Philippos Matthai of Delhi was adjudged the champion of the second
round of the Indian national autocross championships (INAC) held at the Goa engineering
college grounds in Farmagudi on April 29 and 30.
Philippos clocked a time of 1:36:37 for the 1.2 km track followed by three Goans, Azim
Hanchi ( 1:40:64), Amey Desai ( 1:41:06) and Saamag Kudchadkar ( 1:41:81). There were a
total of eight classes in the INAC event and the top five racers from each class have qualified
for the finals of the Indian national autocross championships.
The event was sponsored by CEAT Tyres and organised by the Indian Automotive Racing
Club (IARC) in collaboration with the All Goa Motorsports Association and Bangalore
Motor Sports.
Philippos, a two time National Champion in Autocross format in 2019 and 2022 has been
racing for the last 22 years across the rallying and dirt track circuit formats. “Dirt track racing
is relatively low cost. people are able to witness the entire race and winners come under the
spotlight”, he said during the event.
Saamag Kudchadkar (27) of Goa was adjudged the fastest driver of the meet, when he
clocked 1:36:22 minutes in the “Time Attack” category. Among Goan male racers, Saamag
Kudchadkar, Amey Desai and Azim Hanchi were adjudged the fastest, while Kartavi
Mashelkar Marathe, Ashrafi Gaikwad and Reshma Hussain were the fastest Goan women
racers in the “Time Attack” category.
Saamag was very happy with Goa Engineering college track at Farmagudi. “It is a very fast,
yet safe track, as the many turns reduce your speed,” Saamag said.
Another interesting racer at the championships was Pradeep Nair of Mumbai, who at 67 was
the oldest racer. A racer and rallyist for the last 50 years, Nair who has been a three-time past
winner in the Formula Indian grand prix racing said, “Racing has been in my blood. I love to
take part in dirt track racing nowadays.”