Shivani Pruthvi, first Indian woman to take part in Asia Auto Gymkhana

David Bodapati July 11, 2019

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Team India at the registration desk on Thursday. An INDIAinF1 image

Shivani Pruthvi after being felicitated by the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences recently. Photo: India in F1

Bengaluru, 11 July 2019: A three-member Indian team, including a woman driver, representing the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs in India (FMSCI) will take part in the first round of the Asia Auto Gymkhana championship to be held at Yogyakarta in Indonesia on July 13.

Shivani Pruthvi of Davangere, Sahil Khanna, and Karan Malik will represent India in the event which will see 39 drivers from 12 countries vie for top honours. The trio will be up against contingents from Taiwan, Singapore, New Zealand, Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea, Nepal, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, and the host country Indonesia. There, all competitors will drive identical race-prepped Toyota Agyas (aka Wigo in the Philippines) on multiple gymkhana course layouts in a knock-out format. “It is a great honour to represent India and we will strive our best to bring laurels to the country,” said Shivani.

New for 2019 is the introduction of the ladies championship, run under the support of the FIA’s “Women in Motorsport” program. With this, FMSCI has selected Shivani Pruthvi to be India’s first female representative. Shivani has recently taken part in the South India Rally, the first round of the Indian National Rally Championship at Chennai along with her mother as the navigator in the only all-woman team. A couple of days back, Shivani was felicitated by the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences before heading to Indonesia for the first round of Asia auto Gymkhana championship.

The31-year old Sahil Khanna is the current reigning Autocross National champion in the Stock 2w class 1100 to 1400cc for 2019. He also won the third place in the T1 category of Desert Storm 2018 . The 26-year old Karan Malik won overall 2nd place in the T2 category of Desert Storm this year. Shivani, who is just 21 years, won the Times Women’s driver in 2018 and retained the title this year. She also did well in the INRC first round in Chennai with her mother Deepthi as co-driver last month.

The AAGC’s first event in 2019 will take place under the city night lights of Yogyakarta, located on the Indonesian island of Java.