Your basket is currently empty!
Category: National Championship
The event counts as the National Championship recognised by FMSCI, the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India, the governing body of motorsports in India, and the ASN recognised by FIA and FIM.
-
South India Rally postponed to June 23-25: INRC Round 1
Chennai, 19 April 2021: The South India Rally, a round of the 2021 Indian National Rally Championship, scheduled for April 23-25, has been postponed in the wake of fresh government restrictions due to rising number of Covid-19 virus cases, organisers Madras Motor Sports Club announced here today.
The tentative fresh dates for the event, promoted by Champions Yacht Club, and which doubled up as a round of the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship, are June 25 to 27. The South India Rally had attracted a record 70 entries of which 21 were women crews.
Chairman of the event and MMSC Vice-President Vicky Chandhok said: “Much as the sport is always our priority, we are very concerned about the huge spike in Covid-19 cases in the recent days. With an all-time record of 70 entries of which 21 are women competitors the enthusiasm for the sport has also spiked and is at its peak! But after discussions with promoter Vamcy Merla who had put in massive efforts, we decided to postpone the South India Rally keeping in mind the safety and health of those involved in the event.”
Promoter Vamcy Merla said: “Unfortunately, in the last couple of days, a lot of restrictions have been imposed in many States due to the spike in Covid-19 cases in the country. I am in total agreement with the decision to postpone, giving due consideration to the safety and health of participants and organizers.
“We have had extensive discussions with everyone concerned or associated with the event, and then decided to postpone the event to June 25-27 in the hope that the situation would have improved by then.”
-
To SIR with love, South India Rally receives huge response
Bengaluru, 16 April 2021: To SIR, with love, is a popular song of the sixties. But now the SIR is on a song. South India Rally, popularly known as SIR, has received an overwhelming response and a record 65 entries for the 43rd edition that begins on April 23, and is also run concurrently with APRC.
To SIR with love, is actually a British drama, on social issues starred by Sydney Poitier in 1967. Here in India we continue our song in motorsports, to SIR with love. And it will be a big tribute to the grand old Sir, Indu Chandhok, who first won the rally in 1954, when it all began as South India 800 Rally. But after another edition of the TSD event in between in 1955, the South India Rally took its birth in 1957.
Manoj Dalal, the long-time navigator of Vicky Chandhok, is the current CoC (Clerk of Course) for the 43rd SIR, the first round of INRC 2021. And the CoC has confirmed that the final number of entries is 65. Sixty five is the record in the 34-year INRC history. The last highest number was at the 2009 K-1000 which attracted 61 entries.
Chandhok Senior, won the rally in 1954 in a Triumph Mayflower and went on to print his name in the history books winning the first edition in 1957 in a Standard Ten.
Vicky Chandhok. File photo by INDIAinF1 Coming back, the Indian National Rally Championship 2021 (INRC), the first round which is clubbed with Asia Pacific Rally Championship, received a record 65 entries and the organisers Madras Motor Sports Club (MMSC) was forced to restrict further (late) entries. Another record will be over 10 entries by Lady drivers, making it 23 lady participants in the rally. “This is the first time such huge number of ladies are taking part in an INRC round,” said a regular, who lamented about the ban on spectators.
“When Vamsi (Merla) first said that he would make sure that the South India Rally gets sixty entries, I laughed, and asked him if he was joking. But the response is overwhelming and I have not seen such a rush in the past. I must congratulate the Promoter who worked tirelessly, calling drivers and helping with goodies, providing tyres and supporting the Women in Motorsport initiative enthusiastically by getting them sponsors,” said Vicky Chandhok, the chairman of the meet and the man who brought F1 to India. “Yes, he pulled it off,” he added. “There will not be much imported cars and we will have national cars in the APRC. The number will be known only after a couple of days,” he said talking about the APRC entries.
Due to the Covid second wave, the Organisers and the Promoters, Champions Yacht Club have decided that there would no spectators for the first round of the INRC. “Unfortunately, we had to close the doors on spectators. I am really sorry for all the fans but to compensate, we are making arrangements to live stream and put out live results,” said Vamsi Merla, the Promoter. “We believe upon the best club in the country. MMSC has conducted two Nationals in a strict `Bubble’ and they are known to follow all the procedures and government restrictions thoroughly. They are the active and the best club with great infrastructure. So all the safety precautions, both rally wise and Covid wise are taken care of and we are fully confident,” said Merla, who praised the Marshals of MMSC `who are on the toes always’.
Promoter Vamsi Merla, who encouraged more women to participate by providing sponsors, managed to get over 60 entries. Vicky Chandhok, who won the South India Rally four times, in a Dolphin, Montana and a Fiat, predicts tough competition. Gaurav Gill, three times APRC champion, who was crowned with the Arjuna Award, will be raring to go in Yellow colours. Amittrajit Ghosh and Ashwin Naik, will complete the Mahindra line-up. The rally will also witness talented drivers Karna Kadur, Dean Mascarenhas, Bikku Babu, Chetan Shivram and other youngsters Fabid Ahmer, Aditya Thakur and Arjun Rao.
“I thank MRF for sponsoring many lady drivers. This will be a milestone year in women participation and we wish them all the best,” said Vamci. Apart from regulars Smitha Prasad, Dr Shivani Pruthvi (Deeksha Balakrishna) and Pragathi Gowda (Trisha Jagannathan), 10 other lady teams are expected to take part. Around 10 drivers including Khyati Mody will be supported by MRF. Taking the support of 2019 Overall champion Chetan Shivram, Champions Yacht Club conducted a Talent Hunt over two days in Bengaluru, where about 28 ladies took part. Dhruva Chandrasekhar and Suhem Kabir, also trained the participants. Prominent among them who will be taking part in the INRC Round 1 will be Pathanamthitta lass Athira Murali, a popular Auto Vlogger, and then Renuka G from Andhra Pradesh, who came second in the Talent Hunt, besides Amnadeep Kaur (Amman Jubbal), Madhi Sri Elangovan, Anupma Bindra, Chandrika Thampuratty, and mother-and-daughter duo Shivani and Dr Vani Parmar. However, Ojasvi Mehta, an MBA student from Mumbai, who did well in the Talent Hunt, will not be making it to the first round due to academic clashes.
The first round of the INRC will be held at Irungatuukottai on April 24 and 25. There will be two Special Stages, Avisa (16.8km) and Track (12.10km) besides a Super Special Stage of two laps covering a total distance of 4.8km on the tarmac of MMRT.
There will be four classes, Overall INRC, INRC2, INRC3, INRC4 and INRC NR4 for the National Championship. The SUV class and the Gypsy class will also be run as support classes, and the National Junior Championship will test the best juniors below 25 years who never won any round. The APRC Asia Cup round will have 4 more stages to complete the mandatoroy 150km mark. Yes SIR, we are ready!
Note: Updated on 17 April 2021 at 3.20pm
-
Athira Murali tops Talent Hunt as CYC selects 10 Lady drivers for INRC
Bengaluru, 31 March 2021: Athira Murali, a popular Malayalam Auto vlogger, who made her INRC debut at Coimbatore in January winning the ladies class and taking a well-deserved 5th among 12 INRC4 drivers, is expected to become a regular feature in the Indian National Rally Championship, thanks to promoters, who conducted a Drivers’ School and a selection camp to pick up talented lady drivers for the upcoming season beginning with the APRC round at Chennai from April 23.
Soon after her topping the selection trials among 25, Athira was picked up by Team JK Tyre, and the Kottayam lass will be taking part in the first round of INRC in Yellow colours. “I am so glad to be sponsored by JK Tyre and excited to wear the yellow colours. I will give my best in the upcoming round in chennai,” said Athira.
The Champions Yacht Club (CYC) FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship 2021 will see over 10 women drivers and co-drivers line-up for the start for the first time after coming out on top in a nation-wide Talent Hunt conducted here at the Unite Off-Road Track.
The one-of-a-kind selection and training programme was conducted by 2019 INRC champion Chetan Shivram. The Talent Hunt was supported by promoter Vamsi Merla.
“We believe that Chetan Shivram Motorsports can be the architect and backbone of motorsports in the years to come, as long as we have support from promoters, the way Mr Vamcy Merla promotes and encourages talent. We would be happy to train and support enthusiasts entering motorsports irrespective of age or gender, as bringing more talent to the National level is our priority,” said Shivram.
Twenty-five talented but unheralded women racers were shortlisted from across the country and were given beginners’ and advanced training in rally cars by ace rallyists Suhem Kabeer and Dhruva Chandrashekar before the ultimate shootout. The winners were judged on the basis of their lap timings in the final selection round which was supervised by an FMSCI jury team.
Athira Murali of Kottayam emerged the winner and will be co-driven by her city mate George Varghese, with whom she made the debut in Coimbatore winning the Ladies Class. She would have also taken a podium in INRC4 but a slow car ahead of her prevented her from going further up.Renuka G of Andhra Pradesh who will have Chandni Kotian of Mumbai as co-driver came second in the selections with Ojasvi Mehta of Mumbai taking third place. Ojasvi along with Belgaum’s Isha Sharma are expected to make their debut in Chennai. Anupma Bindra of Gurgaon came fourth and she will go with co-driver Pallavi Yadav of Mumbai, and mother-daughter duo from Mumbai Shivani Parmar and Dr Vani Parmar will be the other ladies’ pair to get selected. Shivani came fifth in the selections.
The will be accorded a fully-sponsored ride by the promoters of INRC which includes entry fee, rally-prepared car, rally tyres and accommodation.
Renuka G, a software engineer from Vizag, stepped into rallying for the first time, thanks to the encouragement by Promoter Vamsi Merla. She first took part in the Ameo Cup in 2018 and has been a biker taking part in the Nationals. “It was a very exciting two days as I learned a lot about rallying. This is the first time for me in a rally car and it is very challenging to shift from tarmac to dirt tracks. I learnt a lot from handling the car to cornering from experienced drivers and it was a new driving style. I thoroughly enjoyed it and am looking forward to the Chennai round,” said Renuka, who became freinds with Chandni Kotian and picked her up as co-driver. Renuka was all praise for Chetan, Dhruva and Suhem for the training and said that it was very useful to make the switch from racing to rallying.
“I have experience in F4 cars and karting, but getting into a rally car is a new experience. I learnt many new things, the judgement when you take into corners and to handle the peculiar shifts… It was a new thrill for me to experience and all it happened because of Vamcy Merla,” said Chandni Kotian, a Mortgage Analyst from Mumbai.
“The training and experience on the dirt track was awesome. It is the first time I ever stepped into a rally car and am really happy to grab the great knowledge as a co-driver under the guidance of ace rallyists Suhem Kabeer and Dhruva Chandrashekar. I am looking forward to the INRC round, waiting for that moment to come. This is a great initiative by the FMSCI as women never get much opportunities to rally. I thank Vamsi Merla for bringing more talented women into Indian Rallying and I really enjoyed the two-day training under champion Chethan Shivram,” said Isha Sharma. She will pair up with Ojasvi. “It is a wonderful opportunity to take part in the Women in Motorsport Talent Hunt as I could meet 25 amazing women. The 2-day training and shootout were exceptional and life changing too. So glad to finish 3rd and get a shot at the INRC. From track-walk to understanding the basics of the car, I don’t think I could have got a better experience…, thanks to Vamsy Sir for giving us a chance to showcase ourselves and a huge shootout to Chetan Sir, Dhruva and Suhem for teaching us from the basics. Eagerly waiting for the first round to begin,” said Ojasvi Mehta, a 23-year MBA student from Mumbai.“My commitment towards supporting existing and upcoming `Women in Motorsports’ made me launch this initiative. We had planned this last year as well but unfortunately due to the pandemic we could not go ahead with the camp. But with normalcy finally getting restored in the country we finally conducted the Talent Hunt this year and now here we are with 10 talented women finally getting the platform and the support they deserve,” Vamsi Merla said.
Last year, the promoter paid the entry fee for six Lady drivers and also helped provide 50 per cent subsidy for transport of cars to over 15 drivers who needed it. “This is the first event of its kind in INRC and we have plans to make it a yearly affair. I am really looking forward to seeing these ladies on the track and hopefully this will mark a new beginning for women in Indian Motorsports,” Vamsi signed off.The first round of the INRC kicks-off with the South India Rally on April 23-25 in Chennai which also doubles up as the Asia round of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC).
Note: Updated with driver quotes on April 7, at 1.42pm.
-
K-1000 gets a new slot in May; Hampi, Nagaland new venues for INRC
Bengaluru, 22 March 2021: The iconic Karnataka 1000, well known as K1000, which suffered a two-year break in its chequered history, will begin afresh as the second round of the National calendar with the traditional dates moved from August to May. The Champions Yacht Club, the promoters of the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC), for four-wheelers announced the calendar for 2021 with six rounds and have added two more venues to the historic National championship by naming Nagaland, and Hampi, which successfully completed the Contender round this January. Delhi makes a comeback after last hosting a National round in 2005, the Rally of the North.
After a truncated season, the Champion Yacht Club FMSCI INRC 2021 will begin with the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) round in Chennai, run simultaneously with the Asian and National round, the popular South India Rally, from April 23 to 25. The round will also kick-start the Indian calendar in the hot summer of Chennai. Hosts Madras Motor Sports Club (MMSC), one of the best clubs in India, who are known for their meticulous administration and well-planned events, are making no stone unturned to make the return of `the’ international event a grand success. India did not host any international motorsports events for two years except the MRF challenge racing. The SIR, INRC’s first round will be held in and around Irungattukottai in Kanchipuram district around the MMRT and will have a Super Special Stage and Track stage and there will be two more physical stages named, Avisa and Alpha.
The Nationals will culminate in the picturesque North-Eastern state of Nagaland from November 12 to 14 to be organised by NAMSA, who produced a first-time National winner when Launusanen Pongenar dramatically turned tables and proved all experts wrong winning his class on a vehicle which was initially disqualified for being “old” and lacking `Fitness’. Namsa’s Nagaland venue will be the latest addition to join the map of Indian rallying, as a new INRC venue.
Hampi, which was denied a round by FMSCI in 2020, did a tremendous job of successfully organising a motorsport event, and taught a lesson or two to veteran motorsport organisers on how to rope in a sponsor, as they managed to get a strong backing by JSW. Hampi will be the other new venue for the INRC rounds with a proper round of INRC this year.
Though, Arunachal Pradesh hosted the National event for three years, if fell off the map and Nagaland will be hosting its first ever INRC round to host the grand finale of the country’s premier motorsport event.
After round 1, the bandwagon will move to Bengaluru for K-1000 on May 28 to 30, hosted by Karnataka Motor Sports Club. Then the third round will be hosted by CASC (Coimbatore Auto Sports Club) in Coimbatore from July 17 to 18. The Delhi-NCR round from August 27 to 28, is yet to be finalised as FMSCI is required to approve it.
Also this year’s championship will see the SUV class added into the mix to give a chance to other drivers in the country to display their skill on the national circuit, in view of the cancellation of Raid de Himalaya. SUVs have been part of INRC from 2014 with Mahindra’s fielding the top winning combination of Gaurav Gill and Musa Sherif. However, it will not be a separate National Championship class, and will run only as INRC class.
“We could not go all out last year due to reasons known to all. The pandemic had tied our hands and it was very difficult for us to organise a full season but still we did what we could do best and completed three rounds. But we are back on the track again and will have six rounds again this year,” Vamsi Merla, director of Champions Yacht Club and promoter of INRC said.
“When we came into motorsports, it was always our mission to take the sports to all the parts of the country and make it more inclusive and that is the reason we have given a chance to three new clubs. We are anticipating a great year ahead and hope that it exceeds all our expectations,” he further added.
Motor Sports Academy of Vijayanagar will carry out the operations in Hampi, meanwhile Nagaland Adventure and Motor Sports Association have been given the responsibility of the final round.
While Chennai, Bengaluru, Coimbatore and Hampi have been ratified by the Rally Commission of the FMSCI, the Delhi-NCR and Nagaland round is subject to an FMSCI inspection and confirmation of the local organisers by the FMSCI.
INRC 2021 Calendar:
Round 1 – Chennai: Madras Motor Sports Club – April 23-25;
Round 2 – Bengaluru: Karnataka Motor Sports Club -May 28-30;
Round 3 – Coimbatore: Coimbatore Auto Sports Club – July 17-18;
Round 4 – *Delhi, BND Motor Sports , August 27-28;
Round 5 -Hampi: Motorsports Academy of Vijayanagar – October 1-3;
Round 6 – *Nagaland, NAMSA, – November 12-14;*Subject to FMSCI inspection and confirmation of organizer by the FMSCI
-
Abhishek stripped of 2020 TVS OMC title: IMSAC ruling
Chennai, 9 March 2021: Bengaluru rider Abhishek Vasudevamurthy, winner of the TVS One-Make Championship 2020 (RR310 category), has been stripped of his title in addition to the penalties imposed by Race Direction for his “unsportsman-like act” in the season-finale race last December.
The penalty is in accordance with the ruling by a three-member Indian Motor Sport Appellate Court (IMSAC) panel comprising Senior Advocates Silambannan (Chairman) and PR Raman (Member), and J Balamurugan, Chairman, FMSCI Disciplinary Committee (Member), after a hearing, attended among others, by Abhishek via Zoom Video Conferencing, on February 13.
In its ruling, IMSAC said: “Mr Abhishek Vasudevamurthy, competitor No.12 in the FMSCI TVS One-Make Championship 2020, be divested of his 2020 Championship title in the said Championship. The other penalties awarded by the Race Direction shall remain in force.”
The IMSAC hearing and subsequent ruling was a consequence of an incident in the eighth and final race of the TVS One Make Championship 2020 at the MMRT on December 20. On the start-finish straight, Abhishek grabbed and depressed the brake lever of fellow-competitor Anup Kumar (Chennai). Incidentally, Abhishek had already sealed the championship going into the final race.
After the race, the Race Direction summoned Abhishek for a hearing, following which docked him a fine of Rs 30,000 besides disqualifying him from the race. Further, under the provision in the FMSCI Disciplinary and Arbitration Code, the Race Direction referred the matter to IMSAC, recommending a minimum ban on Abhishek for one round of the next Championship he takes part in.
During his virtual disposition to IMSAC, Abhishek stated that he had apologised after the race for his action and accepted Race Direction’s decision (disqualification and monetary fine) while preferring not to appeal. During the hearing, Abhishek also conceded that “the worst-case outcome of the incident could have been one or more fatalities and accepted that it was a serious breach”.
After viewing the video recording of the incident and due deliberations, IMSAC observed that “the incident was a very serious and unsportsman-like act on part of the competitor (Abhishek) and that it deserved exemplary and deterrent penalty so that such actions are not repeated by him or by others in the future”.
-
India to conduct 11 Nationals in different motorsports disciplines in 2021
Bengaluru, 27 Feb 2021: The Indian Federation which runs the motorsports in the country, FMSCI, has announced that 11 National championships would be held in the year 2021. The major difference would be the dropping of the Indian National Drag Championshipo for four wheelers, which was not held in 2020 due to the COVID19 pandemic.
The addition would be Indian National Gymkhana Championship which the current President Mr Akbar Ebrahim promised in 2018 during his last stint as the chief of the Indian body which is the ASN of FIA. The X30 Karting Nationals too have disappeared from the National Championship list and the Indian National Autocross Championship regains its place after a haitus of a few years.
FMSCI, the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India, is the governing body for running motorsports in the country and are recognised by the Ministry of Sports but are not in the priority list of sports nor are funded by the Sports Authority of India (SAI), an arm of the Ministry.
It is interesting to note that Madras Motor Sports Club (MMSC) the rights holder for the National Racing Championship for both two-wheelers and four-wheelers have also announced the Calendar for 2022 in both the disciplines. MMSC is the promoter for the two events, along with the Drag Nationals for three years from 2019 to 2021, but due to the COVID pandemic, the Federation has granted an extended fourth year for all the promoters.
Following are the Nationals to be run in 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. FMSCI Indian National Autocross Championship
9. MMSC FMSCI Indian National 2W Drag Championship
10. FMSCI Indian National Rally Sprint Championship 2021
11. FMSCI Indian National Gymkhana Championship – 2021
-
Samuel Jacob clinches Overall National Title; Aishwarya retains National Ladies title: INRC 2w
Hampi (Karnataka), 31 Jan 2021: Samuel Sajan Jacob clinched the National Championship title while defending champion Aishwarya Pissay sealed the Ladies class once again in style with a huge margin in the fourth and final round of the God Speed Racing MRF MoGrip Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) for two-wheelers 2020 organised by Motorsports Academy of Vijayanagar under the aegis of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) here on Sunday.
TVS Racing’s RE Rajendra won the Super Bike Pro-Expert Class while Samuel Jacob continued his winning run in the Super Sport 260cc Group B class to clinch the Championship in his class.
TVS Racing also continued their domination in the Ladies Class with Aishwarya Pissay consolidating her position with another facile win but the Hosur company lost their grip in the scooter field which was won by a TVS rider Karthik N but a privateer displaced the established order taking the second place. Ninganna M Handral from Bengaluru, astride a TVS N Torq was streets ahead of Pinkesh Thakkar of TVS Racing. TVS Racing has been sweeping this class for some time now.
Asad Khan who won the Super Bike Expert Class Group A in the Hampi round on Sunday. The Bullet class was dominated by Himalayans again with three Bengaluru riders sweeping the podium. Privateer Sharath Kumar finished ahead of SD Vishwas and Abhijeet Sarkar even as Naresh was disqualified.
Provisional Results:
Class 1: Super Bike Pro-Expert Group A: 1. #2 Rajendra RE, Hosur (TVS Racing – Apache RTR) (1hour, 9min, 53.686seconds); 2. #1 Nataraj R, Bengaluru (TVS Racing – Apache RTR) (1:11:26.388); 3. #47 Nikhil B, Kodagu (Privateer – Yamaha WR) (1:14:27.967).4. #3; Vinay Prasad, Bengaluru, Hero Xpulse (DNF). 4 Riders took part in this class.
Class 1A: Super Bike Expert Group A: 1. #4 Asad Khan, Chickmagaluru (Pvt – Suzuki RMX 450) (1:13:29.709); 2. #5 Sarath Mohan, Mallapuram (Pvt – Suzuki RMX 450) (1:15:49.166); 3. #7 Amarenda Sathe, Pune (Pvt – TVS Apache) (1:27:37.014).
Class 2: Super Sport 130cc, Group B: 1. #8 Varun Kumar A, Bengaluru (Pvt – Yamaha YBX) (1:23:03.313); 2. #9 Syed Kalaam, Bengaluru (Pvt – Yamaha YBX) (1:31:36.279); Only two of the four riders finished.
Class 3: Super Sport165cc Group B: 1. #17 PV Francis, Chickmagalur (Pvt – Hero Impulse) (1:17:31.427); 2. #18 Shoeb Mohamed Khan, Mysuru (Pvt – Hero Impulse) (1:18:54.571); 3. #10 Abrar Ahmed, Mysuru (Pvt – Hero Impulse) (1:19:33.674). 5 of 7 riders finished the class.
Class 4: Super Sport 260cc Group B: 1. #19 Samuel Jacob, Hosur (TVS Racing – Apache RTR) (1:11:01.565); 2. #21 J Imran Pasha, Mysuru (TVS Racing – Apache RTR) (1:11:15.009); 3. #22 Yuva Kumar, Bengaluru (Pvt – Hero Xpulse) (1:14:59.028). 8 of 9 riders finished the class.
Class 5: Super Sport 400cc Group B: 1. #29 Sajeesh Reghunathan, Bengaluru (Pvt – KTM Duke 390) (1:23:31.810); 2. #30 Harish S, Bengaluru (Pvt – KTM Duke 390) (1:23:32.588 – Including 1:00 penalty); Only 2 of 4 riders in the class finished.
Class 6: Super Sport 550cc Group B: 1. #34 Sarath Kumar S, Bengaluru (Pvt – Himalayan) (1:18:28.232); 2. #31 Vishwas SD, Bengaluru (Pvt- Himalayan) (1:19:20.126); 3. #35 Abhijeet Sarkar, Bengaluru (Pvt – Himalayan) (1:33:11.197). 3 out of 4 riders finished, 4th rider Naresh VS Disqualified (Dsq).
Class 7: So S3 Scooter 210 Group B: 1. #39 Karthik N, Hosur (TVS Racing -TVS N Torq) (1:22:15.338); 2. #38 Ninganna M Handral, Bengaluru (Pvt -TVS N Torq) (1:23:39.334); 3. #36 Pinkesh Thakkar (TVS Racing -TVS N Torq) (1:30:21.819). 3 out of 5 riders finished. One DNF, one DSQ.
Class 8: Ladies Class: Group B: 1. #41 Aishwarya Pissay, Bengaluru (TVS Racing – Apache RTR) (1:20:30.772); 2. #43 Tanika Shanbhag, Satara (Pvt – Hero Xpulse) (1:23:03.591); 3. #42 Ryhana Bee, Chennai (Pvt – TVS Apache) (1:25:06.192). All 3 riders finished.
Non championship Class: Star of Karnataka: 1. #52 Stephen Roy RA, Kushalanagar (Pvt – Hero Impulse) (1:17:39.868); 2. #49 MD Ansar, Bengaluru (Pvt – Hero Impulse) (1:21:49.531); 3. #45 Akshay Raje Urs, Mysuru (Pvt – Hero Xpulse) (1:22:23.201). 6 of 7 riders finished. One DNF.
Overall Points table at the end of fourth and final round in Hampi
MRF MoGrip Indian National Rally Championship for 2w (INRC) 2020
# Name Position Final Points 1 SAMUEL SAJAN JACOB 1 83 2 IMRAN PASHA J 2 48 3 RAJENDRA R E 3 43 4 ASAD KHAN 4 38 5 SACHIN D 5 36 6 YUVA KUMAR 6 34 7 NATARAJ R 7 31 8 SUHAIL AHMED 8 29 9 SARATH MOHAN 9 20 10 SANJAY SOMASHEKAR 10 17 11 NIKHIL B 11 8 12 NARESH V S 12 6 13 SINAN FRANCIS 13 2 14 RAKESH N 13 2 15 TRINESH V 13 2 16 ARMUGAM SATHYARAJ 13 2 17 SUDEEP KOTTARY 14 1 18 STEPHEN ROY 15 1 19 FRANCIS P V 16 1 Note: As received from God Speed Racing, prooters of MRF MoGrip INRC 2w 2020
-
Gaurav Gill joins exclusive club in INRC Hall of Fame! Musa Sherif, first navigator to do 293 rallies
Bengaluru, 1 Feb 2021: Following are the Statistics of the Indian National Rally Championship after the end of the third round of the four-round INRC 2020 calendar which is pushed to 2021 due to the COVID pandemic.
Gaurav Gill and Musa Sherif have been together for 63 Rallies out of which they finished 39 Rallies, notching up 38 podiums and 36 victories. Gill was behind the wheel of a Mitsubishi Cedia for his first three titles while the last four came through the bulky Mahindra XUV.
Musa Sherif becomes the leading co-driver with the highest number of rallies, finishing his 293rd rally in the third round at Coimbatore, consecutively calling the notes for 29 years. He has navigated for 47 drivers in that period. These 293 rallies include over 150 rallies in INRC.
INRC Titles from 1988 – 2020
Driver’s Championship winners – After INRC got the National Championship status in 1988
Driver’s Name Number of titles Years won Remarks 1 Gaurav Singh Gill Seven (7) 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2020 2 V Naren Kumar Seven (7) 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2010 3 N Leelakrishnan Six (6) 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1998, 2001 4 Hari Singh Four (4) 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 5 Farad Bhatheena Two (2) 1988, 1989 6 Vikram Mathias Two (2) 2004, 2008, 7 Amittrajit Ghosh Two (2) 2012, 2013, 8 Lohit Urs One (1) 2015, 9 Karna Kadur One (1) 2016, 10 Chethan Shivram One (1) 2019, Co-Drivers’ Championship winners
Driver’s Name Number of titles Years won Remarks 1 Musa Sherif Seven (7) 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2020 2 D Ram Kumar Six (6) 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2010 3 Gurinder Singh Mann Four (4) 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 4 N Mahendran Three (3) 1991, 1992, 1993, 5 Farooq Ahmed Three (3) 1998, 1999, 2001, 6 Raj Bagri Two (2) 1988, 1989, 7 Ashwin Naik Two (2) 2012, 2013, 8 CV Jayakumar One (1) 1990, 9 Sujith Kumar BS One (1) 2004, 10 PVS Murhty One (1) 2008, 11 Shrikanth GM One (1) 2015, 12 Nikhil Pai One (1) 2016, 13 Dilip Sharan One (1) 2019
Drivers, Co-Drivers and Teams that won the National Championship from 1988Year Driver & Co-Driver Team Car Tuner 1 1988 Farad Bathena/ Raj Bagri Team MRF Maruti Gypsy Group II (A) Mohinder Lalwni 2 1989 Farad Bathena/ Raj Bagri Team MRF Maruti Gypsy Group II (A) J Anand 3 1990 N Leelakrishnan/ CV Jaykumar Team MRF Maruti Gypsy Group II (A) N Leelakrishnan 4 1991 N Leelakrishnan/ N Mahendran Team MRF Maruti Gypsy Group II (A) N Leelakrishnan 5 1992 N Leelakrishnan/ N Mahendran Team MRF Maruti Gypsy Group II (A) N Leelakrishnan 6 1993 N Leelakrishnan/ N Mahendran Team MRF Maruti Gypsy Group II (A) N Leelakrishnan 7 1994 Hari Singh/ Gurinder Singh Mann JK Tyre Rally Team Maruti Gypsy Group A-1-A S Karivardhan 8 1995 Hari Singh/ Gurinder Singh Mann JK Tyre Rally Team Maruti Gypsy Group A-1-A S Karivardhan 9 1996 Hari Singh/ Gurinder Singh Mann JK Tyre Rally Team Maruti Esteem Group A-1-A PNR Satish 10 1997 Hari Singh/ Gurinder Singh Mann JK Tyre Rally Team Maruti Esteem Group A-1-A WSRF 11 1998 N Leelakrishnan/ Farooq Ahmed Team MRF Maruti Esteem Group A-1-A N Leelakrishnan 12 1999 VR Naren Kumar/ Farooq Ahmed Team MRF Maruti Esteem Group A N Leelakrishnan 13 2000 VR Naren Kumar/ D Ram Kumar Team MRF Maruti Baleno Group A N Leelakrishnan 14 2001 N Leelakrishnan/ Farooq Ahmed Team MRF Honda City Group A N Leelakrishnan 15 2002 VR Naren Kumar/ D Ram Kumar Team MRF Honda City Group A N Leelakrishnan 16 2003 VR Naren Kumar/ D Ram KUmar Team MRF Honda City Group A N Leelakrishnan 17 2004 Vikram Mathias/ Sujith Kumar BS Team MRF Honda City Group A N Leelakrishnan 18 2005 VR Naren Kumar/ D Ram Kumar JK Rally Team Maruti Baleno Group N N Leelakrishnan 19 2006 VR Naren Kumar/ D Ram Kumar JK Rally Team Maruti Baleno Group N N Leelakrishnan 20 2007 Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif Team MRF Mitsubishi Cedia Group N J Anand 21 2008 Vikram Mathias/ PVS Murthy Red Rooster Racing Mitsubishi Cedia Group N+ N Leelakrishnan 22 2009 Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif Team MRF Mitsubishi Cedia Group N+ J Anand 23 2010 VR Naren Kumar/ D Ram Kumar Red Rooster Racing Mitsubishi Cedia Group N+ N Leelakrishnan 24 2011 Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif MRF Mitsubishi Cedia Group N+ J Anand 25 2012 Amittrajit Ghosh/ Ashwin Naik RRPM Mitsubishi Cedia Group N B Rajan 26 2013 Amittrajit Ghosh/ Ashwin Naik RRPM Mitsubishi Cedia Group N B Rajan 27 2014 Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif Mahindra Adventure Mahindra XUV 500 N Leelakrishnan 28 2015 Lohitt V Urs/ Shrikanth Gowda MRU Motorsport Mitsubishi Cedia Evo8 Mohamed Rafiq Udaya 29 2016 Karna Kadur/ Nikhil V Pai Team Yokohama India Volkswagen Polo Group N N Leelakrishnan 30 2017 Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif Mahindra Adventure Mahindra XUV 500 N Leelakrishnan 31 2018 Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif Mahindra Adventure Mahindra XUV 500 N Leelakrishnan 32 2019 Chetan Shivram/ Dilip Sharan Team Akshara Racing Volkswagen Polo Fazil Khan, FRK 33 2020 Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif JK Tyre Racing team Mahindra XUV 300 N Leelakrishnan 34 2021 -
Gaurav Gill wins record 7th INRC title; equals Naren Kumar’s feat; surpasses Leela’s
By David Bodapati
Coimbatore, 31 Jan 2021: Gaurav Gill and experienced navigator Musa Sherif, clinched their 7th National title in the Rally of Coimbatore, the third and penultimate round of the Champions Yacht Club fmsci Indian National Rally Championship 2020 (INRC), with a round to spare here on Sunday.
Gill equalled the record of Naren Kumar’s seven National titles and surpassed Narayanaswamy Leelakrishnan (6), his current tuner. Incidentally, Gill also won three FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship titles and he has also taken part in the World Rally Championship in WRC2 class.
Gill garnered 116 points from three rounds and with only K-1000 with a maximum of 39 points on offer, left in the calendar, Gill has sealed the championship with a round to spare. Here in Coimbatore, Gill’s XUV 300 turbo suffered from electrical issues and he struggled to do even 100 Kmph.
Yet, Gill won five of the six stages and despite having electrical issues from the very beginning that hampered his speed, he brought home his limping car to get him the latest National title that put him on a pinnacle.
Dr Speed Bikku Babu takes a right-hander in SS5 on Sunday. Babu finished 2nd overall and first in his class in the Round 3 of the Indian National Rally Championship. Gaurav Gill, left and Musa Sherif, who won the seventh National title together “Yes, the stages were very narrow and rough terrain which made it highly technical. This year the stage distance was increased and now it is one of the longest (over 19 Kms) stages in Indian rallies, so the route became very tough. But I like it because, it is always nice to win the Stages which are tough and demanding. I did suffer initial hiccups but as the saying goes, it is nice to conquer things when the going gets tough,” quipped Gill.
The Arjuna Awardee and Delhi-based driver, who is nick-named the King of Indian Motorsports, is truly a force to reckon with, and had he progressed to the WRC earlier than he did, in his peak, India and FMSCI would now have boasted of a World Champion.
But all is not lost as Gill still dreams of WRC, and the champion in him is eager to produce big results. For now, he will be taking part in the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) again with the first round of 2021 season in Chennai from 26 to 28 March. It will be run simultaneously for Asia Cup and South India Rally as the 2021 INRC Round, provided the calendar is approved by FMSCI for INRC.
Meanwhile, two entrants from Kerala, “Dr Speed” Bikku Babu, who is maturing like old wine, won in the INRC 2 class and “Mr Clean” Fabid Ahmer topped the INRC 3 category, to make up for a bad outing in Itanagar. Ahmer managed to recoup, fight and get back with his clean-and-steady driving to lead the championship once again by eight points in INRC3.
Dean Mascarenhas, who retired with a gear box failure, still leads the championship in INRC2 with one round to go. The A seeded driver, Babu, and B seeded Ahmer, are not the only drivers from the stable of Chettinad Sporting, as the Goa-Coorg combination of Vaibhav Marathe, a product of Champions Group, won INRC 4 class, along with co-driver Suhan M Kabir. The duo clinched the issue after some hiccups in Round 1 at Itanagar. The Champions Yacht Club Director in Goa, Marathe, is leading the championship table in his class with a podium in Round 2 and a win here.
Dr Speed Bikku Babu, left, and Bonny Thomas, INRC Overall second and INRC2 winners in the Rally of Coimbatore on Sunday. Photo by David Bodapati The Team which hogged limelight on the day was Chettinad Sporting, led by Thyagarajan and Roshan, the men behind the cars’ performance. The team won three out of four Championship classes and had one more podium to boost as a bonus. It was in 2014 in Nashik that the team had swept all the classes but one, and today is a great day for a team which started its journey with South India Rally in 1996 and went on to field two cars for the rally in Coorg in 2007, where Chettinad Sporting had a good presence with their blue colour dominating the car livery. And today, after 25 years, they came out with flying colours with three wins. “Three cheers to all the mechanics, the drivers, co-drivers and the men who believed in them who made the journey possible… For us, drivers and co-drivers are always the heroes and all praise should go to them,” said Thyagarajan.
Gill, too, has played no less a role, as both Bikku Babu and FabidAhmer were part of his Rally School and learnt the tricks of the trade to blossom and perform to their potential. Chettinad Sporting provieds technical support to Gill’s academy in the Kethanur windmill farms near Coimbatore.
Meanwhile, defending champion Chethan Shivram with a new navigator in Shahid Salman, in his Volkswagon Polo 1.6 bereft of the usual LSD, still managed to finish fourth overall and second in his class which is a big achievement. But the luck that deserted with Dilip Sharan, who is now navigating for Rakesh Shukla in an Esteem, may have dampened the spirit, but the champ in Shivram continues to fight for honours with K-1000 still on the radar. Chetan and his brother Dilip had won the 2019 championship with FRK led by Fazal Khan tuning the car, for Team Akshara Racing, as they got into the exclusive club of 10 Overall INRC winners in 32 years.
Vaibhav Marathe and Suhan Kabir bring Yokohama their first class win in ten years with their last title coming in 2010 for Red Rooster Racing. Photo by David Bodapati Harikrishna Wadi and co-driver Chirag Thakur put their Honda City on top in the Junior INRC category and 11th overall, while Pragathi Gowda, driving with a new navigator in her third rally, in Trisha Jagannath, came second in their VW Polo. Mysore lad Rakshith Iyer and co-driver Chandrasekhar were third in Junior class in an Esteem.
Sanjay Razdan and navigator Karan Aukta won the Gypsy Challenge with veteran Sanjay Agarwal and co-driver Smitha Prasad taking second and the pair of Divyanshu Vyas and VenuRemesh Kumar third.
In the Ladies Class, 27-year debutante Athira Murali of Kottayam won the Round 3 in an INRC4 Esteem along with co-driver George Varghese, despite losing a lot of time due to a slower car ahead which had technical issues. Another lady driver from the north, Amandeep Kaur, who is also making her debut in the INRC, came second, with ever-smiling navigator Mohit Malik in a Baleno ahead of mother-daughter pair of doctors in Dr Shivani Pruthvi and Dr Deepthi Pruthvi, from Davangere in Karnataka, who finished on the podium, despite some issues with the car, in this class.
Of the 59 cars that took the start on Day 1, only 33 cars completed the rally and 26 failed to finish. The fourth and last round of the delayed 2020 INRC 2020, K-1000, is scheduled to be run by Karnataka Motor Sports Club (KMSC) from 12 to 14 February, 2021.
Unaudited Provisional Results: (Round 3 after Sunday’s six Special Stages):
Overall: 1. Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif (Mahindra Adventure3 00) (1hour, 27min, 56.700seconds); 2. Dr Speed – Bikku Babu/ Bonnie Thoma (VW Polo) (1:29:21.100); 3. Fabid Ahmer/ Eldo Chacko (JK Tyre) (VW Polo) (01:29:57.200); 4. Chetan Shivram /Shahid Salman (VW Polo) (01:31.05.500); 5. Aditya Thakur/ Virendra Keshyap (VW Polo) (1:31:36.700); 6. Ritesh Guttedar M/ Lokaranjan HJ (VW Polo) (01:31:43.600); 7. Sahil Khanna /Vidit Jain (Snap Racing) (VW Polo) (01:32:54.200); 8. Maninder Singh Prince/ Vinay Padmashali (JK Tyre – VW Polo) (1:32:57.400); 9. Phillippos Mathai/ Kumar Ramasamy (Mahindra XUV 500) (1:33:18.600); 10. Mohammed Kasim/ Sanath G (VW Polo) (1:33:45.300).
INRC2:1. Dr Speed – Bikku Babu/ Bonnie Thomas (1:29:21.100); 2. Chetan Shivram /Shahid Salman (01:31.05.500); 3. Ritesh Guttedar M/ Lokaranjan HJ (01:31:43.600); 4. Sahil Khanna /Vidit Jain (Snap Racing) (01:32:54.200); 5. Rahul Kantharaj/ Vivek Bhatt (01:54:07.500); 6. Suhem Kabir/ Jeevarathinam (2:12:24.600); 7. Lakshay Veer Dabas/ Sagar Mallappa (Snap Racing/ VW Polo) (2:13:27.500); All in VW Polo.
INRC3: 1. Fabid Ahmer /Eldo Chacko (JK Tyre) (VW Polo) (01:29:57.200); 2. Aditya Thakur/ Virendra Keshyap (VW Polo) (1:31:36.700); 3. Maninder Singh Prince/ Vinay Padmashali (VW Polo) (1:32:57.400); 4.Mohammed Kasim/ Sanath G (VW Polo) (01:33:45.300); 5. Harkrishnan Wadia /Chirag Thakur (Honda City) (01:34:42.300); 6. Pragathi Gowda/ Trisha Jagannath (Team Vasundhara/ VW Polo) (1:37:08.200); 7. Ashad Pasha/ Deeksha Balakrishna (VW Polo) (01:37:18.300).
INRC 4: 1. Vaibhav Marathe/ Suhan MK (Honda City) (01:36:51.700); 2. Yeswanth Padale/ Bharth SM (Honda City) (1:40:34.300); 3. Pradeep Ravi/ Arvind Dheerendra (Maruti Suzuki Esteem) (01:42:13.200); 4.Sumesh M/ Anil Abbas (Maruti Suzuki Esteem) (01:46:31.700); 5. Athira Murali/ George Varghese (1:52:10.400); 6. Amandeep Kaur/ Mohit Mallik (Maruti Suzuki Baleno) (01:14:18.300); 7. Rakesh Shukla / Dilip Sharan (Maruti Suzuki Esteem) (01:53:01.300).
Junior INRC: 1. #28; Harikrishna Wadi/ Chirag Thakur (JK Tyre -Honda City) (1:34:42.300); 2. #38; Rakshit Iyer/ M Chandrashekar (Maruti Suzuki Esteem) (2:04:07.800); 3. #36; Shivani Pruthvi/ Deepthi Pruthvi (JK Tyre Mitsubishi Cedia) (2:15:15.200); Only 4 cars of the 6 eligible for Junior INRC finished.
Non-Championship class
Gypsy Challenge: 1. Sanjay Razdan/ Karan Aukta (01:40:40.200); 2. Sanjay Agarwal/ Smitha Prasad (01:42:44.700); 3. Divyanshu Vyas/ Venu Remesh;Kumar (01:44:03.900);4. Mohd. Kaif Khan/ Arjun Dheerendra (01:44:30.900); 5. Dheeraj KV/ Pramod Raman (01:45:31.700); 6. Daksh Gill/ Mrinmoy Saha (1:57:58.600);
(Only 6 of the 12 Gypsies finished).
Ladies Class: 1. #47 Athira Murali/ George Varghese (Esteem); 2. #46 Amandeep Kaur/ Mohit Malik (Baleno); 3. #36 Shivani Pruthvi/ Deepthi Pruthvi (Mitsubishi Cedia).
eom/david/31jan2021
-
Gaurav Gill powers his limping Mahindra to top spot after Leg 1: INRC Round 3
Kethanur (near Coimbatore), 30 Jan 2021: King of Indian motorsports, Gaurav Gill and co-driver Musa Sherif, powered their limping Mahindra XUV 300, to clock the fastest timing of the day, finishing ahead of the pack to lead the Day 1 of the Rally of Coimbatore, the third round of the Champion Yacht Club fmsci Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) for four wheelers here at the Kethanur windmill farms on Saturday.
The Arjuna Awardee and three-time APRC champion, Gill with Sherif, who is taking part in his 293rd rally, had trouble even before they started the Special Stages, as they faced electrical issues and the car failed to gain speed. They did continue despite the `misfiring’ and still clocked better timings than the others in three of the four stages.
“I was definitely off the pace, by some four minutes. Not sure what the problem is, but hopefully, it would be sorted out tonight. The misfiring started in the very first corner of the first Stage. So much so, I couldn’t even do 100 Kmph! It was frustrating in the sense that I would like to deliver good results to my sponsors and the team. Anyway, tomorrow, I hope to be on the kind of pace I want to,” said Gill at the end of the day.
Meanwhile, other top-guns Karna Kadur (co-driver Nikhil Pai), Amittrajit Ghosh (co-driver Ashwin Naik) and Dean Mascarenhas (co-driver Shruptha Padiwal), had a bad day. Kadur, running with a new engine, encountered “teething problems” through the day and lost time, but will be eyeing leg points on the morrow.Ghosh had his share of problems and had stopped while Mascarenhas dropped out due to gearbox issues.
Gaurav Gill, left, and Musa Sherif, who is on his 293rd rally after reccee on Friday. Dr “Speed” Bikku Babu, once again was in his elements and finished the day second overall with another talented Kerala youngster Fabid Ahmer, along with new co-driver Eldo Chacko, overall third at the end of the day after four Special Stages. Two more stages will be run on Sunday.
While Dr Bikku Babu is leading the INRC 2 class from Chetan Shivram, who is now with a new co-driver Shahid Salman and running on stock engine. Sahil Khanna, navigated by Vidit Jain, is in third place. In INRC 3, Arjun Rao (co-driver Shanmuga Sundaram) is trailing Fabid Amer by just 22 seconds. Adiya Thakur (co-driver Virendra Kashyap) is in third.
In INRC 4, the Goa-Kodagu combination of Vaibhav Marathe and Suhan MK are ahead of Yeswanth Padale and Bharath SM, and Rounak Singh and Amit Waghchaure.
Other casuality on Saturday was Rahul Kantharaj (co-driver Vivek Bhatt), who had a puncture and lost precious time.
Provisional Unaudited Results: (Results are given till 7 places, were available, to facilitate drivers and co-drivers to count their leg points)
Overall: 1. Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif (Mahindra Adventure3 00) (58:41.800); 2. Dr Speed – Bikku Babu/ Bonnie Thoma (VW Polo) (1:00:01.300); 3. Fabid Ahmer/ Eldo Chacko (JK Tyre) (VW Polo) (01:00:08.300); 4. Arjun Rao/ Shanmuga Sundaram (VW Polo) (1: 00:30.800); 5. Aditya Thakur/ Virendra Keshyap (VW Polo) (1:01:04.500); 6. Chetan Shivram /Shahid Salman (VW Polo) (01:01.13.100); 7. Sahil Khanna /Vidit Jain (Snap Racing) (VW Polo) (01:01:33.100); 8. Ritesh Guttedar M/ Lokaranjan HJ (VW Polo) (01:01:37.400);
Note: Phillippo Mathai/ Kumar Ramasamy (Mahindra XUV 500- MRF Tyres) 01:02:47.600 get six leg points for 2nd in INRC class; However, INRC is not a separate class.
INRC2:1. Dr Speed – Bikku Babu/ Bonnie Thomas (1:00:01.300); 2. Chetan Shivram /Shahid Salman (01:01.13.100); 3. Sahil Khanna /Vidit Jain (Snap Racing) (01:01:33.100); 4. Ritesh Guttedar M/ Lokaranjan HJ (01:01:37.400); 5. Dhruva Chandrasekhar/ PVS Murthy (01:04:11.700); 6. BC Roopesh/ Ragavendra Phalguna (01:13:10.400); 7. Rahul Kantharaj/ Vivek Bhatt (01:23:29.700). All in VW Polo.
INRC3: 1. Fabid Ahmer /Eldo Chacko (JK Tyre) (VW Polo) (01:00:08.300); 2. Arjun Rao/ Shanmuga Sundaram (VW Polo) (1: 00:30.800); 3. Aditya Thakur/ Virendra Keshyap (VW Polo) (1:01:04.500); 4. Maninder Singh Prince/ Vinay Padmashali (VW Polo) (01:02:36.400); 5.Mohammed Kasim/ Sanath G (VW Polo) (01:02:39.900); 6. Harkrishnan Wadia /Chirag Thakur (Honda City) (01:03:17.400); 7. Daraius Shroff/ Nitin Jacob (VW Polo) (01:03:22.900).
INRC 4: 1. Vaibhav Marathe/ Suhan MK (Honda City) (01:04:15.300); 2. YeswanthPadale/ Bharth SM (Honda City) (1:07:27.500); 3. Rounaq Singh/ Amit Waghchoure (Maruti Baleno) (01:08:41.900); 4. Pradeep Ravi/ Arvind Dheerendra (Maruti Suzuki Esteem) (01:09:13.400); 5.Sumesh M/ Anil Abbas (Maruti Suzuki Esteem) (01:11:54.700); 6. Amandeep Kaur/ Mohit Mallik (Maruti Suzuki Baleno) (01:14:18.300); 7. Rakesh Shukla / Dileep Sharan (Maruti Suzuki Esteem) (01:15:51.700).
Junior INRC: 1. Pragathi Gowda/ Trisha Jagannath (01:05.10.300); 2. Rohit Iyer/ M Manjunath (01:21:32.200); (Only 2 Junior INRC cars finished the four stages today)
Non-Championship class: Gypsy Challenge: 1. Sanjay Razdan/ Karan Aukta (01:07:17.700); 2. Abhishek Gowda/ Dheeraj Maney (01:08:34.100); 3. Sanjay Agarwal/ Smitha Prasad (01:08:39.000); 4. Divyanshu Vyas/ Venu Remesh;Kumar (01:08:48.600); 5. Mohd. Kaif Khan/ Arjun Dheerendra (01:10:20.600): 6. Dheeraj KV/ Pramod Raman (01:10:49.600); 7. Shyam Gopinath/ Ashwin Gururaj (01:1103.500).
Leg points as follows: 1st Place: 7 points; 2nd Place: 6 points, 3rd Place: 5 points; 4th Place: 4 points; 5th Place: 3 points; 6th Place: 2 points; 7th Place: 1 point.
Pragathi Gowda, left, who won the Junior INRC in Itanagar first round with Deeksha (not in pic) has a new navigator, a childhood friend and schoolmate Trisha Jagannathan, after the Reccee on Friday. (15of the 59 cars that took the start, failed to finish all the four Special Stages, but many of them will be rejoining on Sunday in the Super Rally format to earn Leg Points).
