INDIA in F1

Author: David Bodapati

  • Easy for Hari Singh-GS Mann; Maiden win for K Prasad: Popular Rally

    Cochin, 16 Sept 1996: Defending National champion Hari Singh and co-driver Gurinder Singh Mann led a JK Tyre podium sweep winning the 14th Popular Rally, the fifth round of the Castrol National Rally Championship here on Sunday. K Prasad and navigator Sudharshan Gowda won the motorcycle category riding a Shogun, while reigning champion and 7-time record winning pair of Jagat Nanjappa and Anita could only finish sixth astride their RX100.

    Hari Singh had an easy time on the wet and slippery tarmac stages and began his account here as he failed to win any of the four rallies this year. But with four rallies remaining it is anybody’s game but teammate Bikram Singh Majithia and co-driver Vijayant Choudhry are leading the National Championship table with 55 points after taking a second overall in this rally. The Chandigarh driver however, expressed confidence in retaining the title. “We had a good lead and we took it easy this year,” Hari said about the four-minute lead this year after a bad outing in the previous year when he could not perform well because of the death of his mentor and motorsport legend Karivardhan.

    Last year’s Popular rally winner Gurmeher Singh Majithia was let down by an overheated radiator while multiple National champions N Leelakrishnan and Farad Bathena suffered steering and suspension issues respectively.

    In the two-wheeler section it was the maiden win for Mysore’s K Prasad in the Nationals. “I had a toss in the second stage while trying to overtake Yuvraj Pawar. I had some tight finishes but still I did not expect to win here,” said a jubilant Prasad who won along with navigator Sudharshan Gowda. Trailing behind favourite Ravichander at the end of the first leg, Prasad clinched the issue in the last Special Stage.

    Provisional Results:

    Cars Overall: 1. Hari Singh and Gurinder Singh Mann (JK Tyre) (2hours, 16min, 59sec); 2. Bikram Singh Majithia and Vijayant Choudhry (JK Tyre) (2:21:07); 3. Nikhil Taneja and Sandeep Lal (JK Tyre) (2:24:18); 4. N Leelakrishnan and Farooq Ahmed (Team MRF) (2:24:30); 5. KS Chauhan and SS Sekon (JK Tyre) (2:26:19); 6. Satish Bhat and C Surendran (2:29:49).

    Group A: 1. Hari Singh and Gurinder Singh Mann (JK Tyre) (2hours, 16min, 59sec); 2. Bikram Singh Majithia and Vijayant Choudhry (JK Tyre) (2:21:07); 3. N Leelakrishnan and Farooq Ahmed (Team MRF) (2:24:30);

    Group N: 1. Nikhil Taneja and Sandeep Lal (JK Tyre) (2:24:18); 2. KS Chauhan and SS Sekon (JK Tyre) (2:26:19); 3. Satish Bhat and C Surendran (2:29:49).

    Motorcycles Overall: (all top-5 Shoguns): 1. K Prasad and Sudharshan Gowda (Zen Rallying) (2:46:56); 2. T Ravichander and RS Sujith Kumar (2:47:05); 3. RH Vikram and R Sathish (Team MRF) 2:47:30); 4. Yuvaraj Pawar and Avinash Cavale (Team MRF) (2:49:08); 5. Shyam Kothari and KE Suresh Kumar (Team MRF) (2:50:17); 6. Jagat Nanjappa and Anita (Team MRF-RX100) (2:50:43);

    Group C: 1. K Prasad and Sudharshan Gowda (Zen Rallying) (2:46:56); 2. T Ravichander and RS Sujith Kumar (2:47:05); 3. RH Vikram and R Sathish (Team MRF) 2:47:30);

    Group D (Stock): 1. Yuvaraj Pawar and Avinash Cavale (Team MRF) (2:49:08); 2. MA Danif and EM Shameer (2:57:48); 3. Lakshmikanth and Chandrasekhar (2:59:46).

    Editor’s note: Manually migrated from database to support INRC Winners: Hall of Fame

  • Sanjay Agarwal-Shivu Shivappa win Scissors Rally

    By George Francis

    Coimbatore, 3 June 1996: A fairytale came alive for private entrants at the 14th Scissors Action Rally here on Sunday. Sanjay Agarwal and Shivu Shivappa picked up the overall winner’s trophy for cars, while bike tuner Krishnamoorthy could not hide his excitment as Krishna Naveen and Sujith Kumar lifted the overall winners trophy for two-wheelers.

    This turn of events came as a surprise to many as a few days before the rally, tyre giants MRF and JK, decided to pull out. Objections to certain rules and regulations brought up by the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) resulted in this walk-out and even as the rally was being run on June 2, representatives from both teams were sitting with FMSCI council members in Delhi to arrive at a solution.

    Perfection in organisation saw the Coimbatore Auto Sports Club (CASC) getting 71 two-wheeler entrants and ten four-wheelers, despite the fact that MRF and JK were absent.

    The Special Stage Rally, run to the rules of the Federation Internationiale de l’Automobile (FIA), the world body governing motorsport and the FMSCI, was a rallyist’s delight. The 550-km really spelled out the meaning of rough and tough.

    Major names among the middle-order in Indian rallying led the field of entrants, 55 Group D Unmodified bikes and 17 Group A Modified bikes tuned for the start while a long Group A Modified car and nine Group N Unmodified cars were all set to run.

    Faourites in the four-wheeler category were Sanjay Agarwal and Shivu Shivappa. KE Kumar and Jaidas Menon, Prakash B Narayan and Preetinder S Tiwana, Sam N Katgara and Neville C Poonawalla.

    Among the two-wheelers, there were the invariable Shoguns. Hot favourites were local rider T Ravichandran and his Madras-based navigator S Bhuvaneswari. Paritosh Kohok, the champion Group D navigator of last year, was riding a Group D bike himself, after his good performance astride a Shogun in Nashik earlier this year. Suresh Kumar was his navigator. Zubin Patel and Praful M Sancheti, who had placed third in Group D in the first lef of the 1996 rallying championship at Nashik in January, were rallying in South India for the first time and miracles were expected of them.

    Of the 72 starters in two-wheelers, 52 finished, the majority of dropouts being due to mechanical problems. Out of ten cars, nine finished.

    (Editor’s Note: This article is manually migrated in July 2020 to support: INRC Winners: Hall of Fame)

    (This article is a press release by George Francis and was also published in Auto India magazine)

  • Anand Philar: Bio

    Anand Philar is one of the most experienced motorsport journalists in India, having covered the sport at virtually all levels – Karting, National Rally and Racing Championships (both cars and bikes), FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship and Formula 1. A former National Sports Editor of The New Indian Express, Philar was also associated with country’s leading automotive journals, Autocar and Overdrive, for nearly a decade before branching off as a motorsport Media consultant and also indulging in motorsport photography.