Kolkata zooms into fast-track racing

KOLKATA: The 2004 official grand prix season might start in Australia in March, but Kolkata will be gripped by the racing fever on Sunday, with formula, Fissme and Esteem cars zipping through the streets of the Rajarhat town ship. And Narain Karthikeyan will be watching.
This is not only the first time Kolkata will be hosting a motor race, it is also the first time formula cars will race on the streets and not a racetrack in any Indian city.Narain Karthikeyan, "the fastest man in Asia" might not fly down the tracks but he will be there to cheer the participants at the 7th JK Tyres national championship.
On Friday, the stretch of 2.8 km, closed to public till Sunday, was abuzz with last minute preparations. The L-shaped track has one 90 degree left turn, one 90 degree right turn, two U-turns and four chicanes. There will be a ‘safety car’ on the track and the three races will be of 18 laps each. The slowest corner will have a speed of 30 km an hour while the top speed will be 160 km an hour.
Eighteen Fissme racing cars, 15 Maruti Esteems of the saloon category and 14 formula LGBs will be on the tracks at 8 am on Saturday.
Practice will start from 10 am while the qualifying race will start from 2 pm. The first race begins at 11.15 am on Sunday. Former champions like Gaurav Dalal, Sarosh Hataria, Raymond Banerjee will be flying down to take part in the race. Three drivers will be from the city. Ravi Kumar, chairman of the Calcutta Motor Sports Club, will be racing after 15 years.
"This is a historical event. Although I have not driven a race car for long, I am confident of giving a good account of myself." said Kumar. Amittrajit Ghosh is 21 years old and has already won a national championship in Chennai.
He is confident of winning this race too. "Last year I lost the championship as my car broke down three times. No one can predict mechanical failures but I have been preparing for this championship for the last one year."
Ghosh said, while adjusting his car for a test run. "This race will be one of the finest ones as the Kolkata crowd is sportscrazy." Amitava Ghosh, CEO of the Ramakrishna Race Performance Management, the company stage managing the race said, explaining the reason behind the choice of Kolkata as a venue.