Ganashree Kedlaya gives an account of her experience during the recce of the K-1000 rally championship... When I was asked to check out the K1000 recce of its rally stages, the idea was quite appealing. I decided to go there myself with friends, a photographer who jumped to the idea and another car enthusiast. We drove in our very humble Maruti 800. We had to travel 70 kms to reach the venue at Siddhalghatta. En-route the road stretched out flat, tipped with red mud in the corners, lacked with trees. Negate your potholes for a change; it was a good jolly drive, al rite! <img alt="" src="/imagedata/2009/aug/car1234.jpg" border="4" /> We reached the venue quite late and missed out on the first two stages of the recce. Trying to find our way, we found ourselves circling one corner of the racing circuit, wondering if we would survive an experience of collision with any of the rally cars heading straight at us. Deciding that it's surely not the right welcome, we went back and waited for the team. Irked and constantly cursing for the delay, we wondered if we lost out on all the action. Soon Kishen from Red Rooster came to our rescue. He took us to the right track the mud caked small alleys Stage 3! He drove there in his orange Organiser, a completely ported monster, equipped with the right works. The car groaned, giving out a nice base burp as he started the engine. We followed him to the track in our 'out of the league' Maruti 800. Yes, we got the stares, the smirks, the 'what the hell are you thinking' glares from most of the rallyists. We hit Stage 3, surrounded by mud from all corners. It was flying at us, blurring the already dying out vision, but it was very exciting. We were right there on the K1000 racetrack, and felt the action take shape all about us. Kishen was patient enough to put his car through the slow agonising drive, so that our very own Cooper could keep track of him. But when he found one long stretch, the man just vanished in thin air, raising hell behind him. The mud came rushing at us, reaching high up. We drove quite blind for few minutes. We stopped at a curve, away from the track, for the men and their toys to honour the track. "Check it out, the boys are coming," said Kishen, pointing towards some corner far away, where the mud was all bout, dancing in the air. They came zipping, testing and challenging the virgin track. And boy, did we see all their kinds. A Lancer, Indica, Octavia, Swift, SX4, and wait, a Santro, Wagonar and an Alto too! The Santro came rushing way too fast, challenging the corners. The driver took a sharp turn, raising fists full of mud, doing a cool balancing act on his rear wheels. It was quite a sight. We spent some time at that spot. I realised its not all about winning, the adrenalin and the 'so called cool thing' that racing is sometimes associated with. These guys are out there risking their lives, challenging, focused breathing the same air of strong passion the love for racing! We drove back through the track, smiling at the shocked racers who could not relate to our mode of transport on such a merciless track. For those of you who don't know, K1000 or Karnataka-1000 is a part of the Indian National Rally Championship sponsored and managed mainly by FMSC (Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India) and FIA with support from various organisations. The first round is conducted in Coimbatore, 2 in Bangalore, 3 in Kolkata, 4 in Nasik, 5 in Chikmangalur and round 6 in Shimla. This was the 35th K1000 rally and recce for round two of the 2009 Indian National Rally Championship. Arjun Balu and co-driver Sujith Kumar lead the pack after the day two of the rally.

Ganashree Kedlaya gives an account of her experience during the recce of the K-1000 rally championship...

Driving your passion

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