Drag Racing General Indians Abroad Non-F1

Indian drag racers `Sonu’ SS Sokhi, Amit Sharma backed by Elite Octane excel at global stage

David Bodapati November 24, 2018

1,165 4 minutes read

Sonu (centre), celebrates. A High Octane image

Hyderabad duo excels at world finals in the ManCup Motorcycle drag races in the US. An Elite Octane Inc. image

By David Bodapati

Bangalore, 24 Nov 2018: Touching speeds of over 240 kmph, Indian riders Sonu Sundeep Singh Sokhi and Amit Sharma excelled with top-class performance without much seat-time on powerful machines, and still managed to bring unprecedented laurels for the country in the Manufacturers Cup, presented by Vance & Hines, popularly known as Man Cup Motorcycle Drag Race held at South Georgia Motorsports Park from November 16 to 18 in Valdosta of Georgia in America.

Roy Johnson from Farmville, Virginia (US) won the event and Stanley Russell of Georgia, US, came thousandth of a second ahead of Sonu. As is the wont, the drag racing’s ruthless differences in demoting ranks, the inexperienced Indian still was worth every millisecond in gold. Sonu clocked 9.503 seconds to the tie of the top-two at 9.502.

Due to the weather conditions changing, everyone picked up a few seconds and Sonu clocked 9.2sec in his final run which was war quicker than the category index.

Amit was no less in another tough category. “It is indeed an amazing performance by the two fastest Indians. Sundeep Singh Sokhi’s performance was just brilliant. It is certainly not an easy task and that too in the very first experience at this level. Amit was no less by any means when he represented in another tough category with an index of 8.90 sec with a strong field of 64 racers. Undaunted, he was blisteringly quick. It’s been a dream start and Elite Octane looks forward to extending such platforms for creating many more great moments in future with the support of Rickey Gadson Drag Racing School. From Valley Run (Aamby Valley City, India) to World Finals in the USA – it has truly been an amazing journey,” revealed Rongom Tagore Mukerji, Director, Elite Octane Inc.

The Indian rider, an expert drag racer but without much international exposure, still topped the speeds touching a speed of 243.445 kmph which no one could reach in the world finals but had to settle for a third. Still it was a great achievement and the credit should also go to the team behind him which persisted and put everything together despite the extreme odds in a country, which does not give the importance it deserves for Drag Racing, which became a part of National Racing Championship only a couple of years back after Akbar Ebrahim took over the mantle of FMSCI, the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs in India, the governing body of Motorsports in the country.

Run along with the 42nd annual Mann Hill Garage event, the Hyderabad duo representing India in their first-ever World Finals put in an extremely good show with Sokhi qualifying third out of 35 bikes in the Street Fighter class and made it to the eight-bike final.

Meanwhile, another superlative performance from Amit Sharma saw him clock India’s fastest drag racing time-slip of a stunning 8.87 seconds, but could only manage to the last-16 stage astride a Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14Rs in the Seasoned Racers class which had 64 in the fray.

Supported by Elite Octane, the South Indian duo was fortunate to train at the Rickey Gadson Drag School which offers a drag-prepped surface that sprays a custom-formulated resin that acts as glue for tyres to offer phenomenal grip and the safety that comes with the package. Multiple World Drag champion Rickey Gadson was impressed by the Indians’ skills at the Valley Run at Amby Valley. before saying okay to recruit them.

High Octane, the team behind the success of Sonu Sundeep Singh Sokhi and Amit Sharma have saluted the “Fastest Indians” for their commitment and dedication to the World’s Fastest Sport.

Sokhi a picture of concentration before the start: Photo courtesy Elite Octane Inc.

“All odds were against the duo, as the Indian riders never raced on a Drag Prepped Surface, and had not been used to the Power of the machines which they could lay their hands on, for only two days of training under Rickey Gadson Drag School.

“That’s a tough ask for anyone to perform with such seasoned racers. But they did it in style and beat the best in the World and earned their respect on a world stage,” said Mukerji.

The social media was abuzz as the drag giants did the country proud and hashtag #GlobalPlatform showcasing their achievements in the Man Cup achievement was all over. The High Octane team can be followed on twitter @TheValleyRun ‏and FB @EliteOctane . Other Twitter tags that ran during the event include #WorldFinals #IndianDragRacers #worldisyourplayground #EliteOctane #RickeyGadson #ManCup #DragRacing #rgdrs

There were over 800 participants from and racers who have more than 20 years of experience competed from all over the world.

Amit Sharma becomes the `Fastest Indian Rider’ in India’s drag racing history when he stopped the clock at 8.87sec in his class. He earned his way to the last-16 in a seasoned racers class of 64 entries.

Elite Octane’s initiative has opened a doorway for India Racers to perform at the highest level in the “World Fastest Sport – Drag Racing”. The initiate which started at `The Valley Run 2017′ at Amby Valley saw multiple world champion Rickey Gadson’s hosted the first-ever Rickey Gadson Drag Racing School in India. The two Indian Racers were selected from this very group by the 11-time World Champion. “The journey from Valley Run to World Finals has been incredible and we certainly see a bright future ahead for Indian Racers,” said Rongom Tagore. Both Sonu and Amit were on Kawasaki ZX14R which were provided by Rickey Gadson.

You can watch the video here.

Street Fighter Class details:

Street Fighter is the street-bike index class contested at AMA Dragbike National events and is considered the entry point into index racing. Most bikes compete with either big displacement normal-aspirated motors to nitrous or turbocharged machines with a D.O.T street tire without the aid of wheelie bars.

All compete with a heads-up, pro-tree start. Street Fighter is run on qualified 64 bike field, based on a standard of 9.50/6.10 index. Standard safety is a requirement. During qualifying, runs quicker than the 9.50/6.10 index will be placed at the bottom of the qualifying sheet. During eliminations, runs quicker than the standard disqualify the rider under Handicap “break-out” procedures. All entries must be self-starting. No starter carts or bump starts permitted.