Rallying a double

Taking the twists and turns of the road and of fortune into his drive, Hyderabad’s Mazdayar Vatcha won two national rally titles — the Motorsports Association of India (MAI) Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) and the Indian National Saloon Racing Championship. "I won in the RSC (Rally Star Cup, which is for non-professional drivers) category. This is for Maruti Esteems with carburetted engines and allows suspensions to be upgraded. I’m thrilled… it has been a great experience,” the 34-year-old told Parsiana on the e-mail.

Having picked up prizes in national level karting and biking races earlier, Vatcha has the "unique distinction of winning every form of motor sports in the country,” Kerfegar Antia, honorary secretary of Secunderabad’s Zoroastrian Club, informs us.

Clinching the INRC title for Vatcha was his fast and furious yet consistent timing in the last leg — the WISA (Western India Sports Association) Rally of Maharashtra, conducted in the Poona-Ahmednagar district in December 2007. Challenges came not just on the slippery, slopy or rough roads of the course, but also because the INRC had been plagued by problems, with three of the seven rounds being cancelled, and spins and crashes from drivers who found the course too hot to handle.

Mazdayar Vatcha — the man and his machines

For Vatcha, the first round in Cochin ended on a disastrous note as he was disqualified after having posted the fastest timing. Gaining some points in the second round at Chikmagalur, he won comfortably the last two rounds at Bangalore and Poona which enabled him to lift the title.

Shortly thereafter, Vatcha entered the National Saloon Championship at the Kari Speedway in Coimbatore and drove to victory.

Sponsored by ArrayNZ.com, Vatcha is supported by Chettinad Sporting (counted among the country’s best car tuners) and Kart Kave (India’s largest indoor go-kart track with a rocky cave theme, homologated to conduct races). The champion rally driver now aspires to move to bigger, more powerful cars like the 2000 cc Mitsubishi Cedia. "The sport has really trained and taught me to go forward in life,” Vatcha told the Deccan Chronicle, Hyderabad, January 10, 2008.