Gautam Hari Singhania brings Asia Auto Gymkhana Competition 2018 to India

Indians to get a taste of Gymkhana racing for the very first time in Thane

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Thanks to Gautam Singhania, chairman and managing director, Raymond Limited, who is not only a motorsport enthusiast, but also India’s only drifting champion and who was recently elected as India's representative to the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile - World Motor Sports Council (FIA-WMSC), Asia Auto Gymkhana Competition 2018 (AAGC) is now being hosted in India, for the very first time. 

The competition, which is organised by the Indian Automotive Racing Club (IARC) and promoted by FB Motorsports, will see 13 teams and 26 drivers from 10 Asia-Pacific countries participating. The event will be held at Gautam Hari Singhania’s drift track at the Raymond Thane complex from September 29 to 30. 

What makes this competition exciting is the fact that all the participants will be driving the exact same cars, Volkswagen Polo, instead of their own personal cars which are often tuned differently for racing purposes. 

“Our contribution here today is to make sure that they have equally prepared cars to compete in the event. For all Gymkhana competitions, they are supposed to have six cars available, that are all same, so that we can swap cars and also will have back-ups. When Farhad [Bhathena] and team came and said, 'hey, we’re doing this, would you like to be involved?', we jumped at it, because for us it was exactly the type of thing that we wanted to promote. On the racing front, we are already well established and trying to bring new talents and develop them. But what was lacking was bringing people from the very grassroot level, so that is what we are trying to do. We are happy and looking forward to do more of this in the future,” said Sirish Vissa, head, Volkswagen Motorsport India.

This Gymkhana racing event, run under the aegis of FIA along with Federation of Motor Sports Club of India, (FMSCI), is the perfect opportunity for people who want to explore this form of motorsport, which is not just about the driver’s skill and technique but also about negotiating through a short-timed loop, with obstacles and choreographed manoeuvres, besides memorising the whole course. 

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“In Gymkhana, it is a bit of mental skill as well as driving skill. The layout is pretty tight, you can’t reach high speeds… so it is more or less in first gear or second gear. Even if somebody goes off, it doesn’t lead to a bigger accident. A normal person who is driving on the road can come and do it because they are not racing against each other. It is an individual time run, so the person goes against the layout on his own. And it’s racing against the clock, so if you get the layout wrong, you get penalty points. It is at a very nascent level, but still it is a competition,” says Akbar Ibrahim, president, FMSCI. 

“The car is actually a bone stock Volkswagen Polo, 1.6, with two modifications done to it. One, it has got a louder exhaust system because we don’t have to worry about driving this on the roads and two, it has got a rear disc brake with a hydraulic handbrake so that it is easier for them to make the turns around the corner and around the cones. Other than that, the rest of the car is just like what we sold at the dealerships,” says Vissa.  

“It is very encouraging for me to see this Asia Auto Gymkhana Competition 2018 (AAGC) come to Thane. Personally, I think IARC did its last event here 40 years ago and now we will get to see IARC doing another event here. I’ve seen both sides of the spectrum, so I’m very pleased to see that,” says Singhania.