The sprint from iimb to sjr-ipark: On a lap with me

The sprint from iimb to sjr i-park starts predictably from iimb. To be more specific it starts in the dark and musty underground garage of the college. The dark corridor opens into sunlight with a steep 50 degree slant rising upwards to the road. The intial half a kilometer is a curvy and speedbraker ridden path that beautifully cuts through the dense iimb foliage until you reach the front gate. Here one would have to virtually take a 90 degree turn to the left at the gates and will invariably require the drivers to come to a near complete halt as the gaurd opened the gates. One could reach a maximum of around 50 - 60 kms per hour in this stretch. From here on the race is on.

Imeediately outside the gates you hit the main road perpendicularly. Braking hard and quickly accelerating from the line are essential as you find a gap in the traffic and hit the main road. The track is bumpy and pot holed and curves gently to the left. The more important aspect is the traffic that does not let you speed at more than 50 kmph. The stretch from this area to the silk board crossing is a maze and drivers could take multiple routes of varying traffic and road quality to reach the spot. The average speed can rarely increase beyond 50kmph during this period with several very low speed stretches interspersed with bursts of high speed and hard braking.

The infamous silk board crossing requires almost every driver to stop for the signal before merging with the flow into the 'outer ring road'. From here on drivers push the pedal. The flowing traffic means that the initial spurt of acceleration is gradual and soon you are doing 80kmph on the gently turning but wide ring road. The first speedbreaker forces the drivers to hit the brake hard and take it at an uncomfortable 3rd gear before quickly pushing the gas again. This is a spot where overtaking is possible. A burst of acceleration and you encounter another speed breaker and then another. These short bursts require the driver to be extremely alert as there as brakes are hit at high speeds and acceleration is immediate. The ring road continues until it takes a strong 40 degree turn to the left. From here on the road becomes wider and offers the maximum chance for high speeds in the entire sprint. The maximum speeds in this circuit are reached here and you can do upto 100kmph and once again drivers have to be extremely careful about the speed brakers. This stright is long continues until marathahalli where drivers take a slide to the left into the twisty upward inclining road the skirts the highway. There is an invariable stop. Once up the incline which is usually done in the second gear due to the extremely high traffic you have to take a curvy 60 degree right turn and continue this slow pace until the end of the irritating marathahalli bridge. The heavy traffic, narrow track and drivers desperate to overtake make this the most challenging part of the sprint and tests the drivers skills to the maximum. Once past the bridge you can push on the accelaratpor to about 50 kmph until the 90 degree left and then accelerate upto 60 kmph. This twisty high speed, traffic filled portion of the circuit is where most accidents could happen and hence require utmost attention. You finally hit a 90 degree right leading to IT parks and this section of the track is good enough to hit speeds though for a short period until the final turn of the sprint a sharp left that leads straight to the saibaba hospital and SJR i-park.