Sport - Racing : Motor

Airtel launches all-India rally

By Our Sports Reporter

NEW DELHI, APRIL 12. `One India Challenge', an all-India car rally virtually covering all the Indian states, with a whopping prize fund of Rs. One crore is the newest addition to motor sports calendar. Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, will flag off the rally in Guwahati on Wednesday.

Airtel, India's leading mobile service provider has launched the initiative to celebrate its presence in all 23 telecom circles across the country.

The rally, that aims to cover about 7,000 km through 5200 towns and seven lakh villages, will be the longest and most extensive rally of its kind, said Vicky Chandhok of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI).

From 23 cities

The rally is open to all amateur and professional drivers and will be flagged off from 23 cities. After traversing the length and breadth of the country, all the competing drivers will first converge in Nagpur before heading towards Delhi for the grand finale.

The entire course of the rally has been designed by the FMSCI with Ernst and Young, the leading auditing firm. The rally is based on the international format of time, speed and distance and will be powered by global positioning system with on-board data loggers on all vehicles.

The rally will be conducted in two stages, with first leg commencing in 23 cities. The participants will then head to nearest metro cities. On May 8 these drivers will start towards Nagpur covering 1000 km in three days. The top three finishers from each region will get Rs. Two lakh, Rs. One lakh and Rs. 50,000 respectively.

The second leg starts on May 12 with a maximum of 200 drivers heading towards Delhi for the final leg covering 1300 km. The winners of second leg get Rs. Four lakh, Rs. Two lakh and Rs. One lakh respectively.

The grand prize of Rs. 30 lakh will be given to the overall winner with second and third placed team settling for Rs. 15 lakh and Rs. Eight lakh respectively.

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