Without the roar

Despite the lack of viewer interest and corporate sponsorship, enthusiasts keep the flag flying for Indian motorsport.

On September 16, a bright, sunny Sunday when Kimi Raikkonen walked up to the victory podium at the Spa-Francorchamps track in Belgium to accept his F1 trophy, there must have been at least one soul in India that looked at him longingly, wondering if he would ever attain such glory in his lifetime.

If you want to know who this is, try taking a wild guess "� but skip Narain Karthikeyan please. It was Chennai boy Dilip Rogger, who just hours before Raikkonen's glorious moment in Belgium, had walked up to a similar victory stand nearly 8,000 km away at the Sriperumbudur race track (near Chennai) to accept the winner's trophy in round five of the Ucal-Rolon National Road Racing Championship.

Dilip had won the superbike class race, riding his Yamaha R6 while Raikkonen scooped up his prize on the coveted Ferrari.

While millions across the world (and in Chennai) track F1 and MotoGP and engage in endless debates over who could be the next Michael Schumacher, there were only a few hundreds at the Sriperumbudur race track on that Sunday who were willing to give up their siesta to come and watch Dilip and a handful of his creed break the 215 kmph speed barrier. Dilip calls himself a privateer. That means he has no sponsor. Starting from buying the bike "� which usually costs upwards of Rs 8 lakh "� to participating in the game has to be borne by his family.

This 22-year old son of a vegetable trader says his father must have spent nearly a crore of rupees on this hobby, since he started racing when he was 16. Dilip's budget is a bit on the higher side, since he has been racing outside India too, mostly in the Malaysian Super Series Championship (Open Class).

The Sriperumbudur track, along with the Kari Motor Speedway near Coimbatore, are the only two race worthy tracks in the entire country. The racing culture has remained in the closet in India for too long and that too in pockets, for want of finance. For some enthusiasts it is difficult to understand why so much money is blown on cricket while race track champions are languishing in the sidelines.

Few companies such as bike maker TVS Motor, carburettor company Ucal, chain maker Rolon and leading tyre manufacturer MRF have been actively supporting the events in Chennai and Coimbatore. For these companies, the race-spend is part of their R&D budget. The National Road Racing Championship that is currently on its sixth round, cost something such as Rs 40 lakh, says M Sivaramakrishnan, a committee member of the Madras Motor Sports Club, which runs the event. He says it would be difficult to give an estimate on how much companies such as Honda or Yamaha can spend on such events. "You can spend as much as you want," he says.

While Yamaha has been showing some half-hearted interest so far, the tracks are visibly missing other biggies such as Honda, Suzuki or Kawasaki. Mind you, their bikes are imported and raced in these very tracks by individuals. MMSC club members say that these companies have every reason to be more actively involved in promoting the racing culture in India.

"Every cutting edge technology that road bikes have seen has filtered down from race going versions. That is how the world works. But not in India," says Arun J Ambat, a 34-year old enthusiast, who takes his Yamaha R1 for weekend spins at the Chennai track.

A Team TVS manager, who sits atop a tower watching the game and sends race results to the top brass in the company by SMS, says that their commitment to this sport is a given. Every new technology they bring to the roads is first given to the racers. "Before the Fiero's launch in 2000, I myself did 32 non-stop laps on this very track," says Arvind Pangaonkar, general manager (R&D) in TVS Motor. That's a little over 100 km in total.

Yamaha India, under the leadership of its new managing director Tomotaka Ishikawa, is keen to focus on niche segments such as sportbikes in India. Yamaha has now more reasons to show active interest in racing events in India than it ever did. It has plans to import its 1000cc YZF-R1 and the 1670cc MT-01 as fully built units for enthusiasts.