Jaipur Motorcycle Club celebrates 50 years with Festival of Speed

The Jaipur Motorcycle Club (JMC) recently marked 50 years since its inception by organising a three-day Festival of Speed in collaboration with the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI). The event featured dirt-track racing, a six-hour team enduro and motocross.

1. Jaipur Motorcycle Club was founded in 1975 by John Singh
2. First FMSCI National Motocross Championship was held in Jaipur in 1977
3. 52 riders participated in Festival of Speed featuring dirt-track, endurance and motocross races

Jaipur Motorcycle Club: A brief history

Hosted India’s first motocross championship

Founded in 1975, the Jaipur Motorcycle Club is sometimes regarded as the birthplace of motocross in India, largely because it hosted the first FMSCI National Motocross Championship in Jaipur in 1977. The club was founded by John Singh, who returned from the UK to find that Indian two-wheeler motorsport at the time was predominantly road-based racing.

Along with a group of enthusiasts, he started racing on dry riverbed trails on the outskirts of Jaipur. And to circumvent the massive import duties on dedicated off-road motorcycles, they began modifying Jawa and Royal Enfield bikes to make them better suited for off-roading. This essentially laid the foundation for the motocross scene in India.

Festival of Speed

Today, India’s dirt-racing landscape has evolved significantly, with events such as the Indian Supercross Racing League bringing international machinery and talent to the country. The Festival of Speed is a tribute to the club that sparked it all, held in Nayla, not far from where JMC’s journey began.

The three-day event saw 52 riders participate. Day one featured dirt-track races across three classes – Novice, Indian Expert and Foreign. Fifteen riders competed in each, with Shivam Khedekar, Shoaib Qurashi and Dhritiman Singh taking first place in each class, respectively.

Day two hosted a tightly contested six-hour endurance race with just one lap separating the top two positions. Blue Team (Goa) took the win with 222 laps, ahead of Orange Team (Jaipur), while Red Team (Rocket RCM) claimed third with 209 laps, finishing ahead of Green Team (Saahas Motorsports Jaipur).

The final day’s main attraction was the motocross event, run with 15 riders on the track at a time. Nitin Singh, Bhumik Lalwani and Yoshva Lobo emerged victorious in their respective classes.