Bigadda's Yamaha India Bike Rally crosses the chequered flag

Mumbai - January 6, 2010: It was the ultimate test of grit and determination when the rallyists of Bigadda's Yamaha India Bike Rally (IBR), which was flagged off on 7th Dec completed 21 days long journey covering over 4,500 kms across 40 cities on Yamaha bikes, at Mumbai. The India Bike Rally, which was India's first reality show on a social networking site, offered the bike enthusiasts from across the country an opportunity to explore different cities and villages and discover the real India, on Yamaha bikes.

The winning team Snehashish Das from Delhi First Runner up Karan Mendon Second Runner up Thilak Raj Rao from Bangalore Third Runner up Akshay Kaushal from Ahmedabad with over 8,000 registrations. However, only 20 (13 young men and 7 women) from Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Pune had made it to the final twenty, after a gruelling round of auditions held in November.

20 finalists were divided into 10 teams; each team consisting of 2 members stopped at a village or town ('pit stops') each day according to their route map. The tasks at these stops were designed to give participants local flavors and experiences, whether it was kite making in Gujarat, an orange harvesting festival in Nagpur, a cow milking contest in Gwalior, or a roti making competition at a dhaba en route from Delhi to Chandigarh. Each team of bikers captured their experiences through photos, videos, and blog posts that were featured on Bigadda on a daily basis.

Shivanandan Pare, COO, Bigadda said, 'IBR cultivated the passion for adventure and exploration not only in the 20 finalists, but also in the loyal fan base that followed the entire rally on Bigadda, and that has been its true success. The rally marked the first time that a reality show has been launched on any social networking platform and has created a benchmark for this format. Bigadda will continue to launch and support activities that are youth centric and create the opportunity for youngsters to empower themselves."

Pankaj Dubey, National Business Head, India Yamaha Motor, said, "The aim of this rally is to spread biking culture and through such events we will take the sport, currently followed by only experts racers in India, to the biking enthusiasts. The true success in any motor racing event is in getting people involved and a part of that was certainly achieved. It was nice to watch the spirit of motor racing among these young riders. Competitive yet respectful."

"The interest in motor sports in India is catching up and the number of young people pursuing active lifestyles is also increasing. Yamaha has been promoting a wide range of activities related to motorsports with the aim to strengthen the image of Yamaha as a sporty brand and promote safe racing culture in the country. Through activities such as these, our consumers get to experience the true racing instinct of our products, loaded with true Yamaha racing DNA", he added.

Through Yamaha IBR, India Yamaha Motors aimed to push motor sports in India to new highs and provided an ideal platform for racing talents to hone and test their skills.

BIGADDA's Yamaha IBR Champions: Snehashish Das (Delhi) & Shawn Mendes (Mumbai)

BIGADDA's Yamaha IBR Super Riders: Karan Mendon (Mumbai) & Amrita Kolhe (Mumbai)

BIGADDA's Yamaha IBR Cool Cruisers: Thilak Raj Rao (Bangalore)& Sonia Jain (Delhi)

BIGADDA's Yamaha IBR Road Riders: Akshay Kaushal (Ahmedabad) & Aalap Vinay Davjekar (Pune)

Source : Equity Bulls

Keywords