Vicky Chandhok

rdf:langString Vicky Chandhok

rdf:langString Vicky Bharat Chandhok (born 7 April 1957) is an Indian racing driver and motorsport administrator. He was the president of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) from 2003 to 2005 and from 2010 to 2013. During his second stint as the president of the Indian federation, he was associated with bringing the Indian Grand Prix Formula 1 races to India. He also supervised the construction of the F1 track at Buddh International Circuit as a representative of the FIA and Bernie Ecclestone. He was also the consultant for Jaypee Sports International (JPSI), which constructed and owned the F1 track. He is currently a member of the FMSCI Council and a member of the FIA Truck Racing Commission. He is also a multiple Indian rallying champion. He is the son of Indu Chandhok, a founding member of the FMSCI and the Madras Motor Sports Club (MMSC), and his son Karun Chandhok is India's second F1 driver. Chandhok married Chitra in 1982 and has two sons, Karun Chandhok and Suhail Chandhok. While his grandfather Lala Indersain Chandhok was a keen enthusiast who sowed the seeds of motorsports in the family, it was his father Bharat Indu Chandhok, the second son of Indersain, who not only took part in Sholavaram races but was also an active member in founding FMSCI and MMSC. Chandhok began his driving career making his debut in a modified Ambassador in 1972 at Sholavaram and continued to race in 1970s and 80s and also participated in the Indian National Rally Championship for many years. After winning over 350 trophies, he retired in 2000 after 28 years of racing and rallying. His last competitive outing was the South India Rally in 2000 which he won after a hiatus of five years in a Mitsubishi Lancer, which made its debut in Indian Rallying, with Sandeep Lal as co-driver while his long-time navigator Manoj Dalal was the Clerk of the Course of the event. In 2018, he made a one-time comeback taking part in the South India Rally 2018 at the age of 61, where he bagged a third place in the INRC1 category along with co-driver Chandramouli. In 1989, Chandhok founded the Wallace Sports and Research Foundation to train drivers who took part in rallies and races. One of the first students of Wallace Foundation is Akbar Ebrahim, who later became the FMSCI president. Ebrahim drove the first race at new Madras Motor Sport Track under the Wallace banner.