INDIA in F1

Author: David Bodapati

  • Harith Noah finishes 48h Chrono marathon stage at a career-best P12: Dakar Rally

    Harith Noah finishes 48h Chrono marathon stage at a career-best P12: Dakar Rally

    Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), 13 January 2024: Ace Sherco TVS rider, Harith Noah continued his strong campaign at Dakar Rally 2024 conquering the ‘48-hour Chrono’ marathon stage with a noteworthy 12th place in the general classification for bikes and a third place in the Rally2 class going into the rest day on Saturday

     Sherco TVS Factory rider, Noah has made outstanding progress in the 48-hour chrono stage, starting from 21st and climbing up to 12th by the end of the stage. In the overall rankings, he holds 13th position, climbing up from 18th. Harith Noah is sponsored by TVS, Sherco, Scott India, Red Bull India, Stanley Tools India, 100%, Alpine Stars and Mobius Braces.

    “This is the longest stage in my life. A 625km in the dunes. On the first day of the 2-day 48h Chrono Stage 6, I managed to do  a bulk of the run finishing 430km. I rode with Toni Mulec (Insta @tonimulec) and stopped to give Rui Goncalves of Hero MotoSports some spares. Stopping at 16:30 hours to sleep and go the next day at 6:30 am to do the rest of the stage. I had a few tip-overs and rolled down a big dune without the bike but that was about it, lots of drama but done,” said Harith Noah after the marathon stage. In fact, “the air bag opened up but ‘thanks God! nothing happened,” is how he dismissed it. Now he will have a day’s rest before tackling the second week of the Dakar. He is also involved in a bit of service helping his former training partner Mason Klein helping start his bike along with Dakar legend Nasser Attiyah.

    “Harith Noah rewrites the script! Halfway through the brutal Dakar Rally, he sits 13th overall, the highest ever for an Indian. He also bagged a historic podium finish in Rally2! Catch his inspiring journey unfold!,” said TVS Racing in it official Instagram handle.

    After six stages and a total of eight days of racing, including the prologue in AlUla, the 46th edition of the Dakar has been a roller-coaster of breakthrough performances, vindications, debacles, plot twists, comebacks and surprises on the tracks and dunes of Saudi Arabia. The culmination of the first week, the brand-new 48H Chrono concept, scattered drivers and co-drivers across the Empty Quarter and delivered on its promise: nearly every category saw a change in leadership as the field emerged from the dunes, just before the rest day in Riyadh.

    Bivouch during Stage 6 at Dakar before the rest day! Photo by Florent Gooden/DPPI

    Exactly at the midpoint, with another 2,384 kilometres of specials on equally diverse terrains ahead, the big kahunas will now get to grips with the return trip in their bids to claim victory in Yanbu.

    Ricky Brabec and his Honda teammates have laid down a marker; Carlos Sainz and Mattias Ekström‘s Audis are calling the shots ahead of Sébastien Loeb; Eryk Goczał is trouncing the opposition in the Challenger class; Yasir Seaidan‘s dominance in SSV race is softening the blow of Yazeed Al Rajhi‘s exit for the Saudi fans; and Martin Macík rolled into the capital as the king of the juggernauts.

    All in all, 291 out of the 330 vehicles at the start have completed the first half of the rally, including 111 motorbikes (out of 122), 8 quads (out of 10) for the FIM entrants; and 59 Ultimate cars (out of 70), 40 Challenger cars (out of 42), 30 SSVs (out of 36), 3 Stock cars (out of 3) and 40 trucks (out of 47). The Czech Ondřej Klymčiw continues to deliver a masterclass in the Dakar Classic regularity race.

    Motorbikes: Honda gains the upper hand

    Four years ago, Ricky Brabec won the Dakar while picking up two stage victories along the way. Could the American add a second trophy to his case this year by playing the quiet game again? Riding without fanfare, avoiding blunders and staying in the ideal position to press forward without taking excessive risks, Brabec took over the reins of the rally following the previous special, the sixth of the rally. In the top 3 since day one, the Honda rider has truly come into his own, gaining an edge over his rivals in the dunes of the Empty Quarter. Of course, with another six gruelling stages ahead, his margin of under a minute over Ross Branch is far from guaranteeing him the triumph that he has been chasing for such a long time, not least because there are other riders who are still in the running too. Adrien Van Beveren made hay of the long 48-hour stage in the Saudi sands to narrow his deficit to the lead group. Now third overall at 9′21″, the Frenchman remains a force to be reckoned with going into the second week. So is Nacho Cornejo, the winner of stages 2 and 4, who is just 14 minutes down on his Californian teammate and leader. A bit further down, Toby Price and Kevin Benavides fly the flag for KTM, less than half an hour behind Brabec. The Australian is biding his time, waiting for an opening to launch his attack, while the Argentinian, still grappling with the sequelae of a leg fracture, is picking up steam.

    On the flip side, multiple pretenders to the crown saw their hopes and dreams crushed in the opening week. Tosha Schareina, the Spanish rising star who signed for Honda, broke his wrist in the very first stage after bagging the prologue. Meanwhile, Skyler Howes lost plenty of time in the first few stages, eventually bowing out due to mechanical issues in the dunes of the Empty Quarter. Staying with Honda, Pablo Quintanilla was in the lead group when he ran out of fuel during the soul-crushing stage 6 and plummeted down the overall. Other early withdrawals include Sam Sunderland, who succumbed to a mechanical in stage 3; Sherco’s main hope, Lorenzo Santolino; and Joan Barreda, who was tackling his first Dakar with Hero. This leaves Ross Branch without a wingman for the second week of the rally after Joaquim Rodrigues and Sebastian Bühler crashed out of the race. Up against the mighty Honda brigade, the Botswanan will need a hefty dose of luck to overcome the many perils lurking on the road to Yanbu.

    Meanwhile, in Rally 2, the incredible Jean-Loup Lepan stormed to the lead after stage 6. The Frenchman, rock-solid since the Dakar got under way, also claimed stages 2 and 6 and, to top it off, he is sitting tenth overall, an hour and a half behind Ricky Brabec. Now second in the standings, Romain Dumontier held the lead for quite a while, but a fuel hiccup in stage 6 cost him a loss of 50 minutes to Lepan. Nursing a broken rib, the winner of the 2023 Rally-Raid World Cup will have to grit his teeth all the way to Yanbu to snag a spot on the final podium. Harith Noah, Paolo Lucci and Bradley Cox are piling on the pressure within half an hour of the leader. Heinz Kidigadner‘s young nephew Tobias Ebster is another man to watch. The Austrian is perched at the top of the Original by Motul leader board and clinched stage 5 in the Rally 2 class. He will be the talk of the town for a long time to come.

  • Harith Noah finishes Stage 5 in P20; gets P7 in Rally2 class

    Harith Noah finishes Stage 5 in P20; gets P7 in Rally2 class

    Shubaytah (Saudi Arabia), 10 January 2024: Sherco TVS Factory team rider Harith Noah, completed another strong run finishing Stage 5 in P20 and was in 18th place in the Provisional General Classification while taking the P7 slot in his class, the Rally2 category where he is currently in Overall P4 after six days (including the Prologue) and five stages at the Dakar Rally 2024 on Wednesday.

    The fifth stage from Al-Hofuf to Shubaytah had a total distance of 645 km, including 118 km of special and 527 km of liaison consisting mainly of sandy dunes.

    Earlier on Tuesday, Harith Noah continued his strong run with a P21 in Stage 4. He finished P5 in his class, the Rally2 category for bikes.

    The Kerala rider is preparing for Stage 6, another marathon stage which will last for 48 hours. Tomorrow evening, the riders will not have any outside assistance, no internet connection, no news, no information. The sixth stage of the Dakar will be from Shubaytah to Shubaytah, 626 km of special and 209 km of liaison.

    Harith Noah in action during the marathon Stage 5 on Wednesday. A Sherco team image

    Harith Noah said: “It was a short stage and only made up of dunes. I felt good, but I had a little problem, sand slipped into my fuel during refueling. I am very happy to cross the finish line today. Now it’s time to rest and recover well before the marathon stage that starts tomorrow!”

    Noah’s teammate at Sherco, Rui Gonçalves rode in the top-10 for part of the special. He was however the victim of a fall in a dune, he left with pain in his thumb, had to reconnect the navigation system which had been moved out of position because of the fall. He lost contact with the race leaders and ended up finishing the day in 18th position. He managed the navigation well and found the right pace again from the start. He is 15th in the provisional general classification.

    Brand new concept of 48hours

    Thursday’s stage will be an unprecedented challenge that has the competitors quaking in their boots. While this is also a two-day stage, the experience of marathon stages will not be of much use in the new paradigm of the 48-hour chrono stage. Imagine the grandiose clang of a bell filling the twilight air in the Empty Quarter, ordering every single competitor to halt their vehicle and spend the night under the starry skies before getting back on the move at sunrise. This is how this new challenge will work. The time limit is 4pm. When the clock strikes four, the entrants will have to stop at the next of the six rest areas that punctuate the course of the special. Once they get there, the competitors will receive bare-bones camping material and just enough provisions to make it through the night in the desert, without any connection and, therefore, without any information on how their rivals are doing. Cut off from the rest of the world.

    Never before have the title contenders in the motorbike category spent eight hours in a special. The Empty Quarter, with dunes as far as the eye can see, will set the scene for this historic first. The race is no stranger to this area, but the difficulty of this larger-than- life special has been kicked up a notch. Chotts will give the competitors some time to breathe between one dune chain and the next. However, the navigation will be fiendishly difficult, with hard-to-find courses and hidden WPs that will drive many entrants round the bend: “I won’t be winning any popularity contests,” sighs David Castera. In fact, his old brothers in arms in the car category will face the same challenge as the two-wheelers. The FIA and FIM entrants will follow separate courses, so the co-drivers will have to do without the motorbikes’ traces”.

    Stage 5 Ranking

    Rui Gonçalves: P18

    Harith Noah: P20

    Provisional general classification

    Rui Gonçalves: P15

    Harith Noah: P18

  • Harith Noah creates history with a Stage podium in Rally2 class: Dakar 2024

    Harith Noah creates history with a Stage podium in Rally2 class: Dakar 2024

    Al Hofuf (Saudi Arabia) 8 January 2024: Indian Dakar hero, Harith Noah, created history becoming the first rider from India to get a stage podium in his class,the Rally2, at the prestigious Dakar Rally with a third place in the tough marathon Stage 3 on Monday. The TVS product from Kerala, finished the stage in third place conquering the 733-km long stage from Al Slamiya to Al Hofuf. In the Overall classification for bikes, he finished in P17.

    He clocked 4 hours, 54 minutes and 39 seconds, about 7min 35 seconds adrift to the stage winner in Rally2.

    “I feel physically normal again, and had no headaches today. The marathon stage today was supposed to be difficult navigation, especially towards the end. So I focused on it as much as I could rather than on speed. It was also very important to get the bike through today, without any crashes or problems as it’s a marathon stage with only two hours of service, post the stage. Tonight, we all will be sleeping in the tents in the middle of the desert,” said Harith Noah, after the stage.

    As a reminder, just after the finish of the special, the riders, drives and crews will be able to reacquaint themselves with their light assistance teams, who will have 2 hours to work on their machines. The competitors will then head via the link route to a bivouac solely reserved for them. They will park their vehicles in a secure enclosure and will not be able to touch them before collecting them tomorrow morning for the start. Eight large 20 x 8 Khaïma tents await them. A catering service, a medical service, a podium and toilet blocks make up the facilities set up. The competitors have given the organisers a packet that they will be given back on arrival, for a first night of camping before the next one on the 48 hours against the clock stage on the evening of stage 6A.

    Tomorrow, the riders will set off for the fourth stage of the Dakar, from Al Salamiya to Al-Hofuf, 631 km including 299 km of special and 332 km of liaison which will close the marathon with its 299 km of special. The terrain promises to be smoother, but navigation will once again be tricky.

    Note: Last edited on 9 Jan 2024 at 09.52am

  • Harith Noah finishes fifth in Rally2 class and Overall P22: Dakar Stage 2

    Harith Noah finishes fifth in Rally2 class and Overall P22: Dakar Stage 2

    Al Duwadimi (Saudi Arabia), 7 January 2024: Ace rider from India, Harith Noah, pelted out another strong performance to stay in the top-10 of his class and an overall P22 in the 655-km Stage 2 on Sunday and is all set for the marathon stage on Monday. Harith Noah finished fifth in his class and is currently fourth in the General Overall ranking after two stages.

    The Kerala rider from Sherco TVS Rally team put in a stellar performance and was feeling better on the bike after yesterday’s ‘mysterious’ cramps. “I felt physically better today. It was a fast stage and though I did many small navigation mistakes, especially towards the end, I tried to put my head down and stayed focused. Tomorrow is the marathon stage and I am ready for it,” said the fastest rider at Dakar from India. Harith Noah astride a Sherco 450 SEF Rally bike is on his fifth Dakar. He is attempting to finish the mother of all rallies for a second time. In 2021, he finished a creditable 21 to become the fastest rider from India.

    Sam Sunderland and Daniel Sanders rattled up leader board

    After easing themselves into the 2024 Dakar Rally on stage one, Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Sam Sunderland and Daniel Sanders certainly turned things up a notch on Day 2. Faring best for the potent pairing was Sunderland who, despite riding through a lot of dust, clocked in with the sixth-fastest time to advance to seventh in the provisional standings. Meanwhile, for Sanders, a couple of small mistakes proved costly, but the good news is, he’s perfected the set-up of his RX 450F and his unquestionable raw speed returned on stage two. Chucky placed 12th and slides up the leaderboard to sixth overall.

    Overall Provisional Classification (after stage 2) RallyGP
    1. Ross Branch (Hero) 9:50:05
    2. Jose Ignacio Cornejo (Honda) 9:53:00
    3. Ricky Brabec (Honda) 09:57:20
    6. Daniel Sanders (GASGAS) 10:07:29
    7. Sam Sunderland (GASGAS) 10:08:24

    Provisional Stage Classification Rally2 (after Stage 2)

    1.  Jeanloup Lepan (Fra), Duust Rally Team 4:40:41;

    2.  Diego Gamaliel Llanos (Arg), Xraids Experience 4:42:28;

    3.  Toni Mulec (Svn), BAS World KTM Racing Team, 4:44:07;

    4. Paolo Lucci (Ita), BAS World KTM Racing Team, 4:45:19;

    5. Harith Noah (India) Sherco TVS Rally Factory Team, 4:45:35;

    Overall Provisional Classification Rally2 (after Stage 2)

    1. Romain Dumontier (Fra), Team Dumontier Racing, 10hours, 15min, 48sec;

    2. Bradley Cox (Zaf), BAS World KTM Racing Team, 10:28:35;

    3. Jeanloup Lepan (Fra), Duust Rally Team, 10:32:54;

    4. Harith Noah (India) Sherco TVS Rally Factory Team, 10:40:31;

  • Harith Noah finishes P6 in his class despite cramps; ends Stage 1 in Overall 21st

    Harith Noah finishes P6 in his class despite cramps; ends Stage 1 in Overall 21st

    Al Henakiyah (Saudi Arabia) 6 Jan. 2024: Despite cramps and severe pain, TVS Racing product, Harith Noah, proved that he is made of sterner mettle and began his fifth Dakar cautiously but on a strong note, finishing Stage 1 at 21st place among 132 riders in the Moto class of the Dakar Rally after riding a tough 414-km terrain on Saturday.

    “Saturday was a very hard day for me. After refuelling at kilometre 200 or so, I started getting cramps all over my body and then a very bad headache. This has never happened to me before. Quitting really crossed my mind a couple of times. Trying to figure out what could have caused this and hopping it won’t happen again,” said Harith Noah from Dakar and on a note of hope, continued… “On to tomorrow!”

    The hiccups notwithstanding, the fastest rider at Dakar from India, Noah, posted his best Stage ranking in his class Rally2, with a commendable sixth position. He is supported by TVS company, Sherco, Scott India, Red Bull India, Stanley Tools India, 100%, Alpine Stars and Mobius Braces.

    Harith Noah at Dakar 2024 in Saudi Arabia. A TVS photo

    Ashish Raorane crashes out with fractured collar bone

    The other Indian at Dakar, privateer Ashish Raorane from Pune, crashed out after 168 km mark as he fractured his collar bone in two places. A disappointed Ashish, who was riding a a KTM 450 Rally Replica, said: “I am absolutely gutted. At KM169 of today’s stage, I had a crash and fractured my collar bone. I tried to ride on, but it was an impossible task. It’s a hard pill to swallow when you’ve spent a few years preparing to have all that hard work wiped off in seconds but I guess that’s the nature of off-road sport. I definitely was feeling great on the bike today, unfortunately a silly crash did me in. It’s definitely gonna take sometime to digest this.”

    “For now, I’ve to head back to India to get a surgery done to fix me up. Thank you for the support and wishes, I wish there was a better outcome to this campaign,”he lamented.

    The Indian rider supported by Xraids Experience team is in Rally2 class. He finished Dakar in the experience class in 2021 and this is his second attempt. He is supported by Rynox Gear, Reise Moto, Dosmoto Design, Slipstream Performance, Motousher, Bigbadbikes, Lazyassbikers, Eleven777, Wanderlooms, Baycity Powerparts.

    Ashish Raorane in action on Stage 1, before he crashed out at 168-km point on 6 Jan. 2024.

    Harith Noah… on to tomorrow

    Starting the Special between rocks and canyons on sand for the first 25km, similar to what he tackled in the prologue on Friday. While the sandy canyons are more open and faster till PK22, the later mountainous canyons with lots of eroded rocks offered more technical terrain that is difficult to navigate and easy to make mistakes. But the Kerala champion then navigated the terrain which was open alternating sections of wadis, off-piste and lots of changes of direction despite being wavy and winding. It went on to rough ground, rocks of volcanic lava for about another 130 km before finishing on the alternating tracks and wadis to end the day with an overall P21 finish. Towards the second half, he started getting cramps and had to ride with grit and will power, even though the route offered gravel tracks inside of narrow valleys surrounded by mountains and volcanic rivers of black stones and wide valleys on gravel. They had beautiful sectors of vegetation too but the TVS rider was struggling to continue. But with a determined focus on the finish line, Noah continued the tempo and never gave up to end overall 21st clocking, 5 hours, 33 minutes and 42 seconds astride his Sherco TVS 450 SEF Rally from AlUla to Al Henakiyah.

    Indian Constructor Hero’s Ross Branch romped home with the fastest time in the special and scooped up his fourth career Dakar stage win. The Botswanan airline pilot who moonlights as a rally-raid racer also surged ahead in the overall, where he now holds a 12-minute margin over the 2020 Dakar champion, Ricky Brabec, and Mason Klein, who embraced the task of opening the road with panache and spent the entire stage alone at the front. 

    J-Rod crashes out

    Rule number 1 in a motorbike race is to stay upright no matter how many pebbles, stones or rocks stand in the way. A couple of riders broke this cardinal rule this morning, as the seasoned Joaquim Rodrigues crashed out of the race at km 82 and the budding talent Tosha Schareina bowed out of his third Dakar at km 240 with a fractured arm. “J-Rod” had earned the Hero Motosport Rally team their maiden stage-win in 2022.

    Performance of the Day

    Mason Klein, once the training partner of Harith Noah, was not even sure that he would be able to start his third Dakar on his brand-new second-generation Kove, which got stuck in customs in Dubai, but his Chinese mount finally arrived a few hours before the gong rang on the technical scrutineering.

    The American finished in the top-10 in the prologue and picked his starting order for Stage 1. The 22-year-old privateer chose to start first, a position typically avoided by Rally GP riders that would have usually gone to Skyler Howes, the worst performer in the opening romp.

    “The idea of opening the first stage at the Dakar is really cool so, in the end, no regrets because now I can say I’ve done it.” Klein again showed that he is a box full of surprises, not just because he spent the 400-km long hard slog alone at the front, picking up 6 hours, 21min. in bonuses and third place at the finish, but also because he did it on a motorbike that he had barely even touched before, “This is my third time on the bike now and I couldn’t be happier.” Today, Klein proved two things to himself and the rest of the field. First, that China has what it takes to become a rally-raid superpower in the near future. And second, that the word “impossible” is just a challenge to the 22-year-old American.

    Cox-Dumontier, a duel at the summit

    Bradley Cox and Romain Dumontier finished third and first, respectively, in the 2023 FIM Rally-Raid World Cup in the Rally 2 class, the last rung on the ladder before Rally GP. The South African and the Frenchman make no secret of their common ambition in this edition of the Dakar: to show their faces in the top 10 of each stage to try and catch the eye of a factory team. Alfie Cox’s son, victorious in the last two Rally 2 rounds in 2023, finished the special in fourth place, within two minutes of the overall podium. “Dudu”, sixth today, is less than a minute behind his new arch-rival for the championship. The two Rally 2 riders outperformed as many as thirteen of the sixteen factory riders still in the Dakar. The Rally 2 scene is gaining depth. Take Mason Klein: a veteran of the Rally 2 class, which he won in 2022, he is now standing on the provisional podium of the Dakar.

    On Sunday, 7th of January, the riders will set off for the 2nd stage of the Dakar, from Al Henakiyah to Al Duwadimi, 655 km of racing.

  • Geoffrey Emmanuel to take part in FIM Junior World Championship 2024

    Geoffrey Emmanuel to take part in FIM Junior World Championship 2024

    Chennai, 2 Jan 2024: Nineteen-year Chennai’s Geoffrey Emmanuel has confirmed his participation in the FIM Junior World Championship 2024 and he will be representing AGR Team astride a KTM.

    The FIM JuniorGP 2024 comprises 14 races spread across seven rounds. The first round is scheduled to be held in Italy (April 20-21). Spain will host two rounds and Portugal, four, including the final round (Nov 23-24).

    Looking ahead to the new season, Geoffrey, who made his international debut in 2022, participating in the Hawkers European Talent Cup at the age of 17, said: “I’m very excited to be part of the AGR Team and to be able to train with 111 Management to improve my career as a professional rider. I can’t wait to have new experiences with my new team!” Geoffrey will be shifting to Spain in February to prepare for the 2024 season.


    Geoffrey Emmanuel file photo

    According to team owner Anscari Nadal, having an Indian rider like Geoffrey is a challenge, but the goal is to nurture his talent and help him progress in the FIM Junior GP, eventually leading to a Wild Card promotion in the World Championship.

    In 2023, Geoffrey made history as the first and only Indian competitor in the FIM JuniorGP, riding a KTM for the Cuna de Campeones team. Although he didn’t score any points, his overall improvement was encouraging.

    Reflecting on his 2023 experience, Geoffrey said: “It was a steep learning curve. Adapting to a new bike, unfamiliar tracks, and tough competition was not easy. However, I managed to narrow the gap with the front-runners, placing more emphasis on personal growth and improvement rather than specific results.”

    Geoffrey, however, tasted success in the Malaysian Superbike Championship 2023, competing in the Group A MSBK 250 category. Despite facing challenges in Round 2 where he finished fifth, he showcased his skills in the Round-3 double-header by securing third place in Race 1 and topping Race 2 for his maiden international victory. He also achieved an overall third place finish in the Championship standings.

  • Historic ‘Grand Dozen’: 12 National titles for Hemanth Mudappa

    Historic ‘Grand Dozen’: 12 National titles for Hemanth Mudappa

    Chennai, 24 Dec. 2023: Ten-time Indian National drag racing champion Hemanth Muddappa from Mantra Racing became the most-decorated motorsports athlete with an unprecedented dozen National titles as he remained unbeaten in the top two classes and emerged a double champion in the MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Drag Racing Championship which concluded at the Madras International Circuit (MIC) in Irungattukottai, near here, on Sunday.

    He made it a sweet double as he emerged triumphant in both the Unrestricted class and the 1051 to 1650cc class in the fourth and final round. He won the Unrestricted class and the 1051 to 1650cc categories despite suffering a wheelie at the start in the later race and annexed the top place in both Round 3 and Round 4 races held today to bring his tally of National titles to a grand dozen. He remained unbeaten in these top two classes in all the four rounds, throughout the year.

    Earlier in the morning, he won the 4-stroke Unrestricted category astride the Suzuki Hayabusa, beating arch-rival and Bengaluru mate Alimon Saidalvi, clocking a blistering 07.746 and went on to claim another first place in the 4S 1051 to 1650cc class beating another stalwart Mohammed Riyaz of Hyderabad with a time of 7.779sec. Riyaz, who came third in the Unrestricted class had the consolation winning the 551 to 850cc Super Sport class, where Muddappa could only finish third behind another Hyderabad rider Mirza Jahangir, who took second.

    “It is a grand dozen and I am proud of the long and strong relationship with Mantra Racing that has brought a lot of happiness, not to talk about the hard work and struggles we underwent throughout the year. It is an amazing journey and I am glad we got a double. My thanks to all the boys, my family and my supporters,” said Muddappa, who is nicknamed as ‘LightningR1’ for his brute speed.

    Hemanth Muddappa with his 2023 trophies. Photo by Srinivasa Krishnan

    “Both Hemanth Muddappa and Mantra Racing have began the journey at the hallowed track of MIC and have dominated the National Drag scene like no other team at all circuits in the country and have produced great results and records culminating into 12 National titles, a record in the Indian drag racing history,” said Sharan Pratap, who tunes the champion’s bikes.

    Provisional Results: Round 3: Unrestricted: 1. Hemanth Muddappa (Bengaluru, Mantra Racing) (07.746); 2. Alimon Saidalvi (Bengaluru) (07.867); 3. Mohammed Riyaz (Hyderabad) (08.064).

    1051-1650cc (Super Sport): 1. Hemanth Muddappa (Bengaluru, Mantra Racing) (07.737); 2. Alimon (Bengaluru) (08.101); 3. Mohammed Riyaz (Hyderabad) (08.146).

    551-850cc (Super Sport): 1. Mohammed Riyaz (Hyderabad) (08.478); 2. Mirza Jahangir (Hyderabad) (08.541); 3. Hemanth Muddappa (Bengaluru, Mantra Racing) 08.579).

    Round 4: Unrestricted: 1. Hemanth Muddappa (Bengaluru, Mantra Racing) (07.706); 2. Alimon Saidalvi (Bengaluru) (07.740); 3. Mohammed Riyaz (Hyderabad) (07.894).

    1051-1650cc (Super Sport): 1. Hemanth Muddappa (Bengaluru, Mantra Racing) (07.718); 2. Mohammed Riyaz (Hyderabad) (08.053); 3. Mirza Jahangir (Hyderabad) (08.077).

    551-850cc (Super Sport): 1. Mohammed Riyaz (Hyderabad) (08.544); 2. Hemanth Muddappa (Bengaluru, Mantra Racing) 08.913); 3. Mirza Jahangir (Hyderabad) (09.079).

  • Triumphant Harkrishan, Kunal clinch iconic K1000 Rally for second Overall win

    Triumphant Harkrishan, Kunal clinch iconic K1000 Rally for second Overall win

    Tumakuru, 23 Dec. 2023: Delhi’s Harkrishan Wadia and co-driver Kunal Kashyap turned their overnight lead into a memorable victory at the iconic Blueband K1000 Rally, and won the 2023 INRC2 title bagging full 40 points in the sixth and final round of the Blueband Sports fmsci Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) for four-wheelers, which concluded near Gubbi, here on Saturday.

    The Mangaluru-Bengaluru pair of Aroor Arjun Rao and co-driver Satish Rajagopal has already won the Blueband Indian National Rally Championship 2023 Overall title winning the first three rounds and took a 45-point unbeatable lead going into K1000. Wadia and Kashyap of Himachal, after their maiden win at the Blueband Robusta Rally of Kodagu last month, took their second straight Overall victory at K1000 to comfortably clinch the title in their class, the INRC2. “I am delighted with the back-to-back wins and the title is a bonus. I am grateful to my father and I thank all my team, especially Leela sir, Karna, Phil and all the boys. But for them, this would not have been possible,” said the 25-year Harkrishan, the 2020 Junior INRC champ and son of former rally star Anil Wadia.

    Harkrishan Wadia, left, and Kunal Kashyap, winners of the Blueband 47th K1000 Rally at Tumakuru on Saturday. An INDIAinF1 image

    Mangaluru’s Dean Mascarenhas along with co-driver Gagan Karumbaiah, who were lying in Overall third overnight, finished Overall second ahead of the Snap Racing pair, Younus Ilyas (co-driver Nitin Jacob). Behind Arka Motorsports’ Wadia (co-driver Kashyap), who was driving an INRC2 spec Volkswagen Polo 1.6, it was 2019 champion Chetan Shivram and co-driver E Shivprakash, who took the second place in the INRC2 class. Ritesh Guttedar and Chetan M finished third.

    In the INRC3 class, Jason Saldanha and co-driver Thimmanna Uddapanda, fresh from their exploits in this year’s Malaysian Rally Championship, emerged as winners of K1000 in this class. Jahaan Singh Gill and co-driver Suraj Keshav Prasad finished second, which was enough for them to clinch the INRC3 2023 championship. Daraius Shroff and Shahid Salman, who were in title contention till Hyderabad, lost the plot in the last two rounds. They finished third in their class today.

    Jahaan Singh, who won the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) Junior title last month in Indonesia, also won the Junior INRC title.

    Ammyfied Rallying pair Abhin Rai and co-driver Rohit Gowda won the K1000 on way to their maiden INRC4 title. Kothamangalam privateers Athul Thomas and Sajil V Saji came second and Praveen Dwarakanath and co-driver Kariyappa KB finished third.

    In the Gypsy class, Ammyfied Rallying made a clean sweep of the podium led by Samrat Yadav and Arvind Dheerendra. Darshan Nachappa and co-driver Abhinav Ganapathy were second and that was enough for them to clinch the 2023 FMSCI Gypsy Cup. Dr Akarsh Sunder and V Sekar, who finished third amassed more points but lost on “N minus one’ rule, where drivers can discard one round.

    Anushriya Gulati, who won the K1000 Rally, also clinched the Ladies Class championship for 2023.

    Of the 59 entries, only 30 cars finished. Six cars on Day 1 and 21 cars on Day 2 did not finish.

    Final Provisional Results:

    Overall: 1. Harkrishan Wadia/ Kunal Kashyap (Arka Motorsports) (01hr, 26min, 53.5seconds); 2. Dean Mascarenhas/ Gagan Karumbaiah (Pvt.) (01:27:57:2); 3. Younus Ilyas/ Nitin Jacob (Snap Racing) (01:28:06.1);

    INRC2: 1. Harkrishan Wadia/ Kunal Kashyap (Arka Motorsports) (01:26:53.5); 2. Chetan Shivram/ E Shivaprakash (Jo1 Rallying) (01:30:34.4); 3. Ritesh Guttedar M/ Suraj M (Pvt.) (01:32:27.5);

    INRC3: 1. Jason Saldanha/ Thimmanna Uddapanda (Dark Don Racing) (01:29:39.0); 2. Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad (Snap Racing) (01:29:49.6); 3. Daraius Shroff/ Shahid Salman (Chettinad Sporting) (01:30:02.0);

    INRC4: 1. Abhin Rai/ Rohit Gowda (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:36:25.2); 2. Athul Thomas /Sajil V Saji (Pvt.) (01:47:34.0); 3. Praveen Dwarakanath / Kariyappa KB (Pvt.) (01:51:05.2):

    Gypsy: 1. Samrat Yadav/ Arvind Dheerendra (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:40:02.9); 2. Darshan Nachappa/ Abhinav Ganapathy (Ammyfied) (01:43:29.6); 3. Dr Akarsh Sunder/ V Seker (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:44:03.3);

    Junior INRC: 1. Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad (Snap Racing) (01:29:49.6); 2. Arjun Rajiv/ Milen George (Ammyfied) (01:33:14.2); 3. Abhin Rai/ Rohit Gowda (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:34:45.2);

    Ladies Class: 1. Anushriya Gulati/ Sherwin Dalmeida (Dark Don Racing) (01:51:35.1);

    INRC Champions for 2023:

    Overall 2023 Rally champion: Aroor Arjun Rao/ Satish Rajagopal;

    INRC2: Harkrishan Wadia/ Kunal Kashyap (Arka Motorsports);

    INRC3: Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad (Snap Racing);

    INRC4: Abin Rai/ Rohit Gowda;

    Ladies Class: Anushriya Gulati;

    Junior INRC: Jahaan Singh Gill;

    Gypsy Cup: Darshan Nachappa/ Abhinav Ganapathy;

  • Harkrishan, Kunal duo leads Day 1 again at the iconic K1000 Rally: INRC

    Harkrishan, Kunal duo leads Day 1 again at the iconic K1000 Rally: INRC

    Tumakuru, 22 Dec. 2023: Delhi daredevil and Arjuna Awardee Gaurav Gill, began with a bang and clocked the fastest stage times in the first two special stages but it was his compatriot young gun Harkrishan Wadia, also from Delhi, who stole the limelight beating the best in the next two stages to emerge as the Overall leader at the end of Day 1 in the iconic Blueband K1000 Rally, the sixth and final round of the Blueband Sports fmsci Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) for four-wheelers, near Gubbi, on Friday. In the previous Kodagu Rally also, the duo took the lead on Day 1 and went on to win the Overall title the next day.

    The popular Blueband K1000 Rally, organised by Karnataka Motor Sports Club (KMSC), is the oldest running rally in India and threw more surprises as Wadia, along with Kunal Kashyap of Himachal Pradesh, fresh from their maiden Overall victory at the Kodagu Rally, dominated the proceedings with a late charge and the multiple-champion Gill, who won K1000 many times is trailing in the fifth position, about 84 seconds behind the leaders. Championship leaders Aroor Arjun Rao and Satish Rajagopal, continued to suffer hiccups, but the duo have already clinched their maiden INRC title, with a round to spare.

    Arka Motorsports’ Harkrishan Wadia (co-driver Kashyap), driving an INRC2 spec Volkswagen Polo 1.6 did a commendable job to finish the Leg 1 on top on Day 1 but they need to sustain the tempo for a flourish on the last day of the season tomorrow. The duo also topped their INRC2 class. Younus Ilyas and co-driver Nitin Jacob emerged Day 1 in second followed by Mangaluru’s speed merchant Dean Mascarenhas and Gagan Karumbaiah in third.

    In INRC2, former champions Philippos Matthai and co-driver PVS Murthy are following Wadia in second and 2019 champion Chetan Shivram is in third along with his navigator E Shivaprakash.

    Shivani Parmar (co-ddriver Arjun Dheerendra) leads the Ladies Class after Day 1 at the K1000 Rally near Gubbi on Friday. Due to Christmas, the K1000 Rally finishes on Saturday, instead of the traditional Sunday.

    In the INRC3 class, Jason Saldanha and co-driver Thimmanna Uddapanda, who did well in this year’s Malaysian Rally Championship, emerged as leaders with a late kick pushing behind Shashank Jamwal and Aseem Sharma to second. Talented Jahaan Singh Gill of Chandigarh along with Bengaluru co-driver Suraj Keshav Prasad of Snap Racing, who already clinched the Junior INRC title for 2023, is in third place. They are table leaders before going into K1000.

     “I have a comfortable margin of over 40 seconds, but I am not going to relax. We will carry the tempo and go for it on the final day of the season. It felt good in the last two stages and I want to keep up the momentum,” said the day’s leader, Harkishan Wadia, who came into prominence in the Asia Pacific Rally Star event at Chennai last year.

    Abhin Rai is leading INRC4 class along with co-driver Rohit Gowda, and the Ammyfied Rallying team is looking for a strong finish tomorrow. In the Gypsy Class, another Ammyfied team of Samrat Yadav and Arvind Dheerendra are in P1 looking to sustain the good run on Saturday.

    Provisional Results after Day 1:

    Overall: 1. Harkrishan Wadia/ Kunal Kashyap (Arka Motorsports) (00hrs, 58min, 26.2seconds); 2. Younus Ilyas/ Nitin Jacob (Pvt.) (00:59:11.7); 3. Dean Mascarenhas/ Gagan Karumbaiah (Pvt.) (00:59:14:4);

    INRC2: 1. Harkrishan Wadia/ Kunal Kashyap (Arka Motorsports) (00:58:26.2); 2. Philippos Matthai/ PV Srinivasa Murthy (Arka Motorsports) (00:59:27.2): 3. Chetan Shivram/ E Shivaprakash (Jo1 Rallying) (01:00:44.0);

    INRC3: 1. Jason Saldanha/ Thimmanna Uddapanda (Dark Don Racing) (01:00:09.7); 2. Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad (Snap Racing) (01:00:31.1); 3. Daraius Shroff/ Shahid Salman (Chettinad Sporting) (01:00:38.0).

    INRC4: 1. Abhin Rai/ Rohit Gowda (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:03:27.9); 2. Athul Thomas /Sajil V Saji (Pvt.) (01:10:39.5); 3. Praveen Dwarakanath / Kariyappa KB (Pvt.) (01:12:48.3):

    Gypsy: 1. Samrat Yadav/ Arvind Dheerendra (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:04;58.5); 2. Darshan Nachappa/ Abhinav Ganapathy (Ammyfied) (01:09:11.6); 3. Dr Akarsh Sunder/ V Seker (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:09:24.8);

    Ladies Class: 1. Shivani Parmar/ Arjun Dheerendra (Chettinadu Sporting) (01:03:43.0); 2. Nikeetaa Takkale/ Raghuram Saminathan (Snap Racing) (01:03:55.8); 3. Anushriya Gulati/ Sherwin Dalmeida (Dark Don Racing) (01:04:25.0).

    Junior INRC: 1. Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad (Snap Racing) (01:00:31.1); 2. Abhin Rai/ Rohit Gowda (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:03:27.9); 3. Arjun Rajiv/ Milen George (Ammyfied) (01:03:41.5).

  • Rakshith Dave misses Malaysian SBK Championship title by a whisker

    Rakshith Dave misses Malaysian SBK Championship title by a whisker

    Sepang, 19 December 2023: Indian teenager Rakshith Dave bagged two podium places in the third and final round to clinch a creditable runners-up spot, in his debut season, in the Malaysian Superbike Championship 2023, which concluded here at the Sepang International Circuit.

    Rakshith, who made his international debut in Round 1 with a stunning double victory in his class went on to bag the second place in the highly-competitive Championship in Malaysia.

    In Round 3, Rakshith won two podiums, a second and a third place in the MSBK 250 B Race category but had to be content with the second in the overall standings of his class for the championship. In the in the 8-lap Race 1, he timed 20min, 53.558sec and later clocked 20:41.903 for a second place in Race 2.

    Earlier, astride a Honda CBR250RR, Rakshith won both the Round 1 races in his class in the Malaysia SBK 250cc category (B category), at the famed MotoGP circuit, the Sepang International Circuit, Kuala Lumpur. Rakshith bagged the ‘Week-end Warrior Trophy’ in the first round.

    Rakshith Dave in action at Sepang in the first round in August 2023. INDIAinF1 image

    Chennai’s Rakshith, 15, a Class X student of Lady Andal, said: “I am very happy to take a second place in the prestigious Malaysian Super Bike Championship. I am really elated and this gives me a push to continue my dreams. I thank my family, my team and crew who have worked really hard for this season and I hope to launch a new and better season soon.”

    Rakshith made his debut at the Madras International circuit in 2020 after he was selected for the Honda India Talent Cup and took a podium in his very first race. In the next two years, he scored many victories and podiums and graduated to NSF 250 class and went on to take part in the inaugural MiniGP India series in 2022. In 2023, he not only won the second place in the Idemitsu Honda 2023 Championship but also won the overall title in the teenage class of the MMSC Sprint Rally.

    The highlight of 2023 for Rakshith came when he was selected to represent India in the Asia Talent Cup 2024 to be held over six rounds across as many countries. He was one among the 10 riders to be selected from the Asia Pacific Region.

    The MSBK championship consisted of six races over three rounds at the same venue in Sepang. After winning both the races in Round 1, he came back strongly to win the second race in Round 2 after some technical issues with the bike prevented him from starting Race 1. In Round 3, he achieved another two podiums to finish the season on a bright note with 111 points, just 4 points behind Muhd Izrul Huzaimie Amran who won the 250B class title.