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Category: India In F1
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Indian karter Jaden Pariat to debut in British F4
London, 22 Sept. 2023: The 15-year-old from Shillong, in Meghalaya, graduates into Britain’s FIA Formula 4 series after a karting career that included the Meco FMSCI X30 National championship, in which he became the first Indian rookie to score a podium on debut.
He finished as runner-up in the series the following year, whilst also separately contesting the MRF Challenge FLGB 1300 and JK Tyre Championship.
Having tested extensively in MRF 1600 AND F2000 cars earlier in 2022, plus some initial mileage in the Tatuus T-421, Pariat has now chosen Tewkesbury-based Chris Dittmann Racing for his ROKiT British F4 debut, starting this weekend at Silverstone (23-25 September).
“I got into motorsport two years ago, and I was mainly influenced by my dad, Atikur, who is a national champion in rallying,” explains Pariat. “We’ve been having fun with cars together since I was a kid, and my original goal was to become a rally driver because of him, but since my dad has already experienced that, I thought I should try something new.
“I started with karting and since then have become vice champion in the Meco FMSCI X30 National Karting Championship, and then moved onto a series called FLGB 1300, which is similar to Formula Ford here, where I became vice champion too after winning on my debut.
“This year I did some testing in MRF 1600 and F2000, before deciding to try something new overseas. To progress, you need to learn from people who are better than you, so that’s why I’m here. I’m learning a lot and I’ve been pretty happy with where we are now. The testing has helped prepared me a little better for British F4. There is still lots to learn, but physically, I’m not facing any difficulties.
“I definitely have big goals, so hopefully we can achieve some good results. I have high expectations for myself, but ultimately this is a learning experience and something we can use to help us build a solid basis for the future.”
CDR have an established track record of driver development, making them the perfect fit for Pariat at a crucial stage in his career. Team Principal Chris Dittmann welcomed the team’s latest protégé to the fold, and has been impressed with his testing outings to-date.
“We’ve been speaking to Jaden for about a month, through a contact of ours in India,” says Dittmann. “He’s very keen to get some mileage in the new F4 car, and with the opportunity there for the last two rounds of the season, it was a great time for him to come and learn in the right environment.
“We’ve been fortunate to get a few test days with Jaden already in the last few weeks and we’ve been pretty impressed. The chemistry has been there from the outset, and we’ve been working together well, so now we’re just looking forward to the last few rounds to see what we can do.
“There’s been a lot of preparation on the simulator before each test date which has been key to fine tune things before going out on track. He’ll be coming into the championship on the back foot compared to most of the drivers, but he’s up for the challenge.”
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Sarvesh grabs pole in Novice class; Ahamed sets the pace
Chennai, 9 Sept 2022: Hubballi’s Sarvesh Balappa (Axor Sparks Racing), with five wins this season, warmed up for the weekend’s double-header by grabbing pole position in the Novice (Stock 165cc) as the fourth round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2022 commenced at the Madras International Circuit, here on Friday.
Leading the championship in the Novice category, 23-year old Balappa came up with a hot lap of 02mins, 08.591secs in the qualifying session in blazing afternoon sunshine. Filling up the front row were Mumbai’s Kayan Zubin Patel (Axor Sparks Racing, 02:08.616) and Bengaluru’s 12-year old Shreyas Hareesh (Rockers Racing, 02:08.839).
Meanwhile, Petronas TVS Racing’s KY Ahamed was the quickest in both the premier categories, the Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open and the Pro-Stock 165cc Open during the free practice sessions earlier in the day.
Ahamed clocked a blistering best lap of 01min, 52.889secs in the Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open category, to nose ahead of veteran Rajini Krishnan (RACR Castrol Power Ultimate1, 01:52.918) who leads the points table going into the weekend and is seeking his 11th National title.
Later, Ahamed was again in top form, clocking a flying lap of 01:57.379 in the Pro-Stock 165cc Open class, ahead of Pacer Yamaha’s Prabhu Arunagiri (01:58.344), while points table topper Mathana Kumar (Pacer Yamaha) was the seventh quickest in 01:58.740. Less than a second covered the top eight, thus holding out a promise of an intriguing qualifying session on the morrow and the race to follow.
The results (Qualifying, top 3, Best lap):
National Championship – Novice (Stock 165cc): 1. Sarvesh Balappa (Huballi, Axor Sparks Racing) (02mins, 08.591); 2. Kayan Zubin Patel (Mumbai, Axor Sparks Racing) (02:08.616); 3. Shreyas Hareesh (Bengaluru, 02:08.839).
Petronas TVS One-Make Championship – Open (RR 310): 1. Alwin Sundar (Chennai) (01:54.897); 2. Rahil Pillarisetty (Hyderabad) (01:55.058); 3. Kevin Kannan (Chennai) (01:56.327).
Girls (Apache RTR200): 1. Aditi Krishnan (Bengaluru) (02:11.772); 2. Nithila Das (Bengaluru) (02:13.958); 3. Saimah Ajaz Baig (Pune) (02:15.353).
Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup – Novice (CBR 150): 1. Raheesh Mudassar Khatri (Mumbai) (02:07.011); 2. Siddesh Sawant (Kolhapur) (02:08.642); 3. Shyam Babu (Chennai) (02:09.200).
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MotoGP: Bagnaia eases to win Austrian GP from Quartararo
Francesco Bagnaia eased to win his third MotoGP race in a row in Austrian GP from Fabio Quartararo and Jack Miller.
Despite the clouds hovering at Red Bull Ring, pole-sitter Enea Bastianini dropped a place behind in his Gresini Ducati as factory Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia took the MotoGP Austrian GP lead, with Jack Miller slotting in third.
Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martin was on the tail of the Top 3, with Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo in fifth from Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales. VR46 Ducati’s Luca Marini made up good amount of places to be seventh from slow starter Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro.
Pramac’s Johann Zarco was ninth from Suzuki’s Alex Rins in the Top 10. His teammate Joan Mir had an early crash to retire from the race, as at the front, Miller made a move on Bastianini to be second. The Italian then came under pressure from Martin.
The duo passed each other for couple of times but a problem for Bastainini ended his race. He slowed at Turn 3 which affected Zarco as he dropped some places. Just before that, Vinales had a wide moment to drop to eighth and behind this pack.
Joining the retirement list were Tech 3 KTM’s Remy Gardner and LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagmi after their respective crashes. Meanwhile, at the front, once Miller passed Bastianini, he started to chase down Ducati teammate Bagnaia.
The two went wheel-to-wheel couple of times but Bagnaia stayed ahead of Miller, with Martin not far behind in this battle. Quartararo was fourth from Espargaro, who moved himself up to fifth. Teammate Vinales was sixth from Marini and Zarco.
Rins was ninth from KTM’s Brad Binder, as the sole Gresini of Fabio di Giannantonio was 11th from VR6’s Marco Bezzecchi. Having run in the points early on after starting from far back, RNF Yamaha’s Darryn Binder ended up in the gravel to retire.
The fight at the front got interesting when Quartararo joined the fray in the chase of Bagnaia who had Miller and Martin not far behind. A wide moment from Martin allowed Quartararo to sneak past him for third as he dropped behind the Frenchman.
Espargaro ran fifth from Marini, who passed Vinales for sixth, with Zarco, Rins and Binder still in the Top 10. There were changes in places at the fag end, with Vinales losing out to Zarco, Rins and Binder to be 10th from di Giannantonio.
With only few laps remaining, Bagnaia had a comfortable lead but Miller started to come under pressure from Quartararo and Martin. They came close to each other and the Frenchman made a bold move on the inside to take second.
Miller almost lost to Martin in the next few corners but managed to stay ahead for third. Marini passed Espargaro for fifth with Zarco getting through him too, when he came under pressure from Rins and Binder in the fight for track position.
At the front, Bagnaia eased to win his third MotoGP race in a row in Austrian GP with Quartararo in second. Martin tried a late move on Miller but skidded off to drop to 10th after he managed to get back up and re-join the grand prix.
This allowed Marini to be fourth from Zarco, Espargaro, Binder, Rins, Bezzecchi and Martin in the Top 10. Di Giannantonio ended up 11th from KTM’s Miguel Oliveira, Vinales, LCR Honda’s Alex Marquez and RNF’s Andrea Dovizioso in the Top 15.
It was a miss of points for both the Honda riders with Pol Espargaro only 16th and Stefan Bradl just behind him. Tech 3’s Raul Fernandez was 18th from Aprilia’s Lorenzo Savadori, as Tech 3’s Gardner re-joined the race to be classified in 20th.
DNF: Franco Morbidelli, Binder, Nakagami, Bastianini, Mir
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Maini finishes NLS race in Top 10; suffers DNF in 24 Hours of Spa
NLS:
With a solid performance, the two DTM drivers Lucas Auer (AUT) and Arjun Maini (IND), as well as Jordan Love (AUS) achieved a strong 6th place overall in the blue and yellow BILSTEIN Mercedes-AMG GT3 for the Haupt Racing Team at the “ROWE 6-Stunden ADAC Ruhr-Pokal Rennen”.
For Maini and Love it was their first race in a GT3 car on the Nordschleife and for Auer it was his first outing for the Haupt Racing Team, drawing attention with a lap time of 7:52.848 in qualifying – and this despite the fact that his last NLS start was 2 years ago.
The likeable Austrian then started the race from 6th place and completed consistent stints – just like his teammates. For the new HRT driver trio, however, the priority was to collect race kilometers on the Nordschleife but also finish the race. All three drivers fulfilled this task with brilliance and showed strong performance, battling within the top 10 for the entire race, which lasted 43 laps.
Lucas Auer, Haupt Racing Team #6: “The Nordschleife is brutal. You really have a lot to manage – but it was great fun and we can be really happy with the result.”
Arjun Maini, Haupt Racing Team #6: “After my first lap with the Mercedes-AMG GT3 on the Nordschleife I had a big smile on my face. It was really fun and we did quite well.”
Jordan Love, Haupt Racing Team #6: “My first race in a GT3 car on the Nordschleife was just great. I learned so much and kept learning with each lap that went by. Thanks to the Haupt Racing Team for this opportunity. I couldn’t be happier.”
Ulrich Fritz, Managing Director Haupt Racing Team: “We decided to use the 6-hour race to give the drivers the opportunity to develop and gain race kilometers on the Nordschleife. All three drivers absolutely met our expectations and showed a solid performance to build on.”
24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps:
It was Maini’s first time in 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps with Haupt Racing Team in the #5 Mercedes GT3 alongside Hubert Haupt, Gabriele Piana and Florian Scholze in the Gold class category.
The final qualifying saw them end up 39th in the overall standings, while they were fifth in the Gold Cup. It was a steady start for the team initially and by the end of the fourth hour, they were in the lead of their category.
They kept the lead until the sixth hour but a crash by the end of the seventh hour ended their race early from the lead of the race.
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French GP: Leclerc secures pole from Verstappen after Sainz’s help
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc takes F1 French GP pole after help from Carlos Sainz, as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez were second and third.
Q1:
The first part in F1 French GP qualifying at Paul Ricard was relatively smooth which saw Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc lead the way with a 1m31.727s lap with teammate Carlos Sainz in third behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in the Top 3.
There was a spin for Williams’ Alexander Albon late in the session but the Thai still managed to make it in Q2. Haas’ Mick Schumacher jumped to Top 10 but track limits at Turn 3 meant his fast lap was deleted which knocked him out of Q1.
The German ended up 19th with a 1m33.701s, but neither Schumacher nor Haas were convinced about the deletion even though he did cross the white line. Another to be knocked out in 16th was AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly with a 1m33.439s lap.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll in 17th set the same time as he complained of traffic, with Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu (1m33.674s) 18th, Schumacher 19th and Williams’ Nicholas Latifi (1m33.794s) 20th.
Q2:
The second part in F1 French GP saw Ferrari’s Sainz set an early lap of 1m31.081s with teammate Leclerc going faster late in the session but still ending up 0.135s short from his teammate. He pipped F1 title rival Verstappen, though.
Late laps from several drivers pushed McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo (1m32.922s) out of the Top 10 in 11th, where he was only 0.086s short of making it into Q3. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon (1m33.048s) showed better pace than practice to be 12th.
Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas (1m33.052s) ended up 13th, with Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel (1m33.276s) in 14th as he fulfilled his quest of making it into Q2 for the weekend, while Williams’ Albon (1m33.307s) rounded out the Q2 runners in 15th.
Q3:
The final part in F1 French GP qualifying saw Sainz help teammate Leclerc with slipstream on their first flying lap, which allowed the Monegasque to end up 0.008s quicker than Verstappen and secure provisional pole after his 1m31.209s lap.
The Spaniard did not set a lap time on his first run and returned to the track to help Leclerc again during the second and final run. That allowed the Monegasque to set a 1m30.872s lap to secure F1 French GP pole by 0.304s difference over Verstappen (1m31.176s).
Perez (1m31.335s) ended up a decent third after a difficult start to the weekend as Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton (1m31.765s) ended up fourth ahead of teammate George Russell (1m32.131s) who was pushed to sixth after McLaren’s Lando Norris (1m32.032s) jumped to fifth.
Alpine’s Fernando Alonso (1m32.552s) was seventh from AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda (1m32.780s), as both Sainz and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen did not set a lap time considering they have engine penalty.
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FR Team Hyderabad Blackbird gets Vijay Deverakanda in their crew
Mumbai, 25 June 2022: Indian Racing Festival roped in well-known Telugu actor and entrepreneur Vijay Deverakonda to support Hyderabad Blackbirds, a team in the Racing Promotions (RPPL) franchise model racing league.
The actor’s association is expected to help promote RPPL’s vision for motorsports in India. The festival which begins from the weekend of November 11 will bring in multiple franchisee teams into the format and run on weekends in multiple cities including on a street circuit.
According to Akhilesh Reddy, Director, MEIL and Chairman, RPPL (Racing Promotions Pvt Ltd) said: “India has a lot of sporting potential, but there aren’t enough opportunities for it to shine. Our vision is to take an all-Indian team to F1 in the next 5-7 years and an all-Indian women team to F2 in the next 10-12 years. We are excited to have the support of Vijay Deverakonda who is not only hugely popular amongst the youth due to his successful movies but is also known for his entrepreneurship ventures and philanthropic activities.”
Well known Actor and Entrepreneur, Vijay Deverakonda, said: “I’m very thrilled to be part of this league which is committed to provide new opportunities to sports enthusiasts across the country. Racing in India is now pivoted for its due place.”
RPPL recently announced the dates for its biggest formula racing event in India – ‘Indian Racing league’featuring FIA-certified ‘Formula 4 and Formula Regional Indian Championship in Nov-Dec 2022’ and looks forward towards an extravagant event with races all-across Indian metropolitan cities like Hyderabad, Greater Noida, Coimbatore and Chennai. Garnering the global attention and helping India become leading motorsports destination in the world.
About RPPL
Racing Promotions Pvt Ltd (RPPL) is owned by two multi-billion-dollar businesses MEIL and Gadhoke Group. In 2021, Indian racers Aditya and Armaan, along with their partners at RPPL- with Akhil Reddy as the Chairman, launched the Formula Regional Indian Championship as well as the F4 Indian Championship that will run along with the all new Indian Festival League in 2022 across 4 cities over 5 weekends.
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FMSCI honours 2021 champions as it hints on international events
Plans are afoot to bring a round of the MotoGP and Formula-E World championships to India, and discussions on this front are in progress, according to Akbar Ebrahim, President, Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI).
In his keynote address at the Fmsci Annual Awards function to honour all the 2021 National champions, here today, Ebrahim also announced that Chennai would be venue for a round of the FIA World Rally Star (17-26 age group) in September, and to be organised by the Madras Motor Sports Club.
“We are also working towards getting a round of MotoGP and the Formula-E to India. The Formula-E is likely to be held on a street circuit in Hyderabad.
As regards the FIA Rally Star, it is a gateway to youngsters targeting the World Rally Championship.
“Further, India has joined the FIM’s Road to MotoGP programme through the World MiniGP championship which is restricted to those in the 10-14 years age group. Dorna Sports, promoters of MotoGP, and Italian bike manufacturer Ohvale are actively involved in the programme. The first of the five rounds will be held in July this year. At the end of the Indian series, the top two riders will qualify for the World Finals in Spain,” Ebrahim said.
Ebrahim also pointed out that India was among the few nations in the World to conduct as many as nine National Championships across two and four-wheelers, despite the pandemic. “Fmsci thanks all the stakeholders, organisers, officials and especially the competitors, for their participation in the past two years,” he said.
“We survived two challenging years due to the pandemic. Yet, Fmsci is among few motorsports Federations globally to conduct nine National championships during those difficult times.
“Leading the federation in its 50th year is a proud and memorable achievement. We speak less but we are doing a lot of work and both the footfalls and eyeball hits for motorsports have increased tremendously,” he added.
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Glittering stars to descend on Channai for fmsci 2021 Awards gala
Chennai, June 14: After a two-year break due to the pandemic, the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (Fmsci), the National governing body for the sport, will be hosting their annual Awards gala at the Crowne Plaza hotel, here on Wednesday, June 15.
The awards function will bring together all the 2021 National champions in various formats of motorsport besides a host of aficionados and special invitees.
Mr. P Kandaswamy, Director General of Police, and Director, Directorate Vigilance & Anti-Corruption, is the chief guest at the function.
At the Awards function, the Fmsci will also honour the teams, besides promoters and sponsors involved in the sport.
“Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, we could not run the full bouquet of National Championship events across various formats. However, motorsport has bounced back this season which should see a busy period of activities. Despite the many challenges they faced due to the pandemic, the response from the competitors has been heartening and the Fmsci thanks them for their participation.
“Having said that, our thanks also go out to the promoters, organizers, sponsors, Media, volunteers and officials, and all the sporting and technical commissions for their support and involvement,” said FMSCI president Akbar Ebrahim.
The programme commences at 11:30 am with a “Meet and Greet” session followed by lunch and the Awards ceremony.
About the FMSCI
The Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (Fmsci) was founded in the year 1971 and was registered as a Private Limited Non-Profit Company in 1973. It became affiliated to Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) in 1979 and to the Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) in 1986. Fifteen years after its inception, the FMSCI was recognised by the Government of India as the sole authority to control and conduct Motor Sport events in India. It is also recognised by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS).
The FMSCI is the affiliated National Sporting Authority (ASN) of the International federations for 4-wheeler and National Motorcycle Federations (FMN) of the 2-wheeler motorsports viz. the FIA, headquartered at Paris, and the FIM, headquartered at Switzerland. It is also a part of the FIA Commission Internationale de Karting (CIK or CIK-FIA) which is the primary international sanctioning body for Karting.
The FMSCI has a wide, pan-India base of affiliated member clubs totalling 48 currently.
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Azerbaijan GP: Perez back on top in FP3 from Leclerc, Verstappen
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez ended up fastest in FP3 of F1 Azerbaijan GP with Max Verstappen in third behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
There was a delay to start the FP3 session in F1 Azerbaijan GP due to barrier repair after a late crash in F2. It started 15 minutes later and was much smoother than FP1 and FP2 where there were multiple offs and wall brush moments as well.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton was the one to go slightly off at Turn 1 as he and George Russell struggled with rear grip. There was a late off for Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas too which hampered the first fast lap of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
He ended up third with a 1m43.449s lap as teammate Sergio Perez set the pace in FP3 of F1 Azerbaijan GP with a 1m43.170s lap with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc (1m43.240s) behind him in second. The Monegasque had a late off moment as well where he crashed last year.
Teammate Carlos Sainz (1m43.596s) slotted in fourth from the McLaren pair of Lando Norris (1m44.418s) and Daniel Ricciardo (1m44.476s) with the two having a good run after a tough Friday. A late lap by ALphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly (1m44.491s) put him in seventh.
Mercedes’ Russell (1m44.573s) was only eighth with Alpine’s Esteban Ocon (1m44.685s) in ninth from Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel (1m44.689s) in the Top 10. The Frenchman was in the line fire when Verstappen tried to go for a late lap but was hampered by him.
Teammate Fernando Alonso did a late lap to 11th pushing Mercedes’ Hamilton to 12th where the team lowered the engine power due to mileage trouble. Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was 13th from Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu who beat his teammate.
Haas’ Kevin Magnussen was 15th – who took his third MGU-K – from AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, with Williams’ Alexander Albon in 17th from Haas’ Mick Schumacher, Alfa Romeo’s Bottas and Williams’ Nicholas Latifi to round out the 20 drivers.
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INDIAinF1 profiles two riders to watch out for: Sarath Mohan & Aishwarya Pissay
Sarath Mohan raring to bring laurels for Kerala in Rally Nationals
Kochi, 13 May 2022: As the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs (fmsci) 2022 season begins with the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) for 2-wheelers in Chikkamagaluru next Sunday, a rider from Kerala, who is making his mark at the National level, is training hard and raring to go. The one to watch out for, is Sarath Mohan in the Super Sport upto 550cc class who dominated the 2021 season winning all the first three rounds, before his injury.
Sarath Mohan from Mallapuram, who won all the events that he took part in 2021 in both Sprint and traditional Rally Nationals, INRC, had missed his National title as an incident forced him to retire midway during the season. Riding a Husqvarna FE450, he won the first three rounds of the INRC-2W and also clinched the top spot in the first two rounds of the Indian National Sprint Rally Championship (INSRC 2021) including the double in Open class. He conquered all the sprint events, and also had a podium in the Sprint Group A class, which is the only event he missed the top slot and finished second. Later, he met with an unfortunate accident in Sprint Round 3, but the dedicated rider, spent time to rehabilitate and quickly recovered with great will power and support from his medical team. A life-threatening accident in wet conditions that damaged his liver with serious bleeding and internal injury saw him undergo rehab for over three months as he overcome his abdomen trauma.
Soon the privateer, started training again and got into shape in no time. In fact, he trains for six to 8 hours a day at the sand tracks near his house and also travels a distance of about 45 km to train with international athlete of Dakar fame, Harith Noah, another high-performance athlete from Kerala. The duo train on the sandy terrain in Shoranur and, Sarath, who aims to move into the tougher cross-country rallying, takes the advantage of learning from the ‘master’. Sarath who learned the basics in India depends on a private tuner and has honed his skills in Dubai with an eye to go international in 2023. For this year, his target to clinch the National championship which he missed by a whisker last year, as he could not take part in the later rounds.
“Being a professional motorsports athlete, I train hard with a scientifically-charted schedule mixing endurance, speed and strength judiciously. Track days are devoted to special training which sometimes involves tedious practice, alone for hours. But I enjoy what I do as the joy we get when it culminates in good results is a big thrill for all the sacrifices we make. My immediate target is to clinch the National championship in the INRC 2022 in my class,” said the 27-year old, a strict disciplinarian that boosts his hard work.
The former ace Supercross rider moved into Rally Nationals in 2021. A graduate in travel and tourism, the rider took up and successfully finished his studies in Automobile Engineering to enhance his knowledge on the technical side. A consistent and steady rider, he has the ability to attack and push the corners in crunch situations. The five-round INRC-2W begins with back-to-back rounds in Chikkamagaluru on May 15.
AISHWARYA PISSAY, 2019 FIM World Cup CHAMPION
TVS factory rider Aishwarya gunning for sixth National rally title
Bengaluru, 13 May 2022: TVS Racing factory rider Aishwarya Pissay, the only Indian World champion in motorsports, sets sights on a record sixth consecutive Indian National Rally Championship crown as she begins her title defence getting her glittering Apache machine ready for the first round of the GodSpeed Racing’s MRF Mogrip fmsci Indian National Racing Championship (INRC) for 2-wheelers in Chikkamagalur on Sunday.
The 2019 FIM World Cup champion in the Ladies class, put in a commanding performance that saw her make a clean sweep of all the six rounds of the two-wheeler Rally Nationals, besides claiming the bigger cross-country event, the Rally of Himalayas.
The talented queen of Indian motorsports, who rose like a phoenix from a life-threatening injury before her World crown, silenced her critics with creditable deeds on the track with a hugely successful 2022, that firmly focused the limelight on the TVS talent.
With a month-long training in France earlier this year under the watchful guidance of renowned Michael Metge, the Bengaluru-born rider will be looking to seal another National championship even as she prepares for the mother of all events, with more international events ahead of the Dakar 2023.
The versatile rider, who began her biking career, a bit late in 2016, nevertheless vaulted into the record books with a Road Racing National title at Madras Motor Race Track in 2017 and was soon inducted into the stables of TVS Racing. Then she tasted success winning the rally Nationals and never looked back winning the five Rally Nationals in a row for the Hosur-based team.
The 26-year rider, sponsored by TVS and Hyperice, said: “It is a new season and new hopes and the new goals are clear. I have put in the hard work in training, focussed on recovery and time has come to deliver the results. I am eager to sit on my Apache RTR 200 and test myself once again,” concluded Aishwarya, a product of Surana College in Bengaluru, who is determined as ever and is looking to use the Nationals as a pedestal to jump-start her international activity once again.
The first round organised by Chikmagalur Motor Sports Club (CMSC) will run on two Special Stages, Vasanthcool (8km) and Thippanahalli (6km) in the famed coffee estates. The two physical stages will be run four times in the same direction. The total Special Stage rallying distance is 56 km and with a transport of another 53.76 km, the total rally distance is 109.76 km. A record number of about nine lady riders are in the fray.
