By IANS,
Panaji : As 5,000 school students gear up for the third season of the Amaron Karting Challenge in Goa later this month, the organisers of the event Thursday claimed the participation of female drivers is on the rise in India.
Mackinlay Barreto, head of Amaron Pro racing said the target for the challenge is to reach to 1.5 lakh school children worldwide. Barreto also observed a spurt in the number of girls participating in racing events.
“It is certainly a good sign, it shows that racing as a sport is slowly gaining acceptability in India,” said Barreto.
“We had 20 girls participating in the rounds which were held in Bangalore recently. In Coimbatore, the second position was won by a girl named Subhiksha. As time goes they will do even better. We are looking for more participation from women in go-karting,” he said.
On the annual Karting Challenge, Barreto said: “We will select 54 racers altogether through a total of nine cities for the national finals. The top six finishers from Goa will be racing amongst these 54 contestants who will be competing for the grand finale to be held February 6, 2011 in Hyderabad.”
The winner would get a scholarship of up to Rs.10 lakh and would be nurtured by the Amaron Pro racing academy and would eventually race in the Rotax Max National Karting Championship.
“The Amaron scholarship programme will further support the winner to get into international racing,” he said.