INDIA in F1

Author: David Bodapati

  • Harith Noah successfully completes the 19-km Prologue in 35th overall

    Harith Noah successfully completes the 19-km Prologue in 35th overall

    Jeddah, 1 Jan 2022: Sherco TVS Rally Factory team professional and international cross-country rider Harith Noah from India, began his Dakar 2022 sojourn on a successful note completing the gruelling transport section of over 590km of sandy terrain and rode on a cautious note with controlled aggression. The five-time Indian National champion with complete focus on navigation, finished a conservative 35th Overall from the 19-km Prologue on the New Year’s Day on Saturday but the plan is to preserve and finish, his third Dakar.

    “Everything went well and the goal is finish without much fuss and we did exactly that. Now that we have a footing on the actual terrain, the 333-km Day 2 will is the immediate target,” said Harith Noah, back at his Bivouac, in Hail. The mountainous landscapes of Northern Saudi Arabia contribute to the contrasts of Dakar route. Sand is already on the menu, for now, in the shape of tracks. Be warned that this special is riddled with the fiendish navigation puzzles, typical of the country. And thus, the caution of Noah. Riders depend on their road books and memory. For cars, the focus  will be on navigators, or co-drivers as they are called, as any competitors who try to take short cuts will be immediately slapped with time penalties.

    However, the Kerala rider from India, is keen on putting the right foot forward, as he managed to finish the course for Day 1, clocking 1 hour, 7 minutes, 15 seconds taking 11 min, 45 seconds more than Daniel Sanders of Australia, who topped the Opening special section on Saturday covering a total distance of 614km amidst the sand dunes of Saudi Arabia.

    Harith Noah, supported by TVS Racing, astride a Sherco 450 SEF Rally machine, is sponsored by TVS, Sherco, Scott India and CamelBak India, began on a positive note and will be gunning for a steady ride on Sunday, the second day of the gruelling Dakar, which will have Stage 1b from Hai’l to Ha’il, a 181km liaison distance (transport section) and 333km of actual Special Section stage on tough sands, the first longest test that will prepare the riders and drivers for tougher things to come.

    The 409 vehicles on the start list inaugurated the Dakar like never before. After departing Jeddah along the Red Sea for a northbound 225 km transfer, the starting shot for the qualifying stage was fired at the entrance to the Medina region. The opening 19 km sprint was a sign of things to come: sandy tracks and dunes in an all-sand timed sector in which the entrants crowned and gobbled up dunes, sometimes even broken ones, and climbed to an altitude of close to 400 masl. On this power hike, competitors were expected to bring their A game from the beginning, much like young biker Daniel Sanders (see Stat of the day) and the evergreen Nasser Al-Attiyah, primed for victory by a bountiful 2021 season. The caravan then headed north-east for a 614 km liaison to Ha’il, where the grand start podium awaited the participants for tomorrow’s stage 1B on a loop course.

    Harith Noah in Saudi Arabia for his 3rd Dakar successfully completes SS 1A in 36th

    Daniel Sanders, who claimed top rookie honours and finished just outside the podium last year, grabbed his maiden Dakar stage win in the opener. It was a first in more than one way, as the Australian also netted GasGas its first triumph in the most prestigious rally raid on Earth. As the icing on the cake, it was the first victory for the KTM 450, the latest showpiece of the Mattighofen factory, unveiled in Morocco last year. Spain’s GasGas is the 13th constructor to take a stage in the Dakar motorbike race. The rally had not feted a new winner since 2010, when Shercoand Aprilia opened their accounts. Let us see, if Sherco can throw a winner in the bike category.

    AL-ATTIYAH VS LOEB

    The newly elected FIA President, Mohammed bin Sulayem, travelled to Ha’il to witness the awarding of the very first FIA Cross-Country World Championship points. The Emirati former driver must have been delighted to see his heir take the lead at this momentous time. Not that Nasser Al-Attiyah is looking forward to an office with a commanding view of the Place de la Concorde in Paris! He is bin Sulayem’s successor in the sense that the Toyota driver has won the Middle East Rally Championship 11 times between 2003 and 2021, the same race that bin Sulayem won on almost every occasion from 1986 to 2002, with 14 titles in total. The game is on, but Al-Attiyah is currently focused on his incipient struggle with Sébastien Loeb.

    NOTE: Noah position changed from 36th to 35th after it was upgraded officially.

  • National Champions 2021: All* 12 motorsports disciplines

    FMSCI Indian National Championships – 2021

    1. MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Racing Championship

    2. JK Tyre  FMSCI Indian National Racing Championship

    3. FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship

    4. MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship

    5. MRF MOGRIP FMSCI National Supercross Championship

    6. MRF MOGRIP FMSCI National Rally Championship 2W

    7. MMS FMSCI National Karting Championship

    8. MMS Indian National Karting X30 Championship

    9. MMSC FMSCI Indian National 2W Drag Championship

    10. FMSCI Indian National Rally Sprint Championship 2021

    11. Indian National Regularity Run (INRRC), the TSD nationals 2021

    Some of the following results are for 2020, 2021 results will updated as and when the championships are completed.

    1. National Racing Championship (NRC): 2W Champions for 2020

    1. Indian Touring Cars: Driver – Arjun Balu (Coimbatore, Race Concepts, 151 points). Team – FB Motorsport (262)

    2. Super Stock: Driver – Raghul Rangasamy (Mamallapuram, Performance Racing, 154). Team – Race Concepts (289).

    3. MRF Saloon Car Series: Diljith TS (Thrissur, 113).

    4. Formula LGB 1300: Driver – Tijil Rao (Bengaluru, 122). Team – Momentum Motorsport (215).

    2. JK Tyre National Racing Championship 2020 (2021 yet to be completed)

    LGB Formula 4: 1. Champ: Sandeep Kumar, Dark Don Racing –66 points;

    2. Ashwin Datta, Dark Don Racing –63 points;

    3. Vishnu Prasad, MSport –54 points

    Novice Cup: 1. Champion: Amir Sayed, Msport – 120 points;

    2. Dhruvin Gajjar, DTS Racing –49 points;

    3. Aman Chaudhary, DTS Racing –46 points.

    Ladies Class: 1. Champion: Anushriya Gulati, Ahura Racing;

    2. Mir Erda; 3. Phoebe Nongrum.

    Rookie Class: 1. Champion: Anushriya Gulati, Ahura Racing, 77 points.

    3. Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) for 4-wheelers

    1. 1. Gaurav Gill; 2. Karna Kadur; 3. Fabid Ahmer.

    2.Co-Drivers: 1. Musa Sherif; 2. Nikhil Pai; 3. Eldo Chacko.

    3. INRC2: 1. Sahil Khanna 78; 2. Dean Mascarenhas 77; 3. Rahul Kantharaj 62;

    4. Co-drivers: 1. Vidit Jain 83; 2. Shruptha Padival 77; 3. Vivek Bhatt 66;

    5. INRC2 Team: 1. Snap Racing; (Sahil Khanna 117; Lakshay 24) Total=141;

    6. INRC3: 1. Fabid Ahmer 98; 2. Aditya Thakur 90; 3. Maninder Singh Prince 86;

    7.Co-drivers: 1. Eldo Chacko 98; 2. Virender Kashyap 90; 3. Vinay Kumar Padmashali 86;

    8. INRC3 Team: 1. Snap Racing; (Maninder 77; Amer Beg 7; Arjun Rao 7) Total =91.

    9. INRC4: 1. Vaibhav Marathe 68; 2. Mujeeb Rehman 65; 3. Rohit Iyer 55;

    10. Co-drivers: 1. Suhan MK (68); 2. Goutham CP (65); 3. Manjunath (62);

    4. National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2021 (Fifth & final round concluded on 5 Feb. 2022 – Extended calendar)

    1. Pro-Stock 301 to 400cc: Rider: Rajini Krishnan (Chennai, RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate). Team championship: TVS Racing. Manufacturer title: KTM.
    2. Pro-Stock 165cc Open – Rider: Jagan Kumar (Chennai, TVS Racing). Team Championship: TVS Racing. Manufacturer title: TVS.
    3. Novice (Stock 165cc) – Rider: Alwin Sundar (Chennai, AS ‘Anand-Sindy’ Motorsports). Team Championship: Sparks Racing. Manufacturer: xxx.
    4. Girls (Stock 165cc) – Rider: Ryhana Bee (Chennai, RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate). Team Championship: RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate. Manufacturer: xxx.

    TVS One-Make Championship titles (NOT counted as NATIONAL Title as per fmsci)

    1. TVS One-Make Championship – Open (Apache RR310): Champion: Amarnath Menon.
    2. TVS Rookie (Apache RTR 200): Champion: Jinendra Kiran Sangave.
    3. TVS Media (Apache RTR 200): Champion: Soham Thakur.

    Honda One-Make Championship titles (NOT counted as NATIONAL Title as per fmsci)

    1. Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup – NSF 250R: Champion: Kavin Quintal (Chennai).
    2. CBR 150cc: Champion: Prakash Kamat (Bokaro Steel City).
    3. Hornet 2.0: Champion: Kevin Kannan (Chennai). 

    6. MRF MoGrip National Rally Championship for 2W

    1. Overall champion: Samuel Jacob

    8. Indian National X30 Karting Championship 2021

    1. Senior Class: Surya Varathan, Coimbatore
    2. Junior Class: Ruhaan Alva, Bengaluru
    3. Cadet Class: Ishaan Madesh, Bengaluru

    9. Indian National Drag Championship 2w 2020:

    1. Hemanth Muddappa (Mantra Racing, Above 1051cc and 851-1050cc);

    2. Aiyaz (Pvt, 361-550cc and 131-165cc);

    3. J Bharath Raj (Rulexx Rockers Racing, Up to 165cc, 226-360cc);

    4. Ann Jennifer (Sparks Racing, Girls).

    4. 2-Stroke: Aiyaz (131-165cc); Mohammed Rafiq (2S, Up to 130cc).

    10. FMSCI Indian National Rally Sprint Championship 2020

    PROMOTER = Motorsport INC

    1. Group A Upto 800cc Class:

    1. Sinan Francis (Ernakulam) KTM-EXC450 = 101 points

    2. Sarath Mohan, Suzuki RMX450z, Mallapuram = 80 points

    3. Vishwas SD (Bengaluru) Suzuki ?, = tied on 76 points

    3. Badal S Doshi (Pune) Vishwas SD (Bengaluru) Suzuki RMX450z, = tied on 76 points

    2. Group B 131cc to 165cc:

     1. Pavan BK (Bengaluru) Hero Impulse  = 130;

    2. Ishan Chandra (Mangalore) Hero Impulse = 122;

    3. Vinay Prasad = 84.

    3. Group B 261cc to 400cc Class:

    1. Sudeep Kottary (Mangalore) Duke 390 = 150;

    2. Sajeesh Reghunathan = 104;

    3. Uday Ganguli = 84.

    4. Group B Upto 130cc Class:

    1. Noldin Thomas (Ernakulam) Yamaha-YBX = 116;

    2. Rakesh Kumar V =115;

    3. Durgesh =93.

    5. Group B 166cc to 260cc Class:

    1. Sachin D (Bengaluru) TVS Apache = 150;

    2. Yuvakumar = 90;

    3. Sanjay Somashekar = 87.

    6. Ladies Class: 1. Ryhana Bee (Chennai) Hero Impulse = 136;

    2. Tanika Shanbhag (Satara) Hero Impulse = 119;

    3. Dimpy A = 79.

    7. Bullet Class:

    1. Suhail Ahmed (Bengaluru) Himalayan = 125;

    2. Devaraj Venkatesh Himalayan = 11;

    3. Sarath Kumar = 81.

    8. Scooter Class:

    1. Karthik Naidu (Bengaluru) TVS N-Torq = 143;

    2. Pinkesh Thakkar (Pune) Aprilla-SR125 = 105;

    3. Goutham N = 90.

    11. JK Tyre Indian National Regularity Run (INRRC), the TSD nationals 2021

    Champions: Sk Ajgar Ali & Md. Musthafa were crowned champions

  • TVS talent Harith Noah, lone rider to fly Indian flag at Dakar

    TVS talent Harith Noah, lone rider to fly Indian flag at Dakar

    Jeddah, 30 Dec 2021: Harith Noah is all set for a third innings, as the toughest and longest cross-country rally in the World acquires a double World Championship status with both FIA and FIM, coming together for a five-round Worlds for both four-wheelers and bikes.

    After training abroad for over three months and fine-tuning his road-book and navigational skills in France and Spain, the Kerala star sponsored by TVS Factory Racing, is looking forward to finishing the Dakar once again astride a brand new Sherco 450 SEF Rally with tuner assistance from Sherco TVS Rally Factory team, which includes his engineer Prakasam.

    “It is nimble and lighter and will help me in the super long race beginning with over 600km of riding including liaison for Prologue on New Year’s day,” he said from Jeddah, before embarking on a shakedown on Thursday. Prologue is bang in the middle of two transport sections, the 19-km Special Section sprint on dirt tracks and small dunes, will provide the riders a chance to test their bikes and also the first 15, in each category, will get a chance to choose their starting order for next day.

    Noah, the 28-year Sports Science graduate, from Shoranur, Kerala, will be flying the Tricolour as a lone privateer from India. “I had a quiet and safe Christmas with my girlfriend and friends like family. I am relaxed and ready for the prologue with a long liaison and a longer event ahead. I am in the same truck as my teammate Rui. The target is to finish Dakar again,” added Noah, who has Lorenzo Santolino and Rui Goncalves, as teammates. He finished overall 20th last January to become the fastest in Dakar from India beating pioneer CS Santosh’s 34th place, in 2018. TVS compatriot KP Aravind from Bengaluru and privateer Mumbai mariner Ashish Raorane are the only other Indians who have taken part in Dakar. Noah, who made his debut in 2020, completed the coveted Dakar in the Experience Class that year and went on to beat the Indian record last year in January 2021.

    The 44th Dakar rally begins with a Prologue on Saturday and the 12 long Stages will conclude on January 14. The rest day at Riyadh will be on January 8. Organised by Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), it will be the third edition of Dakar in Saudi Arabia.

    The Specials will start in Ha’il and end in Jeddah, going through canyons and cliffs in the Neom region, passing by the Red Sea coastline, into stretches of dunes surrounding Riyadh, with a lot more action on sand dunes in the Empty Quarter. The total distance of the route is over 7000 kms. Only an elite few, who were successful in another qualifier, join the world’s best at premier break-or-make event in the cross-country rally world.

  • Amidst sands & Red Sea, when Dakar begins, India will be cheering for Harith Noah

    Amidst sands & Red Sea, when Dakar begins, India will be cheering for Harith Noah

    Jeddah, 31 Dec 2021:  The Indian fans will be cheering for Harith Noah, the fastest in Dakar from India last year. The last preparatory phase for the Dakar is taking place for the third consecutive year in Jeddah, on the shores of the Red Sea and the lone rider representing India in the 44th edition of the toughest rally in the world, the Dakar, is Harith Noah of Sherco TVS team. He will be cheered by thousands of fans from India. He completed his shakedown on Thursday and is raring to go wit the Prologue on Saturday, the New Year’s Day. Another Indian team, the highest manufacturer of two-wheelers in the World, Hero MotoCorp, will field a two-member Hero MotoSports Team Rally, led by J Rod and the first Indian to complete Dakar, CS Santosh, will be cheering them from the Bivouacs and sands in Saudi Arabia. Joaquim Rodriques will have Aaron Mare as his teammate who replaced an injured Franco Caimi.

    This will be the sixth time at the Dakar for Joaquim who finished fourth in the 2021 FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship. The duo of Joaquim and Aaron will take on the challenges of the Dakar astride the powerful Hero 450 Rally and an expert team beside them.

    Key points:

    Aaron Marè from South Africa replaces injured Caimi. However, no Indian rider represents Hero for one more year. A Hero Photo

    Ø Whilst the King Abdallah Stadium has been taken over by the race officials responsible for the rally’s administrative checks and technical scrutineering, the doctors and their teams have also been busy in light of the COVID pandemic context in which the race is taking place. A campaign of 3,500 PCR tests has been organised for all people with a pass for the event. Indeed, the protocol implemented required a negative test to be able to travel to Saudi Arabia.

    Ø  After having satisfied the health requirements, the riders, drivers and crews summoned got to grips with the scrutineering circuit in order to be ready for the first stage to Ha’il on 1st January. The BRX team’s Sébastien Loeb and “Nani” Roma were able to give voice to their ambitions in the car category, just like the riders of the Honda team, who have won the last two editions on two wheels. However, their rivals at Yamaha have a new trump card in their pack in Andrea Peterhansel, charged with striving in the wings of the blue team to try and bring back the title that her husband won for the constructor in 1998.

    Ø  In an atmosphere of renewed acquaintances, many riders and drivers’ thoughts were with the six times winner of the truck category Karel Loprais, who died this morning in the Czech Republic.

    SÉBASTIEN LOEB: “FIND THE RIGHT PACE AND REMAIN HUMBLE”

    The French driver and nine-times world rally champion is making his 6th attempt at the Dakar on a race that has withstood his efforts since his first participation in 2016. Loeb will be racing for the second time in the colours of Team BRX, but in a car that has been significantly reworked since the previous edition, accompanied by a new co-pilot, Fabian Lurquin, with whom he has only competed in one race, on the Baja Aragon: “It hasn’t been one year without racing for me, but rather one year without a rally-raid. We’ve carried out tests, but perhaps not over as many kilometres as we would have liked to because we’ve had setbacks. However, the car is running really well and the feeling is very good with my new co-pilot. We’ve only just started competing together, so now we will have to make sure everything clicks into place: the Dakar is a complicated race and we will have to find the right pace and remain humble. What’s most important is that we have a reliable car. At any rate, we are fairly well prepared”.

    PETERHANSEL BACK AT YAMAHA!

    501 Shibalov Anton (rus), Nikitin Dmitrii (rus), Tatarinov Ivan (rus), Kamaz-Master, Kamaz 43509, T5 FIA Camion, action during the Dakar 2022’s Administrative and Technical scrutineering, from December 29 to 31, 2022 in Jeddah. Photo: Gigi Soldano / DPPI

    The Dakar 2021 was not a fondly remembered rally for Yamaha. None of the “Blues” managed to reach the finish. The brand with the tuning fork logo reacted by a hard turn. The first act was to reduce the team to three riders, followed by the second in which the figureheads in the management were changed and replaced by a… Peterhansel. This may seem like a joke, but Andrea Peterhansel, the new Yamaha sporting manager, is not the type to joke around about the Dakar. Under the name of Andrea Mayer, she even finished 5th on a bike in 2000 for KTM, before repeating this feat on four wheels in 2004 for Mitsubishi. Her knowledge of the event naturally made the difference when Yamaha were choosing the right person to get to grips with the situation: “Marc Bourgeois contacted me to help restructure the team. It’s not my prime occupation, but I do have 25 years of experience. We have made our decisions and will have to stick by them, but that’s just part of the job,” she explains. The third act in this sea-change was that Branch, Short and Van Beveren all took part in four legs of the world championship with a machine now under the technical supervision of Stéphane Peterhansel’s former mechanic, leading to a victory for the man from Botswana in Kazakhstan, a second place in Abu Dhabi for the Frenchman and a runner-up place in the world championship for VBA as well as in the constructors’ championship. So far, so good for the troop leader, who has been able to identify everybody’s qualities and limits before tackling the Dakar: “There is a great atmosphere and they’ve made progress throughout the year. Adrien has regained confidence and speed as well, Ross has learned to ride more calmly, whilst Andrew is already a very complete rider with excellent strategic qualities, a safe bet”.

    DEATH OF KAREL LOPRAIS: THE CZECHS IN SHOCK

    On the day when scrutineering started, the truck category has lost one of its leading historical figures. Beset by ill health for the last few weeks, Karel Loprais passed away this morning in the Czech Republic, where he became a veritable hero after triumphing on the Dakar six times behind the wheel of his Tatra truck (in 1988, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999 and 2001). The driver from Ostrava was the pride of his country, where he was named road safety ambassador, and could also lay claim to a prestigious place in the history of the Dakar.

    Only Vladimir Chagin (with 7 titles) and Stéphane Peterhansel (with 14 titles) lie ahead of him on the roll of honour. Following his success on the tracks and dunes, he retained close links with the discipline, passing on his passion to all his family, especially his nephew Aleš, who is present today to undergo the checks prior to his 15th Dakar as a driver. The man who discovered the Dakar as navigator in his uncle’s crew emotionally explained: “He was an icon for us. He was the figurehead for motorsport and the truck category in the Czech Republic. We were constantly in touch because we build the trucks together. He would come and see us each morning to have a coffee and see how our “ladies” are doing, that’s what we call them. So, it’s a loss that can’t be described… but he will be here in our hearts with us on this rally. He was always positive about our chances, without giving me advice but simply telling me, ‘You know what you need to do’”. The Dakar organisation teams would like to present their sincere condolences to the family, friends and all those close to Karel Loprais, starting with the members of the Instaforex Loprais Praga Team.

    Czech Dakar hero Karol Loprais dead 30dec2021. Photo courtesy YouTube @WorldNewsAgency
  • First FIA-FIM Worlds begin at Dakar 2022; Rally-raids reach its apogee

    First FIA-FIM Worlds begin at Dakar 2022; Rally-raids reach its apogee

    Ø The Harith Noah of Kerala will be the only rider representing Indian in Dakar 2022. CS Santosh, the first Indian to compete and finish Dakar, in 2015 will be in Saudi Arabia to cheer up the Hero MotoSports team of three foreign riders.

    Ø  2022 season marks a turning point for rally-raids with the inception of World Championships consisting of the same five races for the FIA and FIM. After the show gets on the road with the start of the Dakar in Jeddah, the competition will head to Abu Dhabi in March, Kazakhstan in April, Andalusia in June and for the final round at Morocco in October.

    Ø  As soon as the news came out, the constructors with skin in the game jumped in to set the stage for this melodrama and a clash featuring the greatest champions. Expect to see a close-run and unpredictable competition in both the car and the motorbike categories.

    Ø  A total of 53 crews representing 6 constructors have already signed up for the FIA World Championship, while 15 bikers riding for 6 constructors have thrown their hats into the ring for the FIM World Championship.

    Jeddah, 30 Dec 2021: The stage is set for a mammoth battle. Most of the contenders on the start line of the 44th edition of the Dakar are taking up a challenge for the entire 2022 season in the hopes of claiming the world champion title at the end of the five rounds on the programme. In the car category, the four main teams will fight for the crown while some independent teams could manage to get some interesting results. The leading Dakar constructors are banking on their champions, starting with Nasser Al-Attiyah, who has won the competition five times in the “World Cup” format. Remarkably consistent throughout the season, the Qatari will face stiff competition from the likes of Sébastien Loeb, who has a shot at what would be his tenth FIA world championship after racking up nine consecutive WRC titles between 2004 and 2012. The concept of this serialised competition has also convinced his BRX teammate Joan “Nani” Roma to give it a go. Other rock-solid candidates such as Toyota’s Yazeed Al-Rajhi and X-Raid’s Jakub Przygoński have also picked up the gauntlet. Certain outsiders unused to shining throughout the season will now be in a position to take the fight to the favourites. This role is the perfect fit for drivers such as Mathieu Serradori and his SRT Racing buggies, as well as MD Rallye Sport’s Jean-Rémy Bergounhe and Guerlain Chicherit, who is back behind the wheel and, perhaps, back in business.

    Dakar2022 beckons. All the participants pose for a freeze and Harith Noah, will keep the Indian flag flying. An ASO image from DPPI / Julien Delfosse

    A look at the start list for the motorbike category also promises full-blown battles packed with emotions. Basking in the glow of his 2021 Dakar victory, KTM’s Kevin Benavides will be a man to watch, but his favourite status could be put in doubt as soon as January, not least by his teammate Matthias Walkner, the 2015 and 2021 world champion, but also by the other former Dakar winners riding Austrian motorbikes, Toby Price and Sam Sunderland. It goes without saying that Honda will also be in the mix, with Ricky Brabec as a dependable asset, but also with his new stablemate at the Japanese constructor, Pablo Quintanilla, who already tasted glory in 2016 and 2017. A strong performance on the Saudi tracks and dunes will be required to avoid being knocked out of contention in the first round. Harith Noah, who churned in a stunning performance in January 2021, in his second Dakar, finished Overall 20th, and it become the best-ever performance in the Indian Dakar history.

    The desire to hold jousts year-round has a lot to do with the champions, but rally raids also whet the appetite of private structures that race on the same terrain and also come out all guns blazing. The T3 and T4 categories have all the ingredients for a competition in which amateurs sometimes carry the day. For example, among the lightweight prototypes, Cristina Gutiérrez (OT3-Red Bull) and “Chaleco” López (CanAm-South Racing) will have to keep a close eye on candidates such as Jean-Luc Pisson (PH-Sport) and Annett Fisher (Yamaha), who intend to go the distance for all 5 rounds. Among the SSVs, Austin Jones (CanAm-South Racing) will also have his work cut out for him, with drivers such as the Italian Eugenio Amos and the young Lithuanian Rokas Baciuska snapping at his heels in equivalent machines.

    Finally, the launch of this new formula has given FIA the opportunity to create a separate category for trucks, for which new regulations have been devised. Two teams will be leading the charge and building momentum for the competition: Big Shock Racing Team, spearheaded by Czech Martin Macík, and Fesh-Fesh Team, with Albert Llovera at the helm.

  • Mumbai’s racer Manisha Kelkar, a step away from McLaren seat in GT Cup

    Mumbai’s racer Manisha Kelkar, a step away from McLaren seat in GT Cup

    Mumbai, 29 Dec. 2021: Mumbai’s Formula-4 racer Manisha Kelkar is one step away from becoming the first Indian woman to win a special McLaren driving seat for the year 2022.

    The popular actress passed all the assessment tests organised a few weeks back in the United Kingdom by Formula Woman. The results were announced this weekend, a press release revealed.

    ‘I am the only Indian to qualify from the worldwide hunt held in the UK.800 women from 16 countries took part making it one of the biggest talent hunts,’ Manisha said. ‘We all had to first pass tough written and fitness tests. Then, I had to showcase my driving technique and skills to inch closer to my dream,’ she added.

    Six ladies will earn fully-paid seats to compete in the prestigious McLaren GT Cup Championship in England. Two other Indian girls, who took part in a qualifying session in India itself, are likely to be part of the final round of selection.

    Formula Woman founder and CEO Graeme Glew confirmed Manisha’s selection in a mail. ‘Congratulations on becoming one of the select successful finalists. The finals will be held in the UK on March 2 and 3,’ he said.

    Manisha has been racing in the Indian National Racing Championship for the last three years. An avid motorsports lover, she has tried her hand at rallying too. She is keen on starting a racing academy to help other girls take up the exciting sport.

    ‘I have loved to race since I was a kid. It has opened many avenues for me and I want young girls to follow in my footsteps,’ she said, disclosing her future goals.

    Manisha is a well-known face in Bollywood. She has acted in several Hindi and Marathi movies and serials and is all set to host a new show on television.

    “It is good to see that more women are taking up motorsport seriously. Manisha is passionate about the sport & we wish her the best,” said Rayamond Banajee, former multiple National champion and the brain behind Rayo Racing Academy, where Manisha, sponsored by HPCL, will train in Mumbai for the next two months.

  • Harith Noah’s focus on finishing, as Dakar 2022 beckons

    Harith Noah’s focus on finishing, as Dakar 2022 beckons

    Saudi Arabia: It is the Sherco TVS, the name that brings in the only representation for India in the form of Harith Noah, who enshrined his name as the best Indian performer at Dakar, with a stunning 20th overall in 2021 last January, after becoming the third Indian at the Dakar behind CS Santosh and teammate Arvind KP. Along with another privateer, Ashishrao Rane, it makes four in the Indian history of Dakar Rally, the mother of all cross-country events, which acquired the status of a World Championship round this year. Watch Dakar2022 Teaser here.

    SHERCO TVS RALLY FACTORY

    • Mark : SHERCO FACTORY
    • Model : 450 SEF RALLY
    • Performance tuner : Sherco TVS Rally Factory
    • Assistance : Sherco TVS Rally Factory
    • Class : M_GP_NO

    Harith Noah, left for Saudi after Christmas, after training in Spain and France for over a month fine-tuning he navigation skills and all set for another edition astride a #20 Sherco 450 SEF Rally in his now popular red boots and the yellow and blue riding gear. “My focus continues to be to finish the Dakar 2022. I will take it day by day and stage by stage and will be looking to face all the issues and tackle the myraid problems as quick as I can… So the target is to cross the finish line once again,” said the 28-year TVS Racing talent, to this writer in a chat on the day he left for Jeddah. This will be the third consecutive Dakar for Noah, who had faced issues with the bike on Day 3 in his maiden Dakar in 2020, but was lucky for the new class, and he duly gained all the experience by finishing in the “Dakar Experience Class.” That stood him in good stead as he became the best Indian in 2021 with a stunning 20th Overall finish.

    But along with the Sherco TVS team which supports Harith Noah as a private entry, the Hero MotoSports team too fields three foreign riders to keep the Indian flag flying for it is the only Indian manufacturer at Dakar. Meanwhile, the Indian constructor Hero will have its work cut out for it to bag a podium spot now that former Yamaha man Franco Caimi has been forced to sit out this one after crashing during training. Sherco has a clearer path to the same goal with the Spaniard Lorenzo Santolino, backed up by the dependable Harith Noah from Shoranur in Kerala, the southern Indian state.

    Harith Noah gets #20 as his competition number for 2022 as Sherco launches the kit on Tuesday in Saudi Arabia for the three riders.

    Honda has won the two previous editions of Dakar rally in Saudi Arabia, courtesy of Ricky Brabec and Argentina’s Kevin Benavides, but KTM is hell-bent on regaining the upper hand, going as far as to sign the Argentinian reigning champion.

    Despite a drought that started last century, Yamaha is still banking on Adrien Van Beveren to restore the brand with the tuning forks to its former glory.

    The 34 riders in the “Original by Motul” class may not grab as many headlines as the big stars of the category but they embody the shared adventure of pros and amateurs in the Dakar and will also be vying for a coveted title.

    The scene has changed a lot in the interlude between the 2021 and 2022 acts of the Dakar, and while the actors of the January melodrama remain mostly the same, a few now wear different costumes. Saudi Arabia shook up the competition and ushered in a new era of dominance by Honda, which brought down the curtain on the KTM hegemony, first with Ricky Brabec in 2020 and then with Kevin Benavides in 2021.

    However, the Argentinian reigning champion’s move to the Austrian outfit has made rivals of the former teammates, who not even a year ago were standing next to Sam Sunderland on the podium in Jeddah. As well as boosting its firepower in a major way, KTM has deployed its resources masterfully by sending its champions to its cousins at Gas-Gas and Husqvarna. Kevin Benavides will form a trident with Toby Price and another biker clad in orange overalls, Matthias Walkner, perhaps the man of the season after winning the Silk Way Rally, the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge and the FIM World Championship.

    KTM’s sphere of influence extends to its Spanish ally, Gas-Gas, whose red bikes will be left to the care of Sam Sunderland and the up-and-coming Daniel Sanders, fourth last year in his first Dakar start.

    Meanwhile, Skyler Howes, fifth in 2021, has earned a spot on the Husqvarna factory team and is a credible title contender. Aware that the key battles are also decided behind the scenes, KTM has also recalled Marc Coma, one of its all-time stars, as a supervisor and strategist… The Austrians are bringing out the big guns!

     
    Honda is bound and determined to extend its victorious streak and has also landed a good catch in the transfer market. Ricky Brabec has stayed loyal to the Japanese brand, as has his teammate “Nacho” Cornejo, who crashed out of the overall lead two days before the finish in Jeddah. The young Chilean, who has made waves with his uncanny talent for navigation, will be riding alongside an older countryman, signing of the year Pablo Quintanilla, who adapted to his new machine so quickly that he has already claimed the Rallye du Maroc on it. Joan Barreda could also take over leadership duties depending on how the race unfolds. The most prolific active stage hunter in the category has a real shot at improving on his best finish so far (fifth in 2017) and even clinching the rally in his twelfth start.

    Lady Luck has not been kind to Yamaha riders in recent years, but they are still heading into the race with lofty ambitions. Their natural and historic leader, Adrien Van Beveren, remains as motivated as ever despite four consecutive withdrawals. The French biker has proved that he has racing on sand down to a science multiple times this season (second in the World Championship). He is joined by two dark horses, the American Andrew Short and the Botswanan Ross Branch, in a quest to bring Yamaha back to the top.

    Several young riders have already shown that they have what it takes to fight for the places of honour in their Dakar debut. 20-year-old American Mason Klein and 23-year-old South African Bradley Cox could steal the show on their first try, as could Italian Danilo Petrucci, now starting a new adventure in rally raids after a successful MotoGP career (two Grand Prix victories, sixth in the 2019 championship).


    Original by Motul: necessity is the mother of invention

    It is a band of companions, an oddball’s paradise and a field of fearsome competitors —all at the same time. “Original by Motul” bikers are nothing if not resourceful. They tackle the Dakar on its hardest difficulty setting by taking it upon themselves to maintain their bikes at the end of each stage. Seasoned veterans are joined by newcomers to the extreme “Original by Motul” challenge year after year. One thing is for sure: anyone would love to get their hands on this trophy.

    2022 should be a rematch for the same competitors who dominated the race in 2021. Lithuanian Arūnas Gelažninkas came out on top in his first outing in this class, beating 2020 champion Emanuel Gyenes and Benjamin Melot, who has finished on every step of the podium bar the top one.

  • I will be riding a nimble, lighter machine, says Harith Noah

    I will be riding a nimble, lighter machine, says Harith Noah

    Jeddah, 28 Dec 2022: The 44th edition of lthe Dakar will double as the opening round of the FIA and FIM World Rally-rid Championships for Cross-Country Rallying. India will be represented by a lone rider Harith Noah who says: “I will be riding a nimble, lighter machine.”

    The inclusion of the crown jewel of rally raids in a season-long competition offers a historic opportunity to unify the regulations of the sport an rise the profile year-round. ASO will be the Promoter of these Championships with the ambition to meet the high expectations of riders, co-drivers, and constructors, as well as viewers and fans who follow their exploits on screen.

    Round 1: Dakar, Saudi Arabia 1 to 14 Jan 2022;

    Round 2: Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, 5 to 10 March, 2022;

    Round 3: Rally Kazakhstan 25 to 30 April, 2022;

    Round 4: Andalucia Rally, 7 to 12 June 2022;

    Round 5 Rallye du Maroc 7 to 12 October 2022;

    Harith Noah – An interview from Dakar.com

    It took him two editions to learn and adapt but 6 years after CS Santosh, Harith Noah became the second Indian rider to reach the finish of the world’s toughest rally. Not only did he achieve his dream he also managed the best ever performance for an Indian claiming an excellent 20th overall position. In the footsteps of pioneers Santosh CS and Aravind Prabhakar, the young man from Shoranur in Kerala had a rather long journey before taking on rallies.

    It started on his sixteenth birthday when he was given a motorbike. A weekend later, he was racing and although he finished last of that first race, his passion grew. His first encounter with the Dakar came thanks to the video tapes his dad would bring back from his business trips all over the world. He was 5 years old then and far from imagining that he would be on the start line of the 2020 Dakar.

    Part of the Sherco TVS factory team, Noah’s first encounter with the race was a hard one. He was indeed forced to retire from the rally as soon as day 3 due to technical issues. But thanks to the new “Dakar Experience” that allows competitors to carry on while no longer being in the general classification, he was able to learn and gain experience. For his third attempt, the 28-year old will again be alongside his team mates Lorenzo Santolino and Rui Gonçalves with the simple goal to once again finish whatever his previous performance.

    “I got my first bike in 2009 and on the next weekend I was racing in the paddy fields by my house in Kerala. I fell in love with it immediately. Two years later I became national supercross champion in the privateer class,” says Harith Noah, the five-time Indian Supercross champion.

    “My focus was really on supercross, not the Dakar and then TVS got involved. Concerning last year’s Dakar: at the end of the day I can only ride as well as I can. I was actually surprised I was 20th. I am the same guy I was before 20th position. This one result doesn’t mean it is always going to be like this. So many things can go wrong. There are always going to be problems. It’s about how you overcome them.

    “I am in the best shape physically after over six months of training and riding at the beach in my hometown in Kerala post last Dakar. Since September, I have been in Europe to focus more on roadbooks and navigation training. Two weeks ago, the team went to Morocco again as it is a good place to train with the long roadbooks similar to the Dakar.

    “The bike is brand new and I will be riding a nimble, lighter machine that is easier to ride and much more comfortable in technical sections,” Noah concluded.

    The 12 Stages (SS) and distances at Dakar 2022 in Saudi Arabia
  • Anil Abbas and Sini win Mangaluru RRPM TSD event

    Anil Abbas and Sini win Mangaluru RRPM TSD event

    Mangaluru, 26 Dec 2021: RRPM Adventure Regularity Run, an Open event TSD rally sponsored by JK Tyre concluded here with local couple Anil Abbas and Sini Anil bagging the Overall Victory on Sunday. The event is also supported by AJ Hospital and Research Centre.

    Indian Motor Sports Club (IMSC), founded by celebrated navigator Musa Sherif and INRC rally co-driver Ashwin Naik, two decades back, handled the event meticulously. IMSC ran the event for Ramakrishna Race Performance Management (RRPM) of Kolkata in the coastal city of Mangaluru.

    Anil Abbas and his wife Sini completed the Time, Speed, Distance rally clocking a penalty time of 00:00:49 beating another local pair Dr Vikram Jain and navigator, a champion co-driver Shruptha Padival, a regular for Deam Mascarenhas in INRC (Dean did not take part in this TSD event). Vikram logged a penalty of 55, as they took 6 seconds more to complete the undisclosed course of the rally using the Road Book and maintaining the required slow speeds consistently. Anoop and Devakanth GM, missed the second place on the podium, by a narrow margin of one second, and came a creditable third.

    TSD specialist Lalitha Gowda (right) with a new driver in Manjula Gowda receiving the trophy from IMSC’s Mrs Ramya Ashwin.

    Akhil Nayak and Nausha KM came fourth ahead of Dr Raghavendra Pidamale and Muralidhara Rao in fifth. Popular pair of Manjula Gowda and Lalitha Naik, could only finish sixth. Another JK Tyre lady driver, a INRC regular, Athira Murali, a gifted AutoVlogger from Kerala, combined with Saumya PN, and it was a top-10 finish for the only all-ladies team. The Speed Demon from Kottayam must have found the pace too slow for her liking. TSD drivers get a speed chart according to which the navigators need to calculate the Time, Speed, Distance to match the average speeds in different sections, that are usually less than the normal road speeds for general traffic in that area. Navigators with the help of odometres and special devices calculate and follow the ‘tulip’, a road book with directions prepared by the Route Setter.

    Athira Murali (2nd from right) and Saumya (right), the all-ladies team at Mangaluru.

    IMSC are experts in Route survey, Time Control rallies, preparing Marshals, and doing Paper work for a rally, especially in preparing Supplementary Regulations. “We have organised many rallies in Karnataka, we are associated with many INRC events and other biggies like The Desert Storm, The Hornbill Rally of Nagaland, the Rally of Arunachal, and other events all over North-East region,” said Musa Sherif, who has completed 298 rallies till now as a motorsports athlete. Organisers of motor sports events look for Clubs like IMSC to run events professionally in India.

  • FMSCI statement: Rally de Vizag, INRC 4w season

    FMSCI statement: Rally de Vizag, INRC 4w season

    As expected, the Federation of Motors Sports Clubs of India (fmsci) released a Statement on the INRC 4w 2021 fiasco as the season failed to take off. However, it absolves itself and appears to have blamed only the Promoter for all the ills and the circumstances leaving the Drivers in the lurch. However, it has to be seen how much money would the Clubs receive to host the remaining three rounds.

    It is also clear that the privateers, drivers and teams, will not get any compensation as expected and demanded by the Promoter. Only solace for the Factory team drivers, as JK Tyre is likely to compensate the 8 or 9 drivers who are in Yellow colours. With not many in the Red colours, virtually all the other 45 will have to fend for themselves.

    Read Yesterday’s article here.