The First Indian Autorickshaw Challenge

August 22, 2006

There is a new motor sport in town in India. It is called the Indian Autorickshaw Challenge. I bet it is just a matter of time before this motor sports spreads to the rest of the country, and we will even have theme-based races.

The Indian Autorickshaw Challenge is the first of its kind race in India. The event is being held in Chennai/Madras to celebrate Chennai Day. (Until a few days ago, I was not aware that there was such a thing as Chennai Day. Got to know of it via Bishwanath Ghosh’s post in Desicritics.)

There is a website devoted to this 1,000 kilometer Indian Autorickshaw Challenge that starts in Chennai/Madras and finishes in Kanyakumari, the southern most tip of Tamil Nadu. According to NDTV:

“Eleven teams from seven countries would cover a distance of a thousand kilometres in one week, passing through coastlines, jungles and flooded streets.

Priced at one thousand euros no one is complaining. In fact, some have flown into India just for the event and have transformed their rickshaws into swanky ones with refrigerator and even a wifi.”

Obviously the autos or riks have been souped up big time. The participating teams have some really colorful names like Curry in a hurry, Tamil Devils, Riska Miska, Curry on regardless, Pukka Tuk Tuk etc.

Curry in a hurry is Scott Carney’s team. Scott is a freelance writer based in Chennai/Madras and writes in his blog:

“I am going to do the stupidest thing I have ever done in my life. Sure there was the time I accidentally drank a bumblebee when I was 9, and all of those dismally planned business ventures importing saffron and Royal Enfields from India to the USA, but those are going to pall in comparison to my most recent endeavor to race against 20 teams of rickshaw drivers down the coast of Tamil Nadu in order to claim the coveted title of “Rickshaw Challenge Grand Champion”.

You can show your support for this new sport by buying t-shirts from their online store.

The organizers of the show are an eclectic mix of people from India, Europe and the USA.

Entry Filed under: Chennai/Madras, India, Only in India. .

10 Comments Add your own

1. Varsha | August 23, 2006 at 8:40 am

OMG…….I can’t believe this!
2. Vibhu | August 23, 2006 at 9:01 am

OMG !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! & WTF !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
3. gopalan1937 | August 23, 2006 at 3:46 pm

If any autodriver from Chennai is part of any team sure that team is going to be a challenge
4. kamlabhatt | August 24, 2006 at 1:17 am

Varsha and Vibhu:

Interesting to see both of you have the same reaction OMG….!!!!I can’t believe this!!!!!!

Gopalan:

Not sure what you mean by that. May the best souped up auto “karan” win the race.

Thanks,

kamla
5. mohanrao | August 25, 2006 at 12:22 am

wondering how the two gals from uk are doing in their PHAT PHAT from Bangkok to Britain via LAOS,CHINA,RUSSIA. Last post from ukraine..have to compare with this rikshawkaran.race/rally
6. balaji | August 26, 2006 at 5:36 am

thats an wonderful thing to hear .. amidst hearing those huge cc f1 cars scorching through the tracks.. these kind of things were coool and great that too in india and in particular in my own : ” enchanting TAmil nadu”
7. Roshan Kuriyan | October 1, 2006 at 5:31 pm

We have developed a casual 3D drag racing game for PC’s - “Autorickshaw Showdown ” .

We would like to include this game when you review games in your website.

We are including a small write up of the game and also the link for download.
Autorickshaw Showdown 1.0

Carbonon Tech (www.carbonon.com) is a 3D Game development , Game art resources ,3D animation , web design and software development company .

This 3D casual game was built to showcase Carbonon’s expertise and prowess in game development . The game was built using the Torque shader engine for PC’s.

There is an active underground Auto Rickshaw drag racing scene in Chennai, India.This 3D drag racing game for PC’s is built around that concept.
Auto Rickshaws are 3 wheelers which are popular in Indian and other countries as a cheap mode of public transport.
The drivers of these Rickshaws race these auto’s against each other on public roads on a bet where a large sum of money changes hands.( normally called “bet racing ” in these circles.).( normally called “bet racing ” in these circles.)

The download page is: http://carbonon.com/software/game-down.html

Awaiting your reply
Thanks
Regards,
Roshan J Kuriyan
CEO
8. SIG | October 20, 2006 at 10:00 pm

Would love to hear a show interviewing someone who completed the Indian rickshaw challenge (perhaps the winners ?) and their experience(s).
9. kamlabhatt | October 22, 2006 at 3:54 pm

Great idea…let me see if this is possible.

kamla
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