The Valley Run 2017 - High Octane Performance Unleashed

This wasn't the first time I was witnessing a sportscar or a superbike. But this was the first time I was witnessing all of them together - in action. And what a sight it was! Sports cars going against tuner cars, SUVs going against performance sedans, tweaked up bikes against stock superbikes and the wheelie competition in which riders had to hold the front wheel up for the entire 400 metres while being fast; The Valley Run had it all. 

Also, for the first time, India was host to Rickey Gadson Drag Racing School, for two days before The Valley Run, where bikers were schooled by Gadson himself, on how to launch perfectly and shift gears smoothly. For those of you who don't know, Gadson is the 11 times world drag racing champion and the most recognised face in motorcycle drag racing around the world. 

The Valley Run 2017, which was also the first round of the India Speed Week took place on March 10, 11 and 12 at the Aamby Vally City Air Strip.  All cars and bikes were divided into various categories. Although two vehicles were being launched at the same time, this was not a versus or knockout event, which, in my opinion, was a bit disheartening. The timing of each run was recorded and the car/bike with the best time was crowned victorious. 

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Speaking of categories, there were a total of 13 classes with 40 divisions to classify the machines based on engine capacity and other parameters like type of fuel, imports/India-built and others. 

The fastest category in cars was the 'J' unrestricted class which saw cars like the Lamborghini Huracan, Nissan GT-R, Audi R8 and the Toyota Supra. In bikes, the O2 open class was the fastest with bikes like the BMW S1000RR, Yamaha YZF R1 and Suzuki Hayabusa competing for the top spot. 

Day 1 - March 10, 2017

The first day of The Valley Run 2017 saw four motorcycle categories - M1, M2, M3 and M4 battle for the fastest time. M1 and M2 consisted of two-stroke motorcycles, whereas M3 and M4 were comprised of four-stroke bikes, up to 225cc and produced in India. The winners in their respective categories were as follows.

Day 2 - March 11, 2017

On the second day, The Valley Run saw 20 categories battle hard to post the fastest time. Fastest classes among these were the G (open class for Indian cars) with cars like Honda City, Skoda Laura and Skoda Octavia, P (muscle bikes) with bikes like Ducati Diavel, Suzuki Intruder and Harley Davidson Fat Boy, and M7 (551cc to 850cc 4 stroke inline 3/4 bikes) with bikes like Yamaha YZF R6, Kawasaki Ninja 650 and Triumph Street Triple. The day concluded with the W1 class which was for the fastest wheelie on Indian bikes. 

The Winners of Day 2 were as follows. 

Day 3 - March 12, 2017

This is when the heartbeat notched up. Day three was full of supercars and superbikes, taking their turn to become the fastest car/bike of the event. Also, on day three, we saw legendary Rickey Gadson create a new record in India on the Kawasaki H2 and with the fastest time of the event of 9.57 seconds and hitting 253kph. The fastest car of the event came from the J (unrestricted) class, where a red Lamborghini Huracan posted a time of 11.293 seconds. The fastest bike was from the O2 class; a BMW S1000RR with a time of 9.898 seconds. 

The day concluded with the fastest wheelie contest of superbikes and was a perfect end to the high octane day. The winners of day 3 were as follows. 

The Valley Run has seen immense growth in terms of both participation and spectators. The participants get to unleash the full potential of their cars and bikes in a controlled environment and the spectators get to witness some insane cars and bikes post very fast times. As an added delight, tuner cars from around the country also get a chance to unleash their performance and compete for cash prizes up to Rs 60 lakh. I can't wait to go to The Valley Run next year, and this time, as a participant.