Team-BHP - A Nostalgic look at the Indian Racing Scene

Fantastic pictures, brings back nostalgic memories for me. I have never been to any races or rallies, but I lived in that part of the neighbourhood when during these sundays I got to see all those racers in their Fiats and imported Toyotas and Fords with their loud exhausts used to rumble past our neighborhood, not to forget those carts being carried by flat beds. Knowing that it takes a lot of money to be invovled in Motor Sports, wonder how Madras became the haven when all the money was in Bombay and Delhi !!

Quote:

Originally Posted by moralfibre (Post 2919225)

I got in touch with Vicky Chandhok and he was very kind enough to share his collection of pictures of the Indian racing scene from back in the day.

Would you believe me if I told you that we had more racing events in the 1970's, 1980's and early 1990's as compared to what we have today?

Just Chanced on this thread today

I wish the younger generation here who knows seniors who were part of the Indian Racing scene, and get more pictures out on this thread.

I will chase up Mr. Chandhok and few others from Chennai to get more pictures in to this thread

Best Regards & Drive/Ride Safe

Ram Nair

Mods please ignore my back to back post here.

True to my earlier post I got in touch with Mr. Chandhok, who has kindly agreed to my request to repost some pictures here from his FB.

The Grid at one of the Sholavaram races.

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Variety is the spice of life is what this starting grid at Sholavaram in Madras demonstrates.

The race of the Enfield Bullets!!

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L-R Mr. SS Sivaprakasam) , Mr. Indu Chandhok, Governor KK Shah , Mr. Boo D'Souza & Mr. Gopal Madhavan

Except the HE Governor - All others were/are the Pioneers of Motorsport in the country and especially in Chennai

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Ready ..... Steady..... GO ! The old days of 'bump starts

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Start of a Bike Race at Sholavaram - Look at the sheer numbers at the grid - I think this may be from late 1980s as I thought I can spot a good number of RD350s there

Sherif Dyan (another Motorsport stalwart & Pioneer) Dyan explains on the grid "The track goes THAT WAY "!!

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Grid of another Bike Race - On the grid you can see some of the heavy weights from Sri Lanka - who used to almost dominate the 350 cc plus open classes those days

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Hope you like these

Look at the gallery on the last but one picture - Its really packed ! Compare it with the MMRT Track or BIC Track these days. It Saddens and makes one wonder - where all the crowds went ?

The comments to pictures are mostly adapted from Mr. Vicky Chandock's own observations

Best Regards & Drive/Ride Safe

Ram

Quote:

Originally Posted by schakravarthy (Post 4139860)

Met a veteran rallyist. A few pics I found on his coffee table.
Attachment 1604187

Mr. Someder Singh from Mysore on his Jawa based racer - pic is from Sholavaram or from Agram Circuit in Bangalore. May be some one from Mysore or Bangalore can provide more info/pics from those days.

Best Regards & Drive Safe

Ram

Quote:

Originally Posted by r_nairtvm (Post 4145415)

Backside of the pic:

A Nostalgic look at the Indian Racing Scene-forumrunner_20170214_100107.png

I remember going to sholavaram as a young boy and then to sripermbudur as a teen with Dad. Right from our first outings my father recognized that motor racing left me completely mesmerized and he made it a point - through good times and bad - to take me the annual motor race meet. The F3 races featuring Kari, Vicky, Tiff Needell ( yes, of top gear and 5th gear fame) and Jim Crawford were truly legendary. Kari pulled off some incredible moves in his black '65' machine with the lakshmi mills livery. Dr Saboo in his pristine white dolphin was another popular racer that I recall. There was also some amazing two wheeler racing featuring RDs, bullets and an international category that featured bikes like the TZ's. I could ramble on...How I miss those days and the man himself.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zed (Post 4146176)

I could ramble on...How I miss those days and the man himself.

Zed,

Come to one of the race meets at the MMRT Race track in Chennai outskirts - Sri Perumbadur, whe you are in India next. You can still meet some of the names you mentioned as they are actively involved in organizing

Two pics of Kari & 65

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credits:

https://sixty360.wordpress.com/2015/...an-motorsport/
http://www.forbesindia.com/printcontent/17702

Best Regards & Drive Safe

Ram

Thanks for the invite. I guess the last time I was at the track was in 2007 / 08'. That was my first visit to the track after tying the knot. And after walking around pit lane and paddock admiring the machines, meeting friends from the fraternity, watching the action from the tower, the missus concluded that motor racing wasnt her thing! I do look forward to visiting the track and doing a couple of laps when the opportunty presents itself. There was point in time, 1998-2001 when a bunch of friends and I literally lived at the track during weekends.

Quote:

Originally Posted by r_nairtvm (Post 4079660)

Look at the gallery on the last but one picture - Its really packed! Compare it with the MMRT Track or BIC Track these days. It Saddens and makes one wonder - where all the crowds went ?

The crowd is busy these days watching TV or lounging in AC malls / multiplex.
We have to also understand that not everyone in the crowd is an enthusiast. Many people also go for entertainment, and most go where the crowd goes (crowd pulls in more crowd).

Quote:

Originally Posted by n_aditya (Post 3062508)

Excellent thread Kiran. These pictures are priceless. I can't fathom why the sport has dwindled so much even with all the advancement in safety systems, vehicles, and track conditions.

Looking at the viewing gallery and paddock's, i can safely say that this is the MMST track at Sriperambudur.

Correct. It is the (Madras Motor Sports Trust) MMST track @ Irungattukottai (Sriperambudur). The driver is Akbar Ibrahim, the current President of the (Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India) FMSCI in a Formula India Single Seater Maruti Engine (FISSME) car.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zed (Post 4297925)

Is that the TZ 125 in the first pic ? Thanks for uploading - brings back a ton of memories

Yes, it could well be be the TZ 125. I remember them being raced during those days! I have some more, I shall upload them as well!

For those who weren't familiar with the track, here is rough drawing of the track. The length of the track was about 2.2 Kms. with 3 U Turns, 2 Left handers and 2 chicanes. The grand stands were located along the start-finish straight and time keeping and a few other sponsor stands were across the start finish straight. If I am not mistaken, at the second left hander was the MRF stand.