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Author: David Bodapati
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I-Sport sign Chandhok for GP2 2008
DRIVER REPORT : Formula V6 Asia : Karun Chandhok
Dubai, 19 Dec 2007: India’s Karun Chandhok has been signed up by the UK based I-Sport International team to compete in the 2008 GP2 series. In addition, Chandhok, the 2006 Formula V6 Asia Champion will also compete in the all new GP2 Asia series as a pre-cursor to the main championship. I-Sport secured both the Driver’s as well as the Team’s Championship in the 2007 GP2 series.
The 23 year old from Chennai has also been appointed on to the ‘Red Bull Junior Team’ program. This will strengthen his links with the Red Bull Racing Formula 1 team for whom Chandhok had his debut Formula 1 test in November and will now open up more testing opportunities with the team in 2008.
Chandhok’s team-mate for the 2008 season will be the highly rated Bruno Senna, the nephew of the legendary World Champion Ayrton Senna.
Chandhok had an impressive debut season with Durango in the 2007 GP2 series, becoming the first Indian GP2 race winner and scoring regular points through the second half of the year with a team that was not a recognized front runner. Speaking about his latest move, he said “Ever since the middle of the year I-Sport has been the most sought after drive on the grid. I know they’ve had nearly every GP2 driver on the grid chasing them for the drive and for them to have taken up the option to run me is a huge confidence boost. I enjoyed my time with Durango last year but when I tested with I-Sport soon after the last race of the season, right from the first few laps I knew that this was the team I wanted to be with. The guys in the team are real racers at heart. They have been very welcoming and we got along very well right from the first day. I’m really delighted and proud to be sitting here today as an I-Sport driver.”
I-Sport International’s Team Principal Paul Jackson spoke of his reasons for signing on the Indian “Karun had an impressive debut season and we initially got talking around the middle of the year about doing the GP2 Asia series. He tested with us in Jerez as part of our winter testing program to evaluate drivers for the future and we were all pleasantly surprised with how well he went especially in the race simulation run. What was very important for us was that Karun fitted in well with the mechanics and engineers very well and as a team we felt that we could certainly work well with him and have a successful season. The main European GP2 series is certainly the most important part of our program and the Asian series before that will be a good ‘warm up’ for him to understand our way of working before moving to Europe. I’m really glad we have concluded our deal and am now looking forward to a strong year ahead with Karun and Bruno.”
On his continued association with Red Bull, Chandhok said “Red Bull have really been awesome to me since the start of our partnership. Helmut Marko, Christian Horner and everyone involved with Red Bull Austria and the F1 team have given their blessing to my deal with I-Sport and being a part of the Junior Team program has made our association stronger. They were pleased with what I did in the F1 car in Barcelona at my first test and I look forward to being a test driver for them again in 2008. I always said that my ideal scenario for 2008 would be to race with a top GP2 team and test for a good F1 team and this has now worked out well.”
For 2008, the all new GP2 Asia series will start in Dubai at the end of January with 10 races including Formula 1 support races in Malaysia and Bahrain. The Asia series will be run using the older 2005-2007 specification cars while this year’s main European GP2 series will see a brand new specification car powered by a 650 bhp Renault engine capable of speeds of 330 kmh.
Chandhok spoke about his aims and paid tribute to his sponsors for their unstinted support “2008 is going to be the biggest challenge of my career. The aim is to have podiums, win races and to finish in the top 6 of the championship. The team and I both have the potential to do it and I really have to thank Red Bull, JK Tyre, Amaron and ICSA logistics for their incredible backing at this crucial time.”
courtesy: karunchandhok.com
Editor’s note: This is an old archived article transfered to the new website
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Karan Kadam of TVS Racing crowned National Champ 2007
Bangalore, 9 Dec 2007: Team TVS Racing’s Karan Kadam, today clinched the MRF National Supercross Championship Title in the final round in Bangalore finishing second in Moto I. In an event filled first moto, TVS Racing’s CS Santosh began as race leader in lap one, before his bike stalled in the third lap, causing him to lose precious championship points and his position to team mate and rival Karan Kadam. Guest entrant, Mitch, from Canada, took everyone by surprise as he displayed superior riding skills and won both motos with ease. In the second moto too, the second position was closely fought between TVS Racing’s Karan and Santosh, with both displaying amazing skill and talent, fighting each other head to nail leaving competition way behind, until Karan Kadam, who was in second position, lost control of his bike while taking the table top jump. He crashed into barricading and fractured his right hand in the process. CS Santosh, however, proceeded to take the second spot, while privateer Yogesh Barguje finished third.
The Group B Indian Experts above 80 cc upto 150 CC 2-Stroke saw a clear winner in C S Santosh of TVS Racing’s on his TVS Shaolin. Santosh built up a huge lead ensuring a comfortable victory. Team mate Aravind K P took second place while Privateer Rustom Patel came in third, both on this Yamaha RX 135. Aravind was declared as the best rider of the day.
In the Group B Indian Experts 110cc upto 250cc 4-Stroke, C S Santosh of Team TVS Racing’s proved his class by taking honours on his TVS Apache RTR 160. Team mate Arvind KP also on his Apache RTR 160 came in second followed by team mate R Raja. All these skillful TVS riders fought to the end, to result in an all TVS victory.
In the Indian Novice Group D, above 80 CC upto 160 CC class it was Team TVS Racing’s Aravind KP on his Shogun who raced ahead of the others to cap the top spot, while teammate Nataraj R on his TVS Shogun and Sunil Kumar P finished second and third respectively.
In the Indian Experts Group D, above 110 CC up to 160 CC it was Aravind KP of TVS Racing who took top spot. Natraj R also of TVS Racing came in closely at second and Vishal Barguje finished third. Team TVS Racing dominated the podium positions with the top two going to the team.
In the Indian Open Experts Group B above 125cc up to 250 cc Rustom Patel on his RX 135 dominated to win in commanding style, with Vishal Barguje and Basheer Ahmed coming in at second and third respectively.
Group A intermediate class, 2 & 4 stroke up to 250cc had Yogesh Barguje take 1 st position followed by Eeshan Lokhande in second place and Allan Sequira coming in third.
The local class saw some interesting action between various talented and upcoming riders. But it was Mohammed Asgar, form Mysore who took the initial lead and went on to the podium. Sunil Kumar and Basheer Ahmed, both from Bangalore came in second and third respectively.
Sl No Group First Second Third 1. Class 1 Indian Experts Moto I (Foreign Open) Mitch Karan Kadam Yogesh Barguje 2. Class 1 Indian Experts Moto I (Foreign Open) Mitch C S Santosh Yogesh Barguje 3. Indian Novice Aravind KP Nataraj R Sunil Kumar P 4. Indian Experts (Above 180 upto 150cc) Santosh C S Aravind K P Rustom Patel 5. Indian Experts
(Above 110 upto 250cc)Santosh C S Aravind K P R Raja 6. Intermediate Class (Upto 250 cc) Yogesh Barguje Eeshan Lokhande Allan Sequira 7. Local Class (Above 110 upto 250cc) Mohd. Asgar Sunil Kumar Basheer Ahmed 8. Indian Experts (Above 110 upto 160 cc) Aravind K P Natraj R Vishal Barguje 9. Indian Open Experts (Above 125cc upto 250cc) Rustom Patel Vishal Barguje Basheer Ahmed -
Karan Kadam of Team TVS Racing crowned MRF Motocross 2007 champion
Bangalore, 9 Dec 2007: Team TVS Racing’s Karan Kadam, today clinched the MRF National Supercross Championship Title in the final round in Bangalore finishing second in Moto I. In an event filled first moto, TVS Racing’s CS Santosh began as race leader in lap one, before his bike stalled in the third lap, causing him to lose precious championship points and his position to team mate and rival Karan Kadam. Guest entrant, Mitch, from Canada, took everyone by surprise as he displayed superior riding skills and won both motos with ease. In the second moto too, the second position was closely fought between TVS Racing’s Karan and Santosh, with both displaying amazing skill and talent, fighting each other head to nail leaving competition way behind, until Karan Kadam, who was in second position, lost control of his bike while taking the table top jump. He crashed into barricading and fractured his right hand in the process. CS Santosh, however, proceeded to take the second spot, while privateer Yogesh Barguje finished third.
The Group B Indian Experts above 80 cc upto 150 CC 2-Stroke saw a clear winner in C S Santosh of TVS Racing’s on his TVS Shaolin. Santosh built up a huge lead ensuring a comfortable victory. Team mate Aravind K P took second place while Privateer Rustom Patel came in third, both on this Yamaha RX 135. Aravind was declared as the best rider of the day.
In the Group B Indian Experts 110cc upto 250cc 4-Stroke, C S Santosh of Team TVS Racing’s proved his class by taking honours on his TVS Apache RTR 160. Team mate Arvind KP also on his Apache RTR 160 came in second followed by team mate R Raja. All these skillful TVS riders fought to the end, to result in an all TVS victory.
In the Indian Novice Group D, above 80 CC upto 160 CC class it was Team TVS Racing’s Aravind KP on his Shogun who raced ahead of the others to cap the top spot, while teammate Nataraj R on his TVS Shogun and Sunil Kumar P finished second and third respectively.
In the Indian Experts Group D, above 110 CC up to 160 CC it was Aravind KP of TVS Racing who took top spot. Natraj R also of TVS Racing came in closely at second and Vishal Barguje finished third. Team TVS Racing dominated the podium positions with the top two going to the team.
In the Indian Open Experts Group B above 125cc up to 250 cc Rustom Patel on his RX 135 dominated to win in commanding style, with Vishal Barguje and Basheer Ahmed coming in at second and third respectively.
Group A intermediate class, 2 & 4 stroke up to 250cc had Yogesh Barguje take 1 st position followed by Eeshan Lokhande in second place and Allan Sequira coming in third.
The local class saw some interesting action between various talented and upcoming riders. But it was Mohammed Asgar, form Mysore who took the initial lead and went on to the podium. Sunil Kumar and Basheer Ahmed, both from Bangalore came in second and third respectively.
Sl No Group First Second Third 1. Class 1 Indian Experts Moto I (Foreign Open) Mitch Karan Kadam Yogesh Barguje 2. Class 1 Indian Experts Moto I (Foreign Open) Mitch C S Santosh Yogesh Barguje 3. Indian Novice Aravind KP Nataraj R Sunil Kumar P 4. Indian Experts (Above 180 upto 150cc) Santosh C S Aravind K P Rustom Patel 5. Indian Experts
(Above 110 upto 250cc)Santosh C S Aravind K P R Raja 6. Intermediate Class (Upto 250 cc) Yogesh Barguje Eeshan Lokhande Allan Sequira 7. Local Class (Above 110 upto 250cc) Mohd. Asgar Sunil Kumar Basheer Ahmed 8. Indian Experts (Above 110 upto 160 cc) Aravind K P Natraj R Vishal Barguje 9. Indian Open Experts (Above 125cc upto 250cc) Rustom Patel Vishal Barguje Basheer Ahmed -
Lohith Urs-Jaidas Menon win Rally of Maharashtra; Gill-Musa clinch INRC title
Pune, 1 Dec 2007: With an overnight lead of 1 minute, 52 seconds, nothing short of a complete breakdown could have prevented Lohit Urs and co-driver Jaidas Menon from driving to their first overall win the MAI’s Indian National Rally Championship 2007. It ultimately proved to be smooth sailing for the jovial driver from Mysore as he increased his overnight lead to 2 minutes, 15 seconds over the second-placed Amitrajit Ghosh to take overall honours in the WISA Rally of Maharashtra, sponsored by MRF and the Pandit Group, which concluded in Pune on Sunday.
Urs’ victory helped him leapfrog into third position in the points tally for the overall National championship, which had already been decided in Team MRF’s Gaurav Gill’s favour before this last round. Another Team MRF driver, Arjun Rao Aroor, who finished third overall in this round, is second in the points tally for the National Championship. Gill tallied 48 points, followed by Aroor (26), with Urs tied with Amitrajit Ghosh on 24.
Aroor, who held a comfortable lead in the 1600cc category, and Amitrajit Ghosh, leader in the 1400cc category, secured the National championships in their respective categories with their leading performances here. Aroor has tallied 50 points, followed by Rahul Kanthraj (21) and Philipos Mathai (14). Kanthraj and co-driver Vivek Bhatt finished third in the 1600cc category here, behind the son-father duo of Sanket Shanbhag and Ramesh Shanbhag. Ghosh, a comfortable winner in the 1400c category, also emerged the National champion with 56 points, a huge lead over the second-placed Prithvi Dominic (25).
The close battles for the National Championship in the Rally Star Cup and the Gypsy Cup were decided in the favour of Mazdayar Vatcha and Suresh Rana after their victories here over Abhijeet Pai and Surendra Babu respectively. Vatcha and Pai were tied on 27 points before the final round, but Vatcha who held an overnight lead of 48 seconds over Pai, managed to keep his nose ahead till the end. Pai finished third in the rally Star Cup behind Byram Godrej, his show earning him the second spot in the RSC points table for the National Championship.
The need for extra speed proved disastrous for Chetan Shivram and co-driver Roopesh Kholay, who crashed out on the second day, one of the two cars to not finish the day’s proceedings, the other being driven by Ashutosh Shetty and co-driver Anup.
The podium finish was held at the service park at Kurund, near Shirur and was accompanied by a Maharashtrian cultural show, which also had special guests in the form of State Finance Minister, Shri Jayant Patil and State Forest Minister, Shri. Babanrao Pachpute.
Provisional Unofficial results:
Overall: 1. Lohit Urs/Jaidas Menon (Fiesta, Team MRF) (1 hour, 11 mins, 39 secs); 2. Amitrajit Ghosh/ Sourabh Choudhary (Esteem) (1: 13.54); 3. Arjun Rao Aroor/Satish Kumar (Baleno, Team MRF) (1:15.53); 4. Prithvi Dominic/Jeevarathinam (Esteem) (1:17.02); 5. Sanket Shanbhag/Ramesh Shanbhag (Baleno) 1:17.13.
1600 cc: 1. Arjun Rao Aroor/Satish Kumar (Baleno, Team MRF) (1:15.53); 2. Sanket Shanbhag/Ramesh Shanbhag (Baleno) (1: 17.13); 3. Rahul Kanthraj/Vivek Bhatt (Baleno) (1:23.09).
1400cc: 1. Amitrajit Ghosh/ Sourabh Choudhary (Esteem) (1:13.54); 2. Prithvi Dominic/ Jeevarathinam (Esteem) (1:17.02); 3. S Sujay/ Chandrasekhar M (Esteem) (1: 19.43).
Rally Star Cup: 1. Mazdayar Vatcha/Madhu K. C (Esteem) (1:20.25); 2. Byram Godrej/ Anjay Kapadia (Esteem) (1:20.49); 3. Abhijeet Pai/ Prajal Pai (Esteem) (1: 20.52).
Gypsy Cup: 1. Suresh Rana/ HS Bawa (1:23.37); 2. Surendra Babu/ Vinay Shaker (1:23.30); 3. Kamaljit Virdi/ Manoj Kumar (1:31.47).
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Big guns set to zoom in WISA’s Rally of Maharashtra
Pune, 30 Nov 2007: Big time motorsports makes its return to Pune and Ahmednagar again with the WISA’s Rally of Maharashtra, sponsored by MRF and Pandit Group, and the response from drivers has been tremendous. The rally, by default the last round of the Motorsports Asociation of India’s (MAI) Indian National Rally Championship (INRC), received 39 entries and after scrutiny 37 will take the starter’s flag at 7.00 a.m on Saturday from the Yashada, Baner Road, Pune.
Twelve special stages will be run at Ralegan Therpal, Kanhur and Ganjibhoire in Ahmednagar District totaling 115.16 kms. The transport stages will total up to 514.53 kms, making it a total distance of 629.69 kms. The three special stages will be run four times over in the same direction to make up the 12 special stages.
The MAI’s INRC 2007 has been plagued with cancellations, with three of the seven rounds being cancelled due to various reasons and full credit to WISA (Western India Sports Association) for going ahead with this round n Pune inspite of their sponsors and commercial partners dropping out at the last moment.
According to COC Ashwin Pandit, also the president of WISA, “Irrespective of the backing off of Infomedia, the commercial partners and IOC, the sponsors, we are running the championship thanks to the support from MRF, who supported us at the last moment and funds from our own pocket. Our conscience did not permit us to let the championship languish with just three rounds run.”
“The event has received 39 entries from which 37 will start, which is a good response by any standards. For the first time in the history of the INRC, the rally will be tracked live and uploaded on the website www.wisa.org.in,” he added.Elaborating on the special stages, Pandit said, “The stages are such that the drivers will face challenges of all sorts. The first stage, the longest at 12.69 kms is very fast and the expected average would be 90 kmph. The 2nd stage is on a ghat and will be uphill. The surface is smooth tarmac with twists and it is the shortest stage of the event at 5.73km. The third stage is rough in patches, is uphill and will be a test to the skills of the drivers.”
The podium finish will be held at the service park at Kurund, near Shirur and will have special guests in the form of State Finance Minister, Shri Jayant Patil, State Forest Minister, Shri. Babanrao Pachpute and MP Supriya Sule. A typical Maharashtrian cultural show has been organised at the podium finish, to give the people of Pune and Nagar a spectacle worth watching.
Gaurav Singh Gill of Team MRF leads the overall championship with 48 points, having won all the earlier rounds and is a sure bet for the title even if he does not finish. In distant second place is teammate Arjun Rao Aroor (18), while in third spot is Arjun Balu, also of Team MRF, with 13. However, Gill and Balu in the 2000cc Mitsubishi Cedias will face competition from Vikram Mathais of Team Red Rooster, also driving a Cedia and it should be an interesting battle for top honours here. Besides the 3 Cedias there is a Ford Fiesta being driven by Lohit Urs in the 1600 N+ category and 6 Maruti Balenos. There are seven Esteems in the 1400cc category and 17 Esteems in Rally Star Cup with three Gypsys completing the lineup.The 1600cc and 1400cc categories see Arjun Rao Aroor (Team MRF) and Amitrajit Ghosh leading comfortably with 34 and 40 points respectively, with no threat to their championship hopes. However, there is a tough fight among three drivers for the Rally Star Cup and whoever wins here will walk away with the championship. Mazdayar Vatcha is currently in the lead along with Abhijeet Pai with 27 points, while Arvind J is in third spot with 24.
The Gypsy Cup should also see a fight for the title between Suresh Rana (31 points) and Surendra Babu (24).
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Karan Kadam wins both motos, takes championship lead over Santosh: Supercross
Kolhapur, 9 October 2007: Young Karan Kadam of Team TVS Racing came out triumphant winning both the motos in the premier Foreign Open class and was declared the ‘Best Rider of the Day’ at the third round of the MRF National Supercross Championship 2007 held at the Mohite Racing Academy here today.
Karan Kadam earned a total of 40 points to take the championship lead over his closest rival and team mate CS Santsoh. Karan now leads by 20 points. Both the motos were fought hard with the top three riders displaying amazing skill and endurance on a highly-demanding track. It was an event-filled first moto as both Karan and Santosh collided at the very first turn of the first lap. Precious time was lost at the beginning of the race and it cost Santosh the race even as Karan regained control and his motorcycle and went on to win the race.The second moto too was closely fought between Karan and Santosh, with the latter taking the lead with real grit. He held on to his lead until the seventh lap when a lapped Fabio Chinde, co-competitor from Pune collided with Santosh. Karan Kadam who was following a close second took the lead and built a steady gap over his nearest competitor and won the race. Santosh however, recovered fast enough and was able to finish third. Yogesh Barguje took the second place.
The Group B Indian Experts upto 150 CC 2-Stroke saw a clear winner in C S Santosh of TVS Racing on his TVS Shaolin even though team mate Aravind KP took the initial lead. Santosh consequently built up a huge lead ensuring a comfortable victory. Yogesh Barguje took the second place while Arvind KP of TVS Racing came third.
In the Group B Indian Experts upto 250cc 4-Stroke, Arvind K P of Team TVS Racing proved his class by taking honours on his TVS Apache RTR, a model that was fielded for the first time by Team TVS Racing. It must be said that Arvind 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 lap. Pramod Joshua and Arun Babu both from Team TVS Racing came second and third respectively, making it an all Team TVS Racing win. In the Indian Novice Group D 80 CC to 160 CC class it was Pinkesh Takkar on his Yamaha RX 100 who raced ahead of the others to cap the top spot, with Aravind KP of TVS Racing and Natraj R, also of TVS Racing coming second and third respectively. In the Indian Expert Group D, 110 CC up to 160 CC it was Pramod Joshua of TVS Racing who took top spot. Aravind KP came a close second and Natraj R finished third. Team TVS Racing dominated with all the three podium positions going to the team. In the Indian Experts Group B 125cc up to 250 cc Yogesh Barguje on his RX 135, dominated to win in commanding style, with Rustom Patel and Snehal Chavan coming second and third respectively. The local class saw some interesting action between various talented and upcoming riders. But it was Sumit Yewaare who took the initial lead and went on to the podium. Arif Ghori and Javed Bairagdar came 2 nd and 3rd respectively. All the winners are from Ichlalkaranji.
The next leg of the championship would be fought at Goa.
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Gaurav Gill-Musa win K1000 pushing Vikram Mathias_Nikhil to 2nd
Bangalore, 19 August 2007: Gaurav Gill and Musa Sherif (navigator) teamed together for Team MRF to clinch the Overall honours in their Mitsubishi Cedia, in the Bosch K1000 rally, the third round of the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) which concluded here on Sunday.
Gill, thus drove Lancer Cedia to his third overall title in the MAI’s INRC, opening up an unassailable lead over the field in his quest for the National title.
The overall 2nd Place in the rally was bagged by Vikram Mathias and Nikhil Pai of team Red Rooster Racing, also in a Mitsubishi Cedia.
The rally ran through the three Special Stages at Siddlaghatta, about 120km from here. The Special Stages were run multiple times both on Saturday and Sunday, making it 13 SS for the final count.
The Super Special Stage was held at Yelhanka on a 3.8km track which was full of Mitsubishi banners, the co-sponsor of the rally.
Gill and co-driver Musa Sherif tallied 48 points, while teammate Arjun Rao Aroor (Satish Kumar Rajagopal) remained a distant second with 17points. Another MRF driver, Arjun Balu (Kumar Ramaswamy) was in third place with 13 points. Team Red Rooster’s Vikram Mathias (Nikhil Pai) made an impressive return to rallying by finishing second and is now in the fourth position with Lohit Urs, both with 12 points.
Gill and Sherif finished the 13 special stages in a time of 1:11.22, a minute and 10 seconds ahead of Mathias and Pai (1:12.32). Lohit Urs and co-driver Jaidas Menon finished in third place in 1:18.27, while 1400 cc drivers Amitrajit Ghosh and Shreshta Patil wrapped up a good showing over three days by finishing fourth and fifth overall.
Vikram Mathias, making a return to rallying was also satisfied with the second-place finish and said, “this round is more like a learning curve for me. We are looking to make a strong statement next year.”
The BOSCH K1000 Rally – 4th Round of I N R C was held at Sidhulgatta, Kolar District, Karnataka from Aug 17 – Aug 19.
A Mitsubishi release adds:
Mitsubishi Cedia proves its dominance in INRC 2007 by finishing overall first and second places in the grand finale of the Bosch K 1000 Rally in New Yelahanka Town, Bangalore on Sunday.
By doing so Mitsubishi has proved its mettle once again in the INRC by completing a full round of victories from the first time it participated in the INRC circuit in Bangalore last year around.
Mitsubishi Vehicles are known for its complete built quality and high powered performance making it the favourite among rally champions and enthusiasts all over the world.
In the circuit concluded in Bangalore on Sunday, 19th August 2007, Team MRF’s Gauravsingh Gill swept through the twists and curves of the super special stage with ease to finish the three loops in 3.38 mins, adding nine seconds to his overnight lead over second-placed Vikram Mathias.
Mitsubishi Motors were the co-sponsors of the event. Apart from being the co-sponsors, Mitsubishi Motors offered 2 Safety cars, i.e. The Pajero & Cedia. These cars check the efficacy of the track first and once the green signal is given by the drivers then does the actual rally start.
Provisional results: Overall section: 1. Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif (Team MRF) (1hour, 07min, 44sec); 2. Vikram Mathias /Nikhil Pai (Red Rooster Racing) (1:08.51); 3. Lohit Urs /Jaidas Menon (Team MRF) (1:14.25); 4. Amitrajith Ghosh /Saurabh Choudary (1:17.10); 5. Shreshta Patil /Ramesh Kumar (1:19.34); 6. Mazeydar Vatcha /Madhu KC (1:19.38).
1600 cc: 1. Rahul Kanthraj /Vivek Bhatt (1:23.35); (only one competitor finished).
1400cc: 1. Amitrajit Ghosh /Saurabh Choudary (1:17.10); 2. Shreshta Patil /Ramesh Kumar (1:19.34); 3 Prithvi Dominic /Jeevarthnam (1:20.25).
Rally Star Cup: 1 Mazeydar Vatcha /Madhu KC (1:19.38); 2. Deepak Paul Chinappa /Srikarunya (1:21.14); 3. Abhijit Pai /Prajwal Pai (1:21.50).
Gypsy Class: 1. Sandeep Sharma /PVS Murthy (1:25.14); 2. Surendra Babu /Sheraz Ahmed (1:27.43); 3. Rajiv Gupta /Roopa Gupta (1:31.32).
Note: Updated from the archives to support INRC winners: Hall of fame in April 2020.
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C S Santosh of TVS Racing capture’s glory
Baroda, 10 June 2007: In a nail biting finish to the MRF Supercross championship, Team TVS Racing continued their winning momentum in Round 3 of the National Supercross Championship held here on Sunday morning.
The prestigious ‘Foreign Open’ class was the most gripping and engaging round playing decider to who would top championship points, after the gruesome tie of 71 points that C S Santosh managed at Round 2 in Coimbatore against Karan Kadam, both riders from TVS Racing. Both Moto 1 and Moto 2 were won by the ever-stylish C S Santosh who achieved top honors and went ahead in championship points achieving 111 points Vs Karan Kadam who now trails at 106 points..
‘Moto 1’ of the Foreign Open Class, which had a sensational start saw TVS Racing’s C S Santosh lead the pack followed by Karan Kadam right from the very first turn. The ever charged Baroda fans saw their favorite TVS Racing rider Karan Kadam loosing balance on lap 3, falling off his bike, allowing CS Santosh to comfortably widen his gap. The entire race was spectacular with the fans wooing in the best rider right up to the very end. Karan Kadam narrowed down the gap to literally come head to tail against CS Santosh, but was unable to overtake him to leave CS Santosh emerge victor of Moto 1 with a 3 point lead against team mate Karan Kadam. Privateer Yogesh Barguje of Pune, reincarnated on a TVS 250 FX finished 3rd at the end of the race.
‘Moto 2’ of the same class saw no reversal of fortunes for Karan Kadam of TVS Racing. The start of the race again saw C S Santosh take the lead, followed by Karan Kadam. Both riders again head to tail, saw a determined Karan Kadam leap over the last jump on lap 3 to overtake his team mate C S Santosh, leaving the crowd emotionally charged up, all in a standing position just to witness the battle between their favorite riders. Privateers Yogesh Barguje and Eeshan Lokhande battled it out for 3rd and 4th position far from the race leaders. Exposed to the move made by Karan Kadam, C S Santosh got even, over taking team mate Karan Kadam on the second last lap keeping it that way till the very end of the race. Without warning Karan Kadam had a punctured front tyre, taking away the opportunity to fight C S Santosh to the finish line. The end of ‘Moto 2’ pronounced Karan Kadam in second place and privateer Eeshan Lokhande taking 3rd.
Group D Class 4 – Indian Novice – Indian Motorcycles Class above 80 CC upto 160 CC, 2/4 stroke and Group D Class 6 – Indian Experts – Indian Motorcycles Class above 110 CC upto 160 CC 4 stroke saw the same winners, with TVS Racing’s Arvind K P proving his mettle yet again, bagging 1st position, followed by Pinkesh Thakkar on his RX 135 in 2nd and Grishin K C from TVS Racing in 3rd.
Group B Class 5 – Indian Experts – Indian Motorcycles Class above 125 CC upto 250 CC saw Rustom Patel of Mumbai on his RX 135 bag top honors, followed by Pinkesh Thakkar in 2nd and Sunil Kumar coming in 3rd.Local Class 2 & 8, Indian Experts Class and Intermediate Class saw the same race, docking two separate results, announcing C S Santosh of TVS Racing emerging winner of the Intermediate class followed by team mate Arvind K P and Rustom Patel on his RX 135. Yogesh Barguje bagged top honors on his CR250 Honda in the Intermediate Class followed by Eeshan Lokhande in 2nd place and Baroda local Veer Patel in 3rd.
Indian Experts Class 3, 110 CC upto 250 CC saw TVS Racing’s, Grishin K C winning honors, followed by team mates Arvind K P in 2nd and R Raja in 3rd, all of them riding on a TVS Apache.
One of the last but most exciting races of the day was the Local Class 7, which consisted of hometown Baroda riders. The winner of the event was Nasir Badshah in 1st position followed by Ansari Faizan in 2nd and Priyank Mahadik in 3rd.
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Gaurav Gill-Musa Sherif win Coffee Day Rally with ease
Chikmagalur, 7 May 2007: Talented Gaurav Gill of Team MRF displayed his amazing driving skills to claim his second overall win, finishing the nine special stages of the Coffee Day Rally, the second round of the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) here on Sunday. Gill, along with co-driver Musa Sherif, was a whopping 1 minute 52 seconds, ahead of teammate Arjun Balu here.
The 23-year-old from Delhi driver along with co-driver Musa Sherif, were leading overnight by 40 seconds over Lohit Urs and Jaidas Menon added another six seconds in Sunday’s opening stage. But alas, Urs toppled in the next stage and was out of reckoning for the top slot.
Arjun Balu and co-driver Kumaraswamy failed to push Gill, who garnered a comfortable lead and came out an emphatic winner. This is his second first place finish in the MAI’s INRC in as many starts. Gill clocked 1: 41.02 for his special stages while Balu took 1:42.53.
Thirty one cars started on the second day, of which 26 came into parc ferme at Amalgamated Bean Company Limited (ABC). While four cars had to pull out in the day’s second stage due to technical problems, Deepak Paul Chinappa crashed on the return journey of the transport stage, his car toppling after banging into a boulder. The car was wrecked, but Chinappa and co-driver Sri Karunya escaped without injury.
Amitrajit Ghosh and co-driver Sourabh Choudhary won the 1400cc category while Arvind J and navigator SM Bharath clinched the Rally Star Cup. Suresh Rana had no trouble winning the Gypsy Cup along with co-driver Harpreet Bawa.
Gill has virtually rendered the INRC into a one-horse race, such has been his domination in the opening two rounds, notwithstanding his impressive run last year. Completely at ease in the 2000cc Cedia he seems to be improving with every rally, in stark contrast to his teammates, struggling to come to terms with the more powerful cars and finishing nowhere near Gill’s timings.
“I lost the brakes of the car in the day’s second stage and flipped over after hitting a tree stump. I had to then call some spectators to right the car and lost precious time,” said a disappointed Urs. Any hopes he had in finishing among the top five overall were then dashed when he had a flat tyre in the repeat of the same stage and had to use his spare, which cost him another 20 minutes. Urs finished way back down the list in 2: 07.30.
Provisional unaudited results:
Overall: 1. Gaurav Gill/Musa Sherif (Team MRF, 2000cc Cedia) (1hour, 41min, 2sec); 2. Arjun Balu/Kumar Ramaswamy (Team MRF, 2000cc Cedia) (1: 42.53); 3. Arjun Rao Aroor/Satish Kumar (Team MRF, 1600cc Baleno) (1:46.33); 4. Philippos Mathai/ Ashwin Naik (Team MRF, 1600cc Baleno) (1:49.09); 5. BS Pruthvi/ Sunil Shetty (Baleno) (1:50.33).
1600cc: 1. Arjun Rao Aroor/ Satish Kumar (Team MRF, 1600cc Baleno) (1:46.33); 2. Philippos Mathai/ Ashwin Naik (Team MRF, 1600cc Baleno) (1: 49.09); 3. BS Pruthvi/ Sunil Shetty (Baleno) (1:50.33).
1400cc: 1. Amitrajit Ghosh/ Sourabh Chaudhary (Esteem) (1:53.44); 2. S Sujay/ M Chandrasekhar (Esteem) (2:01.07); 3. G Raju Prasanth/ Samuel Sangeeth (Esteem) (2:10.11).
Rally Star Cup: 1. Arvind J/ SM Bharath (Esteem) (1:54.23); 2. Mazdayar Vatcha/ Kaushik Shinde (Esteem) (1: 54.27); 3. Elias Paarel/ Madhu KC (1:55.01).
Gypsy Cup (3 stages): 1. Suresh Rana/ Harpreet Bawa (1:57.33); 2. Kamaljit Virdi/ Manoj Kumar (2:17.05).
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Gill-Musa clinch Kerala rally
Kochi, 11 Mar 2007: Indian speed maestro Gaurav Gill of Delhi, stamped his class once again and conquered new region adding Kochi to his list of triumphs winning the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) round here in the state of Kerala on Sunday.
The fluent driving and aggressive approach saw the talented champion dominate all the stages on Day 2 and capture a well-deserved win. Veteran champion Jagat Nanjappa was all praise for the youngster as he displayed a class of his own. He was a clear winner by 1 minute 22 seconds at the 22nd Heera Rally, the first round of the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC). With an overnight lead of 48 seconds, the speed master took it easy and it was just a matter of time to notch up another win.
With disciplined and meticulous Musa Sherif calling the pace notes, Gill, in only his second year on the rallying circuit, had a simple plan. To keep it cool and drive safe. And he did it, with confidence and class. Earlier, he had the strength of Farooq Ahmed as his navigator but Sherif too fitted in as well.
Gaurav Gill and Musa Sherif (right) receiving the trophy after winning the Heera Rally. Photo courtesy Musa Sherif Gill’s teammates Lohitt Urs and co-driver Pradeep Kumar suffered an engine seizure on the day’s first stage and it became virtually a one-horse race. It was left to the pair of Arjun Rao Aroor and Satish Kumar to take the second place, way-beyond the winners.
Gill, looks forward to the Asia Pacific Rally Championship for Team MRF now after the Chandigarh-leg of the INRC in April. He decided to race against clock rather than take it easy. “There’s no point in being content just winning, it’s how you push yourself that matters and that’s exactly what I did,” said Gill. Gill was doing speeds of 177-km per hour, which distinctly reflected on the stage times as compared to Day 1.
“Today, I adopted a different approach to my driving, concentrating more on the technical aspects rather then sheer power. Results showed, didn’t they,” he asked in jest.
Gill clocked 1 hour, 16 minutes, 44 seconds compared to Aroor’s 1:18.06.
Day 1: Earlier on Saturday March 10, the 25-year-old proved his superiority by shrugging off the handicap of suffering two flat tyres and managed a reduce the gap to 51 seonds behind the leaders. But by the end of the day he not only covered the distance but took a lead of 48 seconds ahead of Lohit Urs and co-driver Pradeep Kumar and also overtook Arjunrao Aroor and co-driver Satish Kumar.
With six stages completed, Gill, co-driven by Musa Sherif, was his usual self; going flat-out on the 15.06-kilometre opening stage at Illythodu, situated 75 kilometers from Kochi. Clocking 10.10 seconds, he had flats in his front tyre, which he managed to replace, and rear right tyres which he drove on to concede a 51-second lead to Arjun Balu. “I was driving fast and safe and I was aware of what I was doing,” explained Gill, who, over the next two stages, regained a 10-second lead after Balu was forced to pull out and Lohit Urs and Pradeep Kumar had problems aplenty due to a torn exhaust.
That was the beginning of Gill’s dominance, as in the next two stages he increased the lead to 48 seconds over Lohit, with Arjun Rao Aroor 1 minute, 27 seconds adrift of Lohit in third place.
While Gill was having his moments on the route, veterans Karandip Singh (Jaidas Menon), Arjun Balu (Kumar Ramaswamy), Prithveen Rajan (PVS Murthy) had their share of ‘luckless’ moments. Karandeep dropped out with a gearbox leak on the transport stage while Arjun, who pushed his car back to the starters’ ramp a day earlier during the ceremonial flag-off also pulled out along with Prithveen who suffered due to car problems at different stages.
Additional Notes added By David on 29 Sept. 2021 from Archives courtesy Mint, who first published it.
Team MRF’s Aroor Arjun Rao and his co-driver Satish Kumar Rajagopal came second in the overall standing while third place went to Girijashankar Joshy-Srikanth G M.
In the 1600 cc segment, Aroor Arjun Rao emerged winner, while the 1400 cc segment was won by Girija Shankar Joshi.
The Rally Star cup went to Abhijeet N Pai and Prajal Pai while the Gypsy Cup went to Surendra Babu and Sheraz Ahmed.
18 cars out of the 30 were flagged off on the opening day of the rally with each of them vying for the prize money that amounted to ₹ 4.5 lakhs.
This was the first round of the Indian National Rally championship, a six-round event organized by the MotorSports Association of India. The next round will be held in April at Chandigarh.
