Limca Book of Records – Audi Quattro sets new time of 74:53
December 18, 2021Limca Book of Records – Audi “Quattro” sets new time of 74:53
Limca Book of Records – The GQ Drive
It all started with thoughts when they were discussing about options for a road trip on an upcoming weekend. This plan metamorphized into a road trip across India. Just that is no ordinary road trip, it is a double record attempt. With just two months to prepare they got on with a war footing. They sent an intimation about the attempt to:
To their joy, the received a positive nod. And thus they submitted the requisite documents to Limca Book of Records and India Book of Records. Therefore they fired up their ride to the greatest expedition –
“The Expedition of longest distance to be covered in the shortest time”
Limca Book of Records: An introduction to Golden Quadrilateral
The Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) is a national highway network connecting most of the major industrial, agricultural and cultural centers of India. It forms a quadrilateral connecting the four major Metro Cities of India:
- Delhi (north),
- Kolkata (east),
- Mumbai (west) and
- Chennai (south)
The other cities connected by this network include:
- Ahmedabad,
- Bengaluru,
- Balasore,
- Bhubaneswar,
- Cuttack,
- Berhampur,
- Durgapur,
- Jaipur,
- Kanpur,
- Pune,
- Kolhapur,
- Surat,
- Vijayawada,
- Ajmer,
- Vizag,
- Bodhgaya,
- Varanasi,
- Allahabad,
- Agra,
- Mathura,
- Dhanbad,
- Gandhinagar,
- Udaipur, and
- Vadodara.
Thus, the main objective of these Super-Highways is to reduce the distance and time between the four major cities of the country.
At 5,846 kilometers (3,633 mi), the GQ is the Largest-Longest Highway project in India and the fifth longest in the world. It is the first phase of the National Highways Development Project (NHDP), and consists of four and six-lane express highways, built at a cost of ₹600 billion (US$8.4 billion).[2] The project was planned in 1999, launched in 2001, and was completed in 2013.
The Golden Quadrilateral project is managed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) under the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways.
Limca Book of Records: Snapshot
- Day 1: Mumbai – Delhi (1474 kms) 30th Sept 2021 (Thursday)
- Day 2: Delhi – Kolkata – Kharagpur (1645kms) 1st Oct 2021 (Friday)
- Day 3: Kharagpur – Bengaluru (1857kms) 2nd Oct 2021 (Saturday)
- Day 4: Bengaluru to Mumbai (986kms) 2nd Oct 2021 (Sunday)
With approximately 1 Hour 30 Minutes ahead of existing record timing they have set a new Limca Book of Records with better timing of 74 Hour 53 Minutes covering 13 states of India.
Limca Book of Records: The Route – Highways Covered
- Mumbai – Delhi (1,419 km along NH 8, NH 76 & NH 79)
Mumbai–Manor–Surat–Vadodara–Ahmedabad–Udaipur–Chittorgarh–Jaipur–Gurgaon–Delhi
- Delhi – Kolkata (1,453 km along NH 2)
Delhi–Mathura–Agra–Etawah–Sikandara–Kanpur–Allahabad bypass–Varanasi–Aurangabad–Dumri–Asansol–Durgapur–Bardhaman–Chunchura–Kolkata
- Kolkata – Chennai (1,684 km along NH 6, NH 60 & NH 5)
Kolkata–Baleshwar–Cuttack–Bhubaneshwar–Ichchapuram–Srikakulam–Tuni–Rajahmundry–Vijayawada–Guntur–Ongole–Nellore–Gudur–Chennai
- Chennai – Mumbai (1,290 km along NH 4, NH 46 & NH 7)
Chennai–Kanchipuram–Walajapet–Krishnagiri–Bangalore–Tumkur–Chitradurga–Hubli-Dharwad–Belgaum–Kolhapur–Satara–Pune–Panvel–Mumbai
- The Attempt: Golden Quadrilateral Expedition by Four-Wheeler (Group) in Shortest Time – 2021
- Start: 30.09.2021 Morning 7:00am
- End: 03.10.2021 Morning 9:53am
- Total Distance Covered: 5962kms in 74 Hours 53 Minutes
- The Machine – Audi Q5 (MH 03 BH 3735)
Limca Book of Records – The Challenges faced:
No adventure is complete without obstacles. Here is a shortlist of what the team faced –
- Major Roadblock at Mumbai Bypass road in first hour of Drive
- Gujarat Baruch Bridge road Traffic
- Under Construction roads on the way from Ahmedabad to Himatnagar
- Roadblock due to Farmers Strike at Delhi entrance
- People and animals crossing road carelessly in UP highways.
- Moderately bad roads in Bihar, JH and WB.
- Full Stand Still Traffic Jam at Dhankuni (Kolkata Bypass).
- Under Construction roads throughout Orissa
- Vizag Bypass Road note even 10% constructed in last 6 years.
- Vijayavada Exit Bridge traffic Jam. Day time hundreds of Lorries cross the road creating longer waiting in manual Signals. (Situation is same from past 6-7 years)
- Road Accident and Traffic Jam near Hosur Road, Bengaluru
- Dash Camera Memory consumption not predicted properly.
- Since all four drivers are new to each other’s driving skills, it took some time to adjust to it.
Limca Book of Records – Fuel Stops Made:
- Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra
- Baroda, Gujarat
- Bhilwara, Rajasthan
- Delhi
- Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh
- Giridh, Jharkhand
- Balasore, Odisha
- Ganjam, Odisha
- Rajamundhry, Andhra Pradesh
- Nellore, Andhra Pradesh
- Hiriyur, Karnataka
- Kolhapur, Maharashtra
Limca Book of Records – Tea and Food Breaks:
- Oran for Guava
- Peepali, Rajassthan for Tea and Memory Card
- Gowalia tea
- Ajmer Expressway route, Tea
- Kalyanpur, Uttar Pradesh
- Narsiha, Bihar
- Durgapur, West Bengal
- Kaza, Andhra Pradesh
- Bengaluru Toll Booth
- Urse, Maharashtra
Limca Book of Records attempt – The Victory lap:
The ride and the excitement does not end yet here. Indeed they we all are excited to meet their families after coming back. Likewise, they were also excited and happy to greet them. The fact that this fantastic quartet returned home safe and sound with a new trophy to add to their existing cache of prizes is priceless. Thus they met Suhas’s mother and his house and sought her blessings. They were welcomed with warm hugs and and a platter of sweets to end the expedition on a cheerful note.
Having said that, with all the small, big & interesting experiences they had, they managed to create a new record on their first attempt. The team is thankful to their family and friends for being with them all the way. They also wish to thank their well-wishers who never gave up on and in fact supported them in every possible way, be it:
- Directly or indirectly to prepare for this trip
- On the road
- By tracking the journey,
- Calling them regularly to check on them
- Getting updates across to them throughout
Limca Book of Records attempt – The Team:
Sudeep N. S. – with a travelling experience of 12 years with different class of motorcycles, Cars and with few of records under his belt like –
- Limca Book of Records for Fastest Golden Quadrilateral Expedition group (Mumbai – Chennai – Kolkata – Delhi – Mumbai ) 6011kms in 118 hours . (Sept 2015)
- India Book of Records for Fastest East to west (Tezu to Koteshwar) 3706kms in 85 hours . (Nov 2016)
- Kashmir to Kanyakumari Group attempt 3903 kms in 79.5 hrs (Aug 2016)
- 18 states in 18 days Starting From Mumbai towards Leh, Delhi, Kolkata, Kanyakumari and back to Mumbai.
Driving/ Riding kilometers clocked: 5 Lakh + kms in past 12 years.
Hobbies: Motorcycle Riding, Driving, Travelling, Photography, Trekking, Adventure Sports
Occupation: Working (BE Electrical) as Manager in MNC at Mumbai
Suhas Kulkarni – with a travelling experience of 13 years with different class of vehicles and with few of Long-Distance drive experiences like:
- Mumbai to Vishakapatnam (Vizag) covering the distance of 1328kms solo drive within 16 hours (2018).
- Kanpur to Mumbai covering the distance of 1275kms solo drive within 16 hours (2021).
- Chennai to Mumbai covering the distance of 1350kms solo drive within 15 hours (2021).
Driving/ Riding kilometers clocked: 5 Lakh + kms in past 13 years.
Working (BE Mechanical) Entrepreneur into Industrial technical Services (Remat Engineering & Consultancy Services), Owner at S K MOTORS – Pre-owned Cars Showroom at Mumbai.
Kushal V Bolmal – with a travelling experience of 12+ years with different class of vehicles and with few of Long-Distance drive experiences like:
- Mumbai to Hubli.
- Hubli to Coorg
- Hubli to Chikmaglur
- Hubli Chennai and many places around.
- Neighboring states of Karnataka
Driving/ Riding kilometers clocked: 3 Lakh + kms in past 12 years.
Qualification: B.A., LLB Practicing in High Court, Dharwad Bench, Dharwad.
Kushal is Passionate about Driving, Travelling and Adventure.
Shrinivas Jadhav – with a travelling experience of 10+ years with different class of vehicles and with few of Long-Distance drive experiences like:
- Kalburgi to Mumbai
- Mumbai to Kundapur
- Mangalore to Mumbai
- Mumbai to New Delhi
Driving/ Riding kilometers clocked: 4 Lakh + kms in past 10 years.
Proprietor at Shriram Automobiles, Dombivali, Thane
Limca Book of Records – “Why we Drive”
Through this record attempt they seek to create awarenes about the following:
- Covid related precautions and Vaccination / sanitization, social distancing safety related awareness to general Public
- To indicate current status of Golden Quadrilateral Highway to Government and NHAI and request them to improve current condition before planning for expansion or something newer experiments.
- Even though it is said as minimum four-lanes in GQ, there are more than 400kms which are with two lane drive. Example Hubli to Dharwad, Agra to Etawah etc.
- Separate Lane without toll booth infrastructure for Emergency vehicles like Ambulance, Medical equipment transports etc.
- Strict lane adherence rules for heavy vehicles to avoid traffic jams and road accidents.
- Hefty online fines to the Drivers who park vehicle on highways and expressways.
- Infrastructure for Road Crossing (underpass / over bridge) for People crossing roads frequently.
- Higher lux level illumination on national highways at major Crossings and accident-prone areas.
- Removal of speed breakers from national highways as the road build quality is much below the quality with lot of potholes and crack, damage.
- Separate training for both Heavy vehicle transporters / Four wheeler travelers for highway drives.
- Cleaner Washrooms / toilets for both men and women along the National Highway (90% of them are note even clean to enter)
- During regular traffic jams like in Kolkata (Dankuni), Vijayawada Exit, Delhi Entrance, Bypass roads etc, Heavy vehicles / trucks should be strictly adhered to single right or left lane to make the way for Smaller vehicles / Emergency Vehicles.
- Sleepy Drivers are more dangerous on road, they may not hit anybody else on road but their driving acts and improper lane shifts may disturb other travelers on road.
- Wages of Heavy Transport vehicle Drivers to be increased and at least 2 Drivers to be kept for Long distance / Interstate / All India Permit vehicles.
- Number of Heavy vehicles travelling in slow moving areas like city limits and uphill area to be controlled by monitoring the vehicle density in previous toll areas.
- Complete toll data should be made available centrally with NHAI to monitor, control and redirect to avoid traffic Jams.
- Rescue vehicles for accidents, towing vehicles, ambulances are to be arranged at every 50kms at-least so that everyone can get the access to the facility in less than 15 to 30 mins of the event.
- Drink and Drive on National Highways to be Prohibited strictly and if found to be Jailed without bail and License of such Person to be cancelled permanently.
- Zebra Marking for road crossing, Lane marking, Sign Boards etc to be monitored and repaired at-least 2 times a year so that these safety measures are useful to people all the time.
click to download the GQ News Coverage & Photos of their journey – PDF Download
