Pune: Team Nemesis Racing from College Of Engineering Pune (COEP) stamped their authority for the fifth consecutive time as they were declared the ‘Best mBAJA Team’ at the 12th Mahindra BAJA SAEINDIA 2019, which concluded at the NATRIP facility in Pithampur on Sunday.
Meanwhile DY Patil College of Engineering, Akurdi finished second and Silver Oak College of Engineering from Ahmedabad stood third.
In the eBAJA action, Institute of Technology, Nirma University from Ahmedabad walked home with the title. This was the fifth edition of eBAJA which aims to provide a platform to leverage the onset of Electric Mobility in India. The event saw participation from 50 colleges.
Sunday witnessed some intense action as teams battled it out in the Endurance Race wherein All Terrain Vehicles navigated various hurdles including mud pits, climbs, descends and other natural challenges.
Many-a-time champions, COEP continued with their fine form and finished on a high. Onkar Sarjerao, captain of Team Nemesis, credited his team and the support they got from all the quarters which made their triumph possible.
“This edition of BAJA had a lot of surprises in store. The suspension track proved to be much more difficult than last year. The Rock Crawl again was a big surprise because we were not aware of it even one day before the event. The positive thing is that we have successfully completed the Rock Crawl in the first attempt itself,” Sarjerao said.
Challenges aplenty
Talking about the Endurance track Sarjerao said “It was a hard one. The track was a combination of suspension, maneuver and rock crawl. Till one day before the event, we were on the top five position, not on the first position. We had a strategy and were determined to win the endurance any how so that we will be in the first position.”
“There was pressure on the team because we have to manage finances for the US event which will depend on the prize money of the Indian event. We analysed our entire performance a day before, we had a strategy in place on what should be done on the D-day--be it when we should refuel, when we should go slow and everything went according to plan as our driver did a good job and here is the result. We are the first in the endurance race,” Sarjerao explained.
All-round support
Talking about the support the team got Sarjerao said “The college has supported us a lot. We spent most of our time in the lab than we spend in the college, which was important. Most of the people of the team are localites. There were times we did not go home and used to work for two to three days at a stretch in the lab. Our parents also supported us a lot. All our team members are grateful for the support we have got from all the quarters.”
Sarjerao was all praise for the driver of the team Randhir Chavan who was also the vice captain of the team.
“Last year, Randhir was driving the vehicle for the first time. He made a few mistakes last year in the Indian event. It was a learning curve. In the USA event, he performed at a somewhat moderate level. Using both the experiences, Randhir’s performance has been impressive. He has followed all the strategies which were planned. We were confident on our driver right from the start.”
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