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A country of a billion… A few million who believe sport is a religion… They worship their heroes And these heroes fight hard and break every barrier to create a nation of sports. From a Humble beginning… to global reach… India has come a long way. Many challenges were overcome… many Barriers were broken… And many more to be broken… The landscape of the world changed post World War 2. Like it did for India. India got its independence in the year 1947. and the newly independent country had many challenges. It was a divided nation, There was unrest, But the biggest challenge was providing “Roti – Kapda – Makhan” for its citizens. Sports was not even in the farthest corner of the minds of our leaders. This created a barrier for the other India that was raring to take off… In an Independent India, few adventurous men who came from a privileged background and owned cars, started racing in the abandoned World War 2 airstrips. It all began as fun races at these airstrips across the country. Barrackpore and Alipore in West Bengal, Kolar and Yelahanka in Karnataka, Sholavoram and Sulur in Tamil Nadu, Lohegaon and Juhu in Maharashtra, And, Safdarjung in Delhi. This racing culture spread like wildfire. The first barrier was broken when Indian names started to make their way into motorsports. This can be considered as the beginning of Motorsports in India. By the late 60s and early 70s, Indian motorsports grew by leaps and bounds thanks to a few high-calibre race meets… of which Sholavaram emerged as the centre of bustling motorsports activity in India. Annual races were held every year in the 1st weekend of February. Participants from India and Sri Lanka… More than 400 cars and Bikes… A crowd of 50000 and more… It was one of the largest gatherings and that inspired many and ignited the passion. This was the golden era of motorsports. Racing in these abandoned airstrips gave birth to many motorsports clubs around the cities they were located in. The Calcutta Motor Sports Club formed in the year 1949 in Calcutta, The Madras Motor Sports Club, formed in 1953 in Madras, The Bangalore Motor Sports Club, formed in 1954, in Mysore, The Coimbatore Auto Sports Club formed in 1954 in Coimbatore, and The Indian Automotive Racing Club formed in 1971 in Bombay, While the oldest motorsports club, The Western India Automobile Association which was formed in 1919 continued its presence as the functioning ASN in India. Since there was no alliance of clubs, the few events that were conducted were largely unorganized, tentative and doddered, really on the brink of amusing insanity. There were no universal rules, no national competitions, or prize money, and definitely no professionals and thus created differences and fights between the members of other clubs. This led few Men to think of forming a body that can formulate rules & regulations, and control Racing. Thus, the federation was born in 1971. The 1st generation of racers ignited the passion in many who later followed in their path. The royal family of the princely state of Gondal has had a long association with Motorsports in India starting from HH Maharajah Shri. Jyotendrasinhji Vikramsinghji Sahib, fondly called “Jyoti Bapu”, his bother MaharajKumar Ghanaditya Sinhji (fondly called “Ghanu”), and his cousin MaharajKumar Vidyut Sinhji, the prince of Gondal who made it big at these tacks racing in a Formula 5000 single seater racing car, and Jaguar. Indu Chandhok, a champion racer who contributed immensely to the development of Motorsports in India. His son Vicky Chandhok took forward the legacy, and then Karun Chandhok, his grandson went all the way to Formula 1. G R Karthikeyan, a well-known rallyist, whose son Narain Karthikeyan became the first Indian to race in Formula 1. He is also known as the fastest Indian. Other prominent racers during this era were AD Jayaram, Mohinder Lalwani, Nazir Hossein, and many more. The flair had started to show, one of the most prolific racers of the time was Diwan Rahul ‘Kinny’ Lall, starting off in the soap-box derby in Delhi, Kinny Lall went to Europe where he raced in Formula 3 and Formula 2. He drove Suresh Kumar’s special racing car, ‘Q’Marri’ in the Indian Circuits. Further, among the next generation racers Akbar Ebrahim became the first Indian in the British Formula 3 series. And in the following generation, Narain Karthikeyan and Kaun Chandhok both made it to the summit of racing when they were both picked to race in the Formula 1 series. Thus was the journey of Indian Motorsports to reach its pinnacle with a self-created support system. Indu Chandhok donned many roles and his contribution to Indian Motorsports is significantly big. As an athlete at sholavaram Thus, India’s first racing tack was developed. Indu Chandhok always believed that out of adversity comes opportunity, another such incidence was creating an event, the South India Rally, which is part of INRC even today. Indu was also the founder member of MADRAS MOTOR SPORTS CLUB, one of the active clubs in India. Famously Known as the 5 Pandavas with Lord Krishna, that is Muthukrishnan FMSCI bestowed the lifetime achievement award on Indu Chandhok in 2010. Indu Chandhok truly ignited the passion and created a platform that laid the foundation for Indian motorsports to progress to the next level. A passionate Man, even at 91 visits his office once a week. The man gave a technical edge to his cars and became a game changer, Chubbi Lalwani and team Alpha. This friendship was about to create something that neither of them thought of. With a taste of success, it was for the friends to forge ahead and create history. The team was hungry for more, so they decided to do more, do it professionally and up the game. Conclusion: Double Barrels team Alpha changed the way racing was done; it shifted the focus from just getting powerful cars, to managing professional Racing in India. It broke the barrier to bring in a professional and technical touch to racing. But this was just the beginning for Double Barrels team alpha as the team was embarking on a race to make the country proud… These were the few fearsome fighters who ignited the passion for speed, in spite of all the odds and in the shadows of a developing country that was yet to stand on its feet.