The eastern qualifying round for the Indian National Autocross Championship, Indian Oil Servo Calcutta Autocross, in association with The Telegraph, kicked up a storm of dust at the Haldia Mela Prangan on Sunday.

Hyderabad driver Mazdayar Vatcha competed in the Calcutta Autocross with his Maruti Esteem and won in several categories.

Veteran rallyist Nirav Mehta won in the stock 1650cc category with a timing of 2:06.790. The second and third positions were taken by Abhijit Singh and Hero Sen. Stock category has cars with zero modification.

Competitors took turns to drive through the 1.3km dirt track. The ones with the best timing won. “Though we had a dirt track, no potholes or undulations were allowed. That’s a rule with autocross. Each time any part of the road became undulated, we ran a heavy roller to smoothen it out,” an organiser said.

Abhijeet Singh won the stock 1651cc and above category with a time of 2:05.430. In the modified 1400cc category it was Mazdayar Vatcha with a timing of 02:04.900. The modified category has cars that have been changed from the factory-fitted condition.

“Racing drivers customise their cars to make them race-worthy. They map their cars, that is modify the Electronic Control Unit (ECU) to let more fuel into the engine for a good pick-up. Suspensions are modified to run on dirt roads, roll cages inserted inside to protect drivers in case the car rolls,” an organiser said.

In the modified 1650cc category, Mazdayar Vatcha bettered his performance to clock 02:03.030 and take the first position in the category.

Deepsikha Bhaduri took third position in the unrestricted 1650cc category with a timing of 02:31.820. In the ladies’ open category, she bettered her timing to 02:23.020 to take first position. The second place went to Sunita Prasad Shaikh with a timing of 02:35.130. The first and the second winners from each category will compete in the national autocross in Vijaywada.