect in driving.
The course plotted out by Sportscraft was really tricky. With a dust cloud overhead, participants had to negotiate a winding course and exercise utmost caution to maintain the right balance and speed to avoid touching any of the many obstacles that would entail penalty points while being timed to the hundredth of a second.
Rustom Patel won the class for motorcycles upto 165cc, placing ahead of Pune’s Amul Satpute and Jagjit Singh of Mumbai. All were astride the Yamaha 135.
The various classes for cars also generated much interest. Though it is not easy to effect sharp turns, particularly in muddy underfoot conditions, it must be said that most drivers came through admirably. The best of the lot was Ashish Doshi who won the 1001cc to 1400cc class. Kashif Kapadia, in a Maruti Swift, and Mohd Fahad Kutty, also in a Maruti Swift, finished second and third in the class.
The ladies class witnessed keen competition, with Rufina Karmali, in a Ford fusion, emerging the best. She placed ahead of Vaishali Doshi (Hyundai i20) and Hutoxi Tavadia, in a Hyundai Getz, in that order.Rufina Karmali also won the 800c upto 100cc class for ladies. Purvi Thakkar finished second in a two-car contest.
The Open class for Indian and Foreign cars, at the fag end of the meet, provided keen fare as the drivers stepped on the accelerator to generate top speed. In the end, Kaushik Shinde, driving a Baleno,clocked 2 minutes:16.18, which was the fastest timing registered on the day. Parag Dhhiwar, in a Fiat, timed 2:21.19 seconds and Jay Upadhaya, in a Baleno, timed 2:22.72 to finished second and third in the category.Pankaj Varma, driving an Alto, was best in the Rotarian Class for cars 1001cc to 1600cc. Mahadavan Iyar, in a Civic, placed second, while Tushar Ganguly was third in a Zen.
All in all, it was an event to remember for Mumbai’s motorists. Most experienced driving in competition for the first time, yet they had nothing to complain about the trying conditions for over six hours of competition. If anything, there was only appreciation.
