Author: David Bodapati

Pune, 3 Sept 2000: Five-time National champion N Leelakrishnan and co-driver Farooq Ahmed of Team MRF Limited won the Para-HRA Monsoon Rally 2000, the second round of the MAI Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) and lead a `Red Sweep’ with Team MRF winning all the top six Overall honours, here on Sunday.

Apart from the top-six places in the Overall section, Team MRF also won the top-three positions in the Group `A’ Modified class and also swept the podium in the Group `N’ unmodified production cars class in the gruelling rally held on the outskirts of Pune.

A Motorsports Association of India (MAI) press release said that the Pune rally had received 16 entries from across the country with MRF dominating the entry sheet. Of them, 11 cars finished the two-leg rally run in Special Stage format on dirt road stages which are closed for public. Leelakrishnan and Farooq Ahmed were the overall winners as they defeated their main rivals and reigning National champions Naren Kumar and co-driver Ramkumar, who had to be content with a second place. Karandip Singh and co-driver Jaidas Menon, also of MRF, won the Production Cars class and also finished third overall. Biking legends, Jagat Nanjappa and Anita came fourth overall and second in Group N class.

On Sunday, Vijayant Choudary (MRF) was the lone drop out while four others dropped out on Saturday during the first leg. Palash Tavaria and Sagar Muthappa of Team MRF, who had pulled out on Saturday rejoined on Sunday’ in the superrally format to have a go at some points for the National Championship.

This year’s MAI calendar has seven rounds and the next round will be in Goa from September 22. The Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) which is removed as the ASN by FIA recently, is running their own championship and had completed two rounds at Calcutta and Chennai.

By George Francis

Mumbai, 6 August 2000: Speeds of over 170 kms on smooth roads, long stages (between 18 and 25 kms) and the scenic setting of the Sahyadri ranges made the rally organised by Western India Automobile Association (WISA) a memorable event in the year.

The top eight cars were sponsored by MRF Limited while four Touring Cars of Group A Modified and 11 Production Cars of Group N unmodified got ready for the start in Mumbai. It was a dream come true for Nazir Hoosein of the Himalayan RallyAssociation (HRA) who now runs the Motorsports Association of India (MAI).

The Monsson Rally was the first of a series of seven Rallys to decide the MAI Indian National Champion of the year 2000. Paul Williams, Rally Australia’s experienced official, was brought in as an observer, the idea being that this would also help MAI reach international standards quickly.

This was also the first National Rally in Mumbai in four years. Since only cars with carburettors were allowed, the JK Tyre Rally Team pulled out. It has recently acquiared two of the fuel-injected Mitsubishi Lancers.

The MRF competitors were all too happy to eb in a rally after a seven-month lay off due to FMSCI versus MAI problems.

On August 5, 15 cars were flagged off from the Flora Fountain Circle in downtown Mumbai, at two minute intervals. The first car was driven by National Champion Naren Kumar and navigated by D Ramkumar. The cars ran a 111-km transport sector to touch Wada, the cars were allowed just 10 minutes of service time before the start of Special Stages.

The first Special Stage (SS) was between Parli and Devgaon in the lush forests of the Sahyadri ranges. Naren Kumar flew down this Special Stage, touching a high of over a 1000-kms per hour. But Leelakrishnan, six-times National Champion, had to pull out soon after this stage began due to gear-box failure.

After a 20-minute service stop at Devgaon, the rallyists proceeded to do the Khodala Devgaon second Specioal Stage of the rally. After all the carshad lined up, a Maharashtra State Transport bus and two jeeps carrying local villagers, requested to be allowed to pass. “We had to allow them to go, to maintain a good relationship. After all, our rally has to pass their villages,” said Nazir Hoosein. “Of course, we could have avoided this, if we had given enough prior notice,” he added.

In fact, the MAI had distributed school books to all the kids in the various villages through which the rally ran. THey had also picked up willing lads in the villages, and made them `spectator control’ and `crowd control’ Marshals.

Special Stage two started 30 minutes late, and the drivers `went flat out’ touching speeds of over 130 kmph at many places, sliding through the bends and curves, to reach Devgaon for the next 20-minute service.

Special Stage 3 between Devgaon and Taj Residency, Nashik, was the dream stage for the Speedsters. The 25.60km stage, the longest in the rally, was spread over green meadows and had all what the daredevils asked for, long straights, fast turns, crests which disguised the oncoming bends and simply `flat out’ terrain.

Rallyists touched speeds of over 170 kmph. Rabbi Madan and Abhishek Datt, in a black Esteeem, missed a turn after a crest, flew into a meadow, flipped and pulled out. AD Jamoshedji and ‘sohrab Zorabian, in the lone Maruti Gypsy (in the Esteem-filled rally), withdrew due to mechanical problems. A curt Madan said: “Our flip was a great experience. I hope you also have one soon.”

“We had to trust our navigators full and full,” said Naren Kumar, at the end of Leg 1, which he led. “It is great fun to go over a crest, not sure what is in store for you on the other side.  Only your navigators’ call can help and save you,” he added.

“It was phenomenal to drive,” said Vikram Mathias, who was on his maiden rally. Running third in Group N, at the end of Leg 1, Vikram was driving his heart out. Sunil Shetty, his navigator, said: “I enjoyed the run every bit.”

“It was just too good,” said Karanddep Singh, navigated by Jaidas Menon, from TEam MRF, who proved his mettle by leading the Group N cars. The day ended at the Taj Residency at Nashik.

The Super Rally format, now being followed in the Indian rallys, allows a competitor who pulled out of a leg, to run the other leg/legs of the event, to gain points for the championship. Further, it also stipulates that 80 per cent of any rally should be run either one of the three terrains, namely, dirt, gravel or tarmac, to avoid unnecessary tyre changes. In keeping with the format, Leelakrishnan and Jamshedji decided to participate in Leg 2.

It was wake up call at 4 am for the rallyists on August 6, as the second leg was to be flagged off at 6 am. After 62 kms of transport to Devgaon, the rallyists took a 10-minute service break before going into Special Stage 4.

The Devgaon-Mokhada stage of over 25-km which was Special Stage 4 was reveresed as the Mokhada-Devgaon sector for Special Stage 5.

The Group N National Champion driver of Team MRF, Vijayant Chowdhry of Chandigarh and Shivu Shivappa of Bangalore would not forget Special Stage 4 for life. “We were driving at 140-kmph and Vijayant was fully on the gas (accelerator) and we were approaching an `easy left’. I really do not know what happened. Suddenly, Vijayant started anti-locking the steering and correcting. The car was now off the road. We went down the road, rolled into a paddy field, and somehow flew out and jammed into a tree,” said a shaken Shivappa.

Both Vijayant and Shivu were badly shaken, but not seriously injured. This stage also saw the end of Vikram Mathias’ challenge as he missed a call, and went off the road on an easy right and landed in the meadow.

The rest of the cars continued their journey to the fifth Special Satge followed by the final stage between Khodala and Bombay service. Then followed the treacherous 128-km journey on the Nashik-Mumbai highway to finish the event at the Flora Fountain in Mumbai. With only on major team, Team MRF, participating, post-event srutiny became a simple affair.

VR Naren Kumar and D Ramkumar won the Overall and Group A top spots, followed by Arjun Balu and KR Kmar. Sagar Muthappa and Sandeep Rao finished third in Group A to make it a 1-2 for MRF.

The Group N victory went to Karandeep Singh and Jaidas Menon. They were followed by Jagat Nanjappa and Anita Nanjappa, the husband-wife duo. While the first two placings in the Group went to MRF, the third spot went to a privateer Vikram Suhrem and BS Sujith Kumar.

Provisional Results:

Overall: 1. VR Naren Kumar/D Ramkumar (Team MRF) (1hour, 27 minutes, 33 seconds); 2. Arjun Balu/KR Kumar (Team MRF) (1: 28:16); 3. Sagar Muthappa/Sandeep Rao (1:29:06); 4. Karandeep Singh/Jaidas Menon (Team MRF) (1:31:42); 5. Jagat Nanjappa/Anita (1:33:07).

Production Cars (Group N) Unmodified: 1. Karandeep Singh/Jaidas Menon (Team MRF) (1:31:42); 2. Jagat Nanjappa/Anita (1:33:07); 3. Vikram Suhram/BS Sujith Kumar (Privateer) (1:37:07); 4. Navaz Bathena/Sherin Balachander (1:38:43); 5. Satyan Kochar./Alistair Woodham (Privateer) (1:41:13).

Touring Cars (Group A) Modified cars: 1. VR Naren Kumar/D Ramkumar (Team MRF) (1: 27: 33); 2. Arjun Balu/KR Kumar (Team MRF) (1: 28:16); 3. Sagar Muthappa/Sandeep Rao (1: 29:06);

Hyderabad, 13 Dec 1999: Coimbatore duo, talented Arjun Balu and co-driver Kumar Ramaswamy pipped compatriots and strong contenders Naren Kumar and co-driver D Ramkumar by a narrow margin of five seconds to clinch the Deccan Rally 1999, the eighth and final round of the Indian National Rally Championship but Naren and Ram managed to top the National Championship table and won the National Crown for 1999.

Sagar Muthappa and navigator Sandeep Rao clocking 2hours, 24min, 55sec to edge out Karandip Singh and Jaidas Menon by 11 second in the Group N class.

Rally Report by Scorp News:

By George Francis

Hyderabad, 13 Dec 1999: Thundering through the dusty dirt roads of Ranga Reddy district, about 100km from here, Team MRF clinched the Overall Group A Modified Class and Group N Un-Modified Class National Championship titles for the Year 1999.

The 187-km Deccan Rally, with 128 km of Special Stages (the rest were transport stages), was organised by Andhra Pradesh Motor Sports Club (APMSC), which was running the 14th edition of the event. The Deccan Rally is the eighth and final round of the Castrol National Rally Championship for Cars 1999, which decides both the Drivers’ and Navigators’ titles.

The hard-working APMSC went through the usual difficulties of not finding any major sponsor. There was JK Tyres offering `Sticker’ sponsorship, the GVK group putting up the FMSCI (Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India) officials in the hotels. It was learnt that every major APMSC member chipped in with Rs10,000 to ensure the proper run of the rally.

The organisers after locating two sections of the Special Stages, ran both the stages, thrice in the forward direction and thrice in the reverse direction, to make upo the necessary stage section. Vinay Asar, APMSC’s live-wire and Clerk of the Course (CoC), was hospitalised soon after the event, with a hemorrhage. He is now fine and recovering after undergoing a surgery.

The JK Tyre Rally team, the `go-getters’ in Indian Motorsport, received a boost before the Deccan Rally, re-appealing on the Steward’s verdict on infringement of technical regulations in the South India Rally 1999. They won the review, which added a very valuable 37.5 points to anchorman Hari Singh and Gurunder Singh Mann’s Overall Championship points.

Going back to details of the appeal, Team MRF’s Narayanaswamy Leelakrishnan had appealed to the Stewards of the South India Rally, against certain technical infringements on the JK Cars driven by Hari Singh and Karamjit Singh. The appeal was upheld and Hari and Karamjit were excluded from the Rally results. Arjun Balu of Team MRF was pronounced the winner. The JK Tyre Rally team filed a review petition, citing the fact that Hari Singh and Karamjit Singh were not given a personal hearing. The verdict came up just before the final rally of the year.

While Hari Singh gained valuable points for the Championship, Malaysian Karamjit Singh, the 1997 Group N Pan Pacific Champion, too benefitted. Team JK Tyres, in the reckoning for the National title Overall and Group A, now led the points table with Manik Raikhy leading the field. Though MRF won the Group N title in Bangalore, Manik still maintained his lead.

When the Deccan Rally 1999 was flagged off from `Runaway 9′, a karting track, it was advantage JK Tyres. Three-time National champion Hari Singh led the Overall drivers and Group A drivers’ championship with 101-50 points. Similarly, his schoolmate Gurinder Singh Mann, led the Overall and Group A Navigators’ Championships with 101-50 points. Next in the reckoning was Team MRF’s Naren Kumar with 90 points and his navigator D Ramkumar was in a similar position in the Navigators’ Championship. Third in the competition was Arjun Balu, also of Team MRF, and his navigatore Kumar Ramaswamy.

In the Group N category, Team JK Tyre’s Manik Raikhy was ahead in the drivers and P Vivekanandan in the Navigators’ Championships. In the second place were driver Vijayant Chaudhry and co-driver Jaidas Menon of Team MRF. Sagar Muthappa, Karandip Singh and Jagat Nanjappa, all drivers from MRF, had an outside chance, with their respective navigators Sandeep S Rao, MK Chander and Anita Nanjappa.

Expectations were high in the JK camp, as they had a fine chance to pip MRF Limited at the post. The compulsory `recee’ (reconaissance) to familiarise the `dare devils’ with the rally route, was held on December 10. It was followed by the pre-event vehicle scrutiny and `drivers briefing’ on the 11th.

Hardly 22 cars lined up for the start and only 10 completed the rally. Out of the 22 cars, seven were from MRF, six from JK, two from Chettinad Sporting and three were seven private teams. That there were only seven Group A entries, proved the popularity of the Group N category where it is less costly to prepare a car.

Deccan Rally, the final leg of the Castrol National Rally Championship for cars, was flagged off at 7 am on Dec 12. The two basic stages comprised dirt roads. With the stages being tight, the onus was on the drivers and the navigators to work out a proper strategy.

Hari Singh and Gurunder Singh Mann of the JK Tyres Rally team were the first to be flagged off. In the very first Special Stage, Hari’s car was losing power, his drive shaft was gone, while Karamjit and Manik Raikhy were moving well.

But as the day progressed, there was bad news for MRF as well, as its prime tuner and six-time National Champion N Leelakrishnan pulled out due to technical problems on his Esteem. There were more disasers. The 1997 Group N Pan Pacific Champion, JK’s Karamjit Singh, blew his Esteem engine and the 1997 Group N National Champion Manik Raikhy, again JK, toppled, breaking his Esteem’s suspension.

With the major JK Tyre Rally team contenders having pulled out, Team MRF Tyres, cruised through to win the Castrol National Rally Championship. Overall land Group A driver Naren Kumar and Group A Navigator D Ramkumar and teammates Vijayant Choudhry and co-driver Jaidas Menon won the titles.

The Rally brought into focus two new winners. Team MRF’s Arjun Balu and Kumar Ramaswamy took the Overall and Group A title. They were followed by Naren Kumar and D Ramkumar. Team MRF’s Sagar Muthappa and Sandeep S Rao, the 1998 Group N National Champions, won the Group N category in the Deccan Rally, finishing after five years of DNFs (Did Not Finish) in the past.

“We were determined to finish the Deccan Rally this year. The last five times we competed here, we bowed out either due to technical reasons or crashes. We are highly pleased to finish this event and glad that we also won the Group N class,” said Sagar Muthappa, an Engineer by profession.

The soft spoken and modest Arjun Balu and navigator Kumar Ramaswamy proved that they are strong contenders for the Championship. Arjun Balu, who has a `clean driving style’ had been very unlucky in the past, having to drop out of rally after gaining the lead. His performance during the year has been quite consistent, and the next season could well prove his best one. “We are looking towards the next season,” said Arjun and Kumar, in unision.

The run-up to the National titles has not been easy for Naren Kumar and D Ramkumar and Vijayant Choudhry and Jaidas Menon. Every single rally has seen hectic, nail-biting competition between JK and MRF. JK’s import of suspension specialist Brian Palmer, and Karamjit Singh, did provide a higher level of competition. Ace Tuner for MRF Tyres N Leelakrishnan had said in 1998, “Our advantage has been our stronger suspensions.” The strengthening of the JK cars suspensions with rally specialist Brian, provided theneeded `strength to fight’.

Naren Kumar, who has just completed his Business Management studies in Australia, from where he used to fly in for the National Rallys, said: “I am delighted to win the National Title now. I have been chasing the Championship for the past five years, and have seen a downward trend in the sport during these years. The competition has dwindled, with participation reducing every year.”

Naren has the distinction of winning the tough and dicey Karnataka 1000 Rally in his maiden year in Motorsports, in a Group N un-modified car. It was that victory, where he won against many Group A contenders (modified cars) that sounded a warning to the rallying fraternity, about the entry of this young lad.

“Indian motorsports is suffering because there is no entry-level class. There are hardly four to five competitors in this sport, who are entering every rally, in the newcomers category. What we need is a cheaper class like a Marut Gypsy Group N, which would cost hardly 1-5 lakh to participate in all the rallies in a season. The sponsors would watch the performance of these newcomers and finally pick them up in their teams. Karting is the solution for getting more curcuit racers. A cheap entry level class, which will be the stepping stone, is the only way the sport can improve,” quipped Naren Kumar, who was crowned as the Champion for 1999.

In fact, the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI), has introduced two new championships in 1999, the Novice and the un-seeded class, to encourage newcomers. The onus now on the FMSCI, to make the two classes affordable, by running them with cheaper vehicle preparation possibilities.

Naren, who should be getting into business soon, says, about his plans for the new Millennium. “I would like to win the National title many more times and participate in the international rallies, at least in the far east or in Malaysia.” International participation would give Naren Kumar a better car, and a higher level of competition, and maybe, MNC sponsorships which could give India the necessary leap into International rallying. “The participation of Karamjit Singh from Malaysia has definitely brought in more competition into Indian rallying. But for that, I have been rallying with the same set of competitors for the past five years. Of course, the cars and competitors have improved immensely, but we need more competition if we want to take Indian motorsports to new heights,” he concluded.

Provisional Results:

Overall: 1. Arjun Balu/ KR Kumar (Team MRF) (2hours, 24minutes, 40seconds); 2. VR Naren Kumar/ D Ramkumar (Team MRF)(2:24:45); 3. Sagar Muthappa/ Sandeep Rao (Team MRF) (2:24:55); 4. Karandip Singh/ Jaidas Menon (Team MRF) (2:25:06); 5. Vijayant Chaudhry. MK Chander (2:32:26).

Group A: 1. Arjun Balu/ KR Kumar (Team MRF) (2:24:40); 2. VR Naren Kumar/ D Ramkumar (2:24:45); 3. G Ravindra Mudiraj/ CH Sai Giridhar (3:28:27).

Group N: 1. Sagar Muthappa/ Sandeep Rao (2:24:55); 2. Karandip Singh/ Jaidas Menon ( 2:25:06); 3. Vijayant Chaudhry. MK Chander (2:32:26); 4. Navaz Bathena/ Sherin Balachandran (Chettinad Sporting) (2:36:25); 5. PG Abhilash/ CK Chinappa (Chettinad Sporting) 2:38:25…

(Updated 2020 to support: INRC winners: Hall of fame; Official Results released by VS Shriakant on 17th Dec 1999)

By George Francis, Scorp News

Coimbatore, 11 October 1999: The Cotton City Rally 1999, once again proved the `Magic of Coimbatore’ with 95 per cent of the 4-wheeler participants finishing the rally with 18 out of 19 cars making it safely to the finish. With 34 out of 41 motorcycles making it to the finish for 83 per cent, CASC rewrote the perfection in organising and meticulous care in route setting.

Coimbatore Auto Sports Club, infamous for its organising capacity perfected once again the highest co-efficient earning rally of 1998. A simple constant vigil at the stages to monitor climatic conditions, the interest to see most finishers, and the commitment and professionalism to achieve that at all stages, against all odds. This is the secret of CASC, who could muster the support of splinter group club Spit Fire Motorsport, andforget all differences to run the Cotton City Rally, as the pride of Coimbatoreans. If the Coimbatore `Magic’ ran ran rally perfect, then Nipendar Jassy, of TVS Racing, rode his Suzuki Shaolin doubly superb to steal the overall Motorcycles cotton city title as a Novice rider. Team MRF Tyres, continued their winning ways, lifting the Overall and Group A trophies. Naren Kumar and navigator Ramkumar challenged nemesis JK Tyres Rally Team, to return victory to the team, `whose raced tyres we buy’. Team Escorts Yamaha took the Group D (unmodified) category top spot. G Prasad of Mysore, riding a works Yamaha, won the top spot with his nearest rival SP Chinnappa almost 3 minutes behind. JK Tyres Rally Team did not stay far behind when Manik Raikhy and P Vivekanandan proved victors in the Group N (unmodified) cars class. In the 4-wheeler unseeded and Novice Class, Team Chettinad Sporting made it a 1-2-3 affair. The two wheeler novice class top spot went to Team Nanjappas Rohan Rego. The irony of the whole rally was Overall winner from TVS Racing Nipendar Jassy picking up the top unseeded prize.

The most-interesting part about the results in each category was that whichever team led the table, the rival team would have picked up at least 2nd and 3rd places. (see results). That has been the level of competition in the Cotton City Challenge, 1999.

On October 7, 19 cars and 41 motorcycles lined up to move as a motorcade to the Special Stages at Windmill Farmland. Pounding the ups and downs of two such farmlands, the rallyists mowed the stages.

Two basic stages, Textool (11.31km) and LMW (10.7km), formed the competitive part of the rally route. Thanks to Mr Sanjay Jayvarthananelu, whole Time MD of Ms.LMW (Lakshmi Machine Works Limited) and Director of Textools Limited, CASC gets such excellent rallying terrain so close to Coimbatore. These two stages run thrice in the forward direction on the first day and in the reverse direction on the 2nd day, were the Special Stages in toto.

Filled with sliding turns, and flying ditches, the adventure seekers had a tough time keeping their machines, on the road. The two wheeler riders sans navigators (due to the reccee) tore down the dirt as if possessed and in many an instance just managed to keep their mount, despite a nasty ditch or a slimy dirt. Incessent rains from four days before the event, had damaged quite a few parts of the stages. The Karta of the Cotton City Rally route, the tough sounding shy Ramakrishnan, and his team who were policing nature’s fury would smoothen down the odd ditch and the persisting dirt until the rally day. In fact, the CASC went to the extreme level of filling up a portion of a canal, filled with water, which was running across the road in the LMW stage. One has to agree that none other than CASC could have achieved almost 80 per cent perfection on the marking of routes, as per the original tulip given the rainy conditions.

Team MRF Limited had fielded 3 riders, all in the Group C-Modified category. TVS Racing sported two Group C bikes and one Group D-unmodified bike. Team Escorts Yamaha supported the three Group C bikes of MRF and two members in Group D. Team Pushpak Yamaha, an outfit run and managed by ace rider V Sham Sundar of Bangalore, and supported fully  by Yamaha, had 3 riders, all in Group C. Four riders from Team Zen Rallying and two from Team Nanjappas, one rider (S Madhu) with sponsorship from Shell, which accounted for 16 riders from the Direct Advertising segment.

There were 25 riders without major sponsorship support. That the prime riders were on works bikes showed, as they rode the Palladam stages at wind-breaking speeds. The style and manoeuvring techniques adopted by these dare-devils was perfect and breath-taking. About 300 meters into the Textool Stage, the riders had to leap over a hump ad land into fairly thick patch of slush, and take an immediate right-hander. It was just a miracle that many of them escaped a fall here. The courage shown even by the tail enders in taking this jump head on was a reminder that modern Indian rallying is definitely touching new heights.

Amrinder Sandhu of Team MRF was the major casualty on Day 1, when he lost on the down hill and rolled down. He broke his collar bone. The 1996 Overall Champion, Amar, was leading the rally by 30 seconds. When he fell, RH Vikram, another MRF rider, took over, and led the rally through the day, on a Yamaha. Amar had shifted from Suzuki to Yamaha after six years of rallying, and should have found his `steed’ difficult to `harness’.

The four-wheeler dare-devils were not far behind in acrobatics. Arjun Balu of Team MRF took a turn too tight and poked his Esteem nose into the dirt. Recovering he continued. Among the 19 cars, were 7 from MRF Limited, 3 Group A-Modified and 4 Group N-Unmodified. Five JK Tyre Rally Team cars (3 Group A and two Group N), Team Chettinad Sporting with 3 Group N cars, Team Kadur with 2 Group N cars, and just 2 privateers. This speaks volumes of the kind of money involved in 4-wheeler rallying. With a normal line-up of about 30 cars for every rally, this season (1999) has seen only about 20 cars in each event.

Naren Kumar of MRF Limited with navigator D Ramkumar, set the pace for the rest of the bandwagon as Karamjit Singh and navigator Jagdev Singh, were on hot pursuit. It is interesting to note that every single driver showed his/her own perfection in taking the turns and humps and every driver finished the first leg of the CASC Rally.

With 5 drop-outs in Bikes and none in cars, 36 motorcycles and 19 cars finished the leg and parked into Parc Ferme. The rains that lashed Tamil Nadu before the Leg 1 had made it difficult to drive/ ride through these dirt stages. A marked difference in performance between the first run of the day, to the last run (after the stages dried up) showed an improvement of almost 8 seconds.

On October 10 at 7.30am, the remaining adventure seekers took the dirts of Palladam with grace and ease, as the dried up dirt made it faster and exciting. Day 2, saw punctures pestering the performance with K Prasad, RH Vikram, Hari Singh, Karamjit Singh and many more having flats and lost precious seconds in the reckoning for the crown.

The superb performance of TVS Racing Amol Talpade saw him leading, until he rolled six times like the wheel of fortune. Amol’s Cotton City Rally was over with a minor fracture on his wrist.

The rest of the 34 motorcycles and 19 cars, were enjoying the Cotton City all along, sliding and skidding on their machines. It was in the 3rd stage of the day, that MRF Limited spearhead and ace tuner Leelakrishnan, found his Esteem gear box break and pulled out. There was just one more motorcycle drop-out in Leg 2.

The leaders were set now. Karamjit and Hari who were on Naren’s tail were way behind due to time lost on punctures. Team MRF Limited’s Naren Kumar and D Ramkumar led overall in cars and teammates Sagar Muthappa and Sandeep S Rao led in Group N. As for the two-wheelers Nipendar Jassy took the `Front Seat’ now.

Once again, MRF riders, RH Vikram and K Prasad were way behind due to punctures. It was a treat to watch Nipendar, the motocrosser take the dirt sections in true Motocross style. He hardly struggled. Suddenly evening saw a content 18 cars and their crew, and 34 motorcycles check into Parc Ferme at Suguna Kalyana Mandapam at Coimbatore. The satisfaction of having run a strenuous 2-day rally, reflected contentment on their faces, as the 17th Cotton City Rally ended peacefully.

The last but two rallies in cars and the penultimate rally in Bikes, did turn the tables on the Castrol National Championship for Cars and Motorcycles. Team MRF Tyres leads overall in the Cars section with VR Naren Kumar at 90 points, followed by teammate Arjun Balu with 71.25 points. Standing 3rd is JK Tyres Rally Team’s Hari Singh with 66.25 points.

In the Overall two-wheeler category also, MRF leads with K Prasad on 78.25 points followed by teammate Rohitaaz Kumar and TVS Racing’s Nipendar Jassy tied at 75, and another MRF rider RH Vikram at 69. The positions in the Group A-modified cars and Group C-modified bikes are similar to the overall results.

The story in Group N and Group D are different. JK Tyres Rally team’s Manik Raikhy leads the table with 51.25 points followed by Team MRF Tyres’ Vijayant Chaudhury on 40.50 and teammate Jagat Nanjappa on 30.75. In the Group D category, Team Escorts Yamaha, who also tune MRF Limited’s K PRasad, Rohitaaz and RH Vikram) lead with G. Prasad on 41.75 points followed by TVS Racing’s Kunal Singh on 39 and Escorts Yamaha R Srinivas on 37.75.

In the Group N Category, MRF’s Sagar Muthappa and Sandeep S Rao (navigator) shared the honours with JK Tyre’s Manik Raikhy and P Vivekanandan, each one of them being the fastest in five stages each. The other two stages were led by JK Tyre’s Nikhil Taneja and Musa Sherif. While JK Tyres had a 100 per cent finish in the five cars it fielded, Team MRF’s record of six finishes out of seven.Team Chettinad Sporting and Team Kadur had 100 per cent finishes.

Two-wheelers

In the motorcycles section, TVS RAcing’s Nipendar Jassy led the table with five fastest timings followed by MRF Tyres’ K Prasad (4) and RH Vikram (3). In the Group D section, TVS Racing once again led with Motocross sensation Gaurav Gill returning the seven fastest timings followed by Team Escorts Yamaha’s G Prasad (5).

Overall, leaving the winners out, there were many other competitors who did well, considering the constraints of expense, and service back-up as compared to the big-time sponsored teams.

Team Chettinad Sporting’s R Gopinath and C Rajaram, who were rallying after a six-year break should be lauded for finishing fourth in Group N and winning the topo prizes in the Novice and unseeded classes. Gopi, from the Lakshmi Mills Group was into racing during the days of the Coimbatore legend Karivardhan. Then he switched to rallys. It is great to see Gopi performing so well after so many years of lay-off. NK Ramesh and RG Vishnu Kamath, who are private entrants for all the National RAllys, also turned out an excellent performance.

Jagat Nanjappa, the two-wheeler legend who had started his Team Nanjappas a year back, and laid off the team for a short while, had brought in two riders for the Cotton City. AS Akash Ithal, who rides a Group C bike, won the third spot in the Unseeded category. Rohan Rego, who rode a Group D bike picked up the top spot in the Novice class and finished fifth in the Unseeded event.

Provisional Results:

Cars – Overall: 1. Naren Kumar/ Ramkumar (Team MRF) (1hour, 57min, 38sec); 2. Hari Singh/ GS Mann (JK Tyre) (1:59:08); 3. Karamjit Singh/ Jagdev Singh (JK Tyre) (1:59:10); 4. Arjun Balu/ KR Kumar (Team MRF) (2:01:21); 5. Manik Raikhy/ P Vivekanandan (JK Tyre)(2:02:55).

Group A Modified: 1.  Naren Kumar/ Ramkumar (Team MRF) (1hour, 57min, 38sec); 2. Hari Singh/ GS Mann (JK Tyre) (1:59:08); 3. Karamjit Singh/ Jagdev Singh (JK Tyre) (1:59:10); 4. Arjun Balu/ KR Kumar (Team MRF) (2:01:21);5. Upkar Dicky Gill/ AS Jaiswal (JK Tyre) (2:07:01).

Group N Unmodified cars: 1. Manik Raiky/ P. Vivekanandan (JK Tyre) (2:02:55); 2. B Sagar Muthappa/ Sandeep Rao (Team MRF) (2:03:28); 3. Jagat Nanjappa/ Anita Nanjappa (Team MRF) (2:04:09); 4. R Gopnath/ C Rajaram (Chettinad Sporting ) (2:04:15); 5. Vijayant Chaudhry/ R Satish (Team MRF) (2:04:39).

Unseeded cars: 1. R Gopnath/ C Rajaram (Chettinad Sporting ) (2:04:15); 2. Navaz Bhathena/ Sherin Balachandran (Chettinad Sporting) (2:10:11); 3. PG Abhilash/ CK Chinappa (Chettinad Sporting) (2:10:24); 4. NK Ramesh/ Vishnu Kamath (2:10:24); Umakanth Alva/ Sunil Shetty (2:21:40).

Novice cars: 1. R Gopnath/ C Rajaram (Chettinad Sporting ) (2:04:15); 2. Navaz Bhathena/ Sherin Balachandran (Chettinad Sporting) (2:10:11); 3. PG Abhilash/ CK Chinappa (Chettinad Sporting) (2:10:24); 4. NK Ramesh/ Vishnu Kamath (2:10:24); Umakanth Alva/ Sunil Shetty (2:21:40).

Motorcycles

Overall – Group C (modified) Bikes: 1. Nipender Jassy (TVS Racing) (02:04:25); 2. K Prasad (MRF) (2:06:45); 3. RH Vikram (MRF) (2:07:01); 4. BC Roopesh (Pushpak Yamaha) (2:08:05); 5. D Uday Kumar (Zen Rallying) (2:08:40).

Group D (Unmodified) bikes: 1. G Prasad (Escorts Yamaha) (2:10:58); 2 SP Chinnappa (2:13:23); 3. V Kunal Singh (TVS Racing) (2:13:44); 4. Rohan Rego (Team Nanjappas) (2:14:02); 5. Gaurav Gill (TVS Racing) (2:14:30).

Unseeded Bikes: 1. Nipender Jassy (TVS Racing) (2:04:25); 2. BC Roopesh (Pushpak Yamaha) (2:08:05); 3. Akash Ithal (Team Nanjappas) (2:09:15); 4. SP Chinnappa (Zen Rallying) (2:13:23); 5. Rohan Rego (Team Nanjappas) (2:14:02).

Novice bikes: 1. Rohan Rego (Team Nanjappas) (2:14:02); 2. GS Killen Ganapathy (2:17:40); 3. Pradeep Kumar (2:17:54); 4. Shell S Madhu (2:18:23); 5. CD Jinan (2:20:58).

Tuners’ Prize:

Tuner of Overall winning car: N Leelakrishnan, MRF Limited

Tuner of Overall bike: Arvind Pangaonkar, TVS Suzuki Limited.

Note: This article is manually migrated from the archives of old website.

By George Francis, Scorp News

Cochin, 20 Sept 1999: The 17th edition of the Maruti Popular Rally 1999 will go into history as it met with a spate of accidents that ruined an otherwise popular rally. The bad management of the logistics also affected the name of the organisers the Kerala Auto Sports Club (KASC). Naren Kumar with D Ramkumar navigating for the prime MRF Team pipped teammates Arjun Balu and Kumar Ramaswamy by a mere four to win the Popular Rally, the fifth round of the Castrol Indian National Rally Championship 1999.

A pet event of most of the Indian rallyists because of the greenery and the country-side beauty of Kerala, which boasts of an excellent sponsor in the Kuttukaran Group of companies which runs Popular Automobiles, the KASC should have done some homework before dishing out “the exotic timberlands on the outskirts of Cochin, in God’s own Country”.

The Recee was organised on September 16 followed by the pre-event scrutiny of the competing vehicles, competitors briefing on 17th and one special Stage in the City at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium for cars and motorcycles. Twelve more Special Stages were run for motorcycles on 18th and for cars on 19th, at Bhoothathanketty, about 60km away, near Kothamangalam. A 15.08km smooth tarmac stage was run six times, and a forest, dirt track stage near Malayatoor of 7.30km was run four times. The Rubeer plantation stages next to forest dirt tracks made up for another 3.72km stage run twice. This was the 17th Maruti Popular Rally 1999, in short with 130km of Special Stage and 200km of transport distance, totalling to 330km.

An ever-willing sponsor, a close-by Special Stage routing which makes logistics comfortable, with 18 cars and 40 motorcycles should have put the Popular Rally on top this year’s rally calendar, but for the pestering accidents and organisational lacuna. On the Recee day itself, the charm of the motorcycles event was lost. Castrol National Rally Championship for Motorcycles leader, Rohitaaz Kumar was run over by a truck, lost all flesh on the right foot and was hospitalised. Rohitaaz Kumar, prime MRF Tyres sponsored entry, and top swing rider for Pacer Yamaha, should have consolidated his lead, in the motorcycles championship and shifted to cars for the next events, but the accident put a spanner in his plans.

Two horrifying accidents on September 18 saw one of the competitors, Balaram, injure his spine and he could be paralysed below his waist for the rest of his life. The other competitor Shakeel is safer with a head injury. The fact that Shakeel’s, possibly unstrapped, helmet flew off his shoulders when he hit a rock, and Balaram’s helmet broke into two, should get the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) to sit up and make a more thorough means of checking the reliability of these safety measures. It is a well known fact that the competitors down the line keep using the same helmet after they have suffered a fall with the same. It is but reality that a helmet which has saved one’s head in a crash, becomes weak and has to be replaced.

With the fall out of Rohitaaz, it is a fact that Pacer Yamaha has lost a winning rider for the rest of the season. Pacer’s nemesis TVS Suzuki had lost their prime rider Zubin Patel in the earlier rally at K1000 when he was thrown off the bike during the recee. Both Rohitaaz and Zubin will sit out during the rest of the 1999 rallying season.

Fear of the Yamahas scoring the Group D (unmodified) class should have made Team Suzuki to scout for new talent, and work hard at Shaolin, to compete with the 135cc Yamahas. The hardwork put in hurriedly by Suzuki, showed, as the factory Shaolins definitely showed improved performance for the earlier rally. Added to this was the entry of Gaurav Gill from New Delhi, who astride a Suzuki Shaolin thundered across the stages of the Popular Rally with the ease of a professional.

The 39 starters of motorcycles started the day at the Special Stages, two hours lage, with unrelenting timber contractors refusing to keep their trucks out of the Bhoothathankettu stage. Organisers fell on their feet trying to resolve the crisis, and finally started the first Special Stage of the day two  hours late. This set the trend for the day, and by the time the rallyists did the forest stage, the first time, Shakeel and Balaram had fallen, and the rally got further delayed by four hours. The remaining riders were tired and sick and totally disoriented due to the delay and were scared because none of them were prepared for a night ride. A representation signed by most competitors (except reportedly the Pacer Yamaha competitors conspicuously) requested for a cancellation of stages to avoid night riding. The unrelenting organisers cancelled only the forest and plantation stages (only 3) to run the Bhoothathankettu stage 4 times to make up the stipulated 125km of Special Stage distance to stay in the National Championship. Riders rode with all sorts of lights, parking lights, fog lights, etc. and some hit straying bisons in the Bhoothathankettu tarmac stage which runs through a thick jungle.

Amar Sandhu of Team MRF was excluded for taking service outside the designated area, and K Prasad (MRF) trailing behind him took over the reins to complete the rally on top. It was a treat to watch the riders give in their best performance, despite the problems of the night. In fact, the animals of the jungle would have been puzzled to see these queer two legged monsters roam the forest at high speeds.

The two wheeler `dare devil’ returned to Parc Ferme in the midnight hours. Team MRF Tyres won the overall and Group C top position with K Prasad on a Pacer Yamaha tuned Yamaha 135 in 1hour, 34minutes and 49seconds. Two minutes and 34 seconds slower (1:37:21) was TVS Racing competitor Amol C Talpade, on a works Suzuki Shaolin. One should grant it to Amol, who not bothered by the bad finishes, devoted his 1998 season to Suzuki to test the Shaolins in rallying conditions. It is this R&D that helped the TVS Factory to quickly perfect the Shaolins, when the Yamahas invaded the rally of 1999. RH Vikram, on a Pacer Yamaha tuned RX 135, once again blessed with MRF Tyres sponsorship, finished 3rd in Overall and Group C, 37 seconds behind Amol (1:38:08). TVS Racing followed in 4th Overall and Group C with Nipendar Jessy, a Motocross rider, who has improved his rallying performance tremendously this season. But the sweet victory came for the  TVS Racing Team in the form of Gaurav Gill, who placed 5th Overall and first in Group D (unmodified class). Gaurav, who won his maiden rally said: “It is very enjoyable”. Incidentally, Gaurav is also a Motocross rider. Rallying, Racing and Motocross legend Shyam Kothari once said: “Rallying is a combination of racing and motocross”. Maybe, this is what is helping Nipender and Gaurav. Kudos to Pradeep Kumar and Madhu S, who finished second and third respectively in Group D. Pradeep is a localite from Kottayam and Madhu is a navigator turned rider.

The organisers (KASC) who reached the Ernakulam City late, did not sleep over their problem. They worked hard to ensure the smooth running of the second leg for cars.

On September 19, 18 cars including Maruti 800 flagged off into the Special Stages, on the dot. It was once again a Battle Royale between Team MRF (the Reds) and the JK Tyre Rally Team (the Yellows) and Team Chettinad Sporting (the Blues).

JK Tyre Rally Team, who won the K-1000 Rally in August, and Team MRF Tyres, who won the South India Rally in July (in the IMSA Court), were keen in consolidating heir championship leads.

The service teams of all the cars were ready with spare wheels and suspensions to encounter the famous forest dirt stages.

The seven cars (4 group Ns and 3 Group As) from MRF Tyres were running quite smoothly through the thick of the rally, while the 4 cars (2 Group As and 2 Group Ns) of JK Tyre Rally Team did not seem to like the terrain very much. The two cars from Chettinad Sporting (Group N) were valiantly fighting a lost battle with the Esteems.

The performance of the various leaders in the Popular Rally 1999 stages among cars gave a clear indication that modern day rallying in India is not one person’s forte. Hari Singh and Gurinder Singh Mann (JK Tyres) who had an early lead over the others in the first Special Stage at Ernakulam, fought hard to lead the rally. Unfortunately, they did not return any more fastest times in the rest of the 12 stages. Team MRF Tyres VR Naren Kumar and D Ramkumar drove their heart out to lead in all the first five stages of the 2nd leg. JK Tyre Rally Team’s prime entry from Malaysia Karamjit Singh and his navigator Vivekanandan did equal five stages, fastest.

While all the modified (Group A) cars were eating the best part of the cake, the performance of Manik (Group N) and MRF Tyres Sagar Muthappa (Group N) is to be lauded as both led one stage each.

Now, the Maruti 800, after a couple of rolls decided to call it quits. Jiby Maliakkal and navigator Charan Rao, and Ashok P John and navigator Senthil Kumar gave up the rally with NK Ramesh and navigator RG Vishnu Kumar. It was interesting to see Leelakrishnan (MRF), Hari Singh (JK Tyres), Nikhil Taneja (JK Tyres) and Navaz Bathena (Chettinad) fight their way until their cars could not last. While all of them retired with mechanical problems, Hari Singh and navigator Gurinder Singh Mann suffering a puncture, desperately drove fast on a right hander, in the Bhoothathankettu stage, lost control and crashed into a tree. Luckily only Gurinder suffered a minor cut near his left eye.

When consolidation process took shape, Team MRF’s VR Naren Kumar and D Ramkumar had won the Maruti Popular Rally 1999 followed by teammate Arjun Balu and KR Kumar who were just 4 seconds behind. Karamjit Singh and P. Vivekanandan (JK Tyres) saved some pride for their team, finishing 3rd. The fourth, fifth, sixth and ninth placings went to the 4 Group N cars entered by MRF Tyres. Karandip Singh of Team MRF Tyres navigated by Jaidas Menon, won his maiden Group N title, followed by Sagar Muthappa and Sandeep S Rao (MRF) and Vijayant Chowdhry and Satish Kumar (MRF) finishing 4th, 5th and 6th overall respectively. JK Tyres Manik Raikhy and Shivu Shivappa (9th) and JK Tyres Upkar Dicky Gill and Aaditya Singh Jaiswal (10th) were the other finishers in cars.

With 6 out of 10 finishers from Team MRF Tyres, Antony Rodricks, Corporate Advertising GM and Team Boss said: “We won the rally only on tactics and not on car preparation.”

“The going was good as long as it lasted,” added Gurinder Singh Mann of JK Tyres.

The Castrol National Rally Championship for cars and motorcycles 1999, is poised precariously after the 17th Maruti Popular Rally. MRF Tyres sponsored 25 year old VR Naren Kumar, who leads the Championship table with 55 points, in the Overall category has teammate Arjun Balu breathing down his neck with 53.57 and another teammate Leelakrishnan with 47 points. Interestingly, sharing seats with various top drivers in the JK Tyre Rally Team has put P Vivekanandan on top of the overall navigators’ championship with 55.25 points. Just 0.25 points behind is D Ramkumar (MRF) followed by teammates Kumar Ramaswamy (53.75) and Farooq Ahmed (47).

In the Group A category Team MRF holds the first three leading positions. Leelakrishnan (30), VR Naren Kumar (28.50) and Arjun Balu (27.50). Among the Group A navigator Team MRF Tyres once again leads with Farooq Ahmed (30) followed by D Ram Kumar (28.50) and Kumar Ramaswamy (27.50).

The story is different in the Group N category. JK Tyres Rally Team Manik Raikhy (33.75) lead the Group N drivers championship, followed closely by Team MRF Tyres Vijayant Chowdhury (33.50) and Karandeep Singh Sandhu (23.50).

Interestingly, it was P Vivekanandan of JK Tyres Rally team who lead the Group N navigators’ championship also (27.50) followed by MK Chander (MRF – 26) and Jaidas Menon (MRF 23.50).

In the Castrol National Rally Championship for motorcycles, Team MRF Limited leads the first four placings in the overall category. Rohitaaz Kumar (75), K Prasad (52), RH Vikram (48), and Zubin Patel (41.25). The same riders lead Group C category Rohitaaz Kumar (37.50), K Prasad (26.50), RH Vikram (24) and Zubin Patel (22). It is interesting to note that Rohitaaz, Prasad and RH Vikram rides Pacer Yamaha tuned Yamaha 135s while Zubin Patel rides a TVS Racing prepared Shaolin.

In the Group D  category, Team Pacer Yamaha leads the pack with R Srinivas (32.50) and G Prasad (24.25), Rohan Rego (20.75) from Team Zen runs third, followed by Kunal Singh (18.50) of TVS Racing.

The 17th Maruti Popular Rally 99 taught a few lessons to the Kerala Auto Sports Club. None of the KASC Officials visit the other rallies in India to update themselves on organisational developments. KASC should now plan out to send their 15 life members, as officials to the various Indian National Rallies, and run as many smaller events as possible to keep their Marshalls brushed up, on the latest rules. “We had a seminar for the Marshalls, conducted by C Sridhar, the secretary of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI),” said the secretary of the meet George Tharakan. They did everything perfect during the training examination, but failed miserably during the actual rally,” he added.

Further, one of the major changes that has to happen is the Mr John K Paul, who is one of the prime factors in the sponsorship of the Kuttukaran Group to KASC, should start looking at KASC as the MD of Popular Automobiles, and not as an ex-competitor. Said Mr Paul: “We are planning to change the venue of Popular Rally in the Millennium and may opt for North Kerala. We are happy that Maruti Udyog has promised about one-third of the sponsorship.”

The Coimbatore Auto Sports Club’s Cotton City Rally in October 1999, has an aggregate of 1.75 for both cars and motorcycles. Winning or losing Cotton City should measure the road to the Castrol National Rally Championship.

Provisional Results:

Cars Overall: 1. Naren Kumar/ D Ramkumar (Team MRF) (1hour, 45min, 12sec); 2. Arjun Balu/ K Ramaswamy (Team MRF) (1:45:16); 3. Karamjit Singh/ P Vivekanandan (JK Tyres) (1:45:48); 4. Karandip Singh /Jaidas Menon (MRF) (1:48:07); 5. Sagar Muthappa/ Sandeep S Rao (MRF) (1:48:58).

Cars Group A: 1. Naren Kumar/ D Ramkumar (Team MRF) (1hour, 45min, 12sec); 2. Arjun Balu/ K Ramaswamy (Team MRF) (1:45:16); 3. Karamjit Singh/ P Vivekanandan (JK Tyres) (1:45:48); 4: Upkar Gill /AS Jaiswal (JK) (2:03:22).

Cars Group N (Unmodified): 1. Karandip Singh /Jaidas Menon (Team MRF) (1:48:07); 2. Sagar Muthappa/ Sandeep S Rao (Team MRF) (1:48:58); 3. V Chowdhry/ S Kumar (MRF) (1:50:14); 4. Manik Raikhy/ Shivu Shivappa (JK) (1:51:32); 5. PG Abhilash/ CK Chinappa (Chettinad) (1:51:32).

Cars Unseeded class: 1. Karandip Singh /Jaidas Menon (MRF) (1:48:07); 2. V Chowdhry/ S Kumar (MRF) (1:50:14); 3. PG Abhilash/ CK Chinappa (Chettinad) (1:51:32).

Cars Tuner Prize

Group N Tuner Trophy (Unmodified cars): J Anand

Group A Tuner Trophy (Modified cars): N Leelakrishnan.

Bike Results:

Overall: 1. K Prasad (Team MRF) (1:34:49); 2. Amol C Talpade (TVS) (1:37:21); 3. RH Vikram (Team MRF) (1:38:26); 4. Nipender Jessy (1:38:26); 5. Gaurav Gill (TVS) (1:39:56).

Bikes Group C (Modified): 1. K Prasad (Team MRF) (1:34:49); 2. Amol C Talpade (TVS) (1:37:21); 3. RH Vikram (Team MRF) (1:38:26); 4. Nipender Jessy (1:38:26); 5. Akash Ithal (Team Nanjappas) (1:40:31).

Bikes Group D (Modified): 1. Gaurav Gill (TVS) (1:39:56); 2. Pradeep Kumar (1:42:05); 3. Madhu (1:43:19); 4. CD Jain (1:44:37); 5. R Srinivas (Pacer Yamaha) (1:44:58).

Best Novice Entry: Pradeep Kumar.

Best Tuner Prizes:

For Group D Unmodified: Arvind Pangoankar

Tuner for Group C Modified: Sekhar Bhojana.

ends