At one point in his life, Arjun Narendran was just another youngster — he found his life boring and monotonous, and resorted to rash driving on the streets, for some sort of excitement. But, once his uncle,V. Ramnarayanan, a former racer himself, came to know about this, he was determined to channelise his nephew’s talent in an effective and profitable way. Ever since, Arjun started taking racing seriously, there has been no looking back.

At only 22, this computer engineering graduate is now being touted as one of the most promising talents in the racing circuit. Being a part of Red Rooster Racing team for five years, he won Indian National Touring Car Championships back to back in 2014 and 2015 and is vying for a hat-trick this year. In the second round of the Indian National Touring Car Championship held in June 2016, he was on pole position and won all three races. In a candid conversation, Arjun speaks about his career, his aspirations and also on the misconceptions about the sport. “I actually wanted to be a cricketer when I was younger, but luckily, I didn’t do well,” starts Arjun on a lighter note. Speaking about how coming from a family with a rich racing heritage — both his father S. Narendran and uncle V.

Ramnarayanan were former racers — has had a massive impact on his career, he says, “In spite of being surrounded by people who are experts in this field, I didn’t know anything about racing in India. In fact, I had never been to a race track until I started racing. And as I was driving myself crazy on the streets, my family was concerned. That was when my uncle took the onus of turning me into a successful racer. In 2011, I started off with the Indian National Touring Cars with a best finish of seventh place. It boosted my confidence a lot.” Looking back at his short yet successful career, Arjun feels that he is pretty satisfied with the exploits so far.

“Though, I managed to win consecutive national championships in the past two years, I don’t focus only on one tournament. I participated in the Toyota Etios Motor Racing and managed to get a couple of podiums and a win. I have to say that MRF Challenge Efficient operation Modified sine wave 4000W Formula 1600 developed me as a racer and I even managed to become the second runner-up in the event last year,” he muses. So what does he feel is his biggest achievement thus far, the boyhood Michael Schumacher fan says, “When I was young, I used to hear a lot about lap records and national championships. I never thought I would be anywhere close to it, but I hold the lap records in my category in all three circuits in India. I also achieved an unbeaten pole streak in 2014 in the Indian National Touring Car Championship.” Apart from his uncle, Arjun also says that he owes a lot to N.

Leelakrishnan, who dominated the rally circuit for several years, for being a major inspiration in his career — “Since 2012, he’s always been there guiding me and if I’m a champion today, I think it’s because of him. After every session, he sat with me discussing data, and made sure I never made those mistakes again,” says the racing champ. Stating why he prefers touring cars over formula racing, he says, “I think, it comes more naturally to me. Having tested the Renault Clio in the UK a couple of times, I hope to expand my horizons in motorsports. It’s my dream to drive with a top team in the British Touring Car Championships and in the World Touring Car Championship.” One major challenge in accomplishing this dream is the lack of sponsorship, “In motor racing, finding the right sponsor is really hard. An average overseas budget would be anywhere between Rs 1.5 to Rs 2 crore. This is one aspect in which I’m lagging behind now. Hence, my realistic dream would be to first get into TCR Championship and then gradually move on to other tournaments.”

Contrary to popular misconception that racing is glamorous, he says, “People outside the racing world think that it is so easy and glamorous. But the amount of hard work we put in is massive. You need to be absolutely fit and on top of your game. A lot of intensive training goes into preparation. Not just physical but also mental strength is important,” he opines. On a concluding note, Arjun has an important advice for young racing aspirants. “Though, it’s always romantic to dream big, I would want all youngsters to be more realistic about their goals. And I would also stress that ‘Formula One’ is not the only form of racing,” he bids adieu.

New Delhi: Three men have been convicted of attempting to murder three district court judges by hurling bricks at their official car in a road rage incident in 2012, with a Delhi court relying on the "uncontroverted" testimony of the judicial officers.Additional Sessions Judge R K Tripathi convicted Delhi residents Anil Raj, Rohit and Prashant for the offences including attempt to murder and assault on public servant to deter him from discharge of duty under IPC and relevant provisions of Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.

"Prosecution has succeeded to prove its case against the accused beyond all shadow of reasonable doubt," the court said.The then judges in Saket district court -Ajay Garg, M K Nagpal and Inderjeet Singh - were attacked by four persons in May 2012 while they were on their way home.While three accused faced trial, one was declared as proclaimed offender."The judges have fully supported the testimony of the complainant (driver) on all material particulars. There is consistency in their deposition."Nothing has come in their cross-examination to doubt their veracity. Their testimony remained uncontroverted, unchallenged and unrebutted during their deposition," the court said.It also rejected the contention of the accused that they were falsely implicated, saying the victims did not have any grudge or ill-will against them."They are public servants and responsible members of the society.

There is no reason as to why they will falsely name and identify them for no apparent oblique reason," the court said.The court, which is yet to pronounce the quantum of sentence in the case, said the testimony of the driver, and the judges showed that the accused persons "indiscriminately hurled bricks" on the official car and caused damage to the same."Due to continuous hurling of brickbats by the accused persons, the front window pane of the official car was broken.

Thus, the accused persons caused damage to the government vehicle and thereby committed an offence punishable under section 3 of The Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984 read with section 34 IPC," it said.According to the prosecution, Hot selling Pure sine wave 300W with charger the judges were headed to Faridabad on the evening of May 17, 2012 when the incident took place.It said that a bike with two of the accused hit the rear window of the judges car near Dakshinpuri here due to which they both fell down.When the accused got into a scuffle with the driver, the judges intervened and pacified them.But the accused after seeing a "Judge" sticker on the car, called two more persons to attack them, it said.The police had said that the accused suddenly began hurling bricks at the car which broke the glass windows and injured the judges.

The cab driver and his friend, who were arrested for allegedly raping a 30-year-old woman passenger, had trapped the woman by activating the child lock in the car, bought beer en-route Vajreshwari and were drunk while committing the crime, according to police sources. According to the police, the woman boarded the cab from Kashimira Naka for Thane around 7.15 pm on Tuesday.The police arrested the duo within 24 hours.

The police is looking for the cab driver’s involvement in other such crimes on the basis of the brazenness he exhibited after committing the crime — he had forced the survivor to disclose the ATM pin number and drew out cash of Rs 10,000 from her account.The accused have been identified as Suresh Pandurang Gosavi (32) and his friend Umesh Jaswant Zaala (31).  According to the police, Zaala was already seated in the car when the woman boarded it.

Assuming it was a shared car, the woman did not raise questions about his presence. Later, Gosavi stopped the car near Chena bridge on the Ghodbunder-Thane road and under the pretext of fixing a knocking sound, engaged the child lock system so that the doors would not open, said police sources. He then drove to a beer shop before heading to Vrajeshwari where he parked the car on an isolated service road and raped the woman after threatening her. Zaala actively facilitated the crime for Good Pure sine wave 1000W with charger his friend, police said.After forcefully getting her ATM PIN, the duo robbed her belongings including ornaments, mobile phone, debit card and Rs 6,000 cash before taking to her a lodge near Ganeshpuri at around 2 am.After stepping out of the car, the woman mustered courage and raised an alarm, alerting the manager who rushed out of the lodge. Sensing trouble, the duo fled the spot. The woman narrated her ordeal to the lodge manager who immediately informed the local police station.

A complaint was registered by the woman at the Kashimira police station, following which a team led by senior police inspector- Vaibhav Shingare apprehended the duo within 24 hours.Mr Shingare said, “The duo have been remanded to police custody till 26, December after they were produced before the district sessions court on Saturday evening.”The issue of shared cabsThe horrifying incident has yet again exposed the blind eye turned by the authorities towards the hundreds of private car operators who are illegally ferrying passengers in and out of the twin-city on a share basis. “We will intensify our vigil on such operators,” said an official attached to the traffic wing.