Bike India Awards We recognise the best in the industry. Who takes top honours this year?
It is that time of the year again when we look back at the stellar contributions to the twowheeler world from the previous year. Here are the honourees from the Bike India Awards 2020
The year 2019 was a remarkable year for the automotive space. The two-wheeler market has seen big players launch some outstanding products and even create new market segments. India is fast becoming one of the most closely-contested markets in the global two-wheeler space and this has been made evident by the spate of launches across segments that we saw in the last year.
The Bike India Awards 2020 took a look back at all these launches and our experienced jurors conducted a thorough examination of all these products in order to pick out the cream of the crop. As a publication, we have been conducting these awards for 15 editions now and this year has seen one of the best mixes in terms of two-wheeled product offerings.
The esteemed jury spent a couple of cool winter days diligently test-riding every single two-wheeler contending for the coveted award. The contenders consisted of new model-year motorcycles and scooters which were launched in India in 2019. Only the winners from each category or sub-segment make it to the final short-list comprising those vying for the Two-wheeler of the Year Award.
The award process involves a panel of renowned automotive journalists, editors, racers, and the television media in the voting process. A two-pronged pattern of voting has been put in place and a winning vehicle in each category is announced after the final tabulation of scores given by individual jurors. All votes are kept a wellguarded secret and are sealed and validated by the auditors.
The final winner of the Two-wheeler of the Year Award and the winners from various sub-categories were revealed during the award ceremony on 19 February 2020. You can read about each of them in the following pages.
KRANTI SAMBHAV
Kranti Sambhav currently leads Times Drive in his role as the Editor. His expertise with two- and four-wheelers is derived from 18 years of experience in the field of motoring journalism. During his years of service, he has also contributed to shows with Zee News and NDTV. Kranti is certainly a strict scrutineer and will put each vehicle through its paces properly before penning down his verdict.
ASPI BHATHENA
The Editor of both
Car India and Bike India, Aspi Bhathena is a veteran in the automotive field with over 40 years of experience and a motorcycle racing career spanning over 26 years. He is one of only two Indians to have raced in the Isle of Man TT races, winning a bronze replica in his very first attempt.
RAYOMAND BANAJEE
Rayomand is one of the most prolific and successful among the new breed of racing drivers in the country. He showed his remarkable potential by beating Narain Karthikeyan and has also bagged the title of the Indian National Champion in karting in 2003 and 2004. With his Indi-karting series, he is helping nurture more talent on track.
SARMAD KADIRI
The Executive Editor of both Car India and
Bike India, Sarmad has over 16 years of experience in the print publication media. Skilled in building strong team environments and co-ordinating across media, he has a sound grasp of technical information, having evaluated cars and bikes for nearly a decade. This puts him in a position to bridge the gap between the experts and the laymen.
ANOSH KHUMBATTA
Anosh Khumbatta has been fascinated by motorcycles since before he could walk and has been traveling the world riding and reviewing them for Bike India for the last four years.