Defending champion Syed Eathashan proved a class above the rest as he struck up the right balance on his various Yamaha bikes to take the honours in the first round of the Gulf Dirt Track National championship for motorcycles, sponsored by Gulf Oil Corporation, at the Deccan College grounds in Pune today i.e. 23rd April 2005.

The lanky 22-year old rider from Bangalore won two of the 13 classes for which competition was held and placed second and third in two others to steal the limelight in the first of the five-event National championship, held under the aegis of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India and Maharashtra Automotive Sports Association..

Eathasham won the showpiece classes – the two Indian Expert Championships, for motorcycles 80cc up to 150cc 2-stroke and foreign motorcycles upto 250 cc race 2- -- and placed second in the 80cc upto 150cc and third in the foreign motorcycles upto 250cc race 1. For his efforts, he took home Rs 9,500.

With TVS Racing taking part this year – they stayed away last season – a bitter fight was expected between them and Team Yamaha. Indeed, it turned out that way from the start after Eathasham won the opening race of the day, the Indian Expert Championship – 80cc upto 150cc. .

But he was in for a surprise in the experts class for foreign bikes upto 250cc as TVS Racing’s C S Santosh shot out first from the gates and maintained the lead to win the event. TVS took the second place also through C Vijay Kumar while Eathasham had to be content with third.However, the defending champion came back strongly thereafter to take the second race in the 250 cc.

Mumbai’s Rustom Patel also stole part of the limelight, winning two classes – scooters above 80 cc upto 110cc and motorcycles upto 160 cc. He also finished third in the upto 150cc two-stroke category.

The hot and sultry conditions were hardly a deterrent to the 145 riders who participated in the challenge over two days – Friday and Saturday. Besides the seasoned campaigners, like Eathasham, Yogesh Barguje and C Vijay Kumar, it was the novices who caught the eye with their raw courage and skillful riding. There were 35 novices and all more than displayed their dexterity in handling their bikes in trying conditions.

In fact, all eyes, particularly those from the Yamaha and TVS Racing teams, keenly watched their performances as they went through the motions. Joshua Promod of Yamaha was the pick of the novices as he won the class hands down. He gave indications of his skills in the qualifying rounds on Friday as he clocked the best time by a long way.

It now remains to be seen how he performs in the next four legs of the championship in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Coimbatore and Delhi.The course laid out by organizers Sportscraft was really tough to say the least. If you were among the passers-by watching the event at first you would have thought a sandstorm had hit Pune. The screen of dust that was raised as the riders went round the course was so much that it was difficult to follow what was happening on the track.

In addition to the sharp bends the riders had to negotiate, there was also loose and soggy gravel laden stretches which made staying in the saddle dicey. Many riders, particularly the first timers, lost their balance and came a cropper.

Why even some of the experienced ones, in a bid to generate speed, lost their balance, their wheels not being able to get traction through the solid layers of sand and gravel at some bends.

In the end, after two grueling days of racing, it was the braves and fittest who reigned supreme. And despite the intense competition in the grueling head, none had anything to complain about as Sportscraft went about the entire exercise of conducting 13 races with clock-like precision.

To both, the riders and organizers, full marks.

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