Though there is not much of encouragement for motor sport in Hyderabad, a group of youngsters did the city proud when they recorded noteworthy achievements in the Valley Run-2013, a popular drag racing event held in Aambi Valley, in Pune last month.
City lad Sonu Sandeep Singh Sokhi set a record of covering the quarter mile (400 metres) in 10.2 seconds on his BMW S 1000RR. A timing, which the American drag racing champion Rickey Gadson, had to struggle to equal. Gadson, a ten-time world champion, had to try at least eight times to equal the timing on a Kawasaki ZX 14 R. Gadson who gave away the prize to Sokhi was so impressed that he posed many questions on the achievement, recalls Sokhi.
“This is the biggest achievement for me because there is not much of encouragement for motor sports in Hyderabad,” the lanky youngster smiles with pride.
It is not just Sokhi from Hyderabad. There were several youngsters who put on phenomenal performance on the track. There were 15 motor sports enthusiasts from Hyderabad who participated in different events and won laurels. Amit Sarma, who drove a Honda CBR-1000, topped in the foreign 1000 CC race. Gaurav Naidu, who was riding a Yamaha R1 1000CC bike, stood third in foreign class, while Zaved came third in the Indian 350 CC two-stroke class.
Another impressive performance was that of Neeraj Kumar Sarma who clocked 9.2 seconds in 400 metres in the ‘wheely class’. There were seven participants in the ‘wheely’ class, but none of them could complete the quarter mile (400 meters), while only Neeraj completed it on his Yamaha R1 1000CC.
The winning spree of Hyderabadis is noteworthy in the backdrop of practically no support for motor sports enthusiasts. “There is no race track here unlike in Delhi or Pune. It’s only the enthusiasm that fuels us,” asserts Sokhi. Bike enthusiasts do get onto the ORR stretches for practice. But what they find highly objectionable is the media portraying them as youngsters racing for bets.
