A motorcycle accident in his prime converted this man from a die-hard motorsport participant into a prolific organiser of these events for two and four wheelers across the length and breadth of the country. Shrikant Karani, the founder and main driving force behind the biggest individual organiser of motorsports in the country - Sportscraft - still talks with enthusiasm and fervour about his passion in life more than two decades into his vocation.

“I met with a road accident in 1975 while riding my bike in Mumbai and then spent ten months recuperating in the hospital. From a motorsports participant, I became an organiser, first in association with the IARC and then individually with Sportscraft,” the 57-year-old veteran said.

Karani, who is all geared up to organise his 289th event, the Gulf Monsoon Scooter Rally in the backwoods of Navi Mumbai on June 28, has organised all sorts of motorsport events, ranging from go-karting and dirt track racing for cars to races for autorickshaws and tractors - in various cities and even in rural areas. “My main aim always has been to take motorsports to the masses. I have tried to concentrate on grassroot level events to build up enthusiasm,” says Karani, whose name figured in the 2007 Limca Book of Records after he completed organizing 250 events from 1984 to 2006. Karani’s first event as an organiser was the Vintage Car Rally conducted in the hill station of Lonavala in January, 1984 in partnership with the Indian Automative Racing Club.

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