2014 Valley Run: The valley of speed

Thousands of petrolheads gathered over the weekend on the runway of the Amby Valley airstrip in Lonavala, for the second edition of the Valley Run drag racing event organised by Elite Octane. If you think drag racing is only about two machines lined up at the start line with participants whacking the throttle open to be the first to cross the finish line 400m into the horizon, then you couldn’t be more wrong. Drag racing demands lot of skill, especially to get the perfect drag start and one needs lightning quick reflexes to go along with it.

Also, gear shifts need to be precise and intelligently chosen in a way that that you don’t over-rev or under-rev the engine. Last but not least, you need patience, hard work and money to setup your machine with such perfection that it has the potential to rule the drag strip. Though there are race tracks in the Northern and Southern part of the country, sadly there aren’t any in the Western region of the country, which means speed junkies in this part of the country don’t have a platform to test the potential of themselves and their machines.

And this is where a drag race, comes into picture as what you really need is a 400m arrow straight road with ample run-off area. The beauty of a drag racing is in its simplicity as an enthusiast with a RX 100 or an exclusive Nissan GTR can be part of the event as the race is divided into different categories in accordance with engine displacement. The competitors weren’t restricted to only Mumbai and Pune as around 400 competitors from across the country travelled to the venue with their prized possessions.  

Although, all eyes were on the run of the supercars and superbikes that doesn’t mean the Indian class was any less exciting. The Indian class of cars and bikes was fiercely contested with the winning gap being just tenths of a second. Even though they couldn’t match the 11 to 12 seconds timing that foreign category of cars and bikes were clocking, their timings of around 15 seconds is hugely commendable and showcase the skill of local tuners and the men piloting them. The star of the show was Ricky Gadson, the 10 time World Drag Racing Champion who did a few demo runs posted few blistering fast times showcasing his mettle and his fastest time was an astounding 9.843 seconds. Gadson was also gracious enough to spend time with budding riders and gave them priceless tips to improve their performances. 

In cars, the highlight was without a shadow of doubt the Nissan GTR as it launched off the line with utmost ferocity to clock a timing of 10.508 seconds. There was no dearth of eye candy both on four and two-wheels as the parking area was filled with supercars like the Ferrari 458 Italia, Porsche 911 Turbo, Audi R8 and superbikes like the BMW S1000RR, Kawasaki ZX-10R, Yamaha R1 and many more.

Get latest updates on
the automobile community

Login Now

A special mention has to me made about the track itself as it has all the basic amenities to make it a drag racers paradise and one has to applaud the efforts of the organisers, especially Rongom Mukerji, who took special care to keep the track less dusty than last year. As the day came to an end all the participants were tired after a gruelling day of racing, some won, while some lost but one common aspect among all the competitors was the joy on their faces, as they had got their dose of adrenaline till the next edition of the Valley Run.