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Author: David Bodapati
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INRC 2w Hall of Fame
Bengaluru: The Indian National Two-wheeler championship was one of the top events which was popular drawing thousands of spectators and generated huge interest in the motoring community in yester years. However, there are no proper records about the history of the National Championship which began simultaneously with the Four-wheeler Championship in 1988 and National titles were given for rider and navigator. Over the years, the bike rallies saw the disappearance of navigators and only drivers were required to take part in the championship. This article is Work in Progress. As we compile the old records, we request riders or fans to chip in if you have any old paper clips or result sheets. Thank you!
2020 – Promoter – God Speed Racing, Pune headed by Shyam Kothari
Champions 2020 INRC2w
Overall: Samuel Jacob;
Ladies: Aishwarya Pissay;
1. Puttur, Gravel, 28, 29 November 2020; Rally of Puttur
2. Bengaluru, Gravel, 6, 7 December 2020; K 1000 2w Rally; Suhail Ahmed
3. Coimbatore, 23, 24 Jan 2021; Rally of Coimbatore; Overall winner: Samuel Jacob (TVS Racing) Apache RTR; Class 4: SS260cc Group B.
4. Hampi, Gravel, 30, 31 January 2021; MRF MoGrip Rally of Hampi, Utsav de Hampi, Overall winner: Samuel Jacob (TVS Racing); Apache RTR; Class 4: SS260cc Group B.
2019 – Promoter – God Speed Racing, Pune headed by Shyam Kothari
1.
2. Rally of Pune, AutoTrack Video here
INRC 2-W final Championship Table 2019
Class 1: Superbike (Pro-Expert):
1. Rajendra RE, TVS Racing, 100
2. R Nataraj, TVS Racing, 51
3. Nikhil Balakrishna, Privateer, 36
Class 1A: Superbike (Expert):
1. Jatain Jain, 101
2. Badal S Doshi, 65
3. Venu Ramesh Kumar, 33
Class 2 – Super Sport 130:
1. M Srikanth, 95
2. Azeeb Mohammed, 86
3. Santhosh Kour, 53
Class 3: Super Sport 165:
1. Ishan Chandra, 126
2. Francis PV, 90
3. Akshay Siddharamaaiyah, 53
Class 4: Super Sport 260:
1. Imran Pasha, TVS Racing, 118,
2. Samuel Jacob, TVS Racing, 91
3. Sachin D, TVS Racing, 90
Class 5: Super Sport 400:
1. Sudeep Kottary, 118
2. Vikram K, 58,
3. Shivan Wani, 48
Class 6: Super Sport 550:
1. Suhail Ahmed, 125
2. Arun Joy, 66
3. Devraj Venkatesh, 59
Class 7: S0 to S3 Scooters upto 210cc (S0 to S3):
1. Syed Asif Ali, TVS Racing, 143
2. Shamim Khan, TVS Racing, 102
3. Pinkesh Thakkar, TVS Racing, 93
Class 8 – Ladies Class: Ladies Class (Open Indian Motorcycles):
1. Aishwarya Pissay, TVS Racing, 150
2. Ryhana Bee, 48
3. Fazeela, 36.
2018 –
2017
2016
2015
1.
2.
3.. INRC 2w Rally – Chikmagalur; Watch AutoTrack YouTube video here!
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
- Nashik, 5, 6 June 1999: NASA Challenge 1999; Overall winner: Rohitaaz Kumar (MRF)
- Bengaluru, 14, 15 August 1999; Gravel, 25th Karnataka 1000 K1000 rally 1999; Overall winner: Rohitaaz Kumar (MRF)
1998
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Vikram Mathias, PVS Murthy win Nashik Rally to clinch National Championship
Nashik, 21 Dec 2008: The 2004 National champion Vikram Mathias won the Overall winner’s trophy and also clinched the Indian National Rally Championship for a second time, albeit with a different navigator, as he won the IMG’s Rally of Maharashtra, the final round of INRC 2008, here on Sunday. and thus also sealing the overall champiopnship title for 2008.
Calling the pace notes and silently contributing to the success is co-driver PV Srinivasa Murthy, who toiled along with the popular driver to bag his maiden National Championship. Vikram Mathias won his maiden National Rally Championship four years back in 2004 with the popular navigator BS Sujith Kumar sharing the honours as co-driver.
The Red Rooster driver won by a huge margin of 8 minutes, 26seconds from Vikram Devadasan, a Rally Star Cup (RSC) competitor, who finished a commendable second overall in the rally, after both the 1600 class challengers, Girijashankar Joshy and Sanket Shanbhag suffered technical issues. Vikram’s teammater, novice Amittrajit Ghosh, also went out of the reckoning early on Day 2 on the first stage of the day when he hit a rock, destroying his suspension.
Ramesh and Sanket Shanbaug stood fourth and Girijashankar Joshi of Winspeed stood fifth in the overall category.
In the Gypsy Cup category, Sandeep Sharma was the winner followed by Suresh Rana and Chettinad Sporting’s Sanjay Agarwal on the podium in that order.
In Rally Star Cup category, Chettinad Sproting’s Vikram Devadasen got the top position followed by Shailendar Hegde in second and Godrej Byram in third.
In 1400 CC category, Saurabh Chaudhary claimed the winner’s trophy while JM Manju stood second and S Sujay claimed the third spot.
In the 1600 CC category, Winspeed’s Sanket Shanbaug lifted the winner’s trophy and his teammate Girijashankar Joshy claimed the second spot.
The winners were given trophies and mementoes at the hands of Superintendent of Police Nikhil Gupta and other dignitaries in a glittering ceremony at Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan, the headquarters of Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) here. The rally was organized by Western India Sports Association (WISA).
Provisional Unaudited Results:
Overall: 1. Vikram Matthias Mitsubishi Cedia (REd Rooster Racing) (1hour, 26min, 21sec); 2. Vikram Devadasan Maruti Esteem (RSC) (1:34:47); 3. Shailendar Hegde (Maruti Esteem RSC) (1: 35:03);
Group N 1600 class: 1. Sanket Shanbhag (Maruti Baleno) (1:36:22); 2. Girijashankar Joshy (Maruti Baleno) (1:36:28);
Group N 1400 class: JM Manju (Maruti Esteem) (1:40:31); 2. Sourabh Chaudhry (Maruti Esteem) (1:43:34); 3. S Sujay (Maruti Esteem) (1:45:38;
Rally Star Cup (RSC): 1. Vikram Devadasan (Maruti Esteem) (RSC) 1:34:47); 2. Shailendar Hegde (Maruti Esteem) (RSC) (1:35:03); 3. Byram Godrej (Maruti Esteem) (RSC) (1:37:35).
Gypsy Cup: 1. Sandeep Sharma (1:41:10) 2. Suresh Rana (1:42:15); 3. Sanjay Agarwal (1:45:08);
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KD Madan elected FMSCI president; New CEO to join from Jan 1
Chennai, 16 Dec 2008: Vijay Mallya, the chairman of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs in INdia (FMSCI) announced here that the Federation has taken a decision to appoint a Chief Executive Officer to run the administrative affairs of the National governing body of motorsports in India. Speaking to the media after the Annual General Body Meeting (AGM) of FMSCI, he said that Rajan Syal, the current Secretary of Madras Motor Sports Association (MMSC), who has good experience both as a rally driver and motorsports administrator would join the federation as CEO from January 1.
He will be reporting to the chairman Vijay Mallya and to KD Madan of MMSC, as he is unanimously elected as the President of the federation. J. Prithviraj of Coimbatore Auto Sports Club (CASC) will be the Vice-President. The elections were held on Dec 16 at the end of the two-day AGM.
“The CEO will be in-charge of the day-to-day running and the federation is also keen to run motorsports in India in a professional manner. We will be making long-term plans to promote and develop the sport in India and this step is in that direction,” said Mallya.
Mallya added: ‘I want the FMSCI to function like the FIA (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile, the world governing body for motor sport) and have a CEO to run the federation.’
The 55-year old Chennai-based Syal, who will now relinquish his post as the honorary secretary of the Madras Motor Sports Club (MMSC), said: ‘Indeed, I am very happy. It is part of our efforts to run Indian motor sport in a professional manner.’
The terms and conditions of Syal’s appointment are still to be finalised, but it is likely that he will take charge on Jan 1, 2009.
Syal , himself a former racer and rally driver, has been the chairman of JK Tyre National Racing Championship for the past five years, a position that he would be giving up in view of his appointment as the CEO of the FMSCI.
KD Madan, representing the Madras Motor Sports Club, returns to the helm after an eight-year interlude while Mallya will continue as the chairman.
Madan’s election was said to be unanimous as he replaces Kolkata police officer Rajat Majumder who headed the FMSCI for the past four years. Mallya will be the India delegate at the FIA and Madan will represent the FMSCI at the FIM (two-wheelers).
The FMSCI recently regained the sporting power from its rival body, the Motorsport Association of India (MAI) that had overseen the sport in India since 2000.
New office-bearers: Chairman: Vijay Mallya.
President: K D Madan; Vice-president: J Prithviraj;
Council Members: Madras Motor Sports Club (Madan), Coimbatore Auto Sports Club (Prithviraj), Karnataka Motor Sports Club (Praneeth Perumal), Bengal Motor Sports Club (Rajat Majumder), Sportscraft (Shrikant Karani), Himalayan Motor Sports Association (Vijay Parmar), Sports Trek (Shyam Kothari) and Nashik Automotive Sports Association (Ravi Shamdasani).
Chairmen of sub-committees: J Prithviraj (Two-Wheeler Race commission); Praneeth Perumal (Rally commission); R Gopinath (National Racing, 4-wheelers); Vicky Chandhok (International racing, 4-wheeler); Shrikant Karani (2-wheeler commission); Shyam Kothari (Motorcross/supercross); Balamurugan (Disciplinary) and Rajat Majumder (Safety and Environment).
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Vikram Mathias, PVS Murthy crowned INRC Champions
Coorg, 30 Nov 2008: Karnataka duo Vikram Mathias and co-driver PV Srinivasa Murthy of Red Rooster Racing team won the overall title and were crowned the champions of the Indian National Racing Championship (INRC) for 2008 with a round to spare here on Sunday. Thus, Vikram Mathias bagged his second National title. He won the crown for the first time in 2004 with Sujith Kumar BS as his co-driver. It was the maiden title for Murthy.
Rally de Coorg, the fifth and penultimate round of the INRC took off for the second leg on Sunday with the 20 competitors starting from Gandhi Maidan at 7 am to show case their talent and driving skills in the three stages which were run in reverse direction today.
Vikram Mathias and PVS Murthy took the overall honours with steady performance and were trailed by another Karnataka pair Girijashankar Joshy and co-driver Prajval Pai, of Team Winspeed, who notched up an impressive overall second beside winning their class, the 1600cc.
Sujay and co-driver SM Bharath won the 1400cc class beating Hyderabad’s Mazdayar Vatcha and co-driver Vinayak Nanada to take the second place in the 1400cc class.
Local star Den Thimmaiah, the brother of international hockey star Len Aiyappa, had Ravindra as his co-driver and the duo performed admirably to claim Overall fourth place and in the process also won the Rally Star Cup (RSC).
Shafeeque and co-driver George Varghese also overtook the overnight second-placed teams of Raghuram CG and co-driver Balram CG and third-placed team of Byram Godrej and navigator Anjay Kapadia to clinch the second position in the RSC Class.
Experienced pair of Sanjay Agarwal and co-driver Elias Paarel notched up a facile win in their class to win the Gypsy Cup while J Aravind and co-driver Varun came second.Provisional Results after Day 2:
Overall: 1. Vikram Mathias/ PVS Murthy (Red Rooster Racing) (1hour, 41min, 41sec); 2. Girijashanker Joshy/ Prajval Pai (Team Winspeed) (1:48:10); 3. S Sujay/ SM Bharth (1:51:03); 4. Den Thimmaiah/ Ravindra (1:51:39); 5. Mazdayar Vatcha/ Vinayak Nanda (1:52:06).
1600cc class: 1. Girijashanker Joshy /Prajval Pai (1:48:10).
1400cc class: 1. S Sujay/ SM Bharath (1:51:03); 2. Mazdayar Vatcha/ Vinayak Nandalike (1:52:06); 3. JM Manju/ Jeevarathinam (1:59:30).
Rally Star Cup: 1. Den Thimmaiah/ Ravindra (1:51:39); 2. Shafeeq-ur-Rehman/ Geroge Varghese (1:53:09); 3. Raghuram CG/ Balram CG (1:53:40).
Gypsy Class: 1. Sanjay Agarwal/ Elias Paarel (1:59:11); 2. J Aravin/ Varun (2:00:38); 3.
Venkatesh/ Lakshmikant (2:5:17).ends
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Vikram Mathias, PVS Murthy inch closer to title winning Mill & Monsoon Rally
Coimbatore, 19 October 2008: Team Red Rooster Racing’s Vikram Mathias along with co-driver PVS Murthy notched up a comfortable win in the IMG Mill and Monsoon Rally, the fifth round of the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC), here Sunday.
Driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Cedia, Mathias and Murthy earlier won the two rounds at Mysore and Bangalore.
Mathias had no competition, after team-mate Amittrajit Ghosh (co-driver Ashwin Naik), also in a Cedia, dropped out with gearbox problems on Saturday and had the luxury of driving at his own pace to clinch the overall title with ease.
The victory, meant that Mathias is virtually assured of the National title, his fourth in eight years. By picking up the full complement of 16 points here, Mathias has taken his tally to 47.
“Since I had a comfortable lead overnight, I eased off a bit as my focus was on to finish the event and pick up championship points. Also, we had to be careful in view of the slushy conditions following overnight rains,” said Mathias who finished over seven minutes ahead of second-placed Girijashankar Joshy (co-driver Prajwal Pai) who was in a Maruti Baleno.
Overnight rains had rendered some sections of the two Special Stages that were run twice, slushy and treacherous, but only two of the Leg-2 starters failed to finish the course.
For Joshy, it was a huge relief to win in his class (1600cc) after a string of non-finishes this season. Driving sensibly, Joshy, representing Team Winspeed, eventually completed the course three minutes ahead of his nearest rival and championship leader in the class, Sanket Shanbhag (co-driver Ramesh Shanbhag).
The Rally Star Cup witnessed some close competition before Shailendra Hegde (co-driver Sheraz Ahmed) chalked up his second success of the season in this class, sparing over two minutes to Byram Godrej.
In the Gypsy class, Sanjay Agarwal (co-driver Elias Paarel), who was lying third overnight, pulled out all stops and finished second behind Sandeep Sharma (co-driver Rashid Raza), pushing J Aravind to third.
Provisional (unaudited) classification:
Overall: 1. Vikram Mathias/PVS Murthy (Red Rooster Racing, Cedia N+) (1hr, 41mins, 15secs); 2. Girijashankar Joshy/Prajal Pai (Team Winspeed, Maruti Baleno) (1:48:41); 3. Sanket Shanbhag/Ramesh Shanbhag (Team Winspeed, Maruti Baleno) (1:52:23).
1600cc: 1. Girijashankar Joshy/ Prajwal Pai (1:48:41); 2. S Shanbhag/R Shanbhag (1:52:53); 3. Yogeshwar Singh Gill/Khushwant Randhawa (1:55:14).
1400cc: 1. JM Manju/Jeevarathinam (1:54:26); 2. Saurabh Chaudhari/Uday Kumar (1:55:14); 3. S Sujay/SM Bharath 3 (1:55:24).
Rally Star Cup: 1. Shailendra Hegde/Sheraz Ahmed (1:53:02); 2. Byram Godrej/George Varghese (1:54:49); 3. Deepak Paul Chinnappa/M Chandrasekar 3 (1:54:52).
Gypsy: 1. Sandeep Sharma/Rashid Raza (1:54:30); 2. Sanjay Agarwal/Elias Paarel (1:55:38); 3. J. Aravind/Pramod Raman 3 (1:57:14).
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Lohith Urs leads Team MRF 1-2 at Popular Rally
By George Francis
Kochi, 14 Sept 2008: Team MRF Limited finished the Popular Rally of Kerala 2008, taking the top two spots comfortably. After capitalising on the overnight lead, ‘Team Reds’ were placed on the top two steps of the podium, with hardly any competition with Lohith Urs and co-driver Chandramouli winning the Popular Rally, the third round of the Indian National Rally Championship 2008 here on Sunday. Teammates Arjun Rao Aroor and navigator Satish Rajagopal came second while most of the rest of the top runners had pulled out on Saturday due to various mechanical reasons. Lohith Urs made his debut in a Cedia.
“We have been running by and far in the top three positions in the last five rallies, and we are confident that we would do well. We are happy with the win,” said Lohith Urs, who won the rally on debut in a Cedia 2000 N+ car. Lohith and co-driver Chandramouli, clocked a penalty of I hour 15 minutes and 18 seconds in the two-day rally. Team MRF’s Arjun Rao Aroor and co-driver Satish Rajagopal who were almost 2 minutes behind Lohith, finished second overall and first in the 1600 N+ class, driving a Ford Fiesta.
The Popular Rally of Kerala 2008 that was flagged off on Saturday morning had to cancel one of the Special Stages due to technical issues and ran only 2 of the scheduled 3 stages.
Biju Antony and co-driver Uday Kumar, of Kochi, won the 1600cc class, followed by Roopesh Kholay and navigator Prajval Pai and Sanket Shanbhag and Ramesh Shanbhag of Team Winspeed in third. In fact, the Shanbhags were running third overall on Saturday and were holding the same position until the final stage of the rally, where they went off the road and lost time to concede the second place.
Lohith Urs and co-driver Chandramouli pose with trophies at the podium ceremony after winning the Popular Rally on Sunday. Photo by George Francis The 1400cc class saw a new winner in Bonnie Thomas from Thodupuzha co-driven by Adhiraj Bhardhan. Sujay and Bharath pair finished second while Francis and Royce came 3rd.
In the Rally Star Cup, Den Thimmaiah and Dinesh finished on top followed by Vikram Devadasan and Anoop Kumar in second. Kaushik Shinde and Sulaiman Shaikh came third.
The Gypsy Class was won by Sandeep Sharma and Rashid Raza beating Surenda Babu and Nayeen to second place. Experienced pair of Sanjay Agarwal and Elias Paarel came third.
The Kerala Auto Sports Club (KASC) organised Popular Rally of Kerala 2008, which ran 400-odd kilometers, of which about 100-kms were competitive stage distance and the rest traversing transport distance. The next round of the MAI INRC would run in Coimbatore in October.
Provisional unaudited Results:
OVERALL: 1.Lohith Urs & Chandramouli (Team MRF Limited) 1hour, 15min, 18sec; 2. Arjun Rao & Satish Rajagopal (Team MRF Limited) (1: 17: 10); 3. Bonnie Thomas & Adhiraj Bharadhan (1:21:41); 4. Biju Antony & Uday Kumar (1:21:52); 5. Den Thimmiah & Dinesh (1:22:06);
2000cc: 1.Lohith Urs & Chandramouli (Team MRF Limited) 1hour, 15min, 18sec;
1600 cc: 1. Biju Antony & Uday Kumar (1:21:52); 2. Roopesh Kholay & Prajual Pai (1:24:36); 3. Sanket Shanbhag & Ramesh Shanbhag (Team Winspeed) (1:32:50).
1400cc: 1. Bonnie Thomas & Adhiraj Bhardhan (1:21:41); 2. Sujay & Bharath (1:24:00); 3. Francis KJ & Royce (1:24:46).
Rally Star Cup: 1. Den Thimmiah & Dinesh (1:22:06); 2. Vikram Devadasan & Anoop Kumar (1:23:42); 3. Kaushik Shinde & Sulaiman Shaikh (1: 25:21).
Gypsy Class: 1. Sandeep Sharma & Rashid Raza (1: 25:00); 2. Surendra Babu & Nayeen (1: 27:15); 3. Sanjay Agarwal & Elias Paarel (1:30: 46).
ends
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Vikram Mathias- Murthy win 34th K1000 Rally
By David Bodapati
Bangalore, 10 August 2008: Red Rooster Racing’s Vikram Mathias and co-driver PVS Murthy won the 34th K1000 Rally, the second round of the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) driving their Mitsubishi Cedia admirably to take their second consecutive win in the season on Sunday.
After winning the opening round, the Rally of Karnataka on the gravel tracks of Mysore, the duo managed to take advantage of issues to Gaurav Gill’s car in Special Stage (SS) 3 and kept up the pressure to take a well-deserved win. They clocked 1 hour, 32 minutes and 21 seconds, a good one minute 29 seconds ahead of second-placed Amittrajit Ghosh and Ashwin Naik. Gill and Musa Sherif, who clocked fastest stage times in all the SS except in SS3 came third, over 8 minutes behind Ghosh.
Reigning National Champion, Gaurav Gill finished way down the order on Day 1 due to mechanical problems in his car causing him a loss of 11 minutes on stage 3. But when all was rectified by his Team MRF, he blitzed up the order from 30th place on Day 1 to 3rd overall by the end of the rally. It must be mentioned that Gaurav was faster than both Vikram and Ghosh on all stages of the rally other than the fateful Stage 3. In the end, it was Vikram Mathias who nurtured his car and Red Roosters snatched the famous victory. “The win would certainly boost the team’s confidence and it would emerge stronger and better for the rest of the rounds of the INRC,” said Vikram Mathias.
Thus Vikram Mathias and Murthy also won the 2000 N+ class. Lohitt V Urs and Arjun Rao Aroor who retired with mechanical problems on Day 1, rejoined the rally but were not eligible for classification.
Sanket Shanbhag with Ramesh Shanbhag calling the pace notes, won the 1600 Class beating Chetan Shivaram and Sangeeth Samuel. Biju Antony and Uday Kumar finished third.
Hyderbad Biker Mazdayar Vatcha and co-driver Vinayaka won the 1400cc class beating Sourabh Chaudhari and Nirav Mehta duro from Calcutta while Krishna Jeet Cola and Abhilash Nair finished third.
The Rally Star Cup was won by Vikram Devadasan and Raymond while Sandeep Sharma and co-driver Rashid Raza lifted the Gypsy Cup.
Out of total entries of 52 only 27 cars finished.
Unaudited Final Classification: Overall: 1. Vikram Mathias/ PVS Murthy (Team Red Rooster Racing) (1hour, 32min, 21sec); 2. Amittrajit Ghosh/ Ashwin Naik (1hour, 33min,50sec); 3. Gauravsingh Gill/ Moosa Sherif (01:41:07); 4. Mazdayar Vatcha/Vinayaka (01:42:20); 5. Sanket Shanbhag/ Ramesh Shanbhag (01:42:31); 6. S Sujay/ SM Bharath (01:43:10); 7. Akhil Kushlani/ Vivek Ponnuswami (01:44:12); 8. Vikram Devadasen/ Raymond (01:45:03).
2000 N+ class: 1. Vikram Mathias/.PVS Murthy (01:32:21); 2. Amittrajit Ghosh/ Ashwin Naik (01:33:50); 3. Gaurav Singh Gill/ Moosa Sherif (01:41:07); 4. Akhil Kushlani/ Vivek Ponnuswami (01:44:12).
1600 N class: 1. Sanket Shanbhag/ Ramesh Shanbhag (01:42:31); 2. Chetan Shivram/ Sangeeth (01:49:14); 3. Biju Antony/ Uday Kumar (01:50:13).
1400cc Class: 1. Mazdayar Vatcha/ Vinayaka (01:42:20); 2. Sourabh Chaudhari/ Nirav Mehta (01:48:56); 3. Krishna Jeet Cola/ Abhilash Nair (01:49:52); 4. Thomas Kurien/ Elias Paarel (01:51:11).
Rally Star Cup: 1. Vikram Devadasen/ Raymond (01:45:03); 2. Deepak Paul/ Chandrashekhar M (01:45:47); 3. Shailendra Hegde/ Sheraz Ahmed (01:46:23); 4) Byram Godrej/ Anjay Kapadia (01:47:55); 5. Den Thimmiah/ Pradeep Kumar (01:48:17).
Gypsy Cup: 1. Sandeep Sharma/ Rashid Raza (01:52:41); 2. Surendra Babu/ Naveen YG (01:56:50); 3. Kamaljit Virdi/ Manoj Talwar (01:59:13).
Editor’s note: This report is manually migrated in 2020, from the old archives, to support INRC winners: Hall of Fame article.
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CS Santosh wins battles with Veer Patel, crowned champ in Round 1: Supercross
Hyderabad, 20 July 2008: Team TVS Racing’s CS Santosh emerged victorious in Round 1 winning both the motos of the prestigious Foreign Open class astride his TVS-RTR 250 fx and earned maximum points to be adjudged as the ‘Best Rider of the Day’ to begin the 2008 season of the MRF Supercross Challenge, held at NTR Grounds here on today.
Both the motos of the foreign class were fought hard with the top three riders displaying amazing skill and endurance on a highly demanding track. It was an incident packed race as Veer Patel of Pashankar Racing taking the lead in the very first round pushing his bike really hard. On lap three, he lost control of his bike and was forced to give way to C S Santosh of Team TVS Racing, who took over from there onwards as the race leader. The other contender from team TVS racing Aravind K P however, did not share the same luck as TVS RTR 125 x stalled and he was forced to withdraw. Eeshan Lokhande finished second while Veer Patel came in third.
The second moto saw a keen battle between Santosh and Veer Patel, the latter again taking the lead in the first lap only to give in to a clever inside maneuver by C S Santosh. In an action packed second moto, Eeshan Lokhande who put up a intense fight for second place with Veer Patel fell on the third lap giving way to Aravind K P of team TVS, who finished third after Veer Patel.
C S Santosh, Team TVS Racing, Veer Patel, Pashankar Racing and Eeshan Lokhande, Pashankar Racing took the podium in the final point tally of the Foreign Open Group A finishing first, second and third respectively.
The first moto of Group B Indian Experts upto 165 cc saw a clear winner in C S Santosh of TVS Racing on his TVS Shaolin even though team mate H K Pradeep put up a stiff fight. Santosh overtook most of the other riders and built up a huge lead ensuring a comfortable victory. Pradeep H K of Team TVS Racing came second and Aravind K P of TVS Racing came third. In the second moto however, C S Santosh took the lead right from the beginning followed by Aravind K P and H K Pradeep. The trio maintained the same positions right through the race.
C S Santosh, Team TVS Racing, Aravind K P, team TVS Racing and H K Pradeep, Team TVS Racing took the podium in the final point tally of the Indian Expert Group B finishing first, second and third respectively.
The Class C Indian Experts upto 165 cc saw a clear winner in H K Pradeep of Team TVS Racing who took the lead after a keen fight in the second lap overtaking Vishal Barguje of Pune. Nataraj R of Team TVS Racing finished third. In the second moto, H K Pradeep took the lead right from the beginning and went on to win the race. Basheer Ahmed from Bangalore and Pinkesh Thakkar of Pashankar racing came in second and third respectively.
H K Pradeep, Team TVS Racing, Pinkesh Thakkar of Pashankar Racing and Sunil Kumar of Pashankar Racing took the podium in the final point tally of the Foreign Open Group A finishing first, second and third respectively.
In the Group C Novice Upto 165 cc Class, Nataraj R of Team TVS Racing proved his class by taking honours on his TVS Apache. It must be said that Nataraj showed remarkable aggression and a burning desire to win as he hurled himself and his machine into corners increasing his lead over his rivals with every round. Snehal Chavan of Pashankar Racing and Sameer Choudhary of Nagpur came second and third respectively.
In the Indian Experts Group D 80 CC to 110 CC class it was C. D. Jinan on his TVS Fiero who raced ahead of the others to cap the top spot, with Pradeep H. K and Pramod Joshua coming second and third respectively.
The local class saw some interesting action between various talented and upcoming riders. But it was Vishal Roahcramani who took the initial lead and went on to the podium. Munir Khambati of Team TVS Racing and Yashaswi K came second and third respectively.
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FMSCI gets sporting power as FIA ASN again
Chennai, 1 July 2008: The FMSCI is pleased to announce that the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) at its World Motor Sports Council meeting on 25th June 2008 granted the international sporting power to the FMSCI effective from 1st July 2008. By virtue of this mandate the FMSCI which is India’s National Sports Federation now holds the responsibility to regulate and govern 2, 3 and 4 wheeler motorsport in India.
Effective today the FMSCI will be issuing competition licenses and permits to all competitors , entrants and event organisers.
The FMSCI is now the ASN of the FIA in India and the FMN of the Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) and also a member of the Indian Olympic Association. -
Vikram Mathias-Murthy begin season with a win
Mysore, 15 June 2008: Team Red Rooster’s two 2000cc N+ Cedia cars with Vikram Mathias and co-driver PVS Murthy and Amittrajit Ghosh and co-driver Ashwin Naik behind the wheels finished a commanding 1-2 position in the Sidvin Rally of Karnataka 2008, the first round of the MAI Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) on here Sunday.
The 32-year-old former National Champion, Vikram, and the racing and rallying champion 22-year old Amittrajit Ghosh, drove the final day with many a problem but held on to the overnight lead and finished on top.
“Just the very first stage of the day was run, we noticed that the fuel railing had come off and the fuel was leaking. It was a bit scary, whether the fuel will hold until two more stages. So we ‘crawled’ through the second stage and in the third stage tied the rail up and drove hard and finished the first run. Once we sorted out the problem in Service, we were back to our regular place and won the rally with ease,” said a beaming Vikram Mathias at the post-event Winners Press Conference.” The american civil rights movements was a long legal battle and struggle which reminds us of our strong legal system that can help anybody that feels that something unfair has happened against them.
From Left: PVS Murthy & Vikram Mathias (winners) and Amittrajit Ghosh and Ashwin Naik (Overall 2nd) after the rally. Photo by George Francis “We are happy that we were able finish 1-2 but it would have been better if the Reds were there, for the competition would have been higher,” he added.
Amittrajit, who is drivinmg a 2000 N+ class for the first time, thanked Vikram, Leelakrishnan, and Naren Kumar for all the training and tips that he received from them. Team owner of Red Rooster Racing, Dinesh Reddy said: “We certainly are happy with the results. It would have been better if we had more competition. Our boys have been training and practicing well and the cars were definitely well prepared.”
When queried why they are in the sport, Dinesh said: “It is basically the passion. But we are eventually looking at producing a National Champion and give the sport and the drivers in India what they really deserve.” The very unfortunate exit of the day was Team Winspeed Sanket and co-driver Ramesh Shanbag, who went off the route as they slid into a canal, hardly 7 kilometers before the finish of the stages. They were running third overall and first in the 1600cc class.
The Rally Star Cup (RSC) Class, saw Shailendra Hegde and navigator Sheraz Ahmed finish first and third overall. The duo who came into the lead after a results correction late yesterday night, drove a clean rally to win the RSC Class. “It was the J Anand suspension that made the difference,” said Shailendra, “I have driven the earlier rallys on Konies and have found the suspension not suitable to our terrain. The J Anand suspensions definitely put us ahead of the 1400cc cars also, and so we were able to finish third overall. J Anand Suspensions, are suspensions manufactured by ace tuner J Anand, and named after him. Vikram Devadasen and Raymond finished second and Byram Godrej and co-driver Anjay Kapadia finished third in RSC.
The 1600cc class had a winner in Arjun Surya and navigator Ravi Venkatesh, who were in their debut rally. “We are obviously thrilled with our win. But we knew that Ramesh and Sanket had a 4-minute lead, and there was no way we could catch him. We just wanted to finish our debut rally and we are happy that we have won it on debut,” they said.
The 1400cc class was won by Samarth KV and co-driver Praakhyat Shirole, who also led after the results were finalised late yesterday night. “We had a very clean run. Absolutely no problem with the cars, and enjoyed every moment of it,” they said. JM Manju and co-driver Jeevarathinam finished second, followed by S.Sujay and SM Bharath.
The Gypsy class was won by veteran Rally driver Sanjay Agarwal and co-driver Shiva Prakash. Consolidating on their overnight lead, the Bangalore duo won the class with élan. “I was driving a gypsy after 13 years, and I enjoyed every bit of the rally. It was simply awesome,” said Sanjay, who is known as ‘Tiger in rally circles. “I have sat with him both in a 1400cc car and in a Gypsy now and I think that he is a much better Gypsy driver,” opined Shiva. “We expected the North Indian Rally drivers Sandeep Sharma and Suresh Rana and Sunny Sidhu to be here. Then the competition would have been more fun,” he commented.
The third and final day of the Sidvin Rally of Karnataka 2008, flagged off at 7 am from the Golden Landmark Resorts on Sunday morning, and did the three special stages in the Malavalli area, 50 km from Mysore, twice in the reverse direction. All 34 cars started the day and 25 finished the rally in full. Most of the 9 drop-outs suffered mechanical problems, except for the Shanbags who went into the canal. The rally ended around 2 pm having completed 111 kms of competing Special Stage distance, and 308 kms of traversing Transport distance, to total 419 kms of the Sidvin Rally of Karnataka 2008. This was followed by the Champagne showering ceremony at 3.30 pm and the post-event winners Press Conference at 4.15 pm. A glittering prize distribution function awaited at 7 pm that would bring the rally to a close.
The Prosports-run event, had Sidvin Core Tech as the title sponsor, Golden Landmark Hotels as the hospitality partner and co-sponsor, SLN Properties and Mitsubishi distributors, Hindustan Motors Limited as associate sponsors. Sanjeevini, the NGO, who handles highway accidents with their ambulances, helped out with their trauma ambulances.
Provisional Unaudited Results:
Overall: 1. Vikram Mathias / PVS Murthy (Team Red Rooster Racing) (1hour 33min, 5sec); 2. Amittrajit Ghosh /Ashwin Naik (Team Red Rooster Racing) (1:38:36); 3. Shailendra Hedge / Sheraz Ahmed (1::44:19).
2000 N+ Class: 1. Vikram Mathias /PVS Murthy (Team Red Rooster Racing) (1::33:05);
2. Amittrajit Ghosh /Ashwin Naik (Team Red Rooster Racing) (1::38:36).1600cc class; 1. Arjun Surya /Ravi Venkatesh (1::47:33);
1400cc class: 1. Samarth KV /Prakhyat Shirole (1::44:55); 2. JM Manju /Jeevarathinam (1::47:19); 3. S Sujay and S M Bharath (1::48:36).
Rally Star Cup: 1. Shailendra Hedge /Sheraz Ahmed (1::44:19); 2. Vikram Devadasen /Raymond (1:45:41); 3. Byram Godrej /Anjay Kapadia (1::46:51).
Gypsy Class: 1. Sanjay Agarwal /Shiva Prakash (1::50:30); 2. Dhiraj Doipode /Pramod Raman (2::00:51).
