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Author: David Bodapati
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Karandip-Jaidas win Movva K1000 Rally; Naren-Ram clinch National Championship
Bangalore, 17 Nov 2003: Team MRF’s Chandigarh-based Karandip Singh teamed up with Jaidas Menon, his long-time navigator from Bangalore to finally notch up his first triumph in nearly two years winning the overall class in the Movva Rally de Bangalore, the sixth and penultimate round of MAI Indian National Rally Championship, on Sunday.
Driving a Honda City V-Tec, Karandip, whose last success in a National Championship event was in 2001 when he won the Karnataka-1000, saw off a late challenge from reigning National champion and team-mate VR Naren Kumar and co-driver D Ramkumar to emerge a convincing winner.
“It certainly is a nice feeling, and I am happy that I finally broke my jinx by winning here. It has been a frustrating season, as I could not capitalise on winning positions at Chikmagalur, Nashik and Chandigarh rallies. Today, I was not very comfortable on the first two Special Stages, but thereafter, I stepped up the pace,” said the modest Karandip, the National champion in Group N (unmodified) class back in 2000.
Meanwhile, Naren Kumar confirmed his third National Championship title with a round to spare by finishing third behind Karandip and Arjun Balu (co-driver Kumar Ramaswamy), also of Team MRF.
The third place finish was sufficient for the 29-year old from Coimbatore to clinch the National title with a tally of 68 points with just one more round of the INRC to be gone through in Pune (December 5-7). He has aggregated 68 points to Balu’s 47 and Karandip’s 44. The maximum number of points on offer in an INRC event is 16 (10 for win and three each for the two legs).
“It is a great relief to have the National championship race behind me. And I now look forward to a more relaxed approach for the final round at Pune next month. Yes, it certainly is a great feeling, but I would have loved to have clinched the championship by winning here in Bangalore rather than finish third,” said Naren.
Trailing by 53 seconds overnight to Karandip, Naren stepped up the pace today and made up 58 seconds before suffering a puncture on the penultimate Special Stage that cost him about 20 seconds as he slid from second to third position.
Though Naren had finished fifth on Saturday at the end of Leg One, he was elevated to second spot after team-mates N Leelakrishnan (Farooq Ahmed), Arjun Balu and Vikram Mathias (Sujith Kumar) conceded road penalty of 20 seconds apiece.
Meanwhile, in a strange turn of events, the 1400cc class saw none of the three contenders finishing the event, but picking up Leg points. Under the circumstances, Lohit V Urs (co-driver M K Bopanna) and Rahul Kantharaj (co-driver Vivek Bhat) found themselves on level terms with 44 points apiece while the third contender, Karthikeyan R (co-driver Sathish G), also could not complete the event due to mechanical failure, and remained on 38 points.
Ranjit Ballal and co-driver Shanmuga SN, who had won the Rally Star Cup category, were subsequently excluded following post-event scrutiny.
Final unaudited Classifications (after Leg 2):
INRC 1600cc: Team MRF (Karandip Singh/Jaidas Menon) 1 (1 hr, 29 mins, 13 secs); Team MRF (Arjun Balu/Kumar Ramaswamy) 2 (1:29:50); Team MRF (V R Naren Kumar/D Ramkumar) 3 (1:30:10); Team MRF (N Leelakrishnan/Farooq Ahmed) 4 (1:30:25); Team MRF (Vikram Mathias/Sujith Kumar) 5 (1:30:34); Jiby Maliakkal/Nikhil Pai 6 (1:32:24).
INRC 1400cc: No finishers.
Rally Star Cup: Ram Prashanth/Thiru Murthy 1 (1:30:51); Prithveen Rajan/PVS Murthi 2 (1:32:30); Arun Kumar/Lohit Anand 3 (1:33:0); Arjun Rao Aroor/Ashwin Naik 4 (1:35:08); Anitha Kholay/Rashmi Bopanna 5 (1:50:52).
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Arjun Balu-Kumar Ramaswamy win Rally de Goa; MRF cars missing
Panaji (Goa), 2 Nov 2003: Talented Ajrun Balu and co-driver Kumar Ramaswamy, the Coimbatore duo of Team MRF, steered their Honda City V-Tec, to an emphatic overall win as they bagged Rally de Goa, the fifth round of the MAI-Indian National Rally Championship, which concluded in here on Sunday.
With this win Arjun Balu moved to the second spot on the leadership table behind Naren Kumar, who did not rally here. Other top drivers could not take part as four MRF cars did not arrive at the venue on time for scrutiny and rally. However, Naren Kumar and Ramkumar still enjoy a 28-point lead with two more rounds left in the championship. Karandip Singh and Jaidas Menon, also of MRF, are in third place.
They enjoyed a huge lead of over four minutes to second-placed R Karthikeyan and co-driver G Satish who steered a Maruti Esteem. In the process, Karthikeyan and Satish won the INRC 1400cc category, followed by Rahul Kantharaj and Vivek Bhatt of Team Movva in second.
But for a simple mistake, Gulf Oil-sponsored pair of Jiby Maliakkal and co-driver Nikhil Pai would have put their Honda City on the podium. But they had to be content with fourth overall after they lost considerable amount of time due an off-road excursion on Saturday. However, they tried, Jiby could not make up the deficit on Sunday and ended fourth in the eight-car field. All 8 finished the rally.
“It was nice to win my first event since the India Rally last year, but it would have been more satisfying had my teammates too taken part,” said Balu soon after, spraying champagne over his co-driver at the parc ferme.
Balu was referring to the absence of reigning National champion VR Naren Kumar, Karandip Singh, N Leelakrishnan and Vikram Mathias, all of Team MRF, who could not take the start on Saturday as their Honda City cars did not arrive at the venue in time. Nevertheless, Balu had to contend with a problematic clutch that he said considerably cut into his time.
“On the uphill sections, especially, I was struggling to go quicker, and had my team-mates taken part, I doubt I would have won. But of course, it is still nice to taste success,” said Balu who had led the field overnight by over three minutes.
The competition in the 1400cc, however, hotted up after today’s results as Kantharaj overtook leader Lohit V Urs who too failed to take the start on Saturday. Kantharaj has 43 points to Lohit’s 40, while Karthikeyan is within striking distance of the two front-runners with a tally of 39 points.
Meanwhile, the collegian from Manipal, Arjun Rao Aroor and co-driver Musa Sherif comfortably won the Rally Star Cup category, 49 seconds in front of Prithveen, a post-graduate student from Chennai, and co-driver PVS Murthy.
Provisional final classifications: INRC Overall: 1. Arjun Balu/Kumar Ramaswamy (Team MRF) (1 hr, 14 mins, 25 secs); 2. R Karthikeyan/G Sathish (1:19:02); 3. Rahul Kantharaj/Vivek Bhatt (Team Movva) (1:19:08); 4. Jiby Maliakkal/Nikhil Pai (Team Gulf Oil) (1:28:45).
INRC 1400cc: 1. Karthikeyan/Sathish; 2. Rahul Kantharaj/ Vivek Bhatt.
Rally Star Cup: 1. Arjun Rao Aroor/Musa Sherif (Team Mandovi) 1 (1:19:23); 2. Prithveen/PVS Murthy (1:20:12); 3. Ranjith Ballal/Shanmuga (1:22:10);4. S Ram Prasanth/Thiru Murthy 4 (1:22:15).
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8th straight win for Naren-Ram; Karandip-Jaidas survive 40-foot drop
Chandigarh, 21 Sept 2003: Defending champion VR Naren Kumar ande co-driver V Ram Kumar of team MRF won all the four rounds this season and well on his way to another title as he won the overall title in the MAI Power M1 Challenge Rally, the fourth round of the MAI Indian National Rally Champioship here on Sunday.
This is the 8th straight win for the pair continuing from the previous season as they finished ahead of teammates Vikram Mathias and co-driver Sujith Kumar with over a minute to spare.
Naren Kumar, the 29-year old from Coimbatore, had an easy time on Sunday after overnight leaders Karandip Singh and co-driver Jaidas Menon, also of Team MRF, suffered a 40-feet roll on Special Stage-10 following a brake failure.
“Since I led Mathias by over two minutes, I eased off totally and did not take any risks. But I was determined to make up the 13 seconds and our approach was to go absolutely flat out and make at least three to four seconds on each of the Stages today. But once Karandip was out of the rally, we decided to take it easy and finish the event,” said Naren, who, in fact, had made three seconds on Karandeep after the first stage on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Mathias, after failing to finish the Chikmagalur and Nashik rounds of the INRC and skipping the Kochi leg, did well to pick up his first points of the season.
“I am happy with our performance in this event and it was a relief to finish after a string of DNFs,” said Mathias talking about the first two rallies he Did Not Finish (DNF).
Karandeep, 29, from Chandigarh, looked certain to clinch the title last night when he established a 13-second lead over Naren.
“We were doing about 100 kmph on a downhill stretch in SS-10 when the brake tube cut leading to loss of fluid. There was nothing I could do and we crashed down a 40-foot drop,” said a disappointed Karandip, who was looking to score a win on home territory. Both the drivers escaped because of the Roll Cage which is mandatory for all rally cars.
Naren and Mathias were the only two from Team MRF to complete the rally as former National champion N Leelakrishnan and co-driver Farooq Ahmed pulled out on Sunday with mechanical problems to join teammates Arjun Balu and co-driver Kumar Ramaswamy in the casualty list.
Veterans Samir Thapar and co-driver Gurinder Singh Mann, both making a comeback after several years, finished third overall in a Maruti Esteem, ahead of championship leaders in the 1400cc category, Lohit Urs and co-driver MK Bopanna.
Provisional final results:
Overall: 1. VR Naren Kumar/V Ram Kumar (Team MRF) (1hr, 43mins, 46secs); 2. Vikram Mathias/Sujith Kumar (Team MRF) (1:44:02); 3. Samir Thapar/ GS Mann (1:46:25;) 4. Lohit v Urs/ MK Bopanna (1:47:31); 5. Jiby Maliakkal/Nikhil Pai (Gulf Oil) (1:51:43); 6. Rajiv Suri/ Rajeev Mehta (1:58:22).
1600cc (Honda City V-Tec): 1. Naren Kumar/ Ram Kumar, 2. Vikram Mathias/B Sujith Kumar, 3. Jiby Maliakkal/Nihil Pai.
1400cc (Maruti Esteem): 1. Samir Thapar/Gurinder Singh Mann, 2. Urs/Bopanna.
Rally Star Cup: 1. S Ram Prashanth/ Thiru Murthy (1:51:18); 2. Ranjith Ballal/ Shanmuga (1:51:41); 3. Yogeshwar Gill/Harkanwal Cheema (2:05:23).
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Naren Kumar-Ram notch up third straight win, clinch Kerala Rally
Kochi, 31 Aug 2003: Reigning National champion VR Naren Kumar and co-driver D Ramkumar of Team MRF notched up their third consecutive win clinching the overall title Kerala Rally 2003, the third round of the MAI Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) here on Sunday.
Naren, behind the wheel of a Honda City, clocked a time of 1hour, 23minutes and 16 seconds to complete the special stages beating teammate Karandip Singh, who paired with Bangalore navigator Jaidas Menon. Karandip took a time of 1.25:32 secs while multiple-national champion N Leelakrishnan and Farooq Ahmed finished the course in 1.26:54 secs to take the third spot.
In the 1600 cc category, Naren Kumar took the honours while Karandip bagged the second and Leelakrishnan the third place.
In the 1400 cc category, R Karthikeyan and co-driver G Sathish won the top spot in the class with a time of 1.35:04 seconds followed by George Antony and Bijoy Paul who clocked 1.38:01 seconds. Renjith Paul and co-driver Anoop Xavier came third in a time of 1.45:43.
In the MAI Rally Star Cup category, Arjun Rao and experienced CK Chinnappa won with a penalty time of 1.33:59 secs followed by Thirtha Patil and co-driver Lohith Anand who took 1.36:56 secs ahead of third-placed K Ranjith Ballal and co-driver Shanmuga with a time of 1.38:33, a Scorp News release said.
Organisers add:
The Kerala Auto Sports Club organised and hosted the Kerala Rally 2003, the third round of the MAI Indian National Rally Championshipo for Cars, which was run through the forest stages of Bhoothanthankettu and Edamalayar Dam. One of the most-alluring aspects of the event is its excellent picturesque, smooth and winding tarmac.
The Kerala Rally covered a distance of approximately 380km. There were nine Special Stages which covered a distance of 117km and run over a period of two days. Apart from Team MRF, Team Chettinad and Team Blue Lines participated in this year’s event.
The entire event was tracked and controlled with the aid of HAM Radios. Ham Radios have linked the Clerk of the Course (CoC) to all Stage Commanders, Ambulances, and important officials of the event. The Mobile Control Room was stationed at Thundam. The Radio Network this year was coordinated by Girish Babu, code name `VU2 KGB’ and Jacob Elias, `VU2 ADV’.
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Naren Kumar-Musa Sherif win MRF Taj Challenge
Nashik, 8 June 2003: Defending champion VR Naren Kumar and co-driver Musa Sherif of Team MRF gave an awesome display of speed and controlled driving to win the MRF Taj Challenge Rally, the second round of the Motorsports Association of India’s (MAI) Indian National Rally Championship (INRC), here on Sunday.
It was Naren Kumar sixth straight INRC victory and he appeared well on course to equaling 10 straight wins by teammate N Leelakrishnan in 1992-93. But in this rally, Naren was without his regular co-driver D Ramkumar, who is getting married later in the week.
Naren Kumar, left, & Musa Sherif. At the finish of the two-day event that saw the cars complete six Special Stages, Naren Kumar was a comfortable 55 seconds ahead of teammates Arjun Balu and co-driver Kumar Ramaswamy who finished a distant second. Naren clocked 1::13:40 to Balu’s 1::14:35.
Naren Kumar, the 28-year-old from Coimbatore, clocked one hour, 13 minutes, 40 seconds to Balu’s 1:14:35.
Meanwhile, the third Team MRF driver in the running, Karandip Singh and co-driver Jaidas Menon suffered his third puncture of the event and lost considerable time to finish sixth, behind Jiby Maliakkal (co-driver Nikhil Pai).
There were some pleasing performances lower down the field, especially in the 1400cc class won by Rahul Kantha Raj and co-driver Vivek Bhatt of Team Nova. The duo also finished third in the overall standings.
Arjunrao Aroor, a teenager from Manipal, won the Rally Star Cup in the company of co-driver C K Chinnappa, the oldest competitor at 51 years of age.
Aroor’s victory was more or less confirmed late last night when one of his main competitor, Sanjay Agarwal (co-driver Ashwin Naik) was excluded from the Rally by the Stewards. Agarwal was penalised for attending to his gear-box in the control area just at the start of the day’s last special stage.
Provisional Unaudited Results:
Overall: 1. VR Naren Kumar/Musa Sherif (Team MRF) (1 hour, 13 mins, 40 secs); 2. Arjun Balu/Kumar Ramaswamy (Team MRF) (1:14:35); 3. Rahul Kantharaj/ Vivek Bhatt (Team Nova) (1:19:10); 4. Lohit V Urs/ MK Bopanna (1:19:13); 5. Jiby Maliakkal/ Nikhil Pai (1:22:59); 6. Karandip Singh/ Jaidas Menon(Team MRF) (1:23:11); 7. V Shamsunder/PVS Murthy (Blue Lines) (1:25:13).
1400cc: 1. Kantharaj/Bhatt; 2. Urs/Bopanna; 3. Shamsunder/Murthy.
Rally Star Cup: 1. Arjun Rao Aroor/ CK Chinnappa ; 2. Ranjith Ballal/ Shanmuga Nataraj; 3. Anita Kholay/ Rashmi Bopanna.
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Defending champions Naren-Ram clinch season opener, Coffee Day Rally
Chikmagalur, 25 May 2003: Defending champion Naren Kumar of Team MRF overcame initial hiccups to clinch the Coffee Day Championship Rally 2003, the opening round of the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) here on Sunday. On Friday, the opening day Naren, along with his navigator D Ramkumar, faced some issues but managed to steer back and won the season opener at the Coffee stages here on Sunday.
Naren clocked 2 hours, 38 minutes and 24 seconds to beat teammate Karandip Singh and co-driver Jaidas Menon by 49 seconds. Karandip did go flat out in the last stages on Sunday but had to be content with the Overall second place as the champion managed to hang on.
Lohith Urs and MK Bopanna, the Mysore-Coorg combinatin, claimed the 1400 cc class without much trouble. Rahul Kantharaj and co-driver Vivek Bhatt were second with Karthikeyan and co-driver Veera Shanmugham taking third place. There were only three finishers in the class.
Experienced Sanjay Aggarwal made a winning comeback bagging the Rally Star Cup, with Manoj Mohan as the navigator. In 1998 Sanjay met with a serious accident during the South India Rally and was hospitalised for a long time and the rehab for his broken back took years and it a victory to his spirit to make a return to rallying at the Coffee Day event. The only all-ladies crew of Anita Kholay and Rashmi Bopanna finished sixth in the Rally Star Cup.
Provisional results:
Overall (1600 cc): 1. Naren Kumar /D Ramkumar(Team MRF) (2hours, 38min, 24sec); 2. Karandip Singh/ Jaidas Menon(Team MRF) (2:39.13); N. Leelakrishnan/ Farooq Ahmed(Team MRF) (2:39.32); Arjun Balu /R Kumar (02:41.20).
1400cc class: 1. Lohith Urs /MK Bopanna (2:45:36); Rahul Kantharaj/ Vivek Bhat (2:48:15); 3. Karthikeyan /S Veera Shanmugham (2:51:26).
Rally Star Cup: 1. Sanjay Aggarwal /Manoj Menon (2:51:00); 2. Amith Kumar /ASN Shanmugha (2:53:35); 3. Arjun Rao /ACK Chinappa (2:54:46); 4. Roopesh /Chetan (3:03:31) 5. BH Abhijeet Pai /Divin JE (3:19:47); 6. Anita Kholay /Rashmi Bopanna (3:56:06).
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Coffee Day Rally from May 24
Chikmagalur, 15 May 2003: Defending champions Naren Kumar and co-driver Ramkumar are raring to go as the season begins with the popular Coffee Day which will be run on the Special Stages on the foothills of Sahayadri hills in the Western Ghats from Friday. The Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) calendar for the year being run under the aegis of Motorsports Association of India (MAI) features nine rounds.
Leelakrishnan along with local star Farooq Ahmed as co-driver will vie for honours along with other top drivers like Karandeep Singh, Vikram Mathais and Jibby Malakal in the two-day Coffee Day Rally to be flagged off on May 24.
The 330-km rally, organised by the Motor Sports Club of Chikmagalur (MSCC), will run 10 Special Stages, spread over two days, on the dusty roads of coffee plantations. Entries numbering to 22 have been received till now. The Parc Ferme will be at ABC.
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Arjun Balu-Kumar lift INRC title; Warren-Judd win APRC honours
Bangalore, 8 Dec 2002: Driving their Mitsubishi Evo VII in a steady and catious manner, Stewart Warren and Darryl Judd had an easy outing on the final day and won the the MRF India Rally 2002 here on Sunday.
Unless some unforeseen issues cropped up, the duo were assured of the title and they did take it easy on the final day with an eye on finishing the rally without any hiccups to take home the title. And Indian ace, Naren Kumar, too, was content to play the second fiddle and wanted to protect his second place and played with cation to bring home his Evo VII a little after two minutes from the winners. Lang Xu (Guangyuam Men) steered his Subaru GC-8 to third place.
Meanwhile, leaving all these Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) participants of the Candidate round, the Indian National lRally Championship (INRC) was won by talented Arjun Balu, who was ably assisted by Ramaswamy Kumar, as they kept aside a strong challenge from Leelakrishnan and Farooq Ahmed, who were just behind by 25 seconds.
Putting behind the disappointment from his previous effort at the APRC Thailand round, the 37-year-old New Zealander did not find any stiff competition in the the rally. Naren, who had done well to break into the lead initially on the first stage, found his lack of familiarity with the Mitsubihi Evo VII four-wheel drive and was content to play safe. He also encountered mechanical problems, and to add some punctures to troubled him. But Naren did show his skill and displayed glimpses of his driving skills as he clocked some fastest sector times.
The final day’s route past the Khodays distilleries was quit challenging and had many dips and climbs which made it an arduous path and understandably many of the cars preferred, were just content, in passing through and did not make any effort to clock their best times, lest they topple. Hence the times were the slowest among all the three days.
The final day saw seven cars, all in the international section, taking part. The INRC drivers and the Rally Star Cup contestants all stayed off the roads despite having the option to participate.
For the Chinese team of Lang Xu and Guanguan Men in the Subaru GC-8, the bad start on the ceremonial flag-off where their car refused to start, ended on a much happier note in third place. Xu and Men did extremely well to take the podium and moreover it was their first-ever effort on a four-wheel drive.
The battle for the fourth spot generated some interest on the final day, as Gerard McGroarty managed to edge out Robert Whyatt. Trailing by 84 seconds on the final day, McGroarty pushed hard in the final leg and just about pipped Whyatt.
The provisional results: 1. Stewart Warren/ Darryl Judd (Mitsubishi Evo VII) (2 hours, 50 minutes, 30.9 seconds); 2. Naren Kumar /D. Ramkumar (Mitsubishi Evo VII) (2:53:04.4); 3. Lang Xu /Guangyuam Men (Subaru GC-8), (3:02:24.7); 4. Gerard McGroarty /Karl Francis (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III) (3:07:29.9); 5. Robert Whyatt /Malcolm Cox (Mitsubishi Evo III) (3:08:33.5).
INRC: 1. Arjun Balu /R. Kumar (2:17:03);1; 2. Leelakrishnan /Farooq Ahmed (2:17:28.9); 3. Karandip Singh /Jaidas Menon (2:20:10.9).
INRC 1400cc: 1. Shresta Patil /Lohit Anand (2:30:08.5); 2. Rahul Kantharaj /Vivek Bhatt (2:33:53.6); 3. S Venkatesh /V Srinivas (2:42:19.3).
Rally Star Cup: 1. Lohit Urs /MK Bopanna (2:30:23.6); 2. S Ramprashanth /Ravi Venkatesh (2:30:59.4); 3. Amith Kumar /Amith Anand (2:40:49.0).
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Naren Kumar lifts third National crown with Ram: Rally championship
Bangalore, 13 October 2002: Former double champion, Coimbatore’s VR Naren Kumar of Team MRF became the National Champion winning the Rally Royal Orchid Park Plaza de Bangalore, the fourth round of the Motorsports Association of India’s (MAI) National rally championship taking the title with a round to spare here on Sunday. It was Naren’s fourth successive win in the 1,600cc category after wins at the Coimbatore, Nasik and Goa rounds, and thus he became the National Champion for the third time after his wins in 1999 and 2000.
Naren and his trusted co-driver D. Ram Kumar finished the 11 special stages in a time of 1:43.46 minutes and they covered 120.6 kms of stage distance. “There was slush everywhere and the conditions were rough. We had to struggle to keep the car on road and I am glad the car survived the ordeal,” said Kumar.
Talented Arjun Balu and navigator Ramaswamy Kumar, who also represent Team MRF, had to be content with a second place as they had to bridge a huge 87-second deficit that they conceded on Saturday to the leaders Naren and Ram. They found the going tough as they had to stall 500 metres from the finish and the problems compounded.
“A couple of bends away from the finish, my engine stopped. I lost two minutes before it started again,” Balu said. But he did manage to keep his second place clocking 1:47.47 minutes.
Another talented youngster Vikram Mathias with co-driver BS Sujith Kumar, also of Team MRF suffered a one-minute penalty on Saturday for checking in a minute early. However, Mathias came third in 1:47.45 minutes, despite the penalty.
When all the Team MRF drivers are having a smooth sailing, Karandip Singh and co-driver Jaidas Menon met with an unexpected obstacle as they hit a tree in the very third stage and had no other option but to retire in the final stage. “I lost the power when I was taking the turn I coule not avoid the crash,” said Singh.
In the 1,400cc category, Jiby Malliakal and co-driver Nikhil Pai won in 1:57.19 minutes. The driver couple had an amazing run, winning their fourth successive round pipping V Sham Sundar and PV Srinivasa Murthy at 2:03.53. Jiby and Nikhil won the 1400cc championship with a round to spare.
Lohitt V Urs and co-driver MK Bopanna clinched the Rally Star Cup and it was two-in-a-row achievement. They were timed at 2:00.49.
Provisional results:
1600cc category: 1. Naren Kumar and D. Ram Kumar (Team MRF) (1 hour, 43 minutes, 46 seconds); 2. Arjun Balu and Ram Kumar (Team MRF) (1:47.47); 3. Vikram Mathias and Sujith Kumar (Team MRF), (1:48.45).
1,400cc category: 1. Jiby Malliakal and Nikhil Pai (Gulf Oil) (1:57.19); 2. Sham Sundar and Srinivas Murthy (Blue Lines) (2:04.13); 3. Rahul Kantharah and Vivek Bhat (SK Patil) (2:15.03).
Rally Star Cup: 1. Lohitt V Urs and MK Bopanna (SK Patil) (2:00.49); 2. Parvinder Singh Saundh and Paritosh Kohok (2:02.02); 3. Ram Prasanth and G. Satish, (2:02.41).
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Naren-Ram triumph, as they sweep all three rounds thus far in 2002
Panaji, 29 Sept. 2002: Former National champion VR Naren Kumar, with navigator D Ramkumar of Team MRF continued their winning spree bagging the overall honours in the WIAA Rallye De Goa 2002, the third round of the Motorsports Association of India’s (MAIO) Indian National Rally Championship (INRC), which concluded at the Mandovi Riviera, Panaji, here on Sunday.
The champion duo opened a huge lead over the all the others and warded off stiff challenge from teammates Karandip Singh and co-driver Jaidas Menon to win their third consecutive INRC round, sweeping all the first three legs of the 2002 INRC calendar. Former champion and strong contender N Leelakrishnan and co-driver Farooq Ahmed finished third, just 8 seconds behind Singh.
The INRC now moves to Bangalore as the fourth round is schduled to be held on October 12 and 13, as the popular K1000 beckons all the leading lights in the country.
The rally was run in Six Special Stages.
Provisional Results: INRC 1400-1600cc: 1. VR Naren Kumar and D. Ramkumar (Team MRF) (1 hour,13 minues, 06 seconds); 2. Karandip Singh and Jaidas Menon (Team MRF) (1:13.27); 3. N Leelakrishnan and Farooq Ahmed (Team MRF) (1:13.35).
INRC 1400cc: 1. Jiby Maliakkal and Nikhil Pai (1:19.40); 2. Rahul Kanthraj and Vivek Bhatt (SK Patil) (1:23.4); 2. Shyam Sunder V and Srinivas Murthy (Blue Lines) (1:24.2); 3. N Jayakumar and G Satish (1:27.20).
Rally Star Cup: 1. Lohit V Urs and Bopanna (SK Patil) (1:22.4); 2. Amit Kumar and Amit Anand (Ravi Prakash) (1:25.15).
