All women’s team selected for JK Tyre-FMSCI National Racing Championship 2019

Coimbatore, June 4: After a rigorous country-wide selection process, six talented women drivers have been shortlisted to take part in the JK Tyre-FMSCI National Racing Championship 2019 (JKNRC) under Team Ahura.

The brainchild of former racer and team owner of Ahura Racing-Sarosh Hataria, this one-of-a-kind all-women’s team will compete in the popular LGB-4 Formula Car category at the JKNRC for the second year running.

Two ladies from Mumbai (Natasha Puri and Ojasvi Mehta), two from Delhi (Shivani Gaurav and Aman Jubbal) and one from Bangalore (Pragathi B) and one from Dehradun (Anushriya Gulati) have been selected to compete in the four rounds of JKNRC, starting on July 26, 2019.

“We are delighted to welcome another all-women’s team into the racing family,” Mr Sanjay Sharma, Head-Motorsport, JK Tyre, said. “Last year, progress made by them added excitement to the competition. I am sure this year too they will make a huge impact. This is in tune with our continued policy of drawing young girls into motor sports. The girls who have progressed over the years and are giving tough competition to the leaderboard are Sneha Sharma, Mira Erda,” he added.

Team Ahura conducted trials on a zonal basis, choosing Gurgaon (North), Mumbai (Central Zone) and Bengaluru (South) for the selections. Each zone tested over 75 ladies, both young and old, and they were taken through beginners’ and advanced training on karts before the final shootout in the Indian make LGB 4 Formula car.

The 20 fastest drivers in each zone were then invited to Coimbatore for the final selection process. They were again given enough training and practice sessions, this time in LGB 4 Formula cars, before the last pruning.

“A number of talented drivers and young enthusiasts were in the mix which is a great sign for Indian motor sport,” Sarosh Hataria said. “They were quick to adapt to the more powerful cars and showed immense progress. I am positive that they are going to be highly competitive this year,” he added.

Natasha Puri from Delhi for her outstanding performance has won herself a fully sponsored drive in the championship and the second and third place finishers will get subsidized drives. Joining the six new girls on the grid will be the three ladies from last year’s grid who too will be given subsidized drives in the 2019 season of JKNRC.

Manisha Kelkar, a famous Marathi actress and daughter of renowned Bollywood movie writer Ram Kelkar will also be making her comeback this season. Manisha, who was part of the Ahura team last year had to leave the season after the opening round due to an unfortunate off- the track incident. She will be back on the grid this season with a different team and will look to give the big boys a run for their money.

The selected six:

1. Natasha Puri - Central Zone (Mumbai)

2. Shivani Gaurav - North Zone (Delhi)

3. Anushriya Gulati - Direct entry Dehradhun

4. Ojasvi Mehta - Central Zone (Mumbai)

5. Pragathi B - Direct Entry Bangalore

6. Aman Jubbal - North Zone (Delhi)

JK Tyre promoting women in motorsport

Over the years, JK Tyre Motorsport has been aggressively encouraging women to take up motorsports. It has conceptualised numerous initiatives for them, even creating platforms for them to step forward and fall in love with the sport. Sneha Sharma, Mira Erda who are now making the country proud at international arenas have risen from the motorsport programme of JK Tyre starting from karting to gradually progressing to higher forms of racing.

Last year, we took this to the next level by supporting the creation of the first and only All-Women Racing Team in the country. Six ladies became part of Team Ahura and competed in the Indian make LGB 4-Formula car category of the JK Tyre-FMSCI National Racing Championship. This year too, they will be in full force once the curtain goes up for the new season.

In addition to this, we have organised a number of other events, specifically for ladies. We tied up with the Young Women's Wing of FICCI to conduct the YFLO Power Drive, a TSD Event for their lady members. The event saw more than 100 women turn out to participate in it and drive all the way to Manesar from Delhi.

 
We also organized the JK Tyre Times Women’s Drive, North, with as many as 300 ladies taking part in this FMSCI-approved TSD Drive from Delhi to Chandigarh. This year, JK Tyre hosted the Defence Wives Power Drive, a first-of-its-kind TSD drive organized for the wives of the serving offices of the Armed Forces (Army, Navy & Air Force). While the ladies took to the wheels, their husbands who were serving officers helped them navigate through the route. Over 100 Defence Families participated in the event.

Our annual property in Mumbai- JK Tyre Women’s Rally to the Valley is a landmark event in the motorsport calendar of the West. Over 500 women participated in this unique drive from Mumbai to Lonavala this year. The event in its entirety right from officials, marshalls, support staff etc. had only females. Spectators lined along the route to cheer the ladies, in their decorated cars and fancy attires, as they raced in their quest for top prizes.