Ninety-one riders from the city, Kalimpong and Sikkim participated in a dirt bike race that was held on a specially designed Supercross track near Singur in Hooghly. Supercross tracks are dirt and gravel circuits with sharp turns and jumps.
The two-day event — held on Saturday and Sunday — was organised by the Bengal Motor Sports Club and had bikes of various engine capacities — from 160cc to 1250cc (BMW GS).
The event had bikes running in various categories according to their engine capacities and these were further broken down into Stock, Modified and Novice classes.
Electric dirt bikes manufactured in the city by Project SR also participated in the race.
Uday Ganguli of Project SR, one of the key designers of the track, said the 850m track was a combination of very fast straights, sharp turns and jumps of varying heights designed to test the skill of the riders and the tenacity of their machines.
“We have designed this track specifically to be a Supercross track and we had a very good response here. Motorsports in the city is picking up really well after a lull because of Covid. It is encouraging to see youngsters are coming in numbers,” Ganguli told The Telegraph on Sunday.
Rudrangsho Dey, 19, a first year BBA student from Heritage, and friend Dwairath Manna, 21, a third-year BBA student from Techno India, said they had a really great time taking part in the race and described the experience as “exhilarating”.
“I fell off my motorcycle three times, but it was a great fun. I have been learning how to ride dirt bikes fast around a track and competitions like this help us hone our skills,” Dey said.