Bhubaneswar, March 4: All-terrain vehicles may run on petrol engines, but at the Mega ATV Championships, the vehicles will be spurred on even more by the blood and sweat of the designers.
About 60 teams from across India got their ATVs to DLF Cyber City in Patia to take part in the competition that began today. Kalinga Motor Sports Club, in association with Autosports India, is hosting the competition under the aegis of Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India.
Tension was palpable as each team member did their bit to ensure qualification through the technical inspection round. While some were seen welding body parts on spot, others were busy double-checking the safety measures for exigencies.
Each team has a captain, four to five drivers for different rounds and the others will service the vehicle whenever needed. The budget for each vehicle is between Rs 3.5 lakh and Rs 4.5 lakh, mostly spent by college authorities and a few sponsors the students could arrange in some cases.
"Students from various departments joined the design team. The electrical department students took care of the wiring mechanical engineering students designed the structure," said Alok Sharma, captain of the Army Institute of Technology (AIT), Pune team.
The team imported its suspensions from Germany while the team from Institute of Technical Research (ITER) ordered them from the United States.
"These parts cost the most. The import duty adds to the already high cost and took our budget to Rs 4.5 lakh," said ITER captain Spandan Mishra.
The organisers will test all the ATVs under conditions that are follow disasters since there is a demand for these vehicles in disaster management. There will be endurance tests with a device simulating earthquake or landslide conditions. "We have bought a safety suit for the driver which costs about Rs 1 lakh. We are confident of safety even in the toughest condition," said Navin Beniwal, one the drivers for AIT, Pune.
ITER driver Md Junaid is also confident of safety measures while Ojas Gupta, the driver for BITS Pilani, Hyderabad is a bit nervous.
"This is the first time we are taking part in such an event. So I'm feeling a little tensed. But, I will give it my best shot," Ojas said.
