[mclaren1885]

Then came the Ladies Race. There were just 3 esteems. One belonged to Nawaz, the other was Renuka's and I can't seem to remember the 3rd driver. Nawaz took the lead with ease and she was leagues apart from the other two. At the end of the race she had almost made up a lead of 1 main straight. Though she fought a lonely battle, there was a lot of action behind her. Blocking, swerving, diving down the inside, spinning off. You could see it all. Though I appreciate the spirit of the 2 ladies behind Nawaz to take part, I must say the way they raced was pretty stupid, reckless and they were lucky to have not caused serious damage to themselves.

It looked like they had absolutely no sense whatsoever about racing clean, letting the driver on the racing line have some space, or race in such a way that they both wouldn't have to retire. There were at least 5 instances where the car that dived down the inside had left no space whatsoever to the car that was leading following the racing line. On two particular instances the car in front was facing perpendicular to the car that had gone down on the inside. Both times I though they would crash out of the race pretty badly, but only GOD must have saved them.

Though I didn't take any pics, I was praying every second they finish the race safely. And they did, to my disbelief.

Someone needs to tell the two ladies to just calm themselves down, race cleanly. If not in future they might inflict some serious damaged. I am not trying to put down anyone or point fingers just because they are ladies. I loved the way Nawaz raced. I love the spirit of these two ladies and hats off to them to come out on track. But there is a decorum you need to follow on a race track. Sadly, it was totally lacking.

[iraghava]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

Any ideas why Gill is so unpopular, anyone?

Well, don't know about now but in school (He was 2 years senior to me & we were on the tennis team together) he was universally disliked because he came across as a cocky, snooty bugger. He was more or less perceived to be one of those "Amir baap ka bigra beta" types. And yes he was famously short-tempered, I distinctly remember while playing an Inter-School tournament he broke all 4 of his rackets in frustation because he was losing to a better player than him. I watched from the court side in horror as one by one he smashed all four of his rackets which used to cost more than 10,000rs. apiece in those days, circa 1997! Which needless to say was a LOT of money for me to see go wasted in one go.

Don't know if things or the success he's had now has made him better or worse.

[mclaren1885]

Ishaan, I don't know how true it is. But one of my friends who is a regular to watching rallies says there was this one instance where I think a Qualis was blocking Gaurav's path and wouldn't let him through. Sick and tired of waiting behind, he put the left fender of the Cedia stuck to the car in front and started shoving him off the road. I mean he wasn't trying to scare him or something, but his Cedia was in CONTACT with the other car.

If I had witnessed this, he would probably be pretty unpopular in my book too. That said, I think he is one of the best drivers our country hads produced in recent times. I can't think of any other name who is as good both on dirt and tarmac. We have always had great drivers either on dirt or on tarmac, but this fella seems to have struck the right spot on both surfaces. Hats off to him for that. He had dominated all sorts of racing. From bikes, to rally cars, to race single seaters, to saloon cars. There are also some vidoes doing the rounds about him and Sunny Saberwal doing a 300+kmph run on a Busa on the Delhi roads. Is that true?

[iraghava]

Originally Posted by mclaren1885

Ishaan, I don't know how true it is. But one of my friends who is a regular to watching rallies says there was this one instance where I think a Qualis was blocking Gaurav's path and wouldn't let him through. Sick and tired of waiting behind, he put the left fender of the Cedia stuck to the car in front and started shoving him off the road. I mean he wasn't trying to scare him or something, but his Cedia was in CONTACT with the other car.

If I had witnessed this, he would probably be pretty unpopular in my book too.

Rahul - That would be typical him, I would not be surprised seeing him do that.

Originally Posted by mclaren1885

That said, I think he is one of the best drivers our country hads produced in recent times. I can't think of any other name who is as good both on dirt and tarmac. We have always had great drivers either on dirt or on tarmac, but this fella seems to have struck the right spot on both surfaces. Hats off to him for that. He had dominated all sorts of racing. From bikes, to rally cars, to race single seaters, to saloon cars.

See Rahul he was always very talented & good at whatever he did. Tennis, Autocrosses on Motor Bikes and now Rallying. There is no doubt about his talent but that does not mean that he has license to do whatever he wants or behave however he likes.

However, let me clarify here, I do not know his current attitude or behaviour, whatever I can say, I can say because of watching him with me in school. He might have changed for all I know but reports are contrary to that.

Originally Posted by mclaren1885

There are also some vidoes doing the rounds about him and Sunny Saberwal doing a 300+kmph run on a Busa on the Delhi roads. Is that true?

Wouldn't be surprised, its his kind of thing. He was always into taking risks & all that.

[shailu]

Mclaren, Gill is indeed a fantastic driver of the recent times. The fact is he too aggrisive(not calculative) when is behind the wheels.

India has got one more talented driver both in dirt & tarmac....."V.R.Naren Kumar". They both are good in their own ways but.....Naren is one step ahed....

[nitrous]

Gaurav Gill is the Indian 'Fernando Alonso'.
All skill...nothing else.
PS: Alonso lovers, please take no offense.

[mclaren1885]

Getting back onto the topic at hand......

The big boys are here. For the first time in India in the last 10yrs or so, so many track special imports under one roof.

The most sought after buttt in rallies today?



The most sought after face?



One of the Evo's had blown its turbo on Friday practice. The turbo was lying on the ground. Couldn't capture it. Too many people were around blocking the view.

The really fast Evo. Turbo whine, BOV whistle could hardly be heard. It had a weird exhaust note, and the turbo boost seemed to be very linear by the sound of it. Unlike the red scooby, where one could clearly hear the turbo going whhhhiisssssstllllleeeeee and the BOV going wush whoosh.




Then I caught up on some familiar territory and some familiar faces. Shabbir bumped into me and we had a small chat, and he has trucked the car all the way from Bangalore for this event. Though he never took any of the corners on track, everyone had their share seeing the Supra scream past on the main straight. I tell you, that car sounds AWESOME. Who cares what BHP it puts out.

Drool maal.







Oh, just managed another photograph before I head to the tower.

[mclaren1885]

A view from the tower. Big guns heading out for what they are best known for. RACE.





Warming up to the occasion.



The close up.



The silence before the storm.



Lining up for the storm.



The tension on the faces of the drivers. Scroll down...






Did you really expect me to capture that? That too from the tower?

P1.




P2.



P4.




Sorry, couldn't capture the other cars. Was getting prepared to watch the take off.

[Mugen_Power]

Nice Pics and report Rahul..
Do you have more pics of subaru ?

[mclaren1885]

Time for a break now. Rest of the pics from the actual race coming up after I finish watching India vs England match. Until then...............................

[planet_rocker]

awsome pics @ MCL

any idea - where are the cars from?

[mclaren1885]

Originally Posted by planet_rocker

any idea - where are the cars from?

All the GT cars are from Sri Lanka my friend. Some were shipped to Tuticorn and then trucked from there. Others were shipped to Chennai and trucked from there.

[madan80]

weren't there any indian contenders with their "imported" machines?

[madan80]

Originally Posted by planet_rocker

any idea - where are the cars from?

Sri Lankan contingent: Aravinda Premadasa (Mitsubishi Evo7), Dinesh Jayawardena (Mitsubishi Evo8), Pasidu Peiris (Mitsubishi Evo9), Reyaz Farook (Mitsubishi Evo7), Janaka Dias (Subaru STI 9), Rizvi Farook (Subaru STI 8) and Shajjad Zuh air (Mitsubishi Evo4).

[BUSA]

Just awesome pics Mcl, thanks for sharing