Photon+ - India’s fastest wireless broadband service – were the proud sponsors of Accelerace, whereas Sport18 [Network18’s sports marketing arm] was the organizer. The event was supported by Octane – Titan’s racing chronograph watches, www.isport.in – India’s upcoming sports portal and our very own Overdrive magazine!!
Race Day started with all drivers entering the qualifying round. Each driver was given 5 laps to clock their best lap times – after which the top 25 fastest times were chosen. Bhaskar, Parth Doshi and Sulaiman Shaikh were the top 3 drivers in the qualifying session. Network18’s Rajesh D’souza stunned everyone by managing the 4th fastest time overall. Bhaskar’s 28.94 was unbeaten all day and the difference between the 25 qualifiers was only 1.2secs.
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Accelerace saw 5 quarter finals races – where the top 25 drivers were divided in batches of 5. The 2 winners of each quarter final would then qualify for the Semi Finals. The crowd favourites – Bhaskar, Parth, Amit, Abhishek and Rajesh managed to hold their positions and enter the semi finals with ease. Though most of the quarter final races failed to offer thrilling action – Parth and Amit did ensure that the crowd got a taste of some classic racing during their race. The duo exchanged positions atleast 11 times during their race, before Amit got the better off Parth at the finish line.
The 10 quarter final winners were further divided in batches of 2 for the semi finals. The semi finals were held over a distance of 10 laps and 3 winners of each semi final would make it to the Mega Finals. The drivers who raced themselves into the Mega Finals were – Bhaskar, Parth, Imran, Rajesh, Amit and Abhishek.
The Mega Finals were a 12 lap race – Bhaskar, who was the crowd favourite started from pole with Parth lining up next to him on the staggered grid. The finalists made a clean getaway with Bhaskar leading the pack into Turn1. However, a determined Parth made a breezy move on lap 3. Taking the outside line on Turn1, Parth managed to out-shoot Bhaskar into the entry of Turn2 and then lead the race till the flag.
Further down the grid Amit, Rajesh and Abhishek were locked in a battle for third place. Amit drove a perfect defensive race to hold onto third, but Rajesh made a decisive move on the last corner of the last lap to grab third.
The ladies final was the most exciting, with the karts not just banging wheels but even metal. Khyati who started on pole managed to hold off an overly ambitious move by Rehel and finish first. Madhura Naik and Rehel finished second and third respectively.
