Chairman of the WIAA, Nitin Dossa, said, “Katie Bathena is no ordinary participant. We are lucky to have her still participating in our rallies and even today, she can give the other women a tough fight in the competition.” (File photo)IN THE build up to Western India Automobile Association’s (WIAA) women’s car rally on April 7, veteran rally driver and participant, Katie Bathena, on Thursday spoke on how she has never fallen out of love for the sport.
Bathena (80), is the eldest participant in the rally and will be the first to be flagged off on Sunday.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Bathena, a Juhu resident who hails from a family of rallyists, said: “It has been 50 years since I started and I have never fallen out of love for the sport.”
On how the sport has changed, she added, “Back in the day, we never had automated navigation like we have today on our smartphones and we had to depend on the person sitting next to us to navigate through our routes. The cars today are so much more advanced too, as compared to what we drove back then.”
Bathena’s son, Farhad, is a veteran rallyist and daughter Navaz represents motoring association Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile.
Chairman of the WIAA, Nitin Dossa, said, “Katie Bathena is no ordinary participant. We are lucky to have her still participating in our rallies and even today, she can give the other women a tough fight in the competition.”
The rally, in which around 125 women will participate, will be flagged off from Worli in Mumbai and conclude at Aamby Valley near Pune.
