New Delhi : Consistently surpassing their own standards for excellence in motor sports, JK Tyre has bagged the ‘Motor Sport Team of the year 2004-2005 ’, bestowed by Overdrive, in association with the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA), Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and validated by Price Waterhouse Coopers. In a function held in the city to felicitate the awardees, the award was accepted on behalf of JK Tyre by Mr. Arun .K. Bajoria, President - JK Tyre. In 2004, JK Tyre raced away in all types of motor sport activities be it karting, racing and even rallying, stamping their authority and dominance on the sport.

Accepting the award, Mr. Arun K Bajoria, President of JK Tyre said, “I am thankful to Overdrive for conferring this honor upon us and I accept this award with great pleasure and humility. With over Rs. 40 crore spent in setting up enviable infrastructure in the country and continuing successes with the likes of Narain Karthikeyan, Karun Chandhok, Armaan Ebrahim, Rayomand Banajee and reigning champion Karmajit Singh in the APRC, we at JK Tyre believe things will only get better. The endeavor to promote motor sports has been one for over two decades and the levels of commitment justify this award. I am proud to announce that every Indian participating in the international scenario of motor sport today is backed only by JK Tyre be it Karting, Racing and now even Rallying.”


The leading car of the rally is being driven by India's most respected ralliest driver for Team JK Tyre - Hari Singh (Five time National Rally Champion and World's first Asia Zone Champion 2000) along with the President of FMSCI - Mr. Vicky Chandhok. The rally driving on JK Tyre would traverse a grueling 8,000 kms through 8 of the 10 ASEAN countries - 'Networking People and Economies'. Thirty-three cars from 11 countries and 29 other support vehicles comprise the convoy for the rally.

“We have had Narain put in some astounding performances at the Nissan World Series and winning some very prestigious races run on Formula 1 tracks challenging the top contenders for the title. This year also saw Karun graduating from the British Formula 3 (Championship Class) to race in the last four races of the Nissan World Series as Narain’s teammate putting in a couple of good performances with a whole lot of promise for the next season.

With the Rotax Max Indian series that got kicked off in 2004 allowing our boys to train and race in 2-stroke karts giving them the edge and total control. No more do young aspiring drivers wanting to make a name for themselves in the world of karting have to travel to International shores with this series being introduced in India.

For the first time ever the Asia Kart Open graced our shores at the Kari Motor Speedway, the highlight being Rayomand Banajee - last year’s & reigning JK Tyre National Karting Champion stealing the show and finishing on top step of the podium in the senior category and the latest JK Tyre prodigy Armaan Ebrahim leading in the drivers title to the junior category.

In addition Karamjit Singh the ‘Flying Sikh’ from Malaysia sponsored by JK Tyre had a dream run in the Asia Pacific Rally Championship and came to India for the last round as the confirmed APRC champion with one rally to spare. That certainly didn’t deter him for going out once again and doing it for his team, Indian sponsor JK Tyre and his co-driver Allen Oh who incidentally has retired from rallying after the India leg of the APRC.

On December 9th & 10th we had an Indian contingent - Team JK Tyre India travel to Dubai for the 25 hr karting Endurance Race for the very first time. Pitted against the best in the business they were robbed of a podium finish and finished fourth, 12 laps behind the leaders and 6 laps in front of the renowned BMW Williams Formula 1 team. A stunning performance by the seven-member team never having run in an Endurance race before.

Started as an idea with the government, the India - ASEAN rally all became a reality promoting tourism, trade and commerce between the ASEAN countries. JK Tyre is proud to be associated as the official tyre sponsors for the rally with renowned JK Tyre rallyist - Hari Singh and our very own Vicky Chandhok leading the rally in car no.1 across 10 countries. The rally received an overwhelming response all along the route and exposed people to the diverse cultures and communities and the one thing we all share in common - humanity and love.

In the concluded seventh National Racing Championship on December 19, 2004 three new champions emerged. From the streets of Kolkata, to the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore, to finally culminate at the Sriperumbudur track in Chennai, the championship has gotten bigger and better in 2004 with the number of rounds being increased to seven and spread over three different locations. Novel to this year’s championship has also been the inclusion of the Formula LGB 1300cc category in a competitive class of its own. In the saloon class it was last year’s champion - J D Madan who stole top honors and won himself Maruti Esteem for the second year in a row. In the newly introduced Formula LGB as a competitive class it was our now youngest ever champion after Karun Chandhok, the latest JK Tyre prodigy - Armaan Ebrahim who won himself the title and a brand new Esteem even though he is too young to be driving on the roads. And in the coveted Formula Maruti category in a nail biting finish, going down to the last race of the last round an ex-rallyist from Delhi now a phenomenon in racing - Gaurav Gill.

Also on December 26th we concluded the fifth successful National Karting championship on a virgin track laid out at the Millennium city of Gurgaon. Six cities, 1400 participants culminating into thirty of the nation’s finest and most promising drivers taking to the freshly laid track at the grand finals. It was the reigning champion Rayomand Banajee who successfully defended his title and drove away with top honors once again in the senior category. The upcoming aces in the sport Akhil Khusklani and Vishnu Prasad topping the junior and cadet classes respectively.”