There is a small sign that tells you that the flags and the miniature Formula One cars that you are looking at are part of the Mazkart Racing track -- the first dirt track in the country -- which also intends to double as the hunting ground for motorcycle rallyist's, taking up from where the culture of Motorcross had left off in Pune a couple of years ago.

``The basic difference between a tar or concrete go karting track (which is what India had till now) and a dirt track is that while the former are meant for racing, this is custom built for rallying,'' explains Dinshaw Mazda of the Mazda motor sports clan which has made use of all its experience in building the dirt karting centre.

That, however, is not all. Mazda adds, ``The driving technique is very different among the two.'' To quote one example, unlike in a tar track where you have to decelerate to get out of a turn, here the driver has to throttle even more to ``power out'', leading to higher speeds and the skidding that is responsible for the flying dust that is the hallmark of motor sports worldwide. This, however, also means that the chances of loosing control are higher. To counteract this, the designs of the karts are modified with special tires that are bigger and `knobby' and a higher guard to protect the driver.

The 600 mtr track has been designed by the expertise of Sanjay Mazda -- the latest member to take on the Mazda heritage with five years of racing and titles in the Ganesh festival and International Motorcross under his belt.``We have kept the design of the bends and straights flexible,'' explains Sanjay, ``so that the track can also be made broad enough for motorcycles.'' Which is what the Mazdas' plan to do in the monsoons, when it becomes to slushy for karting. Mazkart has 10 karts, all of them built indigenously using Kinetic engines and can push speeds of upto 70 kmph.

``Pune is, by nature, an adventurous city. There is more openness in accepting new things, new lifestyles,'' says Dinshaw. ``The city used to be the mecca of motor sports, before corporate money power moved a lot of events to the south of the country,'' he adds.

And with the increasing number of go karting centres in the city (four at last count), the very first kart racing championship held last month and the first dirt track of the country all coming up one after the other, the message is clear: You've got competition Chennai, Pune has very much arrived on the Indian motor sports scene!