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Screening the Biopic of the Legendary 'Karivardhan' - the man who changed the face of Indian Motorsport
SimpliCity News Team Photos M Balaji · 20 Jun 2019
Coimbatore : Remembering the doyen and legend of Indian Motor Sports, Sundaram Karivardhan on his 65th birth anniversary, a biopic on his acheivements and technical innovations was released at Kari Motor Speedway at Chettipalayam here on Thursday.
An initiative by G.D. Rajkumar, Trustee, GeDee Car Museum, the biopic was aimed to preserve his legend for years to come.
A brief address was delivered by Mr. G.D Rajkumar followed by the launch of a short Biopic on Late Mr.Karivardhan at Kari Motor Speedway.
The biopic showcased some races in which Mr. Karivardhan participated, along with insights of how he designed and constructed the racing cars. It also threw light on how he solved the technical problems with the technology available at that point of time.
Earlier, this morning a special section was launched by his family members at the GeDee Car Museum which is dedicated to the life and motor sports achievements of Late Sundaram Karivardhan.
The special car section was inaugurated by late Karivardhan's sons Arjun Karivardhan and Nithin Karivardhan by in the presence of Vijayashree Karivardhan, Karivardhan's brother Pathy and sister Sunitha Santharam. Also, present was Narain Karthikeyan, formula racer.
This special section showcases different cars built by him along with more than 200 pictures and 48 press articles published about him between 1973 and 1995. This special section was inaugurated by his family members.
About Kari - The Racer No:65 from Coimbatore
Fondly called ‘Kari’, he was born on June 20, 1954 to G.K. Sundaram and Thayarammal of the Lakshmi Mills textile family. At an age, when motorsports was in an infant stage in India, he was the remarkable pioneer, a racer himself, who started to build his own cars for motor racing.
An enthusiastic personality and played a pivotal role in encouraging the youth of Coimbatore and India to take up racing. The ever-charming racer from made Coimbatore, the motor sports Capital of India. The city is home to the famous Kari Motor Speedway where budding racers are groomed while helping them showcase their skills.
He designed the Formula Maruti open wheeled race car and supported Indian racers, notably Narain Karthikeyan, Karun Chandok and Armaan Ebrahim, in their entry into motorsports. He attended the Jim Russell racing school. Later, he returned to India and started participating in the races held at Sholavaram, Chennai and Barrackpore, Kolkata.
Late, Karivardhan was not only a successful Formula car racer but had also built different racing cars. His favourite competition number was always 65.
His first race was in 1973 at Sholavaram Grand Prix meet. The Cars he raced in ranged from Premier Padmini, Datsun 510 to Formula Atlantic. He also raced in several cars of his own design and in the final years Formula 3 cars. His last race was in a Formula Ford in Chennai's MMSC track.
Kari entered in a few rallies. He later launched JK Rally team in 1992. Kari's racing team was known as Super Speeds and the main sponsor was Lakshmi Mills. The company that built his cars was P&B Engineering.
He was interested in many areas of mechanics and that included his interest in aviation, as his family owned a Cessna airplane.
In 1989, he started a small manufacturing plant near Coimbatore to manufacture Power Gilders using Yezdi 250cc motorcycle engines, later a Rotax engine. He would often test his gliders flying to the Ooty Mountains, Dindigul, Kovilpatti or Kayattar near Tirunelveli. The small airstrip in Coimbatore later became the Kari Motor Speedway.
This charming person and a brilliant engineer lost his life to a fatal air crash in 1995.
Undoudtedly, without him racing would have just been a dream for many youngsters of India. It's been 24 years since he passed away but his legacy continues to live in the hearts of all racing enthusiasts.