INDIA in F1

Category: APRC

  • Karamjit Singh takes lead after Day 2: APRC

    Pune, 6 Dec 2003: Celebrated rally driver Karamjit Singh and co-driver Allen Oh of Petronas Eon Racing team, Malaysia, driving a Group A, modified Proton Pert, snatched a 90-second lead over Germany’s Armin Kremer and co-driver Fred Berssen of Team MRF Tyres, to take the day’s honours on Saturday at the end of Leg 2 of the MRF India Rally, the fifth and concluding round of the 2003 FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship, simultaneously run along the seventh and final round of the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) here on Saturday.

    Karamjit, the 2002 Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) and Production Cars category World Rally Championship winner, managed to erase the deficit of over one minute to overnight leader, Kremer who lead at the end of Leg 1.

    Driving aggressively and hitting top speeds in the first Special Stage of the day (SS6), Karamjit took 14 second off Kremer, the 2001 European champion, and went on clip a further 54 seconds in the next stage and reclaimed the lead he had on Friday but some technical issues with suspension later on, spoiled his good work as he lost almost two minutes.

    However, Karamjit consolidated his lead increasing it by another 45 seconds in SS-8 and then enhanced it to one minute, 29.7 seconds at the end of Leg 2.

    Kremer, who had clinched the Group N (unmodified) title last night after his closest rival Japan’s Fumio Nutahara had dropped out following an off-road excursion, had to deal with gear selection problems. He was forced to drive his Group N Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 7 in third gear through much of SS-7 and SS-8.

    “It was basically a technical problem and I was stuck in third gear for nearly 10 kms of SS-7 and also the next Stage. It has been a tiring day for me, with the Stages being long, narrow and tricky. However, we only need to finish second Overall to win the APRC championship and that is not too bad a position to be in. But then, I need to keep an eye on Nutahara who might be starting again tomorrow to try for some Leg points,” said Kremer at the final Service halt.

    Nutahara, after crashing out yesterday, started Leg 2 today, but half-way through SS-7, the gearbox of his Evo 7 gave way, forcing him to retire for the day. However, he plans to restart on Sunday.

    Karamjit had no such issues, though he had to come to terms with a suspension that had gone soft and some problems with the brakes. “We have had no punctures, no big problems. So, I’m pretty happy with our performance,” said Karamjit.

    Meanwhile, two top New Zealand entries, Geof Argyle (co-driver Steve Smith) of Racetech Seats and Andrew Hawkeswood (co-driver Paul Fallon) of Force Motorsport Ltd., dropped out of contention.

    Argyle, in a Group A Evo 6.5, has had a wretched outing here. “I broke both the front struts today and had a puncture on SS-9 that cost me three minutes. So, it has been a disappointing Rally for me. Perhaps, I should have run on harder suspension, given the rough terrain here,” said Argyle who is placed fifth Overall, but second in Group A, behind Karamjit. Hawkeswood, also in a Group A Evo 6.5, retired after a puncture on SS-7 and broken strut on SS-8.

    “I had broken two struts yesterday. So, I do not have any spares. It has been a disappointing APRC season for me, as I finished only two of the five rounds. Perhaps, I will take a year’s break and come back in 2005,” he said.

    David Doppelreiter of Austria (co-driver Ola Floene of Norway), representing Team MRF Tyres, put in some fast times in his Group N Evo 7, to finish Leg 2 at fourth Overall, behind Karamjit, Kremer and 2002 Group N champion, Nico Caldarola (co-driver Paolo Cecchini) of Italy.

    Provisional/unaudited classification after Leg 2:

    APRC Overall: 1. Karamjit Singh/Allen Oh (Team Petronas Eon Racing) (3hrs, 9mins, 29.3secs); 2. Armin Kremer/ Fred Berssen (Team MRF Tyres) (3:10:59.0); 3. Domenico Caldarola/ Paolo Cecchini (3:14:44.7); 4. David Doppelreiter/ Ola Floene (Team MRF Tyres) (3:20:02.2); 5. Geof Argyle/ Steve Smith (Team Racetech Seats) (3:29:15.1); 6. Chris Atkinson/ Ben Atkinson (Team Monster Sport Australia) (3:33:03.2); 7. Brian Green/ Fleur Pedersen (Team Force Motorsport Ltd) (3:43:54.5).

    APRC Group N (unmodified): 1. Kremer/Berssen ; 2. Caldarola/Cecchini ; 3. Doppelreiter/Floene 3.

    Leg 2 Points: Karamjit Singh 3 pts; Kremer 2 pts; Caldarola 1 pt.

    Total points after Leg 2: Kremer 5, Karamjit 5, Caldarola 2.

  • Birthday boy Armin Kremer takes lead after Day 1: APRC

    Pune, 5 Dec 2003: Birthday boy Armin Kremer of Germany put his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 7 in the lead on the opening day on Friday. Driving along with co-driver Fred Berssen for Team MRF Tyres, the duo emerged as the early leaders in the Asia Pacific Rally Championship conducted along with Indian National Rally Championship here on Friday.

    Kremer, the Group N (unmodified) 2003 APRC champion and the 2001 European champion, led Japan’s Fumio Nutahara (co-driver Satoshi Hayashi) by 66 points to 54, going into the MRF India Rally, the fifth and concluding round of the 2003 APRC series. Thus, he clinched the Group N title when Nutahara retiring after a crash in Special Stage-3.

    Kremer, who celebrated his 40th birthday on Thursday, topped the time charts at the end of Day One and with it earned three points for being the fastest in Leg 1. The three points saw him overhaul the overall championship leader, Geof Argyle (co-driver Steve Smith) of Racetech Seats, New Zealand, and lead by 46 points to 45.

    Argyle, driving a Group A Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 6.5, lost considerable time due to a puncture, a broken strut and an overheating engine that capped a rather disappointing outing as he returned to the cool of his hotel room without a point after finishing fifth in Leg 1.

    And in between, strong contenders Karamjit Singh and co-driver Allen Oh of Malaysia, driving a Group A Proton Pert for Team Petronas Eon Racing, had a puncture and lost two minutes in SS-5. In the process, Karamjit, had to concede the lead to Kremer who was ahead by a minute on Friday.

    “Yes, it is good to win the Group N championship, but Saturday would be crucial as I am sure, Karamjit will be pushing hard to make up time. A one-minute lead is nothing much and I need to drive well to hold off both Karamjit and Argyle,” said Kremer.

    Kremer too suffered a puncture in SS-3 but recovered fast to carry on his campaign. “I somehow managed to finish the Stage, but lost about 18 seconds due to the puncture,” Kremer, the 3-time German champion added.

    David Doppelreiter of Austria (co-driver Ola Floene of Norway), also of Team MRF Tyres, drove conservatively to finish Leg 1 fourth Overall and third in Group N, behind Kremer and Domenico Caldarola (co-driver Paolo Cecchni) of Italy.

    Karandip-Jaidas lead: In the MAI Indian National Rally Championship, the seventh and concluding round of the series, a lot of drivers failed to finish the day. Karandip Singh and co-driver Jaidas Menon of Team MRF, driving a Honda City V-tec, Overall first at the end of Leg 1 with a lead of over four minutes on second-placed Jiby Maliakkal and co-driver Nikhil Pai.

    Top guns like VR Naren Kumar and co-driver D Ramkumar, and his MRF team-mates N Leelakrishnan (Farooq Ahmed), Arjun Balu (Kumar Ramaswamy) and Vikram Mathias (Sujith Kumar), retire due to mechanical problems.

    Provisional/unaudited classifications after Leg 1 (90.08 Kms):

    APRC Overall: 1. Armin Kremer/ Fred Berssen (Team MRF Tyres) (1hr, 21mins, 34.9secs); 2. Karamjit Singh/ Allen Oh (Team Petronas Eon Racing) (1:22:34.9); 3. Domenico Caldarola/ Paolo Cecchini (1:23:14.5); 4. David Doppelreiter/ Ola Floene (Team MRF Tyres) (1:23:49.2); 5. Andrew Hawkeswood/ Paul Fallon (Force Motorsport Ltd) (1:26:08.1); 6. Geof Argyle/ Steve Smith (Team Racetech Seats) (1:30:30.3); 7. Chris Atkinson/ Ben Atkinson (Monster Sport Australia) (1:32:58.0); 8. Brian Green/ Fleur Pedersen (Team Racetech Seats) (1:33:38.8).

    APRC Group N: 1. Kremer/Berssen; 2. Caldarola/Cecchini; 3. Doppelreiter/Floene.

    Leg points: Kremer/Berssen 3 pts; Karamjit/Oh 2 pts; Caldarola/Cecchini 1 pt.

    MAI-INRC Overall: 1. Karandip Singh/ Jaidas Menon (Team MRF Tyres) (1:35:44.4); 2. Jiby Maliakkal/Nikhil Pai (1:40:31.2); 3. Lohit V Urs/ Musa Sherif (1:42:24.5); 4. Rahul Kantharaj/ Vivek Bhat (Team Movva) (1:47:08.7).

    Rally Star Cup: 1. Arjun Rao Aroor/ CK Chinnappa (Team Mandovi) (1:48:00.7); 2. Ranjit Ballal/ Shanmuga Nataraj (1:48:34.7); 3. Sanjay Agarwal/ Ashwin Naik (Team GMW) (1:50:28.9); 4. Prithveen Rajan/ Jay Kumar (1:52:37.3).

  • Arjun Balu-Kumar lift INRC title; Warren-Judd win APRC honours

    Bangalore, 8 Dec 2002: Driving their Mitsubishi Evo VII in a steady and catious manner, Stewart Warren and Darryl Judd had an easy outing on the final day and won the the MRF India Rally 2002 here on Sunday.

    Unless some unforeseen issues cropped up, the duo were assured of the title and they did take it easy on the final day with an eye on finishing the rally without any hiccups to take home the title. And Indian ace, Naren Kumar, too, was content to play the second fiddle and wanted to protect his second place and played with cation to bring home his Evo VII a little after two minutes from the winners. Lang Xu (Guangyuam Men) steered his Subaru GC-8 to third place.

    Meanwhile, leaving all these Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) participants of the Candidate round, the Indian National lRally Championship (INRC) was won by talented Arjun Balu, who was ably assisted by Ramaswamy Kumar, as they kept aside a strong challenge from Leelakrishnan and Farooq Ahmed, who were just behind by 25 seconds.

    Putting behind the disappointment from his previous effort at the APRC Thailand round, the 37-year-old New Zealander did not find any stiff competition in the the rally. Naren, who had done well to break into the lead initially on the first stage, found his lack of familiarity with the Mitsubihi Evo VII four-wheel drive and was content to play safe. He also encountered mechanical problems, and to add some punctures to troubled him. But Naren did show his skill and displayed glimpses of his driving skills as he clocked some fastest sector times.

    The final day’s route past the Khodays distilleries was quit challenging and had many dips and climbs which made it an arduous path and understandably many of the cars preferred, were just content, in passing through and did not make any effort to clock their best times, lest they topple. Hence the times were the slowest among all the three days.

    The final day saw seven cars, all in the international section, taking part. The INRC drivers and the Rally Star Cup contestants all stayed off the roads despite having the option to participate.

    For the Chinese team of Lang Xu and Guanguan Men in the Subaru GC-8, the bad start on the ceremonial flag-off where their car refused to start, ended on a much happier note in third place. Xu and Men did extremely well to take the podium and moreover it was their first-ever effort on a four-wheel drive.

    The battle for the fourth spot generated some interest on the final day, as Gerard McGroarty managed to edge out Robert Whyatt. Trailing by 84 seconds on the final day, McGroarty pushed hard in the final leg and just about pipped Whyatt.

    The provisional results: 1. Stewart Warren/ Darryl Judd (Mitsubishi Evo VII) (2 hours, 50 minutes, 30.9 seconds); 2. Naren Kumar /D. Ramkumar (Mitsubishi Evo VII) (2:53:04.4); 3. Lang Xu /Guangyuam Men (Subaru GC-8), (3:02:24.7); 4. Gerard McGroarty /Karl Francis (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III) (3:07:29.9); 5. Robert Whyatt /Malcolm Cox (Mitsubishi Evo III) (3:08:33.5).

    INRC: 1. Arjun Balu /R. Kumar (2:17:03);1; 2. Leelakrishnan /Farooq Ahmed (2:17:28.9); 3. Karandip Singh /Jaidas Menon (2:20:10.9).

    INRC 1400cc: 1. Shresta Patil /Lohit Anand (2:30:08.5); 2. Rahul Kantharaj /Vivek Bhatt (2:33:53.6); 3. S Venkatesh /V Srinivas (2:42:19.3).

    Rally Star Cup: 1. Lohit Urs /MK Bopanna (2:30:23.6); 2. S Ramprashanth /Ravi Venkatesh (2:30:59.4); 3. Amith Kumar /Amith Anand (2:40:49.0).

  • First international win for Arjun Balu & Kumar

    First international win for Arjun Balu & Kumar

    By David Bodapati Changchun (China), 29 August 2001: Indian rally star from Coimbatore, Arjun Balu along with navigator Kumar Ramaswamy, displayed his class and skill to claim a facile win in the fourth round of the Asian Zone Rally Championship (AZRC) on the final day of the Changchun Rally here on Wednesday.

    Teammate and lead driver of Team MRF, VR Naren Kumar’s dream of a another successive win came to an end with a gear-box issue but the compatriot of Balu already clinched the title, along with navigator Ramkurm. The duo to an unbeatable lead of 46 points in the Asian Zone Championship. Thus Arjun Balu came out triumphant as he notched up his maiden win on the international circuit.

    Balu, took an overnight lead after the first six special stages on Tuesday, and continued to attack with the same consistency despite having to deal with the left-hand drive, which the Indians are not used to. Still he took a comfortable lead of 3 minutes 10 seconds to win with a time of 2 hours 02.58 minutes to beat the Russian team of Diamantidi Aristotel and Skliar Vladimir. The Russian did an admirable job taking the podium after trailing in fifth place overnight.

    Balu, the 26-year Speed Maestro, has played a second fiddle to Naren Kumar and his navigator and also saw his car suffer mechanical failures in the first two rounds. Thus Balu and Kumar could not finish the first two rallies in Coimbatore and Indonesia in that order as gear-box issues cropped up. However, the win here catapulted him to second position in the five-leg rally as they garnered 16 points, taking their total to 27.

    “I am thrilled to get this win finally and it is a fantastic feeling. I have been waiting for long to get a victory and I am so glad we won today. It was very close in the last leg in Thailand,” Arjun Balu told this reporter.

    (Disclosure: This report by David Bodapati was first published in the Indian Express. This reporter’s trip to China was sponsored by MRF Tyres.)