In a country like India, Trucking as a profession has always been looked down upon. Even though it is known to be one of the most profitable careers across the world, trucking is one of those cultures that really never caught on in India in form of a main stream career option.
After receiving an invitation to T1 Prima Truck Racing Championship on March 15, 2015, one might think is it even possible to have trucks race around the Buddha International Circuit Track like highly specialized and modified vehicles? But all such perceptions were immediately void as one would walk into the arena. With a crowd of over 35000 cheering, hooting and roaring on the top of their lungs the atmosphere was simply electrifying.
Tata Motors should certainly be applauded for attempting to bring in a whole new culture in the country. “Making Trucking the new cool” is not easy considering how undermined it is in India but together with the event company
T.I.C. who executed the event, they managed to put on a championship that could easily compete with racing events of global standards.
The season 2 of Tata Motors T1 Prima Truck Racing Championship began with the signature Harley Bike Drive followed by the T1 Prima Truck Racing Parade wherein the giants about to be locked into a glorious battle were showcased. The six teams for Championship Season II were – Team Castrol Vecton, Team Cummins, Team Tata Technologies Motorsports, Team Allied Partners ,Team Dealer Warriors and Team Dealer Daredevils.
The opening ceremony also witnessed interesting performances by numerous Bollywood celebrities with actor/anchor Manish Paul introducing them. While Badshah, the notable rapper performed on songs like Saturday and Abhi to Party ShuruHuiHai, it was the magnificent trio of Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy which truly charmed the audiences with performances on songs like- Hindustani. An additional performance by Benny Dayal however, could not meet up the expectations of people as the artist appeared to be completely off mood with the dynamics of the event.
However what ‘T1 Truck Racing Championship’ got bang on was the milieu: the atmospherics, the organizing, and the edge of the seat action of the race itself. The adrenalin rush and high speed corners had the audience roaring with each twist and turn. Even with the major downpour acting as the biggest obstacle in the race, it was unable to bring down the spirit of the participants who gave it their best to wow the audience with their terrific driving capabilities.
Rasheed Syed, a spectator who also attended the season 1 of the championship said- “This edition is certainly better. It’s better managed, the crowd is more and we are all excited. But I do feel they could have taken better care of the time as the event is late on schedule.”
The winners of the race was Stuart Oliver of Team Castrol Vecton, Steve Thomas of Team Allied Partners was the first runner-up, with Steven Powell of Team Tata Technologies clinching the second runner-up spot.
Apart from the race itself, the highlights of the event also included the social media stations located at various places where in the audience could take pictures from and directly upload them, a specialized kids corner that featured in numerous cartoon avatars, the Tata Motors parade that featured all heavy automobiles by the company and closing ceremony witnessed performances by Badshah and Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy with an added laser and firework show to engage the audience.
The organizers T.I.C and the Tata Motors have truly managed to create their own niche in this first of its kind event in India, but with the promise of a third edition being even bigger the result is going to be something to look out for.
