Author: David Bodapati

Jehan Daruvala creates history with Asian F3 win for Mumbai Falcons; Kush 12th

Abu Dhabi, 4 Feb 2021: India’s top racer Jehan Daruvala created history in the Formula 3 Asian Championship, scoring a victory for Mumbai Falcons, all Indian-outfit, here on Thursday evening.

He started on pole and led every lap to comfortably win Race 1 of Round 2 in the continent’s premier championship.

In the first Qualifying session, earlier in the day, Jehan was the only racer on the grid to dip below the 1 min 52 second mark to grab the Pole position ahead of Isack Hadjar from France, who clocked 1:53.051. Chinese racer Guanyu Zhou and championship leader was a close third, posting a lap-time of 1:53.070.

The Mumbai Falcons racer had a good start from pole but Hadjar managed to pull alongside Jehan before braking into Corner 1. Jehan outbraked Hadjar and held his lead exiting the corner. Jehan made no mistakes with a series of consistent laps, preventing any overtaking attempts on him. He soon opened up a lead of 1 second.

Right behind Jehan there was plenty of action. Zhou was on a charge and overtook Hadjar. He soon posted a couple of fast laps and reduced the gap to Jehan to under 0.7 seconds. Soon Jehan was under pressure and the two battled it out for a couple of laps. It was then Jehan’s turn to reel out a series of quick laps and he sped away to consistently lap quicker than the cars behind. Jehan managed to open a gap of over 3 seconds at one point before backing off, to cool his tyres.

On the penultimate lap, Jehan once again gave it everything, and posted the fastest laptime of the race which gives him pole position for race 2 tomorrow. The Indian comfortably crossed the finish line to win Mumbai Falcons their first International victory and the first for an Indian Team in the Asian Formula 3 Championship.

“Qualifying well was crucial. I am happy that I could control the pace from the start. It was important that I get the fastest lap because it puts me on pole for race 2. I want to thank the entire team at Mumbai Falcons for the effort put in.” said an elated Jehan

“We are proud to be the first Indian Team to have won in the Asian F3 Championship. The sleepless nights have finally paid off. We hope to continue the strong showing and have both our cars on top soon.” said Moid Tungekar, CEO of Mumbai Falcons.

Kush Maini meanwhile has endured a tough weekend. He qualified fifteenth but had a good start to quickly make up positions to eventually finish twelfth.

Race 2 and Race 3 will be conducted tomorrow on the same corkscrew layout of the Yas Marina International Circuit in Abu Dhabi. The 4.730 km version of the F1 circuit has produced more overtaking opportunities than the previous rounds. Indian fans can watch the races live on the Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited YouTube Channel.

Jehan Daruvala, the Red Bull Junior driver in action at Asia F3 in Yas Marina on Thrusday.

Photos by Ishaan Bhataiya courtesy Red Bull Content Pool

February 4, 2021
2020 INRC season ends with a bang at Utsav de Hampi

Bengaluru, 3 Feb 2021: The COVID19-hit 2020 season ends with a bang after Utsav de Hampi, in Bengaluru with the 45th K-1000. Even as the four-wheel contender for Indian National Rally Championship 2021 gets ready to host the mega event at Hampi from Feb 5 to 7 as part of Motorsports Festival with four major events, the rally season with a reduced four-round calendar will conclude a week later on Feb 14, the valentine’s day, near Bengaluru.

Including a successfully conducted MRF MoGrip two-wheeler Indian National Rally Championship (INRC2w) that showcased nine champions of the 2020 with the 2019 FIM Baja World Cupper Aishwarya Pissay, getting her fourth National 2w Rally title in her class for the fourth successive year, the Utsav de Hampi proved that motorsport can still be organised with great vigour and passion if one makes an effort. For Aishwarya, it is a great achievement indeed, to get her 7th National title, along with the three other Road Racing titles she had won before she jumped board to Rallying and then to more demanding Cross-Country rallying.

Then there is the defending champion Rajendra, also of TVS Racing and Asad Khan winning their National titles in their class but it is Samuel Sajan Jacob, also from the stables of TVS, who hogged the limelight winning the Overall honours. The other class champions are yet to be declared but the hosts Vijayanagar Academy of Motorsports get ready to host the contender Four-wheeler rally for INRC to provide that final push to the close of the season.

Coming back to INRC contender round, one has to see if the top guns will attend the rally as the title is already won by Gaurav Gill and Musa Sherif, and the expenses of bringing cars to Hampi may be a little dampener. But the mood and the festival atmosphere is hard to resist and many are already on their way as a prelude to the last round to be held near Bengaluru.

February 3, 2021
Moto2 and Moto3 pre-season test in Qatar
Qatar, 2 Feb 2021: The FIM, IRTA and Dorna Sports can now announce a change of venue for the 2021 pre-season Moto2 and Moto3 test. Previously set to take place at the Circuito de Jerez-Angel Nieto, the test will now take place at Losail International Circuit in Qatar.

The test will be held from the 19th to the 21st of March. The Idemitsu Asia Talent Cup will also be on track for pre-season testing on the same days and each class will have their own sessions as part of the three-day test.

The change of venue for Moto2 and Moto3 has been agreed in order to create the safest and most efficient pre-season testing programme possible for the FIM MotoGP World Championship, minimising the travel necessary for each class and ensuring the first two Grands Prix of the season are able to take place safely and securely.

Northern Talent Cup

Following an announcement that the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup will now race alongside the FIM MotoGP World Championship at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve rather than the TT Circuit Assen, the provisional 2021 Northern Talent Cup calendar has been updated.

Instead of visiting the new KymiRing, the NTC will now join MotoGP at the TT Circuit Assen from the 25th to the 27th of June. The Cup will therefore make two visits to the classic Dutch venue in 2021.

2021 PROVISIONAL CALENDAR*
DATE EVENT TYPE COINCIDING EVENT CIRCUIT COUNTRY
17th – 18th April TEST None OSCHERSLEBEN GERMANY
29th April – 2nd May ROUND 1 IDM LAUSITZRING GERMANY
14th – 16th May ROUND 2 MotoGP LE MANS FRANCE
20th – 23rd May ROUND 3 Speedweek OSCHERSLEBEN GERMANY
18th – 20th June ROUND 4 MotoGP SACHSENRING GERMANY
25th – 27th June ROUND 5 MotoGP ASSEN NETHERLANDS
13th – 15th August ROUND 6 IDM ASSEN NETHERLANDS
27th – 29th August ROUND 7 IDM RED BULL RING AUSTRIA
- All dates, events and the attendance of spectators are subject to the evolution of the pandemic and the approval of the
  corresponding Governments and authorities.
February 2, 2021
Musa Sherif joins elite club of four with 7 National titles
Bengaluru, 1 Feb 2021: Following are the Statistics of the Indian National Rally Championship after the end of the third round of the four-round INRC 2020 calendar which is pushed to 2021 due to the COVID pandemic.

The top-most rallying personality who has a gigantic presence in Indian National Rally Championship is N Leelakrishnan, who has six National Drivers’ titles besides 19 titles as a Tuner, including his own six titles. Then we have Naren Kumar, who is the first to bag seven drivers title, which Gaurav Gill equalled at Coimbatore clinching his seventh title with a round (K1000) to spare. Then we have Musa Sherif of Kasargod, who also has topped the Co-Drivers’ list with seven titles. The only co-driver to achieve the feat.

Gaurav Gill and Musa Sherif have been together for 63 Rallies out of which they finished 39 Rallies, notching up 38 podiums and 36 victories. Gill was behind the wheel of a Mitsubishi Cedia for his first three titles while the last four came through the bulky Mahindra XUV.

Musa Sherif becomes the leading co-driver with the highest number of rallies, finishing his 293rd rally in the third round at Coimbatore, consecutively calling the notes for 29 years. He has navigated for 47 drivers in that period. These 293 rallies include over 150 rallies in INRC.

Musa Sherif navigated for the following drivers in his career spanning 29 years from 1993 when he made his debut in Karavali rally in Mangalore. In 1994, he made his debut at the Indian National Rally Riders Championship (INRC 2w, as then titled) and went on to co-drive for cars much later. The different drivers he navigated and made the call are as follows till end of 2020 season on 7 Feb 2921 INRC 2020, contender for 2021 being the last event:

Mr and Mrs Musa Sherif celebrate their Wedding Anniversary on January 12.
Photo by Musa Sherif on @Instagram

File photo of Musa Sherif after winning the Bengal rally in Dec 2011 along with Gaurav Gill (not in pic). An INDIAinF1 image
1. Gaurav Gill
2. Karamjit Singh, Malaysia
3. Naren Kumar
4. Lohitt Urs
5. Arjun Rao
6. Samir Thapar
7. Sanjay Takle
8. Vijayant Chaudhury
9. Manik Raikhy
10. Gaurav Chirpal
11. Rahul Kantharaj
12. Nikhil Taneja
13. Austin Mascarenhas
14. Satish Bhat
15. Prasanna GB
16. Zuhin TKM
17. Khalid Faraz
18. Ravi Agarwal
19. Saneem Sani
20. Jasbir Singh
21. Khalid Al Mohanadi
22. Monsoor Parol
23. Ashok Agarwal
24. Shajan Daniel
25. Umakanth Alva
26. Saurabh Chaudhury
27. Sunny Sidhu
28. Rohan Rego
29. Syed Mehtab
30. Dr Pramod Singh
31. Ashwin Naik
32. UT Abdul Khader
33. Naveen Chandra shetty
34. Zahir Manipady
35. Abbas
36. Prasad Malve
37. Sachin Meega
38. Purujit Singh
39. Bembli Gowda
40. Abhilash PG
41. Philippos Matthai
42. Bajwa
43. Dr Manender (sandy)
44. Druva Chandrasekar
45. Paraag Dhiwar
46. Santosh and
47. Samrat Yadav and
48. Mujeeb Rehman (INRC contender Hampi).
February 1, 2021

Samuel Jacob clinches Overall National Title; Aishwarya retains National Ladies title: INRC 2w

Hampi (Karnataka), 31 Jan 2021: Samuel Sajan Jacob clinched the National Championship title while defending champion Aishwarya Pissay sealed the Ladies class once again in style with a huge margin in the fourth and final round of the God Speed Racing MRF MoGrip Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) for two-wheelers 2020 organised by Motorsports Academy of Vijayanagar under the aegis of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) here on Sunday.

TVS Racing’s RE Rajendra won the Super Bike Pro-Expert Class while Samuel Jacob continued his winning run in the Super Sport 260cc Group B class to clinch the Championship in his class.

TVS Racing also continued their domination in the Ladies Class with Aishwarya Pissay consolidating her position with another facile win but the Hosur company lost their grip in the scooter field which was won by a TVS rider Karthik N but a privateer displaced the established order taking the second place. Ninganna M Handral from Bengaluru, astride a TVS N Torq was streets ahead of Pinkesh Thakkar of TVS Racing. TVS Racing has been sweeping this class for some time now.

Asad Khan who won the Super Bike Expert Class Group A in the Hampi round on Sunday.

The Bullet class was dominated by Himalayans again with three Bengaluru riders sweeping the podium. Privateer Sharath Kumar finished ahead of SD Vishwas and Abhijeet Sarkar even as Naresh was disqualified.

Provisional Results:

Class 1: Super Bike Pro-Expert Group A: 1. #2 Rajendra RE, Hosur (TVS Racing – Apache RTR) (1hour, 9min, 53.686seconds); 2. #1 Nataraj R, Bengaluru (TVS Racing – Apache RTR) (1:11:26.388); 3. #47 Nikhil B, Kodagu (Privateer – Yamaha WR) (1:14:27.967).4. #3; Vinay Prasad, Bengaluru, Hero Xpulse (DNF). 4 Riders took part in this class.

Class 1A: Super Bike Expert Group A: 1. #4 Asad Khan, Chickmagaluru (Pvt – Suzuki RMX 450) (1:13:29.709); 2. #5 Sarath Mohan, Mallapuram (Pvt – Suzuki RMX 450) (1:15:49.166); 3. #7 Amarenda Sathe, Pune (Pvt – TVS Apache) (1:27:37.014).

Class 2: Super Sport 130cc, Group B: 1. #8 Varun Kumar A, Bengaluru (Pvt – Yamaha YBX) (1:23:03.313); 2. #9 Syed Kalaam, Bengaluru (Pvt – Yamaha YBX) (1:31:36.279); Only two of the four riders finished.

Class 3: Super Sport165cc Group B: 1. #17 PV Francis, Chickmagalur (Pvt – Hero Impulse) (1:17:31.427); 2. #18 Shoeb Mohamed Khan, Mysuru (Pvt – Hero Impulse) (1:18:54.571); 3. #10 Abrar Ahmed, Mysuru (Pvt – Hero Impulse) (1:19:33.674). 5 of 7 riders finished the class.

Class 4: Super Sport 260cc Group B: 1. #19 Samuel Jacob, Hosur (TVS Racing – Apache RTR) (1:11:01.565); 2. #21 J Imran Pasha, Mysuru (TVS Racing – Apache RTR) (1:11:15.009); 3. #22 Yuva Kumar, Bengaluru (Pvt – Hero Xpulse) (1:14:59.028). 8 of 9 riders finished the class.

Class 5: Super Sport 400cc Group B: 1. #29 Sajeesh Reghunathan, Bengaluru (Pvt – KTM Duke 390) (1:23:31.810); 2. #30 Harish S, Bengaluru (Pvt – KTM Duke 390) (1:23:32.588 – Including 1:00 penalty); Only 2 of 4 riders in the class finished.

Class 6: Super Sport 550cc Group B: 1. #34 Sarath Kumar S, Bengaluru (Pvt – Himalayan) (1:18:28.232); 2. #31 Vishwas SD, Bengaluru (Pvt- Himalayan) (1:19:20.126); 3. #35 Abhijeet Sarkar, Bengaluru (Pvt – Himalayan) (1:33:11.197). 3 out of 4 riders finished, 4th rider Naresh VS Disqualified (Dsq).

Class 7: So S3 Scooter 210 Group B: 1. #39 Karthik N, Hosur (TVS Racing -TVS N Torq) (1:22:15.338); 2. #38 Ninganna M Handral, Bengaluru (Pvt -TVS N Torq) (1:23:39.334); 3. #36 Pinkesh Thakkar (TVS Racing -TVS N Torq) (1:30:21.819). 3 out of 5 riders finished. One DNF, one DSQ.

Class 8: Ladies Class: Group B: 1. #41 Aishwarya Pissay, Bengaluru (TVS Racing – Apache RTR) (1:20:30.772); 2. #43 Tanika Shanbhag, Satara (Pvt – Hero Xpulse) (1:23:03.591); 3. #42 Ryhana Bee, Chennai (Pvt – TVS Apache) (1:25:06.192). All 3 riders finished.

Non championship Class: Star of Karnataka: 1. #52 Stephen Roy RA, Kushalanagar (Pvt – Hero Impulse) (1:17:39.868); 2. #49 MD Ansar, Bengaluru (Pvt – Hero Impulse) (1:21:49.531); 3. #45 Akshay Raje Urs, Mysuru (Pvt – Hero Xpulse) (1:22:23.201). 6 of 7 riders finished. One DNF.

Overall Points table at the end of fourth and final round in Hampi

MRF MoGrip Indian National Rally Championship for 2w (INRC) 2020

#	Name	Position	Final Points
1	SAMUEL SAJAN JACOB	1	83
2	IMRAN PASHA J	2	48
3	RAJENDRA R E	3	43
4	ASAD KHAN	4	38
5	SACHIN D	5	36
6	YUVA KUMAR	6	34
7	NATARAJ R	7	31
8	SUHAIL AHMED	8	29
9	SARATH MOHAN	9	20
10	SANJAY SOMASHEKAR	10	17
11	NIKHIL B	11	8
12	NARESH V S	12	6
13	SINAN FRANCIS	13	2
14	RAKESH N	13	2
15	TRINESH V	13	2
16	ARMUGAM SATHYARAJ	13	2
17	SUDEEP KOTTARY	14	1
18	STEPHEN ROY	15	1
19	FRANCIS P V	16	1

Note: As received from God Speed Racing, prooters of MRF MoGrip INRC 2w 2020

February 1, 2021

Gaurav Gill joins exclusive club in INRC Hall of Fame! Musa Sherif, first navigator to do 293 rallies

Bengaluru, 1 Feb 2021: Following are the Statistics of the Indian National Rally Championship after the end of the third round of the four-round INRC 2020 calendar which is pushed to 2021 due to the COVID pandemic.

Gaurav Gill and Musa Sherif have been together for 63 Rallies out of which they finished 39 Rallies, notching up 38 podiums and 36 victories. Gill was behind the wheel of a Mitsubishi Cedia for his first three titles while the last four came through the bulky Mahindra XUV.

Musa Sherif becomes the leading co-driver with the highest number of rallies, finishing his 293rd rally in the third round at Coimbatore, consecutively calling the notes for 29 years. He has navigated for 47 drivers in that period. These 293 rallies include over 150 rallies in INRC.

INRC Titles from 1988 – 2020

Driver’s Championship winners – After INRC got the National Championship status in 1988

	Driver’s Name	Number of titles	Years won	Remarks
1	Gaurav Singh Gill	Seven (7)	2007, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2020
2	V Naren Kumar	Seven (7)	1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2010
3	N Leelakrishnan	Six (6)	1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1998, 2001
4	Hari Singh	Four (4)	1994, 1995, 1996, 1997,
5	Farad Bhatheena	Two (2)	1988, 1989
6	Vikram Mathias	Two (2)	2004, 2008,
7	Amittrajit Ghosh	Two (2)	2012, 2013,
8	Lohit Urs	One (1)	2015,
9	Karna Kadur	One (1)	2016,
10	Chethan Shivram	One (1)	2019,

Co-Drivers’ Championship winners

	Driver’s Name	Number of titles	Years won	Remarks
1	Musa Sherif	Seven (7)	2007, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2020
2	D Ram Kumar	Six (6)	2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2010
3	Gurinder Singh Mann	Four (4)	1994, 1995, 1996, 1997,
4	N Mahendran	Three (3)	1991, 1992, 1993,
5	Farooq Ahmed	Three (3)	1998, 1999, 2001,
6	Raj Bagri	Two (2)	1988, 1989,
7	Ashwin Naik	Two (2)	2012, 2013,
8	CV Jayakumar	One (1)	1990,
9	Sujith Kumar BS	One (1)	2004,
10	PVS Murhty	One (1)	2008,
11	Shrikanth GM	One (1)	2015,
12	Nikhil Pai	One (1)	2016,
13	Dilip Sharan	One (1)	2019

Drivers, Co-Drivers and Teams that won the National Championship from 1988

	Year	Driver & Co-Driver	Team	Car	Tuner
1	1988	Farad Bathena/ Raj Bagri	Team MRF	Maruti Gypsy Group II (A)	Mohinder Lalwni
2	1989	Farad Bathena/ Raj Bagri	Team MRF	Maruti Gypsy Group II (A)	J Anand
3	1990	N Leelakrishnan/ CV Jaykumar	Team MRF	Maruti Gypsy Group II (A)	N Leelakrishnan
4	1991	N Leelakrishnan/ N Mahendran	Team MRF	Maruti Gypsy Group II (A)	N Leelakrishnan
5	1992	N Leelakrishnan/ N Mahendran	Team MRF	Maruti Gypsy Group II (A)	N Leelakrishnan
6	1993	N Leelakrishnan/ N Mahendran	Team MRF	Maruti Gypsy Group II (A)	N Leelakrishnan
7	1994	Hari Singh/ Gurinder Singh Mann	JK Tyre Rally Team	Maruti Gypsy Group A-1-A	S Karivardhan
8	1995	Hari Singh/ Gurinder Singh Mann	JK Tyre Rally Team	Maruti Gypsy Group A-1-A	S Karivardhan
9	1996	Hari Singh/ Gurinder Singh Mann	JK Tyre Rally Team	Maruti Esteem Group A-1-A	PNR Satish
10	1997	Hari Singh/ Gurinder Singh Mann	JK Tyre Rally Team	Maruti Esteem Group A-1-A	WSRF
11	1998	N Leelakrishnan/ Farooq Ahmed	Team MRF	Maruti Esteem Group A-1-A	N Leelakrishnan
12	1999	VR Naren Kumar/ Farooq Ahmed	Team MRF	Maruti Esteem Group A	N Leelakrishnan
13	2000	VR Naren Kumar/ D Ram Kumar	Team MRF	Maruti Baleno Group A	N Leelakrishnan
14	2001	N Leelakrishnan/ Farooq Ahmed	Team MRF	Honda City Group A	N Leelakrishnan
15	2002	VR Naren Kumar/ D Ram Kumar	Team MRF	Honda City Group A	N Leelakrishnan
16	2003	VR Naren Kumar/ D Ram KUmar	Team MRF	Honda City Group A	N Leelakrishnan
17	2004	Vikram Mathias/ Sujith Kumar BS	Team MRF	Honda City Group A	N Leelakrishnan
18	2005	VR Naren Kumar/ D Ram Kumar	JK Rally Team	Maruti Baleno Group N	N Leelakrishnan
19	2006	VR Naren Kumar/ D Ram Kumar	JK Rally Team	Maruti Baleno Group N	N Leelakrishnan
20	2007	Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif	Team MRF	Mitsubishi Cedia Group N	J Anand
21	2008	Vikram Mathias/ PVS Murthy	Red Rooster Racing	Mitsubishi Cedia Group N+	N Leelakrishnan
22	2009	Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif	Team MRF	Mitsubishi Cedia Group N+	J Anand
23	2010	VR Naren Kumar/ D Ram Kumar	Red Rooster Racing	Mitsubishi Cedia Group N+	N Leelakrishnan
24	2011	Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif	MRF	Mitsubishi Cedia Group N+	J Anand
25	2012	Amittrajit Ghosh/ Ashwin Naik	RRPM	Mitsubishi Cedia Group N	B Rajan
26	2013	Amittrajit Ghosh/ Ashwin Naik	RRPM	Mitsubishi Cedia Group N	B Rajan
27	2014	Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif	Mahindra Adventure	Mahindra XUV 500	N Leelakrishnan
28	2015	Lohitt V Urs/ Shrikanth Gowda	MRU Motorsport	Mitsubishi Cedia Evo8	Mohamed Rafiq Udaya
29	2016	Karna Kadur/ Nikhil V Pai	Team Yokohama India	Volkswagen Polo Group N	N Leelakrishnan
30	2017	Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif	Mahindra Adventure	Mahindra XUV 500	N Leelakrishnan
31	2018	Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif	Mahindra Adventure	Mahindra XUV 500	N Leelakrishnan
32	2019	Chetan Shivram/ Dilip Sharan	Team Akshara Racing	Volkswagen Polo	Fazil Khan, FRK
33	2020	Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif	JK Tyre Racing team	Mahindra XUV 300	N Leelakrishnan
34	2021

February 1, 2021

Gaurav Gill wins record 7th INRC title; equals Naren Kumar’s feat; surpasses Leela’s

By David Bodapati

Coimbatore, 31 Jan 2021: Gaurav Gill and experienced navigator Musa Sherif, clinched their 7th National title in the Rally of Coimbatore, the third and penultimate round of the Champions Yacht Club fmsci Indian National Rally Championship 2020 (INRC), with a round to spare here on Sunday.

Gill equalled the record of Naren Kumar’s seven National titles and surpassed Narayanaswamy Leelakrishnan (6), his current tuner. Incidentally, Gill also won three FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship titles and he has also taken part in the World Rally Championship in WRC2 class.

Gill garnered 116 points from three rounds and with only K-1000 with a maximum of 39 points on offer, left in the calendar, Gill has sealed the championship with a round to spare. Here in Coimbatore, Gill’s XUV 300 turbo suffered from electrical issues and he struggled to do even 100 Kmph.

Yet, Gill won five of the six stages and despite having electrical issues from the very beginning that hampered his speed, he brought home his limping car to get him the latest National title that put him on a pinnacle.

Dr Speed Bikku Babu takes a right-hander in SS5 on Sunday. Babu finished 2nd overall and first in his class in the Round 3 of the Indian National Rally Championship.

Gaurav Gill, left and Musa Sherif, who won the seventh National title together

“Yes, the stages were very narrow and rough terrain which made it highly technical. This year the stage distance was increased and now it is one of the longest (over 19 Kms) stages in Indian rallies, so the route became very tough. But I like it because, it is always nice to win the Stages which are tough and demanding. I did suffer initial hiccups but as the saying goes, it is nice to conquer things when the going gets tough,” quipped Gill.

The Arjuna Awardee and Delhi-based driver, who is nick-named the King of Indian Motorsports, is truly a force to reckon with, and had he progressed to the WRC earlier than he did, in his peak, India and FMSCI would now have boasted of a World Champion.

But all is not lost as Gill still dreams of WRC, and the champion in him is eager to produce big results. For now, he will be taking part in the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) again with the first round of 2021 season in Chennai from 26 to 28 March. It will be run simultaneously for Asia Cup and South India Rally as the 2021 INRC Round, provided the calendar is approved by FMSCI for INRC.

Meanwhile, two entrants from Kerala, “Dr Speed” Bikku Babu, who is maturing like old wine, won in the INRC 2 class and “Mr Clean” Fabid Ahmer topped the INRC 3 category, to make up for a bad outing in Itanagar. Ahmer managed to recoup, fight and get back with his clean-and-steady driving to lead the championship once again by eight points in INRC3.

Dean Mascarenhas, who retired with a gear box failure, still leads the championship in INRC2 with one round to go. The A seeded driver, Babu, and B seeded Ahmer, are not the only drivers from the stable of Chettinad Sporting, as the Goa-Coorg combination of Vaibhav Marathe, a product of Champions Group, won INRC 4 class, along with co-driver Suhan M Kabir. The duo clinched the issue after some hiccups in Round 1 at Itanagar. The Champions Yacht Club Director in Goa, Marathe, is leading the championship table in his class with a podium in Round 2 and a win here.

Dr Speed Bikku Babu, left, and Bonny Thomas, INRC Overall second and INRC2 winners in the Rally of Coimbatore on Sunday. Photo by David Bodapati

The Team which hogged limelight on the day was Chettinad Sporting, led by Thyagarajan and Roshan, the men behind the cars’ performance. The team won three out of four Championship classes and had one more podium to boost as a bonus. It was in 2014 in Nashik that the team had swept all the classes but one, and today is a great day for a team which started its journey with South India Rally in 1996 and went on to field two cars for the rally in Coorg in 2007, where Chettinad Sporting had a good presence with their blue colour dominating the car livery. And today, after 25 years, they came out with flying colours with three wins. “Three cheers to all the mechanics, the drivers, co-drivers and the men who believed in them who made the journey possible… For us, drivers and co-drivers are always the heroes and all praise should go to them,” said Thyagarajan.

Gill, too, has played no less a role, as both Bikku Babu and FabidAhmer were part of his Rally School and learnt the tricks of the trade to blossom and perform to their potential. Chettinad Sporting provieds technical support to Gill’s academy in the Kethanur windmill farms near Coimbatore.

Meanwhile, defending champion Chethan Shivram with a new navigator in Shahid Salman, in his Volkswagon Polo 1.6 bereft of the usual LSD, still managed to finish fourth overall and second in his class which is a big achievement. But the luck that deserted with Dilip Sharan, who is now navigating for Rakesh Shukla in an Esteem, may have dampened the spirit, but the champ in Shivram continues to fight for honours with K-1000 still on the radar. Chetan and his brother Dilip had won the 2019 championship with FRK led by Fazal Khan tuning the car, for Team Akshara Racing, as they got into the exclusive club of 10 Overall INRC winners in 32 years.

Vaibhav Marathe and Suhan Kabir bring Yokohama their first class win in ten years with their last title coming in 2010 for Red Rooster Racing. Photo by David Bodapati

Harikrishna Wadi and co-driver Chirag Thakur put their Honda City on top in the Junior INRC category and 11th overall, while Pragathi Gowda, driving with a new navigator in her third rally, in Trisha Jagannath, came second in their VW Polo. Mysore lad Rakshith Iyer and co-driver Chandrasekhar were third in Junior class in an Esteem.

Sanjay Razdan and navigator Karan Aukta won the Gypsy Challenge with veteran Sanjay Agarwal and co-driver Smitha Prasad taking second and the pair of Divyanshu Vyas and VenuRemesh Kumar third.

In the Ladies Class, 27-year debutante Athira Murali of Kottayam won the Round 3 in an INRC4 Esteem along with co-driver George Varghese, despite losing a lot of time due to a slower car ahead which had technical issues. Another lady driver from the north, Amandeep Kaur, who is also making her debut in the INRC, came second, with ever-smiling navigator Mohit Malik in a Baleno ahead of mother-daughter pair of doctors in Dr Shivani Pruthvi and Dr Deepthi Pruthvi, from Davangere in Karnataka, who finished on the podium, despite some issues with the car, in this class.

Of the 59 cars that took the start on Day 1, only 33 cars completed the rally and 26 failed to finish. The fourth and last round of the delayed 2020 INRC 2020, K-1000, is scheduled to be run by Karnataka Motor Sports Club (KMSC) from 12 to 14 February, 2021.

Unaudited Provisional Results: (Round 3 after Sunday’s six Special Stages):

Overall: 1. Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif (Mahindra Adventure3 00) (1hour, 27min, 56.700seconds); 2. Dr Speed – Bikku Babu/ Bonnie Thoma (VW Polo) (1:29:21.100); 3. Fabid Ahmer/ Eldo Chacko (JK Tyre) (VW Polo) (01:29:57.200); 4. Chetan Shivram /Shahid Salman (VW Polo) (01:31.05.500); 5. Aditya Thakur/ Virendra Keshyap (VW Polo) (1:31:36.700); 6. Ritesh Guttedar M/ Lokaranjan HJ (VW Polo) (01:31:43.600); 7. Sahil Khanna /Vidit Jain (Snap Racing) (VW Polo) (01:32:54.200); 8. Maninder Singh Prince/ Vinay Padmashali (JK Tyre – VW Polo) (1:32:57.400); 9. Phillippos Mathai/ Kumar Ramasamy (Mahindra XUV 500) (1:33:18.600); 10. Mohammed Kasim/ Sanath G (VW Polo) (1:33:45.300).

INRC2:1. Dr Speed – Bikku Babu/ Bonnie Thomas (1:29:21.100); 2. Chetan Shivram /Shahid Salman (01:31.05.500); 3. Ritesh Guttedar M/ Lokaranjan HJ (01:31:43.600); 4. Sahil Khanna /Vidit Jain (Snap Racing) (01:32:54.200); 5. Rahul Kantharaj/ Vivek Bhatt (01:54:07.500); 6. Suhem Kabir/ Jeevarathinam (2:12:24.600); 7. Lakshay Veer Dabas/ Sagar Mallappa (Snap Racing/ VW Polo) (2:13:27.500); All in VW Polo.

INRC3: 1. Fabid Ahmer /Eldo Chacko (JK Tyre) (VW Polo) (01:29:57.200); 2. Aditya Thakur/ Virendra Keshyap (VW Polo) (1:31:36.700); 3. Maninder Singh Prince/ Vinay Padmashali (VW Polo) (1:32:57.400); 4.Mohammed Kasim/ Sanath G (VW Polo) (01:33:45.300); 5. Harkrishnan Wadia /Chirag Thakur (Honda City) (01:34:42.300); 6. Pragathi Gowda/ Trisha Jagannath (Team Vasundhara/ VW Polo) (1:37:08.200); 7. Ashad Pasha/ Deeksha Balakrishna (VW Polo) (01:37:18.300).

INRC 4: 1. Vaibhav Marathe/ Suhan MK (Honda City) (01:36:51.700); 2. Yeswanth Padale/ Bharth SM (Honda City) (1:40:34.300); 3. Pradeep Ravi/ Arvind Dheerendra (Maruti Suzuki Esteem) (01:42:13.200); 4.Sumesh M/ Anil Abbas (Maruti Suzuki Esteem) (01:46:31.700); 5. Athira Murali/ George Varghese (1:52:10.400); 6. Amandeep Kaur/ Mohit Mallik (Maruti Suzuki Baleno) (01:14:18.300); 7. Rakesh Shukla / Dilip Sharan (Maruti Suzuki Esteem) (01:53:01.300).

Junior INRC: 1. #28; Harikrishna Wadi/ Chirag Thakur (JK Tyre -Honda City) (1:34:42.300); 2. #38; Rakshit Iyer/ M Chandrashekar (Maruti Suzuki Esteem) (2:04:07.800); 3. #36; Shivani Pruthvi/ Deepthi Pruthvi (JK Tyre Mitsubishi Cedia) (2:15:15.200); Only 4 cars of the 6 eligible for Junior INRC finished.

Non-Championship class

Gypsy Challenge: 1. Sanjay Razdan/ Karan Aukta (01:40:40.200); 2. Sanjay Agarwal/ Smitha Prasad (01:42:44.700); 3. Divyanshu Vyas/ Venu Remesh;Kumar (01:44:03.900);4. Mohd. Kaif Khan/ Arjun Dheerendra (01:44:30.900); 5. Dheeraj KV/ Pramod Raman (01:45:31.700); 6. Daksh Gill/ Mrinmoy Saha (1:57:58.600);

(Only 6 of the 12 Gypsies finished).

Ladies Class: 1. #47 Athira Murali/ George Varghese (Esteem); 2. #46 Amandeep Kaur/ Mohit Malik (Baleno); 3. #36 Shivani Pruthvi/ Deepthi Pruthvi (Mitsubishi Cedia).

eom/david/31jan2021

February 1, 2021
Athira Murali, makes INRC debut

Coimbatore, 31 Jan 2021: Athira Murali, 27, made her debut in INRC at Coimbatore in INRC4 category here at the third round of the Indian National Rally Championship for cars 2020 season. The Kerala girl from Kottayam, exhibited rich driving skills to clock good timings and beat many male counterparts at the Windmill farms of Kethanoor in January 2021.

Inspired and supported by her father, VN Muraleedharan, she fell in love with cars and took up the sport at a late stage but made an impressive debut and looks forward to continue her passion. She rented a rally-prepared car funded by her family and unless a sponsor comes forward, the promising talent may fade away before it blossoms. But with right support and hardwork, and if her energies are channelised properly she has all the talent to go places.

She not only won the Ladies class, but finished fifth in INRC4 category which had 12 entries. Navigated by experienced and disciplined George Varghese, the 4×4 lady driver managed to beat another debutant in Ladies class Amandeep Kaur and Madhi Elangovan, and experienced drivers in higher classes including Pragathi Gowda and Shivani Pruthvi. She was also faster than six other male drivers despite losing much time in SS1 due to a slower car of Madhi, ahead which had suffered technical issues and stalled in SS3 midway through the stage.

Though entered as privateer, Athira is from Team R Sports, her tuner is Raja Padmanabhan from Palakkad, who did his best to support her. She is also a URF and India book of Records holder and a journalist with Kaumudy, with her popular weekly show aired on Tuesday at 8pm prime time in Malayalam. A popular Vblogger in Malayalam, she commands a following of close to 70,000 and her Auto Vlogg reaches to more than 1.5 lakh audience on YouTube channel @AthiraMurali.

January 31, 2021
Gaurav Gill powers his limping Mahindra to top spot after Leg 1: INRC Round 3

Kethanur (near Coimbatore), 30 Jan 2021: King of Indian motorsports, Gaurav Gill and co-driver Musa Sherif, powered their limping Mahindra XUV 300, to clock the fastest timing of the day, finishing ahead of the pack to lead the Day 1 of the Rally of Coimbatore, the third round of the Champion Yacht Club fmsci Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) for four wheelers here at the Kethanur windmill farms on Saturday.

The Arjuna Awardee and three-time APRC champion, Gill with Sherif, who is taking part in his 293rd rally, had trouble even before they started the Special Stages, as they faced electrical issues and the car failed to gain speed. They did continue despite the `misfiring’ and still clocked better timings than the others in three of the four stages.

“I was definitely off the pace, by some four minutes. Not sure what the problem is, but hopefully, it would be sorted out tonight. The misfiring started in the very first corner of the first Stage. So much so, I couldn’t even do 100 Kmph! It was frustrating in the sense that I would like to deliver good results to my sponsors and the team. Anyway, tomorrow, I hope to be on the kind of pace I want to,” said Gill at the end of the day.

Meanwhile, other top-guns Karna Kadur (co-driver Nikhil Pai), Amittrajit Ghosh (co-driver Ashwin Naik) and Dean Mascarenhas (co-driver Shruptha Padiwal), had a bad day. Kadur, running with a new engine, encountered “teething problems” through the day and lost time, but will be eyeing leg points on the morrow.Ghosh had his share of problems and had stopped while Mascarenhas dropped out due to gearbox issues.

Gaurav Gill, left, and Musa Sherif, who is on his 293rd rally after reccee on Friday.

Dr “Speed” Bikku Babu, once again was in his elements and finished the day second overall with another talented Kerala youngster Fabid Ahmer, along with new co-driver Eldo Chacko, overall third at the end of the day after four Special Stages. Two more stages will be run on Sunday.

While Dr Bikku Babu is leading the INRC 2 class from Chetan Shivram, who is now with a new co-driver Shahid Salman and running on stock engine. Sahil Khanna, navigated by Vidit Jain, is in third place. In INRC 3, Arjun Rao (co-driver Shanmuga Sundaram) is trailing Fabid Amer by just 22 seconds. Adiya Thakur (co-driver Virendra Kashyap) is in third.

In INRC 4, the Goa-Kodagu combination of Vaibhav Marathe and Suhan MK are ahead of Yeswanth Padale and Bharath SM, and Rounak Singh and Amit Waghchaure.

Other casuality on Saturday was Rahul Kantharaj (co-driver Vivek Bhatt), who had a puncture and lost precious time.

Provisional Unaudited Results: (Results are given till 7 places, were available, to facilitate drivers and co-drivers to count their leg points)

Overall: 1. Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif (Mahindra Adventure3 00) (58:41.800); 2. Dr Speed – Bikku Babu/ Bonnie Thoma (VW Polo) (1:00:01.300); 3. Fabid Ahmer/ Eldo Chacko (JK Tyre) (VW Polo) (01:00:08.300); 4. Arjun Rao/ Shanmuga Sundaram (VW Polo) (1: 00:30.800); 5. Aditya Thakur/ Virendra Keshyap (VW Polo) (1:01:04.500); 6. Chetan Shivram /Shahid Salman (VW Polo) (01:01.13.100); 7. Sahil Khanna /Vidit Jain (Snap Racing) (VW Polo) (01:01:33.100); 8. Ritesh Guttedar M/ Lokaranjan HJ (VW Polo) (01:01:37.400);

Note: Phillippo Mathai/ Kumar Ramasamy (Mahindra XUV 500- MRF Tyres) 01:02:47.600 get six leg points for 2nd in INRC class; However, INRC is not a separate class.

INRC2:1. Dr Speed – Bikku Babu/ Bonnie Thomas (1:00:01.300); 2. Chetan Shivram /Shahid Salman (01:01.13.100); 3. Sahil Khanna /Vidit Jain (Snap Racing) (01:01:33.100); 4. Ritesh Guttedar M/ Lokaranjan HJ (01:01:37.400); 5. Dhruva Chandrasekhar/ PVS Murthy (01:04:11.700); 6. BC Roopesh/ Ragavendra Phalguna (01:13:10.400); 7. Rahul Kantharaj/ Vivek Bhatt (01:23:29.700). All in VW Polo.

INRC3: 1. Fabid Ahmer /Eldo Chacko (JK Tyre) (VW Polo) (01:00:08.300); 2. Arjun Rao/ Shanmuga Sundaram (VW Polo) (1: 00:30.800); 3. Aditya Thakur/ Virendra Keshyap (VW Polo) (1:01:04.500); 4. Maninder Singh Prince/ Vinay Padmashali (VW Polo) (01:02:36.400); 5.Mohammed Kasim/ Sanath G (VW Polo) (01:02:39.900); 6. Harkrishnan Wadia /Chirag Thakur (Honda City) (01:03:17.400); 7. Daraius Shroff/ Nitin Jacob (VW Polo) (01:03:22.900).

INRC 4: 1. Vaibhav Marathe/ Suhan MK (Honda City) (01:04:15.300); 2. YeswanthPadale/ Bharth SM (Honda City) (1:07:27.500); 3. Rounaq Singh/ Amit Waghchoure (Maruti Baleno) (01:08:41.900); 4. Pradeep Ravi/ Arvind Dheerendra (Maruti Suzuki Esteem) (01:09:13.400); 5.Sumesh M/ Anil Abbas (Maruti Suzuki Esteem) (01:11:54.700); 6. Amandeep Kaur/ Mohit Mallik (Maruti Suzuki Baleno) (01:14:18.300); 7. Rakesh Shukla / Dileep Sharan (Maruti Suzuki Esteem) (01:15:51.700).

Junior INRC: 1. Pragathi Gowda/ Trisha Jagannath (01:05.10.300); 2. Rohit Iyer/ M Manjunath (01:21:32.200); (Only 2 Junior INRC cars finished the four stages today)

Non-Championship class: Gypsy Challenge: 1. Sanjay Razdan/ Karan Aukta (01:07:17.700); 2. Abhishek Gowda/ Dheeraj Maney (01:08:34.100); 3. Sanjay Agarwal/ Smitha Prasad (01:08:39.000); 4. Divyanshu Vyas/ Venu Remesh;Kumar (01:08:48.600); 5. Mohd. Kaif Khan/ Arjun Dheerendra (01:10:20.600): 6. Dheeraj KV/ Pramod Raman (01:10:49.600); 7. Shyam Gopinath/ Ashwin Gururaj (01:1103.500).

Leg points as follows: 1^st Place: 7 points; 2^nd Place: 6 points, 3^rd Place: 5 points; 4^th Place: 4 points; 5^th Place: 3 points; 6^th Place: 2 points; 7^th Place: 1 point.

Pragathi Gowda, left, who won the Junior INRC in Itanagar first round with Deeksha (not in pic) has a new navigator, a childhood friend and schoolmate Trisha Jagannathan, after the Reccee on Friday.

(15of the 59 cars that took the start, failed to finish all the four Special Stages, but many of them will be rejoining on Sunday in the Super Rally format to earn Leg Points).

January 30, 2021
Mumbai Falcons podium on debut; Jehan third, Kush bumped out

Mumbai Falcons earn F3 Asia podium, on debut with Jehan Daruvala finishhing 3rd while Kush Maini had a forgettable race as he was bumped into in the very first lap in the Asia F3 championship in Dubai.

Jehan started 4th and had to take evasive action at the start after being cut off by a driver ahead. He then had to defend during the 1st lap, but recovered and soon overtook another driver.

With a car right on his tail, Jehan could not make up further places. He eventually finished 3rd to earn Mumbai Falcons their first maiden F3 podium on debut.

Kush Maini had a forgettable race. He was hit by another car on lap 1. He had to pit to change a tyre, which put him right at the back of the field. He clocked the 2nd fastest lap of the race and will therefore start 2nd in Race 2, tomorrow.

January 30, 2021