BHOPAL, 7 April 2007 — Preparations on war-footing are under way for the first leg of the five-round Gulf Dirt Track National Championship 2007 for two-wheelers starting in Bhopal today and tomorrow at Dussehra ground near Bittan market.
According to Shrikant Karani of Sportscraft, the organizers of the event, riders from all over India, especially Nasik, Pune, Mumbai, Bangalore, Mysore, Hyderabad, Jodhpur and Bhopal will be vying for top honors in a dozen categories. He said the first day of the two-day event will be used for procedural matters, including documentation checking, scrutiny of vehicles and briefing the riders.
Karani said top riders of India such as Rustom Patel, Badal Joshi, Pinkesh Thakker, Snehal Chavan, Shamim Khan, Ganesh Lokhande etc. will be seen in action in the championship.
The event is being organized under the joint auspices of Mumbai’s Sportscraft in association with Bhopal Automobile Sports Club and Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI). This is the third year in succession that Gulf Oil Corporation Limited has come forward to sponsor the championship. Karani said this Dirt Track Championship event over the years has gained immense goodwill and has become very popular among the participants. Dirt Track is spectacular in-stadia and quite thrilling event with a mass start. This could be done on any ground (surface) where there are no jumps etc.
Answering a question, Karani, who is also vice president of the Asian Motorcycle Union, said the event has been divided into various categories and classes facilitating various riders from different groups to compete in the championship.
It will be held in the following categories:
Indian expert class comprising bikes above 80 cc up to 250 in Group B, foreign bikes up to 250 cc, two and four stroke in Group A; private expert class of two-stroke bikes above 80 up to 150 cc in Group B; novice championships for two-stroke bikes above 80 cc up to 150 in Group D, four-stroke bikes upto 160 cc in Group D. There’s a special category as Local Class and Scooter Class upto 110 cc for riders only from Madhya Pradesh who are registered in the state.
