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Author: David Bodapati
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Maiden victory for Chirag Ghorpade in MRF F1600; Rishon day’s fastest driver
Chennai, 11 Dec. 2021: Sixteen-year-old 11th grade student of Bengaluru Chirag Ghorpade, drove a brilliant race to win his maiden race in the coveted MRF F1600 class in the second round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship at the MMRT, here on Saturday.
Ghorpade held off another 7-year old, Agra’s Shahan Ali Mohsin, for his maiden win in this category while Rishon Rajiv, 6, also from Bengaluru, finished third in the eight-lap race. Rishon became the fastest Driver of the day clocking 1:39.964. Ghorpade did a 39.8 on Thursday but was content in being consistent today and focused on his race victory. The trio was in a league of its own in a field that had quite a few experienced drivers.
“It was a tough race initially when Shahan caught up with me, but I realized that he was unable to narrow the gap any further and I managed to dictate the pace,” said Ghorpade who had earlier qualified for pole position.
Chirag Ghorpade after his maiden win in the MRF F1600 category (Dec 11) Photo: Anand Philar Meanwhile, Coimbatore veteran, defending champion Arjun Balu (Race Concepts), at 47, and in his 29th racing season, was in imperious form when easily winning the premier Indian Touring Cars race from pole position, while two Rayo Racing drivers from Hyderabad, Anindith Reddy and Jeet Jhabakh finished a distant second and third, respectively.
“Honestly, I was quite surprised by the pace of the car (Honda City) and by the end of the first lap, I was comfortably ahead. Thereafter, I decided to back off a bit and scaled down on my aggression. Yes, I am quite pleased with the performance,” Balu said.
Performance Racing’s Deepak Ravikumar from Chennai and Bengaluru’s Varun Anekar (Race Concepts) topped in the Super Stock and Indian Junior Touring Cars category, respectively.
Pole-sitter Viswas Vijayaraj (DTS Racing) from Vellore emerged a facile winner in the Formula LGB 1300 race that was marred by a red flag stoppage following a series of crashes, reducing it to just five laps.
Mumbai’s Fahad Kutty (Red Line Racing) and Coimbatore’s A Balaprasath (Quest Motorsport) shared the top honours in the two MRF Saloon Cars (Toyota Etios) races. In the second race, a Delhi-born Punjabi from Gurgoan won his maiden podium taking a second place in his debut week-end in real motorsports as the sim-racer is racing for the first time at MMSC.
The results (Provisional – all 8 laps unless mentioned):
The top three in MRF Saloon Cars race-2 – A Balaprasath (centre, winner), Justin Singht (left, second) and Fahad Kutty (third) at MMRT on 11 Dec 2021. Photo by Anand Philar MRF F1600 (Race-1): 1. Chirag Ghorpade (Bengaluru) (13mins, 32.919secs); 2. Shahan Ali Mohsin (Agra) (13:34.252); 3. Rishon Rajiv (Bengaluru) (13:35.164).
Indian Touring Cars (Race-1): 1. Arjun Balu (Race Concepts, Coimbatore) (15:19.312); 2. Anindith Reddy (Rayo Racing, Hyderabad) (15:46.386); 3. Jeet Jhabakh (Rayo Racing, Hyderabad) (15:54.693).
Super Stock (Race-1): 1. Deepak Ravikumar (Performance Racing, Chennai) (16:09.974); 2. Rithvik Thomas (Race Concepts, Bengaluru) (16:12.079); 3. RP Raja Rajan (Performance Racing, Chennai) (16:17.578).
Indian Junior Touring Cars (Race-1): 1. Varun Anekar (Race Concepts, Bengaluru) (16:04.162); 2. Charen Chandran (Pvt, Coimbatore) (16:25.674); 3. Hatim Shabbir Jamnagarwala (Performance Racing, Chennai) (15:30.132, 7 laps)
Formula LGB 1300 (Race-1, 5 laps): 1. Viswas Vijayaraj (DTS Racing, Nellore) (11:14.406); 2. Arya Singh (DTS Racing, Kolkata) (11:15.966); 3. Deepak Ravikumar (Momentum Motorsport, Chennai) (11:20.775).
MRF Saloon Cars (Toyota Etios – Race 1): 1. Fahad Kutty (Red Line Racing, Mumbai) (17:08.849); Jamie Shaw (Red Line Racing, Mumbai) (17:09.332); 3. Chandresh Tolia (Red Line Racing, Mumbai) (17:11.833);
Race 2: 1. A Balaprasath (Quest Motorsport, Coimbatore) (21:17.190); 2. Justin Singh (Quest Motorsport, Haryana) (21:17.925); 3. Fahad Kutty (Red Line Racing, Mumbai) (21:20.784).
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Jehan Daruvala’s victory shows mastery in defence
Abu Dhabi(UAE), December 11, 2021: Ace Indian racer Jehan Daruvala of Carlin Racing pulled off a sensational victory in Formula 2 at the Yas Marina Circuit on Saturday.
Watch the Indian National Anthem being sung at Abu Dhabi, video courtesy ChequeredFlag on twitter @CFmagIndia
Watch a brilliant defensive move here from Jehan Daruvala Twitter handle.
The main support race for the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix saw Jehan start on Pole (first), soak up immense pressure and eventually script his second victory and fifth podium in Formula 2 this year.
Jehan, part of the Red Bull Racing Junior Team, got off to an excellent start and held his lead in the short run down to Corner 1 of the 5.281km circuit. Behind, Dan Tictum slipped to fourth while Felipe Drugovich, starting third, gained a position to get into second.
Drugovich, then, started piling the pressure on Jehan. Twice on the first lap, the Brazilian managed to pull alongside Jehan, but the Indian held him at bay with some clever positioning of his car.
“After struggling in the early part of the weekend, it is fantastic to win here. I was under a lot of pressure in the first few laps as well as later on. But I remained confident and really enjoyed the racing. It’s a good result for the team, so thank you to everyone who has worked hard to make this happen. Starting tenth in the next race is going to be tough, but I will do my best,” said Jehan after his third win in Formula 2 races in two years.
Midway through the race, Drugovich again started piling on the pressure. He lunged down the inside of Jehan and almost shot ahead too. But Jehan stayed by his side till the corner, where he emerged ahead once again.
Initially, it seemed like Jehan had pushed his car and tyres too hard too early in the race to break the DRS opportunity for the drivers behind. But Jehan had, in fact, managed to absorb the immense pressure and repeated attacks while also preserving his tyre life. Towards the end of the race, Jehan opened up a small gap to Drugovich and kept increasing it.
Jehan comfortably won the race with a 2-second margin over Drugovich to earn his fifth podium of the season. Championship leader Oscar Piastri climbed up the order and finished third to win the 2021 Formula 2 title comfortably. The top ten from this race will be reversed for the start of Race 2, which means that Jehan will have to start tenth.
After showing tremendous pace and overtaking skills in Jeddah last weekend on the fastest street circuit on the F1 calendar, due to penalties in races, Jehan had missed out on a podium last weekend. This race was a strong comeback from the Indian star.
The Red Bull Junior driver, Daruvala, got a great launch when the lights went out, and he zoomed into the lead heading into Turn 1 and Drugovich followed behind him. “Yes, P1. I am really happy with the victory after a pretty tough race what with all the pressure behind,” said the Mumbai-born Indian.
Oscar Piastri completed a historic hat-trick in Sprint Race 1 at Yas Marina, running a superb race from 10th to third to seal the Formula 2 crown with a podium and add it to a collection that also includes the 2020 Formula 3 Championship and the 2019 Formula Renault trophy.
Carlin’s Jehan Daruvala beat UNI-Virtuosi’s Felipe Drugovich to take victory on track, but all eyes were locked on Piastri to see if he could wrap up the Championship. And the PREMA driver’s stylish performance was a fitting end to a phenomenal campaign, which includes five wins, 10 podiums and five poles.
Finishing fourth, Robert Shwartzman led Piastri for the majority of the 23 laps and put up a strong fight, but was unable to delay his teammate’s coronation, who joined Charles Leclerc and George Russell as rookie champions.
Liam Lawson, Dan Ticktum, Théo Pourchaire and Guanyu Zhou took the remaining points off offer, with tyre wear proving particular challenging in 38-degree track temperatures, which made overtaking difficult in the second half of the race.
AS IT HAPPENED
Daruvala, who started on pole in the reverse grid, following his 10th in the quualies, shot ahead with Drugovich in tow. The second Carlin of Dan Ticktum struggled offthe line, sinking to fourth, with Liam Lawson also getting the jump on him.Looking to wrap up the title at the earliest opportunity, Piastri was rapid at the start, lunging from 10th to sixth and putting himself directly behind his teammate Shwartzman, the one driver who could prevent him from clinching the crown.
The PREMAs were in fantastic form as the pair of them scampered ahead of Ticktum for a spot in the top five, before Shwartzman put some daylight between himself and Piastri, taking the final podium position from Lawson and putting the Hitech between himself and his teammate.
But Piastri swiftly responded, getting past Lawson on the following lap and returning to the tyre tracks of Shwartzman.
Daruvala and Drugovich were continuing their battle at the front of the field, as the Red Bull junior fought to ditch the UNI-Virtuosi and rid him of DRS.
All the while, Shwartzman was gaining on the pair of them, the PREMA driver cutting the gap from 3s to 1.5s within a lap, as Virtuosi pressured Drugovich to get the move done on team radio.
Shwartzman appeared in his mirrors, and this gave Drugovich the nudge he needed to make a move on Daruvala, but the Brazilian couldn’t make it stick. Initially getting in front at Turn 8, the Carlin responded and pulled back ahead at Turn 9 to retain P1.
There wasn’t too much going on behind them, with the majority of the field in a battle with their heavily degrading Pirelli, as Lawson led Ticktum, Pourchaire, Zhou, Ralph Boschung and Marcus Armstrong in the remainder of the top 10.
Piastri and Shwartzman had looked pretty settled in third and fourth, gently managing their tyres, but Piastri spotted a late opportunity and decided to take it, firing his PREMA down the inside of Shwartzman at Turn 9. The Russian attempted to fight back as Piastri locked up, but he was unable to reclaim the position as the champion-in-waiting began to pull away.
The Australian had one eye on second place but ran out of laps with just one to go. Daruvala led Drugovich and Piastri across the line for his second win of the season. Shwartzman finished fourth ahead of Lawson, with Ticktum, Pourchaire and Zhou finishing in the final points’ positions.
“Back on the top step after a disappointing weekend in Jeddah where I didn’t take many points, so it is good to start off the weekend with a victory. We weren’t too strong in Quali, but our race pace looked pretty strong.
“I had a great battle with Felipe (Drugovich) at one point and we were side-by-side for a couple of corners, but I managed to stick it out in front. The car felt good, and I just took it to the chequered flag.
“Congratulations to Oscar (Piastri), I didn’t think that I would see him on the podium from 10th, but a big well done to him, he has dominated the whole year.”
THE CHAMPIONSHIP VIEW
Piastri clinches the Championship with a tally of 227.5 points, with Shwartzman in second on 170 and Zhou third with 150. Ticktum is fourth with 143.6 points and Pourchaire fifth on 126.
In the Teams’ Championship, PREMA Racing are champions with 397.5 points, ahead of Carlin on 254.5 and UNI-Virtuosi on 234. Hitech are fourth with 215 points, ahead of ART Grand Prix on 176.
WHAT’S NEXT?
After finishing 10th, Marcus Armstrong will be bidding to take his second victory in as many rounds when he lines up from reverse grid pole in Sprint Race 2. Ralph Boschung will join the DAMS’ driver on the front row of the reverse grid at 6.45pm local time.
Action from FIA Formula 2 – Yas Marina, Abu Dhabi – Sprint Race 2 will LIVE on EUROSPORT and EUROSPORT HD from 20:15 Hrs (08:15 pm IST) onwards on Saturday, 11th December, 2021. Eurosport channel can now be streamed on the discovery+ app.
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Chirag Ghorpade dominates the proceedings in F1600
Chennai, 10 Dec 2021: Sixteen-year Bengaluru schoolboy Chirag Ghorpade dominated the proceedings in the MRF F1600 class by posting a couple of stunning time to become the fasted driver of the day while defending champion Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) from Coimbatore survived a dramatic spin and emerged the fastest among saloon cars as the second round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship commenced at the MMRT, here on Friday.
Ghorpade, only 16, did 01 minute, 39.809 in the first practice session and went even quicker in the second, clocking 01:39.761. His arch-rival, Shahan Ali Mohsin, the teenager from Agra, who leads Ghorpade in the championship standings following his double in the first round, matched the timing with a 01:39.937 in the morning run, but was way off the pace in the second session due to gearbox issues and was placed ninth.
“I am quite happy with my lap times today, though I need to improve a bit in the first sector,” said Ghorpade.
Earlier, Balu topped both the practice sessions in the premier Indian Touring Cars class. He clocked a best lap of 01:51.680 in the first outing this morning and bettered it with a 01:51.308 in the afternoon despite a vicious spin that led to a brief red flag period.
Defending champion Arjun Balu (39), the quickest among saloon cars on Friday in Free Practice 10 Dec 2021 at Madras Motor Race Track. Photo by Anand Philar “We made some setup changes for the second practice session. There was far too much grip in the front and I spun, but am happy that I could still post a quick lap thereafter,” said Balu.
In the Formula LGB 1300 category, Viswas Vijayaraj from Nellore, Andhra Pradesh, clocked 01:53.143 in the second practice session for the best lap. It improved on his 01:54.159 in the earlier outing which his DTS Racing team-mate from Kolkata, Arya Singh, topped (01:53.993).
Bangladesh’s Aiman Sadat (01:57.049) was the quickest in the Volkswagen Polo class as he topped both the practice sessions that promise close battles this weekend with half-a-dozen drivers covered by less than one second.
In the MRF Saloon Cars category (Toyota Etios) that has a grid of 21, Ahmedabad’s Akshay Gupta posted the best lap of 02:05.257 over two practice sessions.
The qualifying sessions for all categories followed by five races will be run on Saturday.
About Madras Motor Sports Club
Since its humble beginnings in 1953, the Madras Motor Sports Club has grown in stature as the hub of motorsport activity in India. Having moved its racing activities from Sholavaram to its present location, the MMRT circuit in Sriperumbudur in 1979, MMSC has kept pace with changing times by upgrading facilities. At a cost of about Rs 20 Crore, the MMSC built a pit complex comprising 20 garages, VIP hospitality suites and a viewing gallery, on the eastern side, apart from a second Paddock on the western side with its own short circuit. Parallelly, MMSC imported timing equipment specifically for Drag racing. The Control Room too was upgraded with state-of-the-art hardware while the track itself was improved to meet the exacting FIA standards for Grade-2 certification. MMSC also constructed a 500-capacity grand stand with provision for garages / storage below. In another upgrade, the MMSC purchased Digi flags from TAG Heuer Chronolec that will be positioned strategically around the track. The facilities are also extensively used by various vehicle manufacturers for testing their products, displays and corporate days.
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Hamilton quickest in FP2: Final GP to decide champ
Yas Marina (Abu Dhabi), 10 Dec 2021: Lewis Hamilton went quickest in second practice for Formula 1’s championship showdown at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina circuit, with the seven-time champion finishing ahead of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas.
Hamilton’s title rival Max Verstappen finished fourth, more than six tenths of behind the Briton as Kimi Raïkkönen crashed heavily in the final moments of the session.
Bottas set the early pace on medium tyres with a lap of 1:25.339. McLaren’s Lando Norris, on soft tyres, then took over in P1 with a time of 1:25.153, before Hamilton moved to the top of the order with a lap of 1:25.127.
After a slight lull, during which Norris briefly moved back to P1, Hamilton found more pace and retook P1 with a lap of 1:24.943 before working down to best of 1:24.126 as the firstr quarter of the hour passed. Hamilton’s best time put him nearly a second clear of Verstappen who had a lap deleted for exceeding track limits.
There was a nervouse moment for Bottas when his clipped the wall on the exit of Turn 14 but he was able to return to the pits to have the damage assessed.
The Finn soon retunred to the action on soft tyres but he was unable to better Hamilton’s medium tyres time, ending up 0.146s adrift. Bottas made another attempt, however, took top spot with a lap of 1:24.083.
Hamilton and Verstappen then appeared on the softs, but neither was able to better Bottas’ time. Ocon then delivered a surprise by posting a lao of 1:24.034 to take P1 for Alpine.
Verstappen went for anther lap but again couldn’t find sufficient pace. Hamilton made two further attempts and after falling short on his second attempt his third of 1:23.691 at last netted him P1 That put him 0.343s clear of Ocon, with Bottas 0.392s back and Verstappen down by 0.641s.
Sergio Pérez finished fifth in the second Red Bull, ahead of Alpine’s Fernando Alonso AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, the Ferrari cars of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz and the second AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly.
With just over one minute left on the clock Räikkönen crashed. The Finn lost the rear of his car in Turn 14 and he slide into the barriers severely damaging both ends of his Alfa Romeo. The session was red-flagged and was not restarted.
2021 FIA Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:23.691 26 227.164
2 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:24.034 0.343 29 226.236
3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:24.083 0.392 29 226.105
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 1:24.332 0.641 25 225.437
5 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda 1:24.400 0.709 26 225.255
6 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 1:24.495 0.804 27 225.002
7 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda 1:24.532 0.841 26 224.904
8 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:24.557 0.866 29 224.837
9 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:24.844 1.153 29 224.077
10 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 1:24.940 1.249 27 223.823
11 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 1:24.959 1.268 26 223.773
12 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:25.108 1.417 27 223.382
13 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:25.153 1.462 27 223.264
14 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:25.195 1.504 27 223.153
15 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:25.385 1.694 26 222.657
16 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:25.440 1.749 23 222.514
17 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 1:25.549 1.858 29 222.230
18 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 1:25.687 1.996 22 221.872
19 Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 1:25.784 2.093 27 221.621
a20 Nikita Mazepin Haas/Ferrari 1:26.336 2.645 26 220.204 -
Jehan Daruvala, P10, but starts on pole for
Abu Dhabi, 10 Dec 2021: Ace Indian driver Jehan Daruvala who qualified P10 will start on Pole in the Saturday’s race. Prema Racing’s Oscar Piastri capped off his final Formula 2 Qualifying session with a fifth successive pole position, lapping at 1:35.077 to add four points to his Championship tally and move one step closer to securing the Drivers’ title. MP Motorsport rookie Jack Doohan continued his impressive start to life in the second tier by securing a spot on the front row, ahead of UNI-Virtuosi’s Guanyu Zhou.
“We made a big step forward after practice today, but it was a mixed qualifying session with P10. That means we start on pole today,” said Jehan Daruvala after the qualifying session. “Looking forward to a good race,” added the Red Bull Junior driver.
As they have been for much of the season, PREMA were the early pace setters, with Piastri setting 1:36.044 to head Robert Shwartzman and Jehan Daruvala under the lights in Abu Dhabi.
There were plenty of improvements as the field headed off for their second set of flyers, but there was no change to the name at the top of the timesheets, with Piastri retaining P1.
This time around, he was followed by the Campos of Ralph Boschung, who ducked into second, three tenths off the leading pace of 1:35.379. Shwartzman had to settle for third, with Daruvala and Doohan rounding out the top five.
There weren’t any improvements on the third tour of the Yas Marina Circuit as the tyre began to wane and the grid opted to head into the pits for a freshen up.
Armed with a shiny set of fresh Super Softs, the 22-strong field headed back out knowing they had a maximum of two laps to nail their tour of the track. Boschung was the first to attempt a push lap on the new tyres, improving to within a tenth of Piastri.
Piastri was unable to improve himself and this presented an opportunity to his teammate, Shwartzman, who was still chasing a first pole in F2. The Russian shaved off more than two tenths but was still 0.059s away from P1.
The second set of push laps were stronger as Doohan and Guanyu Zhou briefly jumped to first and second, putting the pressure on Piastri to find the time he couldn’t on his last run. Not that there was ever much doubt, the Championship leader responded emphatically, setting a purple first sector to steal the position back by more than two tenths.
Doohan settled for a spot on the front row in just his second round at this level, ahead of Zhou and Shwartzman. Boschung completed the top five, beating Théo Pourchaire and Liam Lawson.
Finishing 10th, Jehan Daruvala will start from pole on the reverse grid of Sprint Race 1, ahead of Dan Ticktum and Felipe Drugovich. Action gets started at 12.20pm local time on Saturday.
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Al Attiyah-Baumel take control in Saudi Arabia: Hail Rally
9 Dec 2021: Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel are closing in on another title in the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies, with the duo leading the Hail Rally after the opening two days of competition. Jakub Przygonski and Timo Gottschalk have moved into second, with the all-Russian crew of Denis Krotov and Konstantin Zhiltsov third in a similar MINI John Cooper Works Buggy.
The final and decisive round of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies got underway on Wednesday with the first of four selective sections in the spectacular deserts of Saudi Arabia. The opening second-longest section of the rally was trouble-free for Al-Attiyah and Baumel with the Qatari/French pairing claiming the fastest time in the 258-kilometre stage. Today, the Toyota Gazoo Racing crew again took important leg points with second on the longest section of the rally – 314 kilometres – to lead the pack by seven minutes and 24 seconds with two legs remaining.
Przygonski and Gottschalk are second mid-way through the event. The Polish/German crew dropped time yesterday with a navigation issue, finishing third, but bounced back today to claim the stage win by 59 seconds. Krotov and Zhiltsov have been on fine form, the Russians claiming second yesterday, but fourth today dropped them behind Przygonski by just under two minutes. Sebastian Halpern and Bernardo Graue are the third Buggy crew in the top four overall.
Vladimir Vasilyev and Oleg Uperenko dropped a position today after claiming fourth overall yesterday. The Russian BMW X5 crew lost nearly 11 minutes to the leader on SS2 and are nearly 20 minutes adrift of the overall lead. Title contenders Lucio Alvarez and Armand Monleon now have an uphill task ahead of them as they sit in sixth overall in their Toyota Hilux Overdrive.
For Yazeed Al Rajhi, newly-crowned champion of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas*, it was a disappointing event and the Saudi Arabian withdrew after the opening leg having lost too much time with a gearbox issue to challenge for the win.T4 drivers once again feature in the overall top 10 with Poland’s Michal Goczał holding a fine seventh overall and leading the category ahead of his brother and fellow Can-Am driver, Marek. Australian Molly Taylor, category leader last night, dropped time today and slipped to third in T4.
Abdullah Saleh Alsaif leads T3 by an impressive 29 minutes and six seconds after setting another fastest time today. He heads female drivers Mashael Al-Obaidan, Annett Fischer and Dania Akeel, who broke a steering arm on the opening day.
The battle for top honours continues over another two legs before the finish of the final round of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies on Saturday.
* Subject to the official publication of the results by the FIA.
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Chance for young guns, Sahan, Ruhaan to showcase their talent: MMSC races
Chennai, 8 Dec. 2021: After a break of close to three months, the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship 2021 will resume with Covid-19 safety protocols in place at the MMRT here on Friday, December 10, with a 12-race programme scheduled for the weekend and some 100 entrants in the fray across various categories.
Two young guns who stood out in the first round were teenagers Shahan Ali Mohsin from Agra and Bengaluru’s Ruhaan Alva, both products of the National karting championships. Shahan won two of the three races in the MRF F1600 category while Ruhaan (MSport) was adjudged “best rookie” in the Formula LGB 1300.
The MRF F1600 will headline the weekend card with a triple-header, while the Formula LGB 1300, the Saloon Cars (Indian Touring Cars, Super Stock, Indian Junior Touring Cars) and Volkswagen Polo will have two races apiece in the three-day event.
Of equal significance is the entry-level MRF Saloon Cars category, featuring Toyota Etios. Last season, it made a debut in the National championship, promoted by the Madras Motor Sports Club, with just six entries, but now boasts of a grid of 25 cars representing two teams – the Red Line Racing India and Quest Motorsports. The MRF Saloon Cars skipped the first round in September this year, and will offer nine races spread over three rounds. Vehicles in all categories will run on MRF tyres.
MMSC president Ajit Thomas, while welcoming the participants for the second round, said: “At the outset, we need to celebrate the fact that we are able to conduct the championship during this challenging period of the pandemic. It is even more heartening that despite current situation, an increasing number of youngsters are taking to motor racing if one were to go by the spike in entries with each round. The first round in September witnessed the emergence of young talent and we hope they will continue to the perform. Our thanks also to our sponsors, MRF Tyres for their active involvement in the championship.”
As usual, the highly competitive saloon car races are likely throw up some exciting finishes, notably in the premier Indian Touring Cars class where Race Concepts’ Arjun Balu from Coimbatore, the defending champion, will be again up against Rayo Racing pair of Anindith Reddy and Jeet Jhabakh (both Hyderabad).
The MMRT circuit stood up well to the recent record monsoon rains and looked to be in good trim to host the weekend’s programme.
About Madras Motor Sports Club
Since its humble beginnings in 1953, the Madras Motor Sports Club has grown in stature as the hub of motorsport activity in India. Having moved its racing activities from Sholavaram to its present location, the MMRT circuit in Sriperumbudur in 1979, MMSC has kept pace with changing times by upgrading facilities. At a cost of about Rs 20 Crore, the MMSC built a pit complex comprising 20 garages, VIP hospitality suites and a viewing gallery, on the eastern side, apart from a second Paddock on the western side with its own short circuit. Parallelly, MMSC imported timing equipment specifically for Drag racing. The Control Room too was upgraded with state-of-the-art hardware while the track itself was improved to meet the exacting FIA standards for Grade-2 certification. MMSC also constructed a 500-capacity grand stand with provision for garages / storage below. In another upgrade, the MMSC purchased Digi flags from TAG Heuer Chronolec that will be positioned strategically around the track. The facilities are also extensively used by various vehicle manufacturers for testing their products, displays and corporate days.
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Qatar’s Al Attiyah, Argentina’s Alvares after World Cup glory
HAIL (Saudi Arabia), 7 Dec 2021: Competitive action gets underway at the Hail Cross-Country Rally, the final round of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies, on Wednesday morning.
Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and Argentina’s Lucio Alvarez both drive V8-engined Toyota Hiluxes, built in conjunction with Toyota Gazoo Racing and Overdrive Racing, and they will go head-to-head to decide the outcome of the 2021 FIA World Cup Drivers’ Championship.
To win his first FIA World Cup title, Alvarez needs to overturn a 28-point deficit. The Argentine will need to win the rally outright and score at least three additional bonus points for daily stage performances and, even then, the outcome will depend on whether Al-Attiyah finishes lower than eighth overall and fails to secure a single bonus point.
Al-Attiyah said: “I won in Hail back in 2008 and 2011 and with Matthieu (Baumel), my current co-driver, we won the first of the Bajas last December. We will do our best to take the win again and seal the championship. We have a good car. The rally is also very useful experience for us before the Dakar Rally in January.”
It’s a big ask for Alvarez, but the battle has at least confirmed that Overdrive Toyotas should fill the top two places in the points’ standings unless Russia’s Denis Krotov can seal a top four result and Alvarez fails to finish. Krotov drives an X-Raid Mini and starts the rally four points adrift of local hero Yazeed Al-Rajhi. The Saudi knows that a top finish could also see him overhaul Alvarez and snatch second place in the series.
Hoping to upset the applecart and challenge for honours in their own right are the Orlen Team’s Jakub Przygonski and Argentina’s Sebastien Halpern in their X-raid Minis and Czech driver Miroslav Zapletal in a Ford F-150. Former Spanish enduro rider Laia Sanz also joins the German X-raid team to drive a Mini John Cooper Works Rally in readiness for the Dakar challenge that awaits.
With the FIA T3 and T4 Championships already settled in favour of Spain’s Cristina Gutierrez and America’s Austin Jones, pride and pre-Dakar experience are at stake in both the hotly-contested categories.
Eight teams line up in the T3 section, with Russian Pavel Lebedev leading the way in his Can-Am and facing competition from local favourite Saleh Al-Saif, fellow Saudis, Mashael Al-Obaidan, Dania Akeel, Esra Aldkheil and Hamed Al-Harbi, Germany’s Annett Fischer and Uzbekistan’s Anvar Ergashev.
“This is a great opportunity for me to test for Dakar,” said Al-Obaidan. “This is my third race after Sharqiya and Aragón in Spain. It’s the first time that Jacopo (Cerutti), my co-driver, and I participate together. I’ve been here a couple of times but never in an official race. There are three Saudi females, including myself. The sport is really booming here. I believe there is a really bright future in the Kingdom for everyone.”
Six crews will battle it over the next four days for T4 honours. South Racing Middle East’s Thomas Bell tops the field and faces competition from Poland’s Marek and Michal Goczal, Kuwait’s Meshari Al-Thefiri, Australia’s Molly Taylor and Ukraine’s Levgen Kovalevych.
There is also a National Rally running behind the main FIA rally, a separate event for motorcycles and quads, a truck category and dispensation for several 2022 specification machines to compete with teams carrying out pre-Dakar testing.
Czech WRC star Martin Prokop wheels out the latest Ford Raptor Cross-Country, running under the Benzina Orlen Team banner, both Frenchman Ronan Chabot and Argentina’s Juan Cruz Yacopini try out Overdrive Racing’s latest Toyota Hilux T1+ and Sweden’s Sebastien Eriksson gets his hands on the latest T3-2022 South Racing Can-Am Maverick.
The Hail Cross-Country Rally is being organised by the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation (SAMF) under the supervision of the Hail Regional Development Authority in co-operation with the General Authority for Tourism and National Heritage and the General Authority for Sport.
Tomorrow (Wednesday), competitors tackle the first of four selective sections through the Al-Nafud desert. The competitive stage starts 82.59km from Rally HQ, includes a passage control and refuelling point after 173km and runs for 258.14km. A liaison of 47.31km guides competitors back to the bivouac.
FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies – driver standings:
1. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT) 92.5 pts
2. Lucio Alvarez (ARG) 64.5pts
3. Yazeed Al-Rajhi (SAU) 57pts
4. Denis Krotov (RUS) 53pts
5. Mattias Ekström (SWE) 27pts, etc
FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies – co-driver standings:
1. Matthieu Baumel (FRA) 92.5 pts
2. Armand Monleón (ESP) 64.5 pts
3. Konstantin Zhiltsov (RUS)53 pts
4. Michael Orr (GBR) 35.5 pts
5. Emil Bergvist (SWE) 27 pts, etc
FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies – T3:
1. Cristina Gutierrez (ESP) 90.5 pts
2. Fernando Alvarez (ESP) 76.5 pts
3. Pavel Lebedev (RUS) 53.5 pts, etc
FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies – T4:
1. Austin Jones (USA) 98.5pts
2=. Eugenio Amos (ITA) 55pts
2=. Kees Koolen (NLD) 55pts, etc
Ends
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Hemanth Muddappa of Mantra Racing sets National Drag record at Amby Valley
Amby Valley (Maharashtra), 7 Dec 2021: Multiple National Drag Racing champion Hemanth Muddappa of Mantra Racing notched up another feature in his cap with a National record in the above 600cc unrestricted open foreign bikes category in the mega FMSCI licensed Drag event, the 9th edition of The Valley Run (TVR) organised for two-wheelers and four-wheelers by Elite Octane that attracted a record over 500 entries at the Amby Valley airstrip in Lonavala on Sunday.
The 31-year Coorgi based in Bengaluru, beat the National record for this category held by Andhra Pradesh’s Satyanarayan Raju record of 9.522sec set last year at the same event and track.
Mumbai’s Atharva Achrekar on a Kawasaki zx10R won the 851 to 1050cc in 10.083sec beating Avinash Y, who clocked 10.155. Iqbal Sheikh won the third position in a time of 10.182 in a grid of 34 bikes.
But in the 1050cc to 1650cc event, Hemanth Muddappa took his second gold clocking 9.684 to become the only rider to dip under 10-sec mark. He beat Vignesh Purushotham who timed 10.035 to second and Hafiz Ulla Khan finished third in 10.235. All three from Bengaluru swept the top three places on a Hayabusa in a grid of 17 bikes.
Hemanth Muddappa won the Ribbon Event, the Foreign Open Unrestricted class for bikes above 600cc, zooming to the gold in 9.508 as he stripped off a good one-10th of a second from his last year’s gold time of 9.677seconds, which is considered a mountain in drag racing. The fitness freak astride his black Suzuki Hayabusa built by Mantra Racing beat a host of riders and the quarter mile record that stood in the name of Vizag racer. Iqbal Sheikh of Mumbai finished second in 9.829 while Vaibhav Mhatre came third in 10.038. Both were also riding a Suzuki GSX.
A Mega Drag event, The Valley Run, 9th edition attracting over 500 bikes and cars was held at Amby Valley and concluded on Sunday. Elite Octane file photo “It always take a lot out of me to prepare such events. This is a mega event with hundreds of bikes and the track has an international standard with the approved exact quarter-mile distance of 400.2 metres. I am glad to beat this record, thanks to my beauty of a machine prepared by Sharan of Mantra Racing,” said a beaming Muddappa, who topped a grid of 30 riders in this class.
Muddappa, who became the 2020 National Drag Champion for the fourth successive year in the top two classes also beat his own National record this year again on October 3 at the FMSCI National Drag Championship in the 850cc to 1049cc class. With this record today, the Sharan (Mantra Racing) and Hemanth Muddappa combination holds the Drag records at all circuits in India.
“Yes, it is an FMSCI recognised event and he holds the record now for all the circuits,” confirmed Pratap Jayaram, chairman, FMSCI Drag Commission.
In the two-wheeler section which received an overwhelming response of over 300 participants in 14 different classes, the top three classes saw some stunning machines thrill the crowds. The event was run by Elite Octane Inc, a Mumbai-based Motorsports Club affiliated to FMSCI.
Eleven other classes were also held for bikes and prizes were given away till late night on Sunday.
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Drama-filled maiden Saudi GP leaves title rivals level on points
Lewis Hamilton took his third consecutive victory for the first time this season in a drama filled first ever Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, ahead of title rival Max Verstappen in P2. Both title protagonists are level on points heading into the season finale. Valtteri Bottas completed the podium as he got past Esteban Ocon just before the finish line on the last lap.
London, 6 December 2021: Both Mercedes cars started on the front row with Max Verstappen starting in P3. Everyone got off to a clean start as the Silver Arrows maintained formation, Lewis Hamilton leading Valtteri Bottas. Bottas job was to keep Verstappen at bay behind in P3. Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc maintained P4 ahead of second Red Bull of Sergio Perez who was unable to pass the Monegasque.
The race turned over its head on lap 10 as Mick Schumacher hit the barrier at turn 23. A safety car was called out to neutralise the race as both Hamilton and Bottas pitted for hard tyres to save time while Verstappen stayed out and assumed the lead of the race. Soon the FIA red flagged the race, a controversial decision but nonetheless safety is paramount.It meant that Verstappen would get a free tyre change and would lead the grand prix when resumed.
Graphic by Pirelli It was a standing start as the racing resumed on lap 15. Hamilton got an electric start from P2 as he went past Verstappen. But the Dutchman broke late, going off at turn 1 and then cut in front of Hamilton at turn 2, as a result both ran wide and Verstappen maintained the lead while Esteban Ocon got past Hamilton for P2. Behind there was carnage. Perez was tagged by Leclerc as the Ferrari driver had no where to go. This incident wiped out Perez’s front wing and damaged the transmission. Further back, George Russell slowed to avoid the spinning Perez as Nikita Mazepin collided in the back of the Williams driver, spewing a large amount of debris.
Graphic by Pirelli Another red flag was called out as the marshals cleared the cars and track. Meanwhile in the pits, negotiations were taking place between FIA, Mercedes and Red Bull over Verstappen’s illegal move at the second start. Ultimately all parties deciding that Ocon would start on pole, Hamilton would inherit P2 and Verstappen would start P3.
Having had poor starts the first two times, Verstappen chose the medium tyres instead of hardsfor the third restart, to go to the end of the race and so did Bottas. Hamilton stuck to hard tyres as Mercedes thought they will have better wear compared to the mediums.
Once again, Hamilton had a better start compared to Ocon in P1. Hamilton tried to cover Ocon, but Verstappen dived down the inside, sandwiching Hamilton between himself and Ocon. Thus, Verstappen assumed the lead with Ocon in P2 and Hamilton in P3. Behind, Bottas tried to get past McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo. By the end of the lap Hamilton eased past Ocon and resumed his charge to catch Verstappen.
There were three virtual safety car periods between laps 28 and 36 to pick up debris from Sebastian Vettel’s Aston Martin as he and Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen came together resulting in carbon fiber confetti.
By the time VSC ended, Hamilton was within a second and hot on the heels of Verstappen. He got DRS and pulled alongside the Dutchman on the outside on lap 37. Going into turn 1, Hamilton was slightly ahead but Verstappen broke late and went wide, Hamilton to avoid collision went wide as well and joined the track at turn 2. Meanwhile, Verstappen simply cut turn 2 and emerged with a bigger lead than he had before. Hence, he was instructed to give the position back and the lead to Hamilton.
Hamilton shines under the moon in the first Saudi Arabian GP on Sunday. Pirelli photo It was a bizarre sight as Verstappen slowed down to let Hamilton by, but the Briton had no idea about that, hence, he slowed down a well. Both drivers not wanting to cross the DRS detection line first as the car behind would get DRS. Then Verstappen seemed to brake check Hamilton as the Mercedes’ front collided with the Red Bull’s rear. Post- race investigation of the incident resulted in Verstappen getting an additional 10s-time penalty. The resultant collision damaged Hamilton’s front wing but the wing did not lose its integrity.
Race control once again told Verstappen to give up the place on lap 42. The Dutchman did so at the last corner, but immediately overtook him. Hence, again the Red Bull driver was instructed to give up the position on lap 43. This time Hamilton pushed Verstappen wide at the last corner and maintained the lead. From here on Hamilton extended his lead as Verstappen suffered with higher tyre wear. He was further awarded a 5s time penalty for going off the track and gaining an advantage on lap 37- where he pushed Hamilton off the track as well. From there on Hamilton comfortably won the race, even with a damaged front wing while Verstappen consolidated P2. Bottas at the last moment won a drag race against Ocon as he clinched the final podium position.
The win plus fastest lap for Hamilton meant that he was equal on points with Verstappen heading into the season finale at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in a week’s time. Meanwhile, Mercedes extended their lead in the constructor’s championship to 28 points.
Ocon had to settle for P4 ahead of McLaren’s Ricciardo in P5, AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly outraced both Ferrari’s to finish P6 as Charles Leclerc finished P7 and Carlos Sainz finished P8. Outgoing Alfa Romeo driver Antonio Giovinazzi finished P9 ahead of Lando Norris in P10, the McLaren driver not finishing higher than ninth in the last four races.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll missed out on points as he finished in P11. Williams’ Nicholas Latifi crossed the line in P12 ahead of Alpine’s Fernando Alonso in P13. Yuki Tsunoda looked to score points but his coming together with Vettel meant he finished P14 ahead of Raikkonen in P15.
The non-finishers were Vettel, Perez, Mazepin, Russell and Schumacher.
Mercedes had the faster car in race trim but struggled to switch on the soft tyres in qualifying. They did lock out the front row owing to Verstappen’s crash into the last corner as he was up by more than two and a half tenths. Mercedes and Hamilton have now won the last three races and with Hamilton equal on points and the momentum with them, Silver Arrows have a good chance to wrap up both championships. Red Bull focused more on qualifying this weekend and it showed as they had a superior car in one lap pace. They were slower in the race compared to Mercedes as they had a straight-line speed deficit as well as medium tyres wore faster than the hards.
Alpine struggled with qualifying pace as their highest position was P9. But come race day they made the most of red flags and Ocon ran in the top three for majority of the race, Alonso struggled partly due to his electric deployment not working properly and then having a spin midway through the grand prix. McLaren once again struggled in qualifying compared to immediate rivals Ferrari but again made the best use of stoppages as Ricciardo was able to finish P5. Norris lost out on positions due to pitting under the safety car and then a red flag being deployed. He was also caught out on the Perez-Leclerc incident as he had to slow down and fell to the back of the grid. Ferrari showed tremendous qualifying pace, especially in the hands of Leclerc who outqualified Perez’s Red Bull. They had decent race pace as well, achieving another double points finish and looking like they have cemented P3 over McLaren in the constructor’s championship.
AlphaTauri’s Gasly showed superior race pace compared to the Ferrari cars as he finished in P6. Tsunoda too showed pace to finish in the top 10 had he not collided with Vettel. Alpine looked to have cemented P5 over AlphaTauri in the constructor’s championship. Aston Martin had a race to forget as they showed dismal qualifying pace, both cars getting knocked out in Q1 and no car finishing in points. Giovinazzi had a brilliant race for Alfa Romeo as they close the gap to Williams in Eighth with one race to go. Williams once again were unable to score points as they lacked pace to challenge the top 10. The Haas car struggle this weekend with it being difficult to drive around this high-speed circuit.
Saturday Qualifying Results were:
P1: Lewis Hamilton- 44 (Mercedes) P2: Valtteri Bottas- 77 (Mercedes) P3: Max Verstappen -33 (Red Bull) P4: Charles Leclerc- 16 (Ferrari) P5: Sergio Perez- 11 (Red Bull) P6: Pierre Gasly- 10 (AlphaTauri) P7: Lando Norris- 4 (McLaren) P8: Yuki Tsunoda- 22 (AlphaTauri) P9: Esteban Ocon- 31 (Alpine) P10: Antonio Giovinazzi- 99 (Alfa Romeo) P11: Daniel Ricciardo- 3 (McLaren) P12: Kimi Raikkonen- 7 (Alfa Romeo) P13: Fernando Alonso- 14 (Alpine) P14: George Russell- 63 (Williams) P15: Carlos Sainz- 55 (Ferrari) P16: Nicholas Latifi- 6 (Williams) P17: Sebastian Vettel- 5 (Aston Martin) P18: Lance Stroll- 18 (Aston Martin) P19: Mick Schumacher- 47 (Haas) P20: Nikita Mazepin- 9 (Haas)
