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Author: David Bodapati
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Arjun Balu-Kumar Ramaswamy clinch Mysore Safari Rally
Mysore, 29 May 2005: Talented Arjun Balu and co-driver Kumar Ramaswamy of Team MRF Tyres notched up a deserving victory in the Mysore Safari Rally, the second round of the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) here on Sunday.
Arjun Balu defeated teammates and local star Lohith Urs, and the other two MRF drivers Arjun Rao Aroor and Karandip Singh. All the MRF drivers were in Maruti Balenos. Jiby Malliakkal and co-driver Nikhil Pai of Team Gulf Chettinad Sporting finished fifth in their Honda City VTec. Other prominent finishers were privateers Rahul Kantharaj and co-driver Vivek Bhat and Ranjit Ballal, also in Balenos.
Sanjay Agarwal won the 1400cc class after leader Prithveen Rajan who was ahead by 9 seconds on Saturday, lost almost 23 seconds later in the day, due to a mistake at a tricky corner and Sanjay never looked back to win the rally, safely finishing the Super Special on Sunday. Philippos Matthai finished third. Chethan won the Rally Star Cup with Girijashankar Joshy taking the second spot.
The rally organised by Prosports and Motorsport Inc, had 21 entries in various classes and saw a clutch of protests and disqualifications after the thrilling Super Special Stage that was reserved for Sunday.
The rally also marked the return of `Yellow Giants’ with the 1600cc class witnessing JK Tyre teams with lead drivers Naren Kumar (co-driver Ramkumar) and Vikram Mathias (along with Sujith Kumar) behind the wheels. The former champions who both drove earlier for MRF are now in the yellow colours of JK Tyre.
Both the champion drivers displayed their skills and thrilled the crowds but were unfortunate to be disqualified as they were found to be running on rear suspension mounts that failed to pass the scrutiny and were found not as per the technical regulations. Both the cars were prepared by ace tuner N Leelakrishnan. Ironically, winner Arjun Balu’s car too was prepared by Leela’s team.
The 1400cc lineup had last year’s champion Pritveen E Rajan, Sanjay Aggarwal, Philipose Mathai, and the rest of the field was Rally Star Cup guys and with two Gypsies thrown in.
The gravel rally with fast tracks ran through four Special Stages (SS) which were repeated thrice on Saturday and Day 2, Sunday was reserved for two laps of the Super Special Stage (SSS) near Lalit Mahal Palace grounds.
Earlier on Friday, the Ceremonial flag-off was held at the Mysore Palace Grounds and all the Rally cars proceeded to the rally headquarters at Kadur Inn, in a parade. The rally started on Saturday at 8.30 am from Kadur Inn with the first stage run at Bilikere and the second stage at Hosapura, where the JK cars driven by Naren Kumar and Vikram Mathias dominated and showcased their skills to thrill the crowds, especially at the third stage in Marur.
Alas it was the superfast fourth stage which was thrilling and provided seat-edged excitement for the spectators, before it was cancelled. The fine gravel stage at Nigudanahalli village saw both Naren and Vikram touch speeds of over 120kmph. Since the INRC rules prohibit speeds over 110kmph, the stage was declared as transport section for the later cars.
Naren was leading all through Saturday until he hit a cow in the last stage and Vikram took the lead with about 3km to go. The yellow car was completely smashed. Naren re-entered the SSS on Sunday in the Super Rally format and clocked the fastest time to entertain the huge audience. Vikram was second fastest in the Super Special. However, the spectator control left much to be desired at the Super Special Stage.
Lohith Urs, who was running in second place in the overall standings till then on Saturday, also made a mistake, and Arjun Balu shot into the overall lead.
In 1400 class, a big fight was brewing between Pritveen Rajan, Sanjay Aggarwal and Philippos Matthai. But gradually Matthai yielded way and faded away as Rajan took a 9-second lead. However, it was Sanjay Aggarwal who had the last laugh with Rajan making a crucial mistake at one corner to lose 23 seconds.
The results were announced late in the night and the Prize Distribuiton (PD) was held after a four-hour delay only at 11.30pm at Kadur Inn.
Provisional Final Classification:
Overall: 1. Arjun Balu (Team MRF); 2. Lohit Urs (Team MRF); 3. Arjun Aroor Rao (Team MRF); 4. Karandip Singh (Team MRF); 5. Jiby Malliakkal (Team Gulf Chettinad Sporting);
1400cc class: 1. Sanjay Agarwal; 2. Pritveen E Rajan; 3. Philippos Matthai.
Rally Star Cup: 1. Chetan; 2. Girijashankar Joshy.
(Note: The results were compiled and were not the official version)
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CS Santosh, Eathasham share honours; Vijaykumar keeps lead
Pune, 15 May 2005: TVS Racing team continued its dominance at the second round of the MRF National Supercross Championship by winning 4 and sharing honours in the foreign open class among the total of 6 Championship classes held in floodlit Pune’s Deccan College Ground, today. The foreign open class points were shared between C. S. Santosh of TVS Racing and Yamaha’s Syed Eathasham. The reigning champion C Vijaykumar of TVS Racing continues to lead the championship in the prestigious ‘Foreign Open class’ with 70 points closely followed by C. S. Santosh with 67 and Yogesh Barguje of Yamaha with 60 points.
The day began with the First moto of the Indian Experts Foreign Motorcycle where C. S. Santosh of TVS Racing inspite of having a poor start managed to overcome other riders and emerged victorious with a huge lead. Syed Eathasham of Yamaha racing managed to hold on to his second position though C. Vijaykumar nearly threatened him. Vijaykumar finished third in a well fought battle. The second moto of the race saw a change in fortunes with Syed Eathasham managing to take an early lead and maintain it till the end. Full credit to Santosh to reach second as he was last in the rung till about 5 laps. He zipped past others to emerge a close second. Vijaykumar could manage only a third.
In the stock class of vehicles or in other words motorcycles without any modification; C. D Jinan of TVS Racing proved his class once again by taking honours in the Indian Experts Group D 80 CC to 110 CC in his TVS Victor and the Indian Experts Group D 125 CC to 160 CC in his TVS Fiero. TVS Racing dominated both these races with all the three podium positions going to the team.
The group B Indian Experts upto 150 CC 2-Stroke saw a four-way battle between Syed Eathasham, Yogesh Barguje, C. Vijaykumar and C. Santosh. Syed Eathasham proved his class by take the top spot. Vijaykumar of TVS Racing, had to pull back due to technical problem with his bike. C. S. Santosh of TVS Racing capitalized on this and emerged second followed by Yogesh Barguje of Yamaha.
In the Novice class upto 150 cc; Syed Zubbair of TVS Racing in his Shogun fought it out to win the first spot as he continued his winning spree from the first round held at Goa. Mohammad Azgar of Yamaha closely followed him.
The local class saw some interesting fight between Pinkesh Thakker and Sunil Mohite; though the former managed to maintain his lead till the end. Vishal Barguje managed third.
Editor’s Note: This article is manually migrated from archives on 30 July 2023.
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Sandeep Sharma wins first Tura Challenge: INRC
By George Francis
Tura (Meghalaya), 13 March 2005: Sandeep Sharam and co-driver Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal from New Delhi started the MAI (Motorsports Association of India ) INRC (Indian National Rally Championship) 2005, with an emphatic overall victory.
Driving a Maruti Gypsy, the veteran Sandeep took his maiden victory in a National Championship Rally overall today. “This is the moment I have been waiting for the past 14 years and I quite didn’t expect it here. I am thrilled,” remarked Sandeep after finishing the last stage of the day. Sandeep also won the top spot in the Gypsy Class, a new class introduced in the Championship last year, that has seen many a new driver come in from Northern India.
Rally Star Cup winner of 2004, veteran Sanjay Agarwal who was co-driven by the 2004 Overall National Champion navigator Sujith Kumar, won the honours in the 1400 cc INRC class. Sanjay, who had moved up to the 1400 cc class, proved that despite all the problems he had with his car, he was a winner on the track. “I am happy that I finished the event.We broke our front struts in the very first stage yesterday and had a lot of problems before completing the event. We drove conservatively and won the class”, said Sanjay, fizzing Champagne at the Dakopgiri stadium in front of a cheering 8000 strong crowd.
Debutant G.S.Joshy co-driven by experienced navigator G.M.Srikanth won the Rally Star Cup category, with a very convincing drive. “I am too happy to win in the first rally that I am driving. This will encourage me to do the full season now”, opined Joshi. In addition he also placed overall second.
The Best timing of the three Super Special Stages run went to Sunny Sidhu and co-driver H.S.Bawa from Delhi. Sunny,the Raid de Himalaya winner should have finished the rally in good placing, but had to pull out when his Gypsy wheel came off yesterday.
Today he was driving for leg points. Dr.Mukul Sangma, the Home Minister who was there to witness the Super Special Stage was so impressed with Sunny’s driving that he went for a spin with him in the rally gypsy.The Tura Challenge-5 was flagged off into the stages yesterday morning at 8 a.m. where the rallyists drove two Special stages (in the Chibragre and Badadam areas about 15km away from Tura) repeated thrice and returned to Tura in the evening.
Today morning they were flagged off at 8 a.m. again and they drove both the stages once in the reverse direction and returned to Tura. Later in the afternoon, the Super Special Stage at Dakopgiri Stadium (that was run once on Friday evening) was run twice to complete the rally. 9 of the 15 starters finished the Tura Challenge –05. One of the major dropouts was Philipose Mathai from Team Methods who had a gearbox problem yesterday.
The organizers of the event Motorsports Association of Garo Hills who are running their maiden event in the National Championship, have proved that they have an excellent capacity to organize and this should bring in more people from Magalia into rallying. “I am very happy that all the rallyists enjoyed the rally and we will do it better next year”, remarked Ashok Agarwal, the COC. “The Government of Magalia who has supported the rally are keen on doing whatever possible for promotion of Motorsport in the region,” said the Home Minister Dr Mukul Sangma.
The Champagne ceremony at the stadium was followed by the prize distribution function at the 2nd Battalion at 8 p.m.
Provisional (Unaudited) Results: OVERALL: 1. Sandeep Sharma & Kuldip Singh (2hours, 8min, 0.39sec); 2. GS Joshy & Srikanth GM (2:08:51.43); 3. Chetan Shivram & Chandrashekar (2:12:04.62).
1400cc class: 1. Sanjay Agarwal & Sujith Kumar (2:18:27.98); 2. Ravi Agarwal & Pradeep Kumar (2:28:54.71); 3. Along Aier & Zachume Ezung (2:42:14.53).
Rally Star Cup: 1. GS Joshy & Srikanth GM (2:08:51.43); 2. Chetan Shivram & Chandrashekar (2:12:04.62); 3.Anil Wadia & CK Chinnappa (2:16:44.84).
Gypsy Class: 1. Sandeep Sharma & Kuldip Singh (2:08:00.39); 2. Suresh Rana & Marcus Bugar (2:12:59.08); 3. Prakash Momin & Nancy Sangma (2:26:17:85).
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Welcom to INDIA in F1!
Welcome to INDIAinF1.com. Today one more Indian joins the cream of World Racing drivers in the ultimate Racing Championship, The Formula One World Championship 2010.
The Indian F1 Grand Prix is scheduled for 2011. In the World Motor Sports Council that met at Bahrain on March 11th, Mr.Bernie Ecclestone, President, Formula One Management, has informed the FIA that subject to final approval of the calendar by the World Council, India will host a Formula One event in 2011.
It was in 1999, The idea of this website was mooted and discussed between Senior Motorsports and Hockey Correspondent Bodapati David and Specialized Motorsport Photo Journalist and writer George Francis and later at Krishna Lodge with Paul. Scorp News, a motorsports photo agency, is in Motorsport Journalism for the past 25 years. The place was the Madras Motor Sports Trust Racing Circuit at Irungattukottai and the event the MRF Grand Prix 1999.
The initial idea was to start a bimonthly magazine, and a computer was rented, templates, dummy pages and what not. After a hectic three months burning the midnight oil, this website is launched. (Note by the editor: The website was relaunched in 2010 and only a few articles were transitioned to the current site.)
On June 14th, 2001, Narain Karthikeyan became the first Indian to test a new generation Formula 1 car with Steward Racing and as everyone was focused to see Narain in a Formula 1 Racing Car, it took full 4 years for Narain to get into Jordan Racing in 2005.
On March 6th, 2005, Narain again wrote history, as he drove the yellow colored Formula Jordan Car from the start line at Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia. The first Indian from among the 1 Billion population, to first sit in a Formula One car in a live World championship race. It took nearly 5 years for the next Indian to enter the Championship.
Today, on March 14th, 2010, Karun will create history as the lights go off at the Sakhir Circuit in Bahrain, at 17.30 IST, at the start line as he steers a Team Hispania Racing F 1 Team Formula Car, to start his career in F1.
We think that it is high time that the World has a website that deals with India in F1. This would add a world of information on the subject, with special reference to India.
We, David, George, and Paul, welcome you to the World of India in F1. In due course, we will bring you all the news from all forms of Motorsports where Indians drive or ride, the special focus will be on Formula 1 and Indians.
Happy Racing!!!
We wish Karun the Very Best.
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Vikram Mathias, Sujith Kumar crowned INRC champions for 2004
Mumbai, 24 Jan 2005: Bangalore duo Vikram Mathias and co-driver Sujith Kumar of Team MRF were crowned as the new champions in the Indian National Rallying Championship and they were presented with a brand new Maruti Baleno by Maruti at a glittering prize distribution ceremony organised by Motorsports Association of India here on Saturday.
The 2004 season saw eight rounds and it was a close race with Mathias and Kumar winning the crown by just two points. The duo bagged 46 points to beat reigning championsh VR Naren Kumar and D Ramkumar, who garnered 44 points.
Prithveen Rajan and co-driver PV Srinivasa Murthy won the 1400cc title and was also presented with a Maruti Alto. The pair scored 71 points. Sanjay Agarwal and Chandramouli won the Rally Star Cup and drove away a Marut 800.
The Kadet Indian National Karting Championship was won by Chennai’s Vishnu Prasad with 53 points and Ashok Jadhav with 32 points was crowned as the Indian National Karting champion.
In the Asian Zone National Karting Championship, Charlie Charles of Malaysia won the honours and Chennai’s Preetham Muniappa came second.
Winners for 2004:
INRC Overall: Vikram Mathais/Sujith Kumar (Team MRF ) 46 points; V R Naren Kumar/D Ramkumar (Team MRF) 44; Lohit Urs/ Bonnie Thomas 42.
INRC 1400cc: Prithveen Rajan/P V S Murthy 71; Ranjith Ballal /Ashwin Naik 55; Arjun Rao Aroor/CK Chinappa 54.
Rally Star Cup: Sanjay Agarwal/ Chandramouli 72; Rajesh Gadakh/ Parithosh Kohok 49, Jasbir Singh/ Jeetender Nath 38.
Gypsy Cup: Anil Wadia/ Shrikanth GM 31; Along Iyer/ Suresh Rana 25; Gaurav Chirpal/ Satender Singh 18.
Kadet-Indian National Karting Championship (K-INKC): Vishnu Prasad 53; Ajay Kini 38; Chittesh Mandody 36.
INKC: Ashok Jadhav 32; Deepak Paul Chinnappa 27; Preetham Muniyappa 26.
Asian Zone National Karting Championship: Charlie Charles 18; Preetham Muniyappa 16; Mikko Nassi 16.
Vehicle preparation award: J Anand.Outstanding performance by a novice Gypsy driver: Gaurav Chirpal.
Outstanding performance by a novice driver: Rajesh Gadakh.
INRC event of the year 2004: MAK WISA Nashik Rally -
Lohith Urs-Bonnie Thomas win INRC; Karamjit-Allen clinch APRC
Pune, 5 Dec 2004: Ace Mysore driver Lohit Urs and Bonnie Thomas steered their Maruti Baleno to a stunning victory beating Team MRF’s Arjun Balu and co-driver Kumar Ramaswamy and excelled among the Indian drivers to clinch the top honours in the seventh round of th eIndian National Rally Championship (INRC), the MRF India Rally which was held concurrently with the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) here on Sunday.
Ranjit Ballal and co-driver Venu Ramesh Kumar won the 1400cc class pushing aside Philippos Mathai and Ashwin Naik while Sandeep Sharma and Shrikanth GM won the Gypsy Cup beating Along Aier and co-driver Ashok Agarwal. Jasbir Singha and Jatinder Nath came first in the Rally Star Cup for novice drivers.
Karamjit Singh of Malaysia, tackling tough terrain with ease, clocked 2 hours, 1 minute and 17.5 seconds to finish 29.8 seconds ahead of challenger Katsuhiko Taguchi and won the APRC Indian round. The Team Proton Pert driver efficiently managed to steer safely to the finish on a day when when three stages were cancelled in the MRF India Rally 2004, as a safety measure by the stewards. Drivers complained that non-rally vehicles and spectators and other village crowds were straying onto to the track in the closed Special Stages.
Japanese driver Katsuhiko Taguchi of Team MRF Tyres timed 2:01:47 to take the Overall second position in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo8. He navigated the tricky terrain to be the only driver in APRC category to counter Karamjit in the 3 special stages at Tahir.
Naren Kumar, along with co-driver D Ramkumar, who clocked 2:18:14, could only finish fourth in overall APRC classification, behind Karamjit, Katsuhiko and Geoffrey Argyle.
“It took some time for me to get used to the car and thus finishing fourth in APRC is very satisfying,” said the to Indian ace Naren.
Malaysian navigator, Allen Oh, who called the notes for the last time expressed mixed feelings about his retirement after this rally: “I am happy to be part of the winning team, at the same time sad that my last event as co-driver happened to be one of the worst.”
Nazir Hoosein of MAI, the governing boday, said: “Allen is an experienced competitor and his partnership with Karamjit has been nothing short of phenomenal. So such opinions have to be respected and should act as a motivation for all of us.”
The Head of the Indian federation also expressed apprehension that APRC may not be held in India next year. Nazir Hoosein, the vice-president of FIA and chairman of organising committee of the rally said: “We will request FIA to shift the rally dates in the calendar from December to February as it is the best month in India for good road conditions. If FIA agrees, the next APRC event can be held only in Feb but only in 2006.”
Final Provisional Classification:
APRC: 1. Karamjit Singh/ Allen Oh (Team Proton Pert) (2hours, 1min, 17.5sec); 2. Katsuhiko Taguchi/ Mark Stacey (MRF Tyres) (2:01:47); 3. Geoffrey Argyle/ Chris Cobham (Team Total Lubricants) (2:06:15); 4. Naren Kumar/ D Ramkumar (2:12:14); 5. Brian Green/ Fleur Pedersen (Team Total Lubricants) (2:18:54).
INRC: 1. Lohith V Urs/ Bonnie Thomas (1:10:32); 2. Arjun Balu/ Kumar Ramaswamy (MRF Tyres) (1:11:05).
1400cc: 1. Ranjith Ballal/ Ramesh Kumar; 2. Phillipos Mathai/ Ashwin Naik; 3. Jiby Maliakkal/ Nikhil Pai.
Gypsy Cup: 1. Sandeep Sharma/ Srikanth GM; 2. Along Aier/ Ashok Agarwal; 3. Anil Wadia/ Satinder Singh.
Rally Star Cup: 1. Jasbir Singh/ Jatinder Nath; 2. Nitin Batra/ Prashant Mehta.
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Vikram Mathias-Sujith Kumar top in Delhi Rally
New Delhi, 21 Nov 2004: Team MRF’s Vikram Mathias overtook team-mate and overnight leader Karandip Singh to win the overall title in the MRF-Maruti Suzuki Rally of the North, the sixth round of the Motorsports Association of India’s Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) that concluded at the National Stadium, here, on Sunday.
With defending National champion VR Naren Kumar out of the fray, the coast is clear for Mathias and co-driver Sujith Kumar with one more round in hand. While Naren still leads the points tally with 44, Mathias’ victory here, which fetched him 14 points, has taken his tally to 43.
Mathias’ closest rival is Lohit Urs, who finished fastest on the second day and third overall to take his tally to 29.
Vikram Mathias and co-driver Sujith Kumar on the podium after winning the Rally of the North 2004 on Sunday. An INDIAinF1 photo The 1400cc was won comfortably by championship leader Prithveen Rajan and co-driver PVS Murthy, while Sanjay Agarwal and Anil Wadia maintained their momentum in the Rally Star Cup and Gypsy Cup, respectively, by winning with ease.
Mathias, who trailed Karandip by nine seconds overnight, pulled back two seconds on the first stage itself before conceding one in the second. However, it was in the third stage that he streaked ahead, making a princely 16 seconds on his rival from Chandigarh. The last stage saw both drivers easing up a bit, but here too Mathias was a second faster.
“I wanted to garner as many points as possible in this round, so I can plan my drive in the concluding round (Pune, Dec 4-5),” said Mathias.
Mysore’s Lohit Urs, winner of the Chandigarh round, was the fastest on Sunday. Urs had finished the first day in sixth position, thanks to car problems in the initial stages, but he was literally flying on the second day and finished 13 seconds ahead of Mathias. “A lot of things went wrong on the first day, or else I would have had a good chance to finish overall first,” said Urs, who was simply brilliant in the last stage, completing 8.62 km stage in 6.16 minutes.
All the drivers praised the dirt tracks that were prepared by the organizers Northern Motorsports, which provided for smooth and fast drives. Of the 34 cars that had entered, only four did not finish.
Provisional final results:
Overall: 1. Vikram Mathias/Sujith Kumar (Maruti Baleno, Team MRF) (76 mins 32 seconds); 2. Karandip Singh/Jaidas Mrenon (Maruti Baleno, Team MRF) (76.41); 3. Lohit Urs/Bonnie Thomas (Maruti Baleno) (76.48); 3. Prithveen Rajan/V S Murthy (Maruti Esteem) (77.52); 4. Arjun Rao Aroor/Shanmuga N (Maruti Esteem, Team Methods) (78.11).
1400cc: 1. Rajan/Murthy; 2. Aroor/Shanmuga; 3. Ranjith Ballal/Ramesh Kumar (Esteem) (79.33); 4. Sandeep Sharma/Kulbir Singh Dhaliwal (Maruti Esteem) (80.46).
Rally Star Cup: 1. Sanjay Agarwal/Chandramouli (Maruti Esteem) (79.32); 2. Rajesh Gadakh/Paritosh Kohok (Maruti Esteem) (83.25).
Gypsy Cup: 1. Anil Wadia/Satinder Singh (81.38); 2. Gaurav Chirpal/Sri Kantha GM (81.56).
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Lohit Urs, Bonnie Thomas win Overall honours by 3 seconds
Chandigarh, 31 October 2004: Talented Mysore driver Lohit Urs and co-driver Bonnie Thomas pipped reigning National champion Naren Kumar and co-driver D Ramkumar of team MRF by a narrow margin to clinch their maiden overall win clinching the Power M1 Challenge, the fifth round of the Indian National RAlly Championship (INRC), which concluded at Shimla on Sunday.
Winning the rally by a thin margin of three seconds, the 25-year Mysore star steered his Maruti Baleno ahead of the multiple national champion announced his arrival into the big league scoring the biggest win of his career. Though Lohit also suffered mechanical issues like Naren, his overnight lead proved a big advantage as he mixed aggression with caution to safeguard the lead for a stunning win.
However, Naren Kumar and D Ramkumar, who won in Bangalore and Goa, continue to lead the table in the National Championship standing with a tally 44 points, with the 13 earned here. Vikram Mathais and co-driver Sujith Kumar, also of Team MRF, who took the overall win in Cochin, are in second place garnering 29 points.
Lohit Urs earned 15 points here and is currently in 4th place, behind Prithveen Rajan, who is in the third place with 23 points.
Prithveen Rajan and co-driver PV Srinivasa Murthy won the 1400cc category with another impressive outing and is leading the championship standings in this class, nine points ahead of Arjun Rao Aroor and co-driver Shanmuga S, who were trailing him overnight by 22 seconds. Arjun tried hard and reduced the lead by 12 seconds but had to be content with a second place. Prithveen came third overall while Chandigarh driver Sunny Sidhu, came fourth overall.
Running six stages on Saturday and all the tops cars took a beating and both Lohit and Naren opted for a mixed startegy but still went flat out with considerable ground to make. Naren had a misfortune in the very first stage as he broke the struts of his front and rear right wheels but carried on gamely conceding just a two-second lead to Urs.
And battle is going strong till the last stage with both in striking distnce but suddenly misfortune struck Urs this time as he suffered a flat in the rear left. But the Mysore lad drove through the 12.6-km stage and conceded 30 seconds to Naren. But that was enough as he scraped through by just three seconds, clinging on to the victory
“I knew that the stages would get harder every time, so planned my drive accordingly and my car stood the trial,” said a visibly-happy Lohit Urs. Making his debut in 1999, Lohit Urs saw his first major achievement winning the National title in 1400cc in 2003. But this is his first win in the overal category.
Naren was content collecting 13 important points in his quest for the championship. “In the first stage, I had hoped to catch some time on Lohit but I broke both my right struts. By then the lead was quite big, so I eased off in the last stage as I did not want to take unnecessary risks,” Naren said.
Provisional final classification:
Overall: 1. Lohit Urs/ Bonnie Thomas (Maruti Baleno) (2hours, 8min, 35sec); 2. Naren Kumar/D Ramkumar (Team MRF, Maruti Baleno) (2:08.38); 3. Prithveen Rajan/ PV Srinivas Murthy (Esteem) (2:13.05); 4. Sunny Sidhu/ Suresh Rana (Gypsy) (2:13.12); 4. Arjun Rao Aroor/ Shanmuga S (Esteem) (2:13.15).
1400cc class: 1. Prithveen Rajan/ PV Srinivas Murthy (Esteem) (2:13.05); 2. Arjun Rao Aroor/ Shanmuga S (Esteem) (2:13.15); 3. Ranjith Ballal/ Ramesh Kumar (Esteem) (2:17.36).
Gypsy Cup: 1. Sunny Siddhu/ Suresh Rana (2:13.12); 2. Along Iyer/ Zachumo Ezung (2:15.42); 3. Anil Wadia/ Pradeep Kumar (2:17.09).
Rally Star Cup: 1. Sanjay Agarwal/ Chandramouli (2:16.45); 2. Rajesh Gadakh/ Paritosh Kohok (2:26.19); 3. Faraz Khalid/ Arush Vohra (2:40.31).
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TVS’ C Vijaykumar consolidates position in Foreign Open class
Pune, 26 Sept 2004: TVS Racing continued its dominance at the end of 4th round of the MRF National Motocross Championship held in Pune as C. Vijaykumar consolidated his overall lead to a total of 135 points in the prestigious Indian Experts Foreign Open Class, despite injury. In a battle that is always fought with true grit i.e., foreign open class; the first moto saw top 3 positions by TVS Racing with Vijaykumar taking the lead followed by H. K Pradeep and C. S. Santosh. Though Syed Eathasham of Yamaha Racing was leading till the 7th lap it was Vijaykumar who sprung from nowhere to emerge a clear winner. C. S. Santosh who was leading in the second position gave way to Pradeep for the third position as he struggled with two falls.
The second moto had a different story as Karan Kadam of Yamaha Racing overcame others to bag the top position. C. S. Santosh of TVS Racing put up a valiant fight to come 2nd closely followed by Yogesh Barguje of Yamaha Racing at 3rd. The reigning champion C. Vijaykumar of TVS Racing managed only 6th position as an injury caused by a fall in Indian Experts Group B upto 150 CC 2-stroke race slowed him considerably. Karan Kadam was declared the overall winner by 33 points followed by Santosh with 32 points.
It was truly Santosh’s (TVS Racing) day as he garnered maximum podium positions. He came overall 2nd in the Indian Experts Foreign Open and Number one in Indian Experts Group B upto 150 CC 2 stroke and Indian Experts Group B upto 180 CC four Stroke.
The group B Indian Experts upto 150 CC 2-Stroke too saw some exciting race. C. Vijaykumar of TVS Racing who was a strong contender for the race had a massive fall and had to settle for a DNF. His counterpart C. S Santosh cruised towards the finishing line. Syed Eathasham and Yogesh Barguje of Yamaha Racing came 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Another winner of the day was the experienced C. D. Jinan of TVS Racing who took the top honours in the Group D upto 180 CC riding TVS Fiero F2. He took a formidable lead right at the beginning and managed to maintain his pace though Sridhar Urs of Yamaha was just few yards behind him.
The other class which Yamaha Racing took number one position was the Class D Indian Experts upto 110 CC where Sridhar Urs of Yamaha emerged winner. C.D. Jinan of TVS Racing and Shivakumar of Yamaha came 2nd and 3rd respectively.
The Novice class was taken by Yamaha’s Wasim Mohammed closely followed by K.P Chandan and Syed Zubair of TVS Racing for the 2nd and 3rd position.
The local class saw some interesting fight between Vishal Barguje and Abijit Jhadav. But in the end Vishal Barguje did some thrilling daredevil riding to emerge as the top rider of Pune. In the privateer intermediate class Amol Temghare of Pune emerged victorious.
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Naren Kumar-Ram win Rally de Goa for 2nd win
Panajim (Goa), 12 Sept 2004: Defending champions VR Naren Kumar and D Ramkumar of Team MRF edged out strong contenders and teammates Vikram Mathias and Sujith Kumar to win the WIAA Rally de Goa, the fourth round of the MAI Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) here on Sunday.
Naren Kumar put the tragedy in the second round behind him and drove a steady rally driving his Baleno with control to win by 13 seconds. Naren, thus gained valuable points, with this second win in the INRC, having won K1000, the second round at Bangalore. The first round at Nashik was won by Philippos Mathai and Ashwin Naik while Vikram Mathias and Sujith Kumar clinched the third round at Cochin.
1600cc and Overall winners, Naren Kumar, left, and Ram Kumar at the podium ceremony in Goa on Sunday. Photo courtesy Team-BHP.com Prithveen Rajan and co-driver PVS Murthy won the 1400cc class beating Ranjit Ballal and co-driver Ramesh while Sanjay Agarwal and co-driver Chandramouli won the Rally Star Cup. Gaurav Chirpal along with navigator GM Srikanth won the Gypsy Class beating Anil Wadia and co-driver Pradeep Kumar.
Provisional (Unaudited) Results: 1600cc INRC: 1. VR Naren Kumar/ D Ramkumar (Team MRF) (1hour, 13min, 32sec); 2. Vikram Mathaias/ Sujith Kumar (Team MRF) (1:13.45).
1400cc: 1. Prithveen Rajan/ PVS Murthy (1:18.44); 2. Ranjit Ballal/
Ramesh (1:18.57); 3. Purujit Singh/ Musa Sherif (1:22.43); 4. Philippos Mathai/
Ashwin Naik (1:22.59); 5. Nitin Batra/ Gaurav Srivastav (1:23.14).Rally Star Cup: 1. Sanjay Agarwal/ Chandramouli (1:00.11); 2. Jasbir Singh
Randhwa/ Jeetendra Nath (1:02.11); 3. Rajesh Gadakh/ Paritosh Kohok (1:04.02).Gypsy category: 1. Gaurav Chiripal/ GM Srikanth (1:24.16); 2. Anil Wadia/
Pradeep Kumar (1:24.16).
