INRC: Moving On From Jodhpur

I am not going to try and speculate how both Gaurav Gill and members of India’s rallying fraternity must be feeling right now following the events that took place at the last round of the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) in Jodhpur. 

Suffice to say it was an extremely trying time with all manner of reactions to the incident. Thankfully for Indian rallying fans, Gill’s own reaction has been to make himself available for future INRC events. Although, a spanner was thrown into the works by a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed against the Popular Rally in Kerala that was scheduled to be held from October 31 to November 3. 

As of now, the event stands postponed. However, the PIL has been dismissed and the organizers have stated that the event is ready to be held once the legal proceedings are wound up. 

It was unfortunate to see that the fallout of the incident extended beyond just immediate reactions of shock. Some went to the extent of suggesting that Gill be banned from competing or that rallying in India itself be stopped altogether. I’m not kidding about that second one, by the way. A major mainstream newspaper went so far as to put out a podcast discussing it as a possibility. No doubt that the person who filed the PIL in Kerala had a similar thought process too. 

While it is extremely regretful, Indians beyond the motorsport community should be mindful of incidents of spectator deaths occurring at even the highest level of rallying. Case in point being a spectator death at the 2017 Monte Carlo Rally when Haydon Paddon’s Hyundai i20 WRC car went wide on an icy patch of road and hit a spectator on the outside of the corner. 

Compared to that, the Jodhpur incident where a family of three were killed in a high speed crash after they broke a safety cordon and entered the track, which was closed for public, is more a case of stupidity than an example of the perils of motorsport.  

That is a completely different conversation in itself. A very obvious example being the Isle of Man TT, where the death of a rider following a crash is frequent. Calls for the event being banned are always raised, and in the past, I was of that view too. But seeing that activities like wingsuit flying are not banned either, there is a case to allow experienced professionals to do what they do best. Especially when you consider the fact that they engage in such activities knowing the risks involved. 

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Gill is not only aware of these risks, but also of the fact that the country he is representing on the motorsport stage is not really what one would call a hub for motorsports. It has often been a struggle to be recognised. 

And if Gill is willing to carry on competing both in India and in international events and put this incident behind him, then all of us should too. 

This should, however, be a time for the rallying community and the Federation of Motorsport Clubs of India to make sure safeguards are put in place to avoid a repeat of what happened in Jodhpur. And that extends to spreading enough awareness about such an event before it is held.