The burnt rubber legacy lives on

Bengaluru: For a City that rarely gets out of first gear, it’s rather curious how it continues to produce some of the best racing riders and drivers in the country. Moreover, Bengaluru doesn’t even have a track it can call its own unlike Chennai or Coimbatore.

So, what’s the secret sauce? Why then are the likes of Ruhaan Alva, Rishon Rajeev, Rohan Madesh, Nikhilesh Raju, Chiranth Vishwanath, Savion Sabu and Harshith V Bogar doing well across all forms of racing? Why is one of India's hottest Formula One prospects - Kush Maini - getting his fix from this City?  

Automotive historians - you know the kind who have had their ears pressed against the exhaust for decades now - insist that the quality of talent now is emblematic of how invested the City and the State has been when it comes to motor sport.

Frankly, there is little reason to accept that sentiment because the State and the City, save for having a passion for cars and bikes, has not really expressed itself through the government in getting permits to run races. 

In fact, a lot of the races are run illicitly, and sure enough, the crackdown only ensures further clampdown. It’s not easy being a purveyor of speed, even of the organised variety in this part of the world, but there was a time when racing meant freedom, the kind you often have your eyes turn moist over.

"My father used to say, and I think this is where it began, that the Indians were not allowed into the Cantonment area but the Britishers used to put up their used bikes and cars up for sale in auctions," says legendary racer CK Chinnappa.

"What used to happen was that the Indians used to ride these bikes or drive these cars on the streets alongside the Britishers, and they would overtake them. The white folks didn't enjoy being overtaken so they would then start going faster and trying to pull ahead. 

"It was a matter of pride," he adds.

This pride and desire for speed eventually gave birth to the Bangalore Motor Sports Club, and it was, ironically, the British father and son duo of Fred Webb and John Webb who started this revolution in the late 1940s. Naturally, this exercise was designed to sell more calls through the Webb Sales and Services near the Webbs ground, but it stood for more in no time.

In that sense, the Webbs ground, which remains quaint in stance on MG Road, is where formal racing took off, not just in Bengaluru but also in Karnataka. From there, racing moved to the air strip in Yelahanka, Jakkur, mostly-abandoned strips near the Kolar Gold Fields, and Agaram.

But, the biggest change in mindset came when Karnataka came together to bring about the K-1000 rally in 1975. This 1000-mile rally spanning over two days saw some of the best drivers in the country participate in the TSD (Time, Speed, Distance) format.  

Eventually, it turned into a Special Stage Rally as part of the Indian National Rally Championship, and it's heydays was run on a private estate owned by R Bharath Raj. With his passing, however, the rally moved around, and was held in Tumkur last year. That's the fate of the third longest running rally in the world!

"See, no matter what happens people in Bangalore will continue to race," says Pratap Jayaram, son of the doyen of motor sports in India AD Jayaram. "I honestly think the numbers have come down over the years. We had far more people interested in racing back in the day. Sure, the numbers are going up now because of the marketing and all of that, but that desire to race among people, in my opinion, has died out a bit."

Jayaram, a National champion himself, lays out rationale for this drop in attention among the youth, saying the lack of venues, and difficulty getting permits has made racing inaccessible for a lot of people. 

While there is validity to this argument, Bengaluru, maybe not Karnataka in this instance, continues to have some of the best go-karting tracks in the country. In fact, only recently Torq03 near Marathahalli upgraded by switching all of their go-karts to electric karts - the first of its kind in India.  

In the same vein, Evotron Motorsports announced that they will be running an all-electric two-wheeler series in the near future. CK Chinnappa's son Deepak Chinnappa is on the board, and is looking to make the difference. 

"Bangalore will always be the racing hub in the country," he says. "We have such a rich legacy in people like my father and others. That legacy is visible in the young riders and drivers in our country now. We as a company wanted to take that next step to ensure that that legacy lives on. This is our contribution to that."

While words like 'legacy', 'desire', 'racing pedigree' and so on arrive in a flood as alternatives, it becomes more and more obvious that a singular answer is not available. However, the common thread among everyone speaking on the topic seems to be this drive to evolve and show that they're on the forefront of all racing and automobiles. 

The three or four voices contributing to this story are from across four generations, and in all of them you can sense this infectious passion. Even listening to them speak of the past for a moment or two makes you contemplate time travel seriously. Now, imagine spending day after day with these enthusiasts. It's only natural that the next generation gets swayed by these beautiful tales. 

"There has always been this love for motor cycles in Bengaluru," says senior journalist Anand Phillar. "I remember a time when they paraded a water-cooled 50cc Yamaha bike on MG Road because it was the first of its kind here. That's how die-hard people have been about bikes and cars here. Racing then comes naturally to a lot of people in the city because it's in our language, it's part of our lexicon here. The next generation feeds off of this and has been helping stretch out this wonderful legacy."

And... there's that word again!