Bhubaneswar, Feb. 23: For all those diehard motor sports fans, get set for some high-octane, adrenaline-inducing action as the Indo-Nepal Friendship Motor Rally kick-starts from Puri on February 27.

The 2,000-km adventure rally, which will include a motorcade of about 30 vehicles, aims to strengthen ethnic bonding between India and Nepal and help rediscover the Buddhist lineage of the two countries. It will cover Dhauli Peace Pagoda in Bhubaneswar and pass through Bodh Gaya, Rajgir, Nalanda, Patna and reach Nepal. More than 10 teams from Odisha are taking part in it. Each team has four members.

Motor sporting enthusiasts from all over the country and Nepal are participating in this rally. Retired army general, senior bureaucrats, politicians, motor rally veterans and many more first timers would be part of this event to spread the word of friendship in India and Nepal.

The participants from the state include Praveen Chandra Bhanjdeo, a former sports minister, and members of the Kalinga Motor Sports Club, Baripada, who are co-hosting the event with Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India, Nepal Automobile Sports Association, Ranchi Adventure Wheelers and Magadh Motor Sports Club.

It has been only around five years that motor sports have started catching eyeballs of enthusiasts in the state. After the Kalinga Motor Sports Club was formed in 2009, the state experienced its first-ever motor rally event in 2011 when the Speed Indian National Rally Championship kicked off its sixth leg from Utkal University campus.

Regular events held every year here have inspired more people in the state to pursue motor sports.

'Though many people here own high-end luxury vehicles and bikes, very few had an idea about motor sports. Now, a fair number of people are showing interest in speed rally but go-karting or sports biking is still a distant dream,' said Ramesh Mohapatra, a motor rallyist.

The Odia motor sports participants said that rules and regulations held a huge importance in such sports.

'One must strictly adhere to rules in this sports because riding a vehicle is not the difficult part, but the rules are when you are speeding past dusty routes from state to state on challenging tracks,' said Biswajit Mohanty, another Odia motor sports enthusiast and a participant of the rally.

When it comes to infrastructure for speed rallying, 60 to 70 acres are needed for the track. It should also have mud and dust. However, whatever area was earlier available in the state has now turned into metal roads and can no more be used for motor rally.

'For go-karting, a dedicated track of six to seven acres is needed. However, the steps are being taken to make the sports popular among people and sort out infrastructure issues,' said Mohapatra.

The motorcade of the Indo-Nepal friendship motor rally will travel along Konark, Dhauli, Bhubaneswar, Baripada and Rairangpur in Odisha and then move into Jharkhand, Bihar, Nepal and finish in Delhi.

The event will end on March 8.