2014 ET ZigWheels Car and Bike Awards Jury Round

While most individuals start the New Year looking forward, we motoring scribes start the year with a rewind. We do so, to take a look at the slew of launches that took place in the preceding year to gauge the new entrants in the Indian four-wheeler and two-wheeler space and to pick the best of the lot for the 2014 ET ZigWheels Awards. In its seventh year, the ET ZigWheels Awards, celebrates excellence in the Indian automotive industry and recognise everything from entry-level cars and two-wheelers to luxury sports cars and bikes to the manufacturers who make these machines. As always, vehicles launched between December 1, 2013 and November 30, 2014 qualified for the awards.

So when the moment came for the 2014 ET ZigWheels Awards, the first criteria was an apt location to judge the best cars and bikes that made their debut in 2014. And what better place to test these cars and motorcycles better than a race track; so we headed to the Irungattukottai Race Track in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu. For the 2014 ET ZigWheels Awards we had narrowed down the list of nominations to 28 four-wheelers and 27 two-wheelers across various categories.s always the ET ZigWheels awards had a jury comprising of the edit them as well as some guest judges for this year as well. The jury was subdivided into three categories – The Enthusiast and Engineer, The Racer and The Edit Team. Tutu Dhawan, Raj Kapoor and Joshua Crasto came under the Enthusiast and Engineer category while expectedly K Rajini was classified as the Racer. Let's then formally meet the jury for this year's awards.

For making this decision we needed an expert panel of jury that was also subdivided into three categories – The Enthusiast and Engineer, The Racer and The Edit Team. Tutu Dhawan, Raj Kapoor and Joshua Crasto came under the Enthusiast and Engineer category while unsurprisingly K Rajini was classified as the Racer. While the Edit Team jury members consisted of Vikrant Singh – Editor, Sarmad Kadiri – Associate Editor, Preetam Bora – Assistant Editor and Cyrus Dhabhar – Principal Correspondent. Let's then formally meet the jury for this year's awards and take a look at the judging parameters set for them. 

Judging Parameters:

Tutu Dhawan

A foremost authority on vintage and classic cars along with all things automotive, Tutu Dhawan has been at the forefront of the Indian automotive scene for decades. With a strong motorsport background and having won the likes of the Himalayan Rally, Tutu is the perfect judge of how a car ought to behave when pushed to the limit. 

Raj Kapoor

With over two decades in the automobile industry, Raj has a great in-depth understanding of the four-wheeler market. He is instrumental in kick-starting the car performance parts industry in India and one of the few performance car builders in the country. If that wasn’t enough, he also had a stint as an anchor for a popular television auto show.

K Rajini

K Rajini is among the rare Indian racers who have achieved success at both the national and international levels. Considered to be among one of the best road racers India has produced, Rajini became the national road racing champion in 2011. Rajini is also the first Indian rider to win an international road racing event when he won at the Losail Asian Road Racing Championship in 2013 at Qatar.

Joshua Crasto

Joshua Crasto is an unusual hybrid of automotive journalist, bike and car road tester, airplane pilot, travel guide and a motorcycle builder. He loves all things mechanical and will take apart and rebuild anything that comes with a motor. His career has taken him down different paths, but the one aspect common in the journey has been a set of wheels.

Get latest updates on
the automobile community

Login Now

The Edit Team:

Vikrant Singh (Editor)

Vikrant Singh leads a team of young and enthusiastic motoring writers as well as testers across the various ZigWheels verticals like digital, magazine and newspaper. As you'd expect for a person who has been testing and reviewing cars no bike for over 13 years, Vikrant loves everything automotive.

Sarmad Kadiri (Associate Editor)

Sarmad Kadiri leads the day to day running at ZigWheels. An avid motorcyclist and one who enjoys good cars, he also has the nose for news and is up-to-date about all the activities in the Indian automotive industry. Having spent eight years in evaluating cars and bikes, he was part of the jury for both two-wheelers and four-wheelers.

Preetam Bora (Assistant Editor)

Preetam looks after two-wheeler content and reviews at Zigwheels. He has been riding and touring extensively on motorcycles for the past 20 years – on 100cc two-stroke singles, 350cc twin cylinder bikes to bigger capacity four-stroke motorcycles. He has produced award winning television automotive shows and keenly follows the Indian two-wheeler scene.

Cyrus Dhabhar (Principal Correspondent)

Cyrus is in charge for testing cars at ZigWheels. Apart from getting behind the wheel of cars and putting them through their paces, he also loves to get under the bonnet. Cyrus is also the resident ZigWheels expert when it comes to classic cars.