Hello,
I saw the following on the net. Can anyone provide more information about this rally?
Rs 1 cr as prize money in car rally
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh April 16
Airtel has announced the Airtel One India Challenge 05, a car rally that offers prize money of Rs 1 crore.
The rally is being organised in association with the Federation of Motor Sports Club of India (FMSCI), the only national federation recognised by the Government of India for the promotion and control of motor sports in India.
The participants will have to pass through a formal qualification process to be conducted in 21 cities from April 23. A maximum of 200 enthusiasts will be selected jointly by a panel of officials from the FMSCI and the Ernst & Young, leading auditors.
All participants will form their respective state teams. The rally would cover approximately 7,000 km, the highest for a car rally in India, offering the biggest prize money ever. The rally is based on the international format of time, speed and distance (TSD).
Each selected participant will get a free mobile phone. All drivers finishing the race in Delhi also to get a finishers prize money of Rs 10,000.
Airtel One India Challenge Rally
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shettysunil
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Airtel One India Challenge Rally
Thanks Sunil for sharing this article ... Major news papers covered this news ... As usually Hindu giving more details ... 
http://www.hindu.com/2005/04/13/stories ... 781800.htm
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050413/a ... 608466.asp
http://www.indiainfoline.com/news/news.asp?dat=56982
Jaydeep.
http://www.hindu.com/2005/04/13/stories ... 781800.htm
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050413/a ... 608466.asp
http://www.indiainfoline.com/news/news.asp?dat=56982
Its for promotion of Airtel brand ... And its not regular/every year rally.Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman & Group Managing Director, Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd, said, "Starting from a single mobile license in a single city to an All India footprint – the journey has been truly fulfilling. To commemorate this achievement & celebrate the diversified yet unified sprit of India, I am pleased to announce the idea behind the Airtel ‘One India’ Challenge. It is a rally that will touch millions of lives across all metros, towns, villages & tehsils and celebrate the true spirit of India."
Jaydeep.
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vsshriakant
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shettysunil
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Rally report by Anand Philar
On the road
Friday May 20 2005 15:04 IST
Anand Philar
For adventure freaks like me, it was an event not to be missed. Not so much for the prize money of Rs 30 lakhs as for the opportunity to drive from Chennai to New Delhi in six days, a prospect that tugged at the heartstrings. And so it was for 558 men and women who set off from four metros — New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai — in 186 cars in the Airtel India One Challenge car rally from May 9-14.
In many ways, it was a journey into the unknown. The peak of the Indian summer is certainly not the best time to be driving around the country, covering over 2,000 kms on roads that range from silken-smooth expressways to narrow broken tarmac to dirt tracks. The intense heat, with temperatures in the mid- to high 40s (Celsius) tested the staying power of not just the participants but also their cars. The schedule was punishing, with little time for rest and recuperation. On some days, we had to make do with just four hours of sleep, living out of suitcases, moving constantly from one destination to the next.
Further, the Time-Speed-Distance (TSD) format, which was more about navigational skills than pure driving ability, contributed to the fatigue factor. The average speeds did not exceed 70 kmph, even on expressways, so it demanded immense patience when the temptation to ‘‘step on it’’ began to kick in. It all made for a much longer stay on the road than you would normally require, and that made the going tough. Frankly, few of us really enjoyed crawling along at 50 kmph on wide, traffic-free roads. But then again, a TSD event offers little joy to the speed demons.
The rally was a brilliant concept, wherein the country was divided into four geographical zones. Each zone was allotted 50 entries, which were finalised after a qualifying event in various towns and cities. So 50 cars set off from each of the four metros, converging at Nagpur before proceeding to New Delhi, with overnight halts at Bhopal and Jaipur. More importantly, there were no restrictions on the make of car, the engine capacity or the tyres. The sole limiting factor was that only cars registered after January 1, 2000, were eligible. Thus several families entered, as also a couple of all-women's teams from the West zone.
The enthusiasm was reflected by the hi-tech gadgets that the competitors employed. Laptops and palmtops, webcams to magnify the odometer reading, and special software to calculate speeds were more the norm than the exception.
We began our journey in Chennai and proceeded to Nagpur via Vijayawada and Hyderabad, covering 1,225 kms in three days. The time allotted was little over 26 hours, and it was undoubtedly the most enjoyable part of the trip. The hospitality at Vijayawada and Hyderabad was simply impeccable, with accommodation for all, including officials, arranged at four- and five-star hotels. It was like being part of a huge family.
On reaching Nagpur on Day 3, we got split up, since the 600 competitors and officials were lodged in different hotels. The intense heat claimed a few victims. Three officials collapsed due to exhaustion and dehydration, but they were back on their feet following medical attention.
Then began the hardest part of the journey. We had a longish run to Bhopal, over 360 kms that took more than 10 hours due to the bad roads and the high volume of traffic. After actress Neha Dhupia flagged off about 100 cars at Nagpur, the rally was halted for over four hours following an accident involving two cars and injury to a cyclist. So the second lot of the cars arrived in Bhopal well past midnight.
However, just when we thought that the worst was behind us, there came the monster drive of 580 kms (over 12 hours) from Bhopal to Jaipur. I have never encountered worse roads. In fact, we had to negotiate a diversion of about seven kms through fields adjoining the National Highway that was under repair. The huge clouds of dust reduced the visibility to about 100 metres! Some stretches of the so-called National Highway were only wide enough to allow one vehicle at a time, with trenches on either side.
Making up for these anxious moments was the breathtaking scenery as we crossed into Rajasthan. Old forts dotted the route as we travelled through some truly remote regions. The road snaked its way through the hills and then down into the barren and parched flatlands, lashed by the hot desert winds.
Arriving in Jaipur late at night, there was just enough time for a quick dinner before crawling into bed, with the final run to Delhi scheduled for a 7 am start. Having braved such difficult road and weather conditions over five days, the 310-km drive to Delhi on the expressway was a piece of cake.
The entire rally was blessed by good luck. Barring the Nagpur accident and a parked car from Mumbai that was rammed from behind, there were no mishaps. A couple of cars did break down, but they got back on road after repairs. The competitors too withstood the trying conditions with no major health problems reported.
Overall, despite the chaotic finish and some teething problems, it was a memorable trip. The happy smiles of the competitors at having completed a daunting journey said it all.
The Positives
Rs 1 crore in prize money
Global Positioning Systems (GPS) deployed in competing vehicles
Free hospitality to all competitors
Four-point (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai) start
Open to cars of any make, engine capacity and tyres
The Flip Side
Total failure of result tabulation from Day One
Timing of event - peak summer
Insufficient rest and breaks for competitors
Near absence of media coverage
Last-minute changes in start times
Lack of co-ordination at start and finish vis-à-vis the installation and removal of GPS units
Poor communication between organisers, event managers and
competitors
The Bannari fiasco
When the Federation of Motorsports Clubs of India (FMSCI) announced that Global Positioning Systems (GPS) would be deployed for the first time in an Indian rally, it was hailed as a ‘‘revolutionary move.’’ Coimbatore-based Bannari Infotech Pvt Ltd. was contracted to install GPS units in each of the 186 participant cars. The GPS helped to track the progress of individual cars with regard to their exact location and speed at any given point of time.
The GPS, in theory, dispensed with the need to employ manual Time Control (TC). Thus, at the start and finish of each day, a ‘‘black box’’ was installed and removed. The data was then downloaded for tabulation, which in turn was to be independently certified by Ernst and Young. On paper, the process looked good. In reality, it was a recipe for disaster.
We were informed that the GPS was tested for ‘‘75 days’’ in Coimbatore in all conditions. But the fact was that Bannari Infotech did not have the infrastructure to handle and tabulate data from 186 cars. They were also short of manpower to install and remove the GPS units, leading to long waits for the competitors.
From Day One, it was obvious that confusion was just around the corner. No results were furnished, contravening the regulations of the rally. The explanation was that a ‘‘bug in the software’’ prevented tabulation. This story was repeated at all stopover points, and not surprisingly, the competitors grew increasingly restless.
It all came to a boil at the final finish point, the National Stadium in New Delhi. Amidst utter chaos, FMSCI president Vicky Chandhok, confronted by a group of angry competitors, announced that prize distribution function had been cancelled and that the results would be made public in ‘‘10 days’’ time.
Many competitors, notably from Kolkata, shouted slogans and demanded that the prize-money of Rs one crore be shared equally among the teams. The most vocal among them had obviously consumed alcohol, and the situation threatened to get out of hand. But sanity was restored when the organisers began to distribute the ‘‘finish money’’ of Rs 10,000 per team.
A refrain began to be muttered by the participants, consisting of similar remarks by everybody. ‘‘We have put in so much time, effort and money to take part in this event. There was no publicity, and now there is no prize money. We don’t even know how we fared. It’s like completing an exam and not knowing the result. What do we tell our family and colleagues when we return home?’’
For young Ameya Joglekar from Mumbai, a first-timer, it was a disappointing end. ‘‘Forget the prize money and all that. I just want to know how I fared against the best in the country. We know the difficulties faced by the organisers, but then, what about us?’’
Friday May 20 2005 15:04 IST
Anand Philar
For adventure freaks like me, it was an event not to be missed. Not so much for the prize money of Rs 30 lakhs as for the opportunity to drive from Chennai to New Delhi in six days, a prospect that tugged at the heartstrings. And so it was for 558 men and women who set off from four metros — New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai — in 186 cars in the Airtel India One Challenge car rally from May 9-14.
In many ways, it was a journey into the unknown. The peak of the Indian summer is certainly not the best time to be driving around the country, covering over 2,000 kms on roads that range from silken-smooth expressways to narrow broken tarmac to dirt tracks. The intense heat, with temperatures in the mid- to high 40s (Celsius) tested the staying power of not just the participants but also their cars. The schedule was punishing, with little time for rest and recuperation. On some days, we had to make do with just four hours of sleep, living out of suitcases, moving constantly from one destination to the next.
Further, the Time-Speed-Distance (TSD) format, which was more about navigational skills than pure driving ability, contributed to the fatigue factor. The average speeds did not exceed 70 kmph, even on expressways, so it demanded immense patience when the temptation to ‘‘step on it’’ began to kick in. It all made for a much longer stay on the road than you would normally require, and that made the going tough. Frankly, few of us really enjoyed crawling along at 50 kmph on wide, traffic-free roads. But then again, a TSD event offers little joy to the speed demons.
The rally was a brilliant concept, wherein the country was divided into four geographical zones. Each zone was allotted 50 entries, which were finalised after a qualifying event in various towns and cities. So 50 cars set off from each of the four metros, converging at Nagpur before proceeding to New Delhi, with overnight halts at Bhopal and Jaipur. More importantly, there were no restrictions on the make of car, the engine capacity or the tyres. The sole limiting factor was that only cars registered after January 1, 2000, were eligible. Thus several families entered, as also a couple of all-women's teams from the West zone.
The enthusiasm was reflected by the hi-tech gadgets that the competitors employed. Laptops and palmtops, webcams to magnify the odometer reading, and special software to calculate speeds were more the norm than the exception.
We began our journey in Chennai and proceeded to Nagpur via Vijayawada and Hyderabad, covering 1,225 kms in three days. The time allotted was little over 26 hours, and it was undoubtedly the most enjoyable part of the trip. The hospitality at Vijayawada and Hyderabad was simply impeccable, with accommodation for all, including officials, arranged at four- and five-star hotels. It was like being part of a huge family.
On reaching Nagpur on Day 3, we got split up, since the 600 competitors and officials were lodged in different hotels. The intense heat claimed a few victims. Three officials collapsed due to exhaustion and dehydration, but they were back on their feet following medical attention.
Then began the hardest part of the journey. We had a longish run to Bhopal, over 360 kms that took more than 10 hours due to the bad roads and the high volume of traffic. After actress Neha Dhupia flagged off about 100 cars at Nagpur, the rally was halted for over four hours following an accident involving two cars and injury to a cyclist. So the second lot of the cars arrived in Bhopal well past midnight.
However, just when we thought that the worst was behind us, there came the monster drive of 580 kms (over 12 hours) from Bhopal to Jaipur. I have never encountered worse roads. In fact, we had to negotiate a diversion of about seven kms through fields adjoining the National Highway that was under repair. The huge clouds of dust reduced the visibility to about 100 metres! Some stretches of the so-called National Highway were only wide enough to allow one vehicle at a time, with trenches on either side.
Making up for these anxious moments was the breathtaking scenery as we crossed into Rajasthan. Old forts dotted the route as we travelled through some truly remote regions. The road snaked its way through the hills and then down into the barren and parched flatlands, lashed by the hot desert winds.
Arriving in Jaipur late at night, there was just enough time for a quick dinner before crawling into bed, with the final run to Delhi scheduled for a 7 am start. Having braved such difficult road and weather conditions over five days, the 310-km drive to Delhi on the expressway was a piece of cake.
The entire rally was blessed by good luck. Barring the Nagpur accident and a parked car from Mumbai that was rammed from behind, there were no mishaps. A couple of cars did break down, but they got back on road after repairs. The competitors too withstood the trying conditions with no major health problems reported.
Overall, despite the chaotic finish and some teething problems, it was a memorable trip. The happy smiles of the competitors at having completed a daunting journey said it all.
The Positives
Rs 1 crore in prize money
Global Positioning Systems (GPS) deployed in competing vehicles
Free hospitality to all competitors
Four-point (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai) start
Open to cars of any make, engine capacity and tyres
The Flip Side
Total failure of result tabulation from Day One
Timing of event - peak summer
Insufficient rest and breaks for competitors
Near absence of media coverage
Last-minute changes in start times
Lack of co-ordination at start and finish vis-à-vis the installation and removal of GPS units
Poor communication between organisers, event managers and
competitors
The Bannari fiasco
When the Federation of Motorsports Clubs of India (FMSCI) announced that Global Positioning Systems (GPS) would be deployed for the first time in an Indian rally, it was hailed as a ‘‘revolutionary move.’’ Coimbatore-based Bannari Infotech Pvt Ltd. was contracted to install GPS units in each of the 186 participant cars. The GPS helped to track the progress of individual cars with regard to their exact location and speed at any given point of time.
The GPS, in theory, dispensed with the need to employ manual Time Control (TC). Thus, at the start and finish of each day, a ‘‘black box’’ was installed and removed. The data was then downloaded for tabulation, which in turn was to be independently certified by Ernst and Young. On paper, the process looked good. In reality, it was a recipe for disaster.
We were informed that the GPS was tested for ‘‘75 days’’ in Coimbatore in all conditions. But the fact was that Bannari Infotech did not have the infrastructure to handle and tabulate data from 186 cars. They were also short of manpower to install and remove the GPS units, leading to long waits for the competitors.
From Day One, it was obvious that confusion was just around the corner. No results were furnished, contravening the regulations of the rally. The explanation was that a ‘‘bug in the software’’ prevented tabulation. This story was repeated at all stopover points, and not surprisingly, the competitors grew increasingly restless.
It all came to a boil at the final finish point, the National Stadium in New Delhi. Amidst utter chaos, FMSCI president Vicky Chandhok, confronted by a group of angry competitors, announced that prize distribution function had been cancelled and that the results would be made public in ‘‘10 days’’ time.
Many competitors, notably from Kolkata, shouted slogans and demanded that the prize-money of Rs one crore be shared equally among the teams. The most vocal among them had obviously consumed alcohol, and the situation threatened to get out of hand. But sanity was restored when the organisers began to distribute the ‘‘finish money’’ of Rs 10,000 per team.
A refrain began to be muttered by the participants, consisting of similar remarks by everybody. ‘‘We have put in so much time, effort and money to take part in this event. There was no publicity, and now there is no prize money. We don’t even know how we fared. It’s like completing an exam and not knowing the result. What do we tell our family and colleagues when we return home?’’
For young Ameya Joglekar from Mumbai, a first-timer, it was a disappointing end. ‘‘Forget the prize money and all that. I just want to know how I fared against the best in the country. We know the difficulties faced by the organisers, but then, what about us?’’