The annual Maruti Suzuki autocross, organised by Northern Motorsport, was held in Noida during the dying days of 2006 - a rightful send off to a good automotive year gone by.

It must be said that this event, like practically every other motorsport event in the country, doesn't receive the kind of recognition it deserves. It really is the most accessible and economical way of experiencing the joy of sliding a car, any car, on dirt in a controlled environment.

The other options include entering a round of the INRC (Indian National Rally Championship), the Desert Storm (coming up in February 07) or the venerable Raid-de-Himalaya. Whereas previously you would've needed a rally prepared car, now both the Desert and the Raid have a TSD (time speed distance) category where the terrain remains largely the same, and the cars can remain in more or less stock trim. Nevertheless, even this requires a considerable more time and money than showing up in Noida on a cold foggy morning in the car you drive to work everyday with the aim of sliding your way through a kilometer plus of track as fast as possible.

The autocross consists of cleverly designed parallel tracks - allowing two competitors to start side by side. To ensure that both competitors cover exactly the same distance the track consists of a crossover bridge, allowing one car to go over the bridge (with no points awarded for the highest jump) while the other crosses from underneath, and vice versa on the second lap.

The track is designed not for maximum speed but to gauge a drivers skill in managing wheelspin, understeer, oversteer and accuracy, all at the same time. Leaving the start line you encounter a fairly quick 90 degree right that leads to a number of tight bends, which bring you either over or under the bridge, after which you're allowed to build up some speed just as you come up against a tight chicane, about a car's width, manned on both sides by menacing water filled steel drums, which claimed more than one victim over the course of the event.