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(Continued from last fortnight)
Vicky Chandhok.
”Motor sport is an expensive sport! Only people with deep pockets can indulge in it. Fortunately for me I was born in a family which was running a successful automobile spare parts business and also a garage, with over 75 mechanics working in it. So I did not have to invest in this sport. With a father who was already a name to reckon with in the world of motor sports, it was easy for me to convert my passion for motor sports into a hobby,” says Vicky Chandhok, the third generation Chandhok of Chennai, sitting behind a huge table in his office in Chandhok Centre off Anna Salai.
Vicky’s first race at Sholavaram was in his modified Ambassador in the year 1972. He spent all his spare time from college tinkering with all models of cars in the family-owned garage.This experience was to help him develop an indigenously built racing car, his Carex Special, in which he participated in the Formula India Race introduced in 1975 for the first time by the Madras Motor Sports Club (MMSC). Vicky was 18 years old and finsihed second in the race!
According to Vicky, “Hosting a Formula India Single Seater Race was the dream of S. Karivardhan, the then MD of Lakshmi Mills, Coimbatore, a visionary who did all he could to put India on the international motor sports map. Unfortunately he died in an air crash at the young age of 41. I lost a very good friend and mentor who was a great source of inspiration to me.” Over the next five years Vicky participated in all the races held in Madras and other Indian centres, winning several prizes.
In 1982, the year Vicky married Chitra, a Tambrahm girl from Madras, he flew down a Formula Ford Car from England in which he raced at Sholavaram that year. The expenses involved were partly sponsored by MRF Tyres, for whom it was their first foray into motor sports. Later, the company was to support the game in a big way.
Buoyed by the success of his experience in 1982, Vicky flew in a Chevron Formula II, a thoroughbred car, to contest in the 1983 Sholavaram Race; this was also sponsored by MRF. “Even today this car is on display at the corporate office of MRF.”
Besides racing, Vicky also started participating in rallies, including the Himalayan Rally, a gruelling test of both speed and endurance. Over the next 17 years he was to participate in over 100 national rallies and races. “My last rally was the South India Rally held in 2000. Driving a Mitsubishi Lancer, I signed off as a winner,” Vicky recalls proudly. During his long stint as a racer, Vicky won over 350 trophies.
Though he was active in MMSC, Vicky did not get involved in the Federation of Motor Sports Club in India till 1999. Vicky remembers with sadness the years 2000-2008 when the Federation went through a dark phase. After a protracted legal battle, the Federation got back on track.
Vicky’s first stint as President of the Federation was between 2003 and 2005 when the legal battle was being fought. However, in 2005 Vicky led 60 vehicles from eight ASEAN countries in an ASEAN Rally held on the roads connecting several cities in the ASEAN countries. It was a CII show flagged off by the Prime Minister of India in Siliguri in West Bengal.
His next stint as President was between 2010 and 2014 when he firmly put India on the international map. Supported by the Jaypee Group of Delhi he brought to India Formula I races, the most prestigious motor sports event in the world. The event was conducted for three consecutive years from 2011 to 2013 at the Buddha International Circuit (BIC) in Greater Noida, built by the Jaypee Group. Vicky was advisor to the Group and helped not only build the infrastructure but also run the events successfully. “It is a pity that the event is not being held in India in 2014 because of lack of support from corporates who are unwilling to underwrite the huge costs of sponsoring the drivers,” says Vicky.
At present, Vicky is not only helping his son Karun in his foray into international events but is also concentrating on the ‘Wallace Sports & Research Foundation’, which he founded in 1989 to train drivers who are interested in participating in races and rallies.
Talking about his son Karun, the fourth generation Chandhok. who has already made a mark in the world of motor sports, Vicky says with pride, “Karun has surpassed me in terms of his skills. While I concentrated on national events, Karun dared to go international and has been successful. While for me and other motor sports enthusiasts of my time it was a hobby, for Karun it is a profession.”
In 2010, Karun thea became the only second Indian and the first of the 'Racing
Chandhoks' to compete in Formula 1.
Karun became the second Indian driver after Narain Karthikeyan of Coimbatore to compete in Formula One races for a while. Recently he finished No.6 at the legendary Le Mans for the second time. Le Mans, held in France every year, is a gruelling 24-hour race, covering 5400 kms on the race tracks and is considered the biggest motor race event in the world. Karun has also joined the Formula E Drivers Club, a new world championship being competed in ten cities.
While Indersain Chandhok sowed the seeds for motor sport in his children’s minds, his second son Indu Chandhok helped lay a solid foundation for the sport in India. His grandson Vicky made a big name by winning hundreds of national rallies and races, and his great-grandson Karun is making waves in the international motor racing circuit. The Chandhoks can truly be considered the first family of motor sport in Chennai, nay, in India.
(Concluded)
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