Slow Tracking A Fast Sport

Could motor rallying become the next big thing in the country?

If there is one sport that needs to be in the fast lane then it has to be rallying.While we might be keeping tabs on the likes of Kimi Raikkonen or Fernando Alonso and watching every one of their moves closely come March 18, when the Formula 1 season zooms off, there are, believe it or not, motor sports like rallying that go beyond just cars vrooming around on a track. And there are people, apart from Narain Karthikeyan, who have been quietly (fastly, maybe?) excelling in motor sports.

Naren Kumar, six time national rallying champion, is one of them. Kumar, who hails from Coimbatore, feels that there are enough opportunities for people to take up rallying but they need the support of corporates. "Unlike other sports, rallying is one area where you need corporate backing more than anything else." He has been racing for team JK Tyres and has been happy with the support he has received but feels that there is room for improvement. Hari Singh, one of the veterans of rallying in India agrees with Kumar. "It is not easy being a rally driver in our country but it is such a spectacular sport that you will see young people getting attracted to it." While there has been no dearth of corporates backing Karthikeyan, when it comes to rally drivers, corporates still seem to shy away. Only the likes of Maruti, MRF and, more recently, Hyundai have come in to support rallying.

"The situation has improved a lot over what it was 10 years ago but if we consistently want to do well internationally, some drastic steps are required, says Singh. What exactly are those steps? Says Sanjay Sharma, head, motor sports division, JK Tyres, "Although racing is popular in the country, rallying is not. And one of the main reasons is the cost involved in it." The cost of preparing a rallying car is close to Rs 40 lakh while on each rally an additional Rs 2 lakh is spent on the car to make it competition worthy. According to Sharma, one area where India is ahead of other countries is the kind of terrain available here. "We have coastal terrain in Kerala, mountainous terrain in the Himalayas, the desert in Rajasthan, but we need to cut down costs."

Kumar, however, feels that, individually, the money for drivers is good enough but most of the people who take up rallying know that it is a rough ride. "If you have the backing of corporates, then the sky is the limit; otherwise it is an uphill task." There are enough events in the motor sports annual calendar for rallyists to test their mettle. The Indian National Rallying Championship has five rounds where teams like JK and MRF battle it out, while there are other events like Maruti's Desert Storm Rally and Raid de Himalaya. But it all comes down to having the right sort of backing. There are individual rallyists who spend their own money to take part in rallies but then they can't afford to go beyond national rallies. "Motorsports is all about money, be it F1 or rallying. If you have the moolah, you can go places," says Singh.

Sunny Sindhu is another rallyist who has made a name for himself on the national rallying circuit. He too feels that more corporate support is necessary if we want to see Asian, if not world, champions. Kumar, who has won the Asian Rallying Champions, might participate in the Asian Pacific Rally Championship but is still awaiting confirmation from a few more sponsors. Overall, the national rallying circuit can offer you a platform to learn and make a name for yourself. Singh, for instance, has won five national championships in a row, yet fame has eluded him. "It is a good learning ground but then you reach a stagnation point when it seems monotonous and you want to go international."

Although the INRC has been dealt a blow this season with Team JK withdrawing from the competition due to new regulations, which according to Sharma have doubled the costs involved. As Kumar puts it, "The going has been tough so far but it is the passion for the sport which still fires people like me." The passion is there, the infrastructure is there, but all that is needed is one final push to take rallying to a level that it deserves: high, very high.