Mangalore, Mar 9, 2012: The popular Dirt Track National Championship sponsored by Gulf Oil Corporation Ltd for the year 2012 kicks off in Mangalore on March 17-18.

Speaking at the press meet held at Hotel Gold Finch on March 9, Friday Bijoy general manager marketing said that the event will be organized by Mumbai’s Sports craft in association with Mangalore Motar Sports Association, and this will be the first of five rounds of this FMSCI Championship and will be held at the Fisheries College ground.

He also said that the total points garnered by the riders over the five rounds of the Gulf Dirt Track National Championship from the last couple of years, the Mangalore leg should be very competitive.

For those unfamiliar with the event, Dirt Track Racing is like an F1 race on motorcycles, where the riders, after a mass start, speed around a serpentine track, on natural surface often slushy at places, looking to cross the finish first. The race is an exercise in judicious maneuvering and good balancing of the bike around the many sharp bends.

There will be total of 6 classes in championship round. The riders will fight for the honour as well as the total prize money of Rs 1,75,000 along with the trophies which will be awarded. Whereas the champions, who garners maximum points in all five rounds a total prize money of Rs 4,50,000 and trophies will be awarded.

For racing enthusiasts of Mangalore, a treat awaits. Besides some class riding they will also have the opportunity to see the latest dirt racing bikes from the TVS Motars, Yamaha and Honda stables.

Riders from all over India will be seen in action, Bangalore based TVS riders Pramod Joshua, R Natraj, who all excelled last season in the glamour class of the event Indian Expert Group A will be challenged by Harit Noak, Siddhant Nayak, Adnan Ahmed, Alen Sequiera, Javed Shaikh, Joaquim D’Silva from Goa, Vineeth Kurup, Shamim Khan and Ganesh Lokhande from Nashik will join the fray.

Ther will be stiff competition in Private Group B class with riders like Jagjit Singh, Kannan Naidu, Kshitij Shukla from Mumbai, Kush Rao from Goa Maansingh Thakur from Nashik, Firoz Khan, Ismail Shaikh and Akash Satpute from Aurangabad, Suhail Ahmed and Wishvas S D from Bangalore.

Yuva Kumar and Abhijeet Shetty riders from TVS Team will be in action in Novice Class to challenge them will be Adithya Thakkar, Anish Nair from Nashik Keith Dias, Wasim Shaikh Irfan Killedar from Goa.

The popularity of dirt track racing over the last couple of years has prompted Gulf Oil to renew its commitment to the sport and offer riders a chance to show off their skills in a safe environment.

Sports craft has already received 95 entries. A maximum of 25 entries per classification will be accepted.

Additionally there will be separate events for Karnataka and Mangalore riders. The standard entries closes on Wednesday 7, March 2012 and the late entries closes on March 13.

Srikanth head of sports craft and Mohan business manager were present at the press meet.