Motor sport in India

Motor sport in India
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

Nagpur, august 26: carl Benz put the first motorised vehicle on the roads in 1885. And the mid-nineties recorded the first-ever motor race from Paris to Rouen in France. The British and their princely states brought motor sport to India in the form of a race run by the Royal Motor Union Club of India between Delhi to Mumbai in 1908.

With progress came the formation of motor sport clubs in the major metros, heading the list were Madras (now Chennai), Jaipur, Calcutta, Delhi and Mumbai. It was Pune which led the way in circuit racing at the Lohegaon aerodrome. Austins, Ford Ts, Vauxhall's, Landmasters and Studerbakes vied with each other for the honours in the four-wheeler category and Royal Enfields, BSAs and even Indian Chief's ran with Harley Davidson's in the two-wheeer categories.

A new avenue was found in Sri Lanka for circuit racing. India's first two FIA Standard Fourmula Racing car owners The Maharaja of Gondal raced his Formula 4 against the Double Barrel team of Alpha Formula 1, sponsored by the Raymonds. The ket drives to have participated in this races were Nazir Hoosein and Mohinder Lalwani. The late 60s and and early 70s, however, witnessed a renaissance in India when the local clubs came together to form the Federation of Motor Sport Clubs of India (FMSCI).