Team Herald
PONDA: Philippos Matthai of Delhi emerged as the fastest in the ‘Time Attack’ event on day one of the Indian national autocross championships at Goa Engineering College campus, Farmagudi-Ponda, on Saturday.
Philippos (39), a lawyer turned automobile garage owner from Delhi covered the 1.2km route in his Volkswagon 1600 cc car in a super-fast time of 1:39 minutes. He was followed by Amey Desai of Goa who covered the track in 1:44 minutes in the open category. Umesh Rane of Thane finished third in 1:45 minutes.
As many as 23 drivers took part in the event being organised by Indian Automotive Racing Club (IARC) in collaboration with the All Goa Motorsports Association (AGMA) and Bangalore Motor Sports (BMS).
Philippose, a two-times, national autocross champion in 2019 and 2022 has been racing for the last 22 years across the road rallying and dirt track racing formats. He is of the opinion that autocross is a stepping stone for road rallying. “Dirt track racing is relatively low cost, people are able to witness the entire race and the winners come under the spotlight,” said Philippose.
Philippose was happy with the track and said, “It was fast and flowing in some places and technical and tight in some, keeping us on our toes.”
The events will be held on Sunday from 9 am.
