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The autocross as expected had a huge turnout with more people wanting to participate than we could manage. The number of races to be run in a single day exceeded 400 ! The enthusiasm of the participants was infectious and the volunteers and marshals rallied behind us to ensure that every little detail went through flawlessly. Track marshals stood their ground for over eight hours without much of a break... kudos to them all.
The competitors took to the complex track layout with aplomb. Some got it bang on in their first run itself while others took a while to get the hang of it. The professional drivers were maxing the course from start but the encouraging aspect was that the first timers were not far behind. The track saw cars flying through the offset gates...........sliding through the 180 degree turns and zooming along the straights.
One came across stock cars with smart graphics driven by the newbies and some serious machines with the professionals. There were 1600cc swifts and gypsies..... a few turbo charged monster machines... but the show stopper was the blown subaru imprezza with more than 400 horses under its hood. The sound out of the exhaust pipes was enough to send most enthusiasts into a frenzied state.
The IR beam timing system linked to the logic controlled christmas tree ensured that all races ran on time and the timing was recorded to the second. Our sponsors ' MSIL' as always ensured that the event ran as per schedule by showing their trust in us and supporting the Autocross as they have done so for the past eight years. Thanks to Belset entertainment the rally control office was the comfortable mobile office van which was a boon for the event organisers. Gravity entertainment ensured that all other relevant areas running alongside the competition functioned like clock work .
The favourites were not about to disappoint their fans..... Sunny ran through the course with speeds that defied logic. The gypsy, his favourite steed seemed to become so much more nimble under his deft touch. Though the tight course setup was not condusive for this particular vehicle, sunny during the final runs was able to post fastest timings. It was his bad luck that the fastest man on the track was judged taking into account the qualifying laps and he lost this trophy to Sazid Singha. This particular gent was the surprise package this year, he ran a brilliant run with his Suzuki Swift with hardly any modifications. Though some of the more experienced drivers like Sandy Sharma were able to post faster times, they were plagued with multiple penalties which they picked up along the course while Mr. Singha's clean run gave him the edge and the trophy for the fastest gent on the track.
The event culminated with some more fun on the track when the sun went down. All the cars lined up along the stage in a semi circle and revved their engines as a salute to all present. Mr. Bobbie was crowned the doughnut king that evening as he very sportily made many a hot rubber laced doughnut on the track to everyones delight, including his tyre dealer.
A whole lot of gold trophies were distributed to all the winners amidst much fanfare and finally the Maruti Suzuki Autocross 2009 came to an end.
