For all keen aspirants, obsessed with speed and harbouring dreams in the exhilarating world of motor sports, the nation's biggest motorsport opportunity is back. The 3rd JK Tyre National Karting Championship 2002, presented by Maruti Suzuki, India's largest automobile manufacturer and co-sponsored by Amaron Batteries & powered by Indiatimes Auto promises to re-create the aura of speeding thrills & nerve-wrecking non-stop karting action throughout the nation. Kicking off with first regional round at Hyderabad on September 9, 2002, the Championship will take the pulsating fervor of speed across seven cities before its grand finale on December 15, 2002.

Announcing the launch of third JK Tyre National Karting Championship, Mr. T.K. Banerjee, Marketing Director, JK Tyre said, " India is the bedrock of much untapped potential in the field of motor sports, as is evident from the brilliant performance of Narain, Parthiva and Karun and lot other motorsport ambassadors. Bearing that in mind JK Tyre pioneered karting in India and took it to never-before frenzy through this Championship, investing over Rs. 35 crore over the last seven years in the process. We are confident that our association with Maruti Udyog would provide a stronger infrastructural platform to undertake much greater initiatives and together we can make India a formidable name in international motorsport platforms. I'm also extremely thankful to Indiatimes.com & Amaron Batteries for their kind support in making the dream of every motorsport enthusiast come true."

With an aim to make the Championship more competitive, a special set of customized Genesis Sport Karts, developed on international revered CIK ICA class standards are being introduced, which would be carried across the nation at all cities (except Hyderabad which would be using a new set of Honda powered 160cc 6 bhp karts) especially for the Championship. Right from its steering system to brakes based on aircraft spec aluminium alloy to 6 bhp Briggs & Stratton OHV Vanguard engines, these karts promise to make your pulse racing just by looking at them. The bodywork is an intricate assembly of components designed with specific requirement of high impact absorption, to suit the racing conditions in India. Indeed, a special class of karts - Colt Sport Karts - would also be made specifically for children races. Besides bringing more zoom power to the Championship, this would also ensure uniformity of karts across the various cities.

The Championship also symbolizes that Maruti Udyog Limited, whose products have time & again proved their technological superiority at various Indian motorsport events, is now coming forward to promote the cause of grassroot motorsports with karting and joining forces with JK Tyre in this exciting search for nation's new speed whizkids.

Expressing delight over their association with the Championship, Mr. Upen Roop Rai, Vice President - Indiatimes.com, the co-sponsors for the Championship said, "The JK Tyre National Karting Championship is of keen interest to us as at the heart of it lies speed and energy - the driving force of leaders. The remarkable achievements of young Indians like Karun are commendable and we are proud to be associated with an event which seeks to encourage fresh talent such as his."

Another significant highlight of the Championship this year is a complete overhaul of the Championship rules. Instead of different competition categories based on the weight of the participants, the Championship would now involve three specified classes this year, based on age group of participants - Cadet class for participants from 8 to 12 years of age, Juniors class for participants from 12 to 16 years of age and Seniors Class for participants above 16 years of age. And with an aim to discover & encourage young motorsport talent, even children participating in Cadet class would have a Grand National Finale amongst themselves - with the national winner getting the special Colt Sport Kart as his prize! And while the Juniors class winner also gets a kart, the National winner amongst Seniors class will take home gleaming new 'hot' Maruti Alto 1.1 Vxi!!! And there are cash prizes worth more than Rs. 8.5 Lacs for various category winners at various cities.

And for all karting freaks out there, there's more! The association of Amaron Batteries with JK Tyre ensures that while Amaron is supporting JK Tyre National Karting Championship, JK Tyre would support Amaron Max-a-Kart Challenge, which is held between January to July each year at few selected cities - hence promising year long karting extravaganza.

And if that was not all, JK Tyre is also planning a series of high-decibel ground activities in various key cities, with an aim to extend the platform of speed & thrill across the entire city throughout the week of the Championship in that city. And bringing in never- before glamour would be high-profile entertainers such as Shaan and lot more, who would be tantalizing the whole event with their live performances at the regional finals as well as the grand finale.