Starting point: Calcuttans with drive, in jeans, tees and caps, started trickling into the Salt Lake stadium from late morning to sign up for The Telegraph Rally 2010, held in association with Shrachi. The promise of a “fun-filled, adventurous Sunday afternoon” drew the participants to the 91.39km corporate leg of the rally. Swift, Maruti Esteem, Ford Endeavour, Mitsubishi Cedia, Toyota Innova, Hyundai Accent — 18 of them lined up at the VIP gate for the driver and navigator to slip into the front seats with pen, paper and calculator.

Percussionist Bickram Ghosh and wife Jaya arrived with son Tatin, 4, (picture above) for a swish and swing of the huge black and white chequered flag to send the engines whirring and the wheels vrooming.

Who was there and why: A mix of company representatives ranging from HDFC Securities, Siddha Group and Sodexo to Emami, UTI Mutual Funds, Tata AIG Life Insurance and MN Dastur & Co. Almost all first-timers except two old-timers. According to Saptarshi Saha and Joydeep Pal, regular rallyists since 2001, a city rally poses a different kind of challenge. “The strategy in city rallies is a lot more difficult in terms of navigation because you need to abide by traffic rules and signals, not take wrong turns, wear your seat-belts and have all your car papers in place. It’s like sending out a message to other drivers,” explained Saptarshi.

Rally route: Speed alone would not get the participants anywhere since it was based on the time-distance-speed formula. After the flag-off at the Salt Lake stadium, the cars wheeled past Nicco Park and went through Salt Lake before taking the Basanti Highway to hit through Park Circus and Gariahat, then Southern Avenue, New Alipore, Vidyasagar Setu, Kona Expressway, Delhi Road, Bally Bridge, Belghoria Expressway and then back through EM Bypass to the finish line at the Salt Lake stadium.

“The idea is to initiate more people into car rallies and give them a first-hand feel,” said Kunal Banerjee, clerk (or co-ordinator) of the course and the executive vice-president of the Bengal Motor Sports Club.

Winners: Woman power ruled at the corporate rally with Neeta Dasgupta, 56, and Shikha Saha, 55, (picture left) in their black Wagon R for Manthan Broadband emerging winners (Rs 10,000). Saptarshi Saha and Joydeep Pal in their Maruti Esteem, also representing Manthan, came second (Rs 7,500).

Starting point: The Telegraph Rally 2010 was flagged off from Nicco Park on Friday by chess champ Dibyendu Barua. Back after a two-year break, the rally organised by the Bengal Motor Sports Club ran from Calcutta to Jamshedpur and back, 458km up and 396km down. The Jamshedpur leg was flagged off by Tata Steel MD H.M. Nerurkar and ended at Dhulagarh truck terminal, on NH6, on Saturday.

Who was there: Twenty-seven four-wheelers, many a revamped Esteem, a Lancer, a Bolero, an Indigo and an Indica, plus 13 two-wheelers. The best in the city rally circuit were there, including the father-son duo, Arindam and Amittrajit Ghosh, in separate cars, and Subir Roy, winner of the 2008 Calcutta Jamshedpur Rally. The only all-women’s team of Dipali Poddar and Shikha Saha, and five other women participants, including one driver and four navigators.

Winners: In four-wheelers, Soham Hazra and Amit Saha in Esteem were first (Rs 40,000), Arindam Ghosh and Somdeb Chanda second (Rs 30,000). In two-wheelers, Sutanu Roy and Mukesh Thakkar (seen with actress Pallavi at the prize distribution) on a Honda came first (Rs 25,000). Dipali Poddar and Shikha Saha were the best all-women’s team (Rs 5,000).

Last word: “I am not disheartened about coming second. In my 50s, the only reason for participating is to encourage the new generation to join this sport,” said runner-up Arindam Ghosh.