First of all - a big hi to all the folks here at team-bhp.com...
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*Nice Pics...and a damned good result i'd say - 4th with a lot of experienced rallyists around !
edit : whoa ...you beat Leelakrishnan ! neat driving there !
I've taken part in the 2002/03/04 autocrosses in my stock '96 Esteem (carb) with none too good results
In 2002 I qualified 12th (16 move on from the initial time trials for a knockout stage - 8 in case wherethere are lesser entries - balenos) - then my next race was with Vijayant Chaudhary in his MRF Esteem....don't have to tell you who won !
2003 - 18th
2004 - 17th !!! that really pissed me off - won the race against a new Esteem - got a decent time as well but racked up 55 secs in penalties(5 secs per penalty - *11
) I think.
Next race I'll be there if i still have the Esteem and i get the steering column and suspension fixed - or I if buy a Baleno.
Too bad they stopped other manufacturers except Maruti after the 2002 one (held in Delhi - Nehru Place) - maybe something to do with the Honda City winning the 1600 cc class with a Baleno and Esteem 2nd and 3rd !) - Could try with my folks' Palio Adventure 1.6....
as i remember some of the safety needs to be improved -
after a fast straight opposite the pits leading
into a left hander - one gypsy overturned....the crowd tries to come in too close and with most participants being amateurs the crowd needs to be kept further away......in other incidents - a zen shredded it's rims, an esteem came down too fast over the bridge - smashed it's front *end and another Gypsy lost a gearbox. - 2002 had a painful show of a green baleno sliding sideways twice and really banging up it's rear doors.
I had a scary moment when i was heading towards the 'tunnel' below the bridge where the tracks cross over-heading towards the walls -corrected at the last moment. -
My exhaust - silencer actually got cracked in the morning on the way to the race leading to a very nice sound
which seemed cool for a week before i realised i looked like a complete twat pretending to be mr cool rally driver in his festooned with stickers esteem. (The travails I had to endure trying to make it on time for the race is a story for another time ).
There was some cool music played when the cars started off (AC/DC - 'You shook me all night long' - yeah baby !!!) but which turned into a recorded roar of cars starting off - it's a bit strange seeing an 800 start off and a loud roar of an F1 car being played through giant speakers)
There were also some reports in a newspaper about a supposed bias towards some of the big names - especially in the Chandigarh round - some of the other guys complained.
Maruti along with Motorcraft and Performance Auto (who run Northern Motorsport IIRC ) should market it better..most people don't know of it at all ...maybe MUL should try and incorporate it into it's marketing program - think big MUL -growing exposure and young 'uns dreaming of your cars...then maybe launch a limited edition, stripped down interiors in an Esteem/Baleno with some real go-faster bits...
btw , you might want to check out
www.northernmotorsport.net - more details and pics of the Autocross, RdH, RDS.
also anyone has an idea what the Jaypee Race of Champions autocross is about ? - it's hardly advertised -www.hyperformancemotorrsports.com - they allow all vehicles - qualises to e classes ?
btw the Maruti Suzuki Autocross is held in 3 cities - Jaipur, Chandigarh and Noida. (Jan/Feb) - the other main events in these parts are the Rally Desert Storm (Delhi-Bikaner-Jaipur IIRC) in April and of course the Raid-de-Himalaya...
zaphod