A rather fascinating video of a race between auto-rickshaws seems to have caught the fancy of netizens as it has gone viral across multiple social media platforms. The video is claimed to be from India and is being shared as "desi version of Formula One race".
In the said video, auto-rickshaws can be seen crashing and rolling their way through a challenging race track made up of jungles, river bodies and countless potholes.
However, as it turns out, the clip is from Sri Lanka and not India as such auto-rickshaw races are organised in the island country.
The claim
A Twitter user by the name Sunitha Nahar shared the 2 minutes and 20 seconds long video along with the caption, "Best thing you will see in the internet today. India's version of Formula One Race," leading many to believe that the race was held in India.
The clip went viral in no time, garnering close to 40,000 views and over 2,000 likes within a few hours.
Have a look at the video here:
Best thing you will see in the internet today. India’s version of Formula One Race . ? pic.twitter.com/5wdn6Aaj44
— Sunitha Nahar (@SunithaNahar) December 19, 2020
Fact-check
On conducting a reverse image search after taking a screengrab from the viral clip, International Business Times, India, came across similar videos shared by the official Facebook page of GiveMeSport as well as by a YouTube channel called RallySport Magazine.
The caption and description of both the posts revealed that such races are organised in Sri Lanka. "A rallying alternative? Tuk It racing in Sri Lanka," read the caption of the YouTube video dated June 30, 2020.
Furthermore, we also came across a report by Financial Express talking about the thrilling Tuk Tuk races in Sri Lanka. "The race runs across one of Sri Lanka's most iconic routes – from Avissawella to Nuwara Eliya. The event goes on for two days and has some 200 teams competing in the iconic three-wheelers. Each team has three members and the tuk-tuks are also judged on creativity and design," the report read.
Therefore, it can be concluded that a video of a race between auto-rickshaws from Sri Lanka is being shared with a false claim that it is from India.
