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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.
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Suriya Varathan crowned new champion in X30 Senior class
Bangalore, 23 Nov 2o20: Coimbatore’s Suriya Varathan dethroned Nirmal Umashankar to become the new champion in the Senior Category of the X30 Class Meco-FMSCI National Karting Championship that concluded at Meco Kartopia, near Bagalur, on Sunday.
This is the first national championship to be successfully completed in the country, with all safety protocols followed, since the COVID 19 pandemic in March, an FMSCI press release said on Monday.
Suriya, who began the fifth and final round with 138 points, had to be satisfied with the third position in the Senior Category over Saturday and Sunday. But that was good enough to give him a totally tally of 161 points and the coveted championship.
Chennai’s Nirmal Umashankar put up a game fight but had to settle for the second position (142) after managing 31 points and a second place in the last round. Bangalore’s Rishon Rajeev was the winner of this round with three wins and one second place.
In the Junior Class, Ruhaan Alva had already clinched the National Championship in the earlier round. He put up another stellar show among the Juniors to take another win with utmost ease but a clash of karts saw him finish behind Rohan Madesh in one race before he asserted his supremeacy in the last race of the season winning by a mile. He will now move to Senior class next year.
Ruhaan and city mate Rohaan Madesh won two races apiece and finished second in two races this weekend to garner 37 points each.
Ruhaan Alva went home with an overall score of 184. Rohaan Madesh finished with 143.
In the Cadet Class, it was complete domination by Rohaan’s younger brother Ishaan Madesh, who delighted all by annexing the Cadet championship. Ishaan won all the four races in the final round to pip Pune’s Sai Shiva Makesh who had given him a good fight all through the event. Bangalore’s Anshul Sai took the third place in the Championship.
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Top honours for Suhail Ahmed; Double for Sachin
By David Bodapati
Bengaluru, 21 Nov 2020: Astride a KTM 450EXC, Suhail Ahmed survived minor hiccups to win the top honours on Saturday while Sachin D bagged a brace in the third round of the Motorsport Inc FMSCI Indian National Rally Sprint Championship for two-wheelers at the closed dirt tracks in Korlahalli, 53-km from here, on Saturday.
Organised by Motorsports Inc, the promoters of the Sprint Nationals, the event attracted 82 entries in 9 classes, and is supported by Red Bull and Hero MotoSports.
Bengaluru rider Suhail clocked the fastest time of the day in Group A up to 800cc class, the ribbon event of the day, beating Sinan Francis of Ernakulam 2.19 seconds, but the Ernakulam rider placed his KTM450EXC in the second to keep the championship lead going into the fourth round on Sunday. “I was bogged down by technical issues and had to manage and finish the stage,” said Suhail, who faced suspension issues.
Suhail Ahmed, who won the fastest rider of the day tag on Saturday. Sachin D, who won a double on Saturday, negotiates a bump in the Star of Karnataka class. In the Group B classes, it was Sachin D from TVS Racing, who had the upper hand winning the 166cc to 260cc Class, astride a TVS Apache with a time of 7min 49.43seconds, the second-fastest time of the day to shoot into the championship lead following two podiums in the first two rounds. Sachin defeated Hero Motosports, Yuva Kumar by a margin of 8.49seconds and Sanjay Somasekhar, also of Bengaluru, took third on a Hero Xpulse, as he finished another 7 seconds behind.
Yuva Kumar of Hero Motosports, showcases his skills on a Hero Xpulse, but had to be content with a second place on Saturday. He collected enough points to stay in title hunt. “It’s a hard and very technical track but I had a good ride and enjoyed the day. Everything went off smoothly today. Hats-off to the organisers, for it is not easy to put together such a show in these days of Corona,” said Sachin at the service park.
In the Star of Karnataka class, Sachin D won clocking 7min 54.24sec and Yuva Kumar once again finished second. “I finished second in both my classes but it was a good day for me. The track was tricky with bumpy terrain and it was a fast stage and I am looking forward to tomorrow’s round,” quipped Yuva of Hero MotoSports.
The big daddies: Devaraj Venkatesh, astride a Himalayan negotiates a corner on way to his win in the Bullet Class Round 3 Sprint Nationals on Saturday. Photo by David Bodapati While Bengaluru’s Pavan BK won the 131 to 165cc Class, Mangalore’s Sudeep Kottary bagged the first place in 261 to 400cc Category and Ernakulam’s Nordin Thomas, put his Yamaha YBX on the top pedestal in `Upto 130cc Class’.
Sudeep was streets ahead as he won by a huge margin with over 47-seconds on Bengaluru-based Sajeesh, also on a KTM Duke. He had to be content with a second place over one minute ahead of Uday Ganguli of Kolkata, astride a KTM 390.
In the Ladies Class, Ryhana Bee, the 2019 National racing champion in her class, continued to dominate the Sprint Rally Nationals as she posted another hard-earned win brushing aside the challenge of Tanika Shanbhag of Satara. Astride a Hero Impulse, the Chennai lass posted a perfect 75 points from three rounds to complete a hat-trick of wins. Arpita VM of Mangalore, who had two podiums in the first two rounds was off-colour today on her Honda Stunner, with Bengaluru’s Dimpy taking the third place today ahead of Arpita. All the top three are riding an Impulse.
“The terrain is pretty technical with rocky pebbles. But I enjoyed the straights where we can gain time. Relatively, it is a hard track when compared to the others, as it requires mental strength to absorb the technicalities of different corners,” said Ryhana, about the 7.75km terrain. The village road from Korlahalli to Melakote amidst the Raagi fields ready for harvest had pebbles, hard rocks and loose soil at different points.
The Bullet class was dominated by Himalayan bikes and the all-Bengaluru podium saw Devaraj Venkatesh on the top step. Mohammed Zaheer came second pushing Vishwas SD to third place.
Provisional final results (Round 3):
Noldin Thomas, who won the Upto 130cc Class, in action on Saturday. Group A:
Upto 800cc: 1. Suhail Ahmed Competition Number #5 (Bengaluru, KTM450EXC) (07 minutes, 48.74 seconds); 2. Sinan Francis #1 (Ernakulam, KTM450EXC) (7: 51.55); 3. Vishwas SD #2 (Bengaluru, Suzuki) (8:09.82);
Group B:
131cc to 165cc: 1. Pavan BK #30 (Bengaluru, Hero Impulse) (8:07.83); 2. Ishan Chandra #29 (Mangalore, Hero Impulse) (8:23.19); 3. Vinay Prasad #24 (Bengaluru Hero Impulse) (8:25.58);
261cc to 400cc: 1. Sudeep Kottary #66 (Mangalore, KTM Duke) (8:38.65); 2. Sajeesh #67 (Bangalore, KTM Duke) (9:26.86); 3. Uday Ganguly #63 (Kolkota, KTM 390) (10:37.97).
Upto 130cc: 1.Nordin Thomas #19 (Ernakulam, Yamaha YBX) (8:53.53); 2. Durgesh J #18 (Mysore, Honda Stunner) (8:55.59); 3. Joseph Jinu #22 (Ernakulam, Yamaha YBX) (9:00.54).
166cc to 260cc: 1. Sachin D #51 (Bengaluru, TVS Apache) (7: 49.43); Yuva Kumar #46 (Bengaluru, Hero Xpulse) (7:58.36); 3. Sanjay Somasekhar #45 (Bengaluru, Hero Xpulse) (8:05.32).
Bullet Class: 1. Devaraj Venkatesh #88 (Bengaluru, Himalayan) (8:23.12); 2. Mohammed Zaheer #87 (Bengaluru, Himalayan) (8:29.94); 3. Vishwas SD #91 (Bengaluru, Himalayan) (8:32.31).
Ladies Class: 1. Ryhana Bee #73 (Chennai, Hero Impulse) (9:44.10); 2. Tanika Shanbhag #72 (Satara, Hero Impulse) (9:53.33); 3. Dimpy A #70 (Bengaluru, Hero Impulse) (11:30.01).
Scooter Class: 1. Karthik Naidu #79 (Bengaluru, TVS N-Torq) (9:10.86); Pinkesh Thakkar #80 (Pune, Aprilla SR125) (9:27.57); 3. Subramanya #83 (Bengaluru, TVS Wega) (9:43.07).
Star of Karnataka: 1. Sachin D #105 (Bengaluru, TVS Apache) (7:54.23); 2. Yuva Kumar #109 (Bengaluru, Hero Xpulse) (8:05.11); 3. Ishan Chandra #102 (Bengaluru, Hero Impulse) (8:11.67).
Clerk of the Course: Jaidas Menon.
Chief Steward: Gautham Shanthappa, Steward: Rakesh D, Club Steward: Uday Kumar.
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Vasundhara Jewellery Group enters INRC with 2 all-woman teams
Hyderabad, 12 Nov 2020: Champions Yacht Club pulled off another first in Indian Motorsports roping in a prominent woman entrepreneur of the city to field a first sponsoring two all-woman teams in the CYC FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) 2020, which is slated to begin with a back-to-back double leg in the North-Eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh from December 15.
Mrs Vasundhara, a well-known Telangana businesswoman of Vasundhara Diamond Roof Private Limited fame, has come forward to sport a rally team for the first time. The Hyderabad -based jewellers will own two teams, a mix of experience and youth, comprising of renowned Indian woman rallyist Dr Bani Yadav of Gurgaon and another talented youngster, Pragathi Gowda of Bengaluru, with Mrs Vasundhara, taking the initiative to plunge into the sport with the first-time entry as a sponsor and team owner with two entries.
Andhra Pradesh, hosted the finals of the Indian National Autocross Championship last January, before the pandemic halted all motorsports events with the scheduled first round at Chennai, the South Indian Rally, being put off just a week before it was supposed to take off in March last week. Hyderabad, on the other hand, was famous for the Charminar Challenge rally, INRC event season finale, for many years in the past, and rallying is not new to the Telangana capital which has produced many rallyists of yore and had Andhra Pradesh Motor Sports Club during the combined state status which is now Telangana. With the coming of Team Vasundhara, Hyderabad will make its presence in INRC once again through a Team Owner, that too a woman owner, and with Bani Yadav in the driver’s seat, it is something to look forward to for a Rally fan.
Champions Yacht Club, the promoters of INRC, headed by young rally enthusiast Vamsi Merla, has already roped in Yokohama Tyres, who are fielding defending champion Chethan Shivaram and also announced a slew of benefits for woman teams by organising clubs waiving off entry fee to all women and their teams. Merla also promised to make transport arrangements for taking the cars to the venue at subsidised rates and accommodation is being provided free for all the participants beginning with the first two rounds at Itanagar, where the Government of Arunachal Pradesh and the Tourism Department of the State are also roped in by CYC.
Christened as ‘Team Vasundhara’ the two lady drivers will take part in INRC 3 class in a rally-spec Volkswagen Polo 1.6 shod with MRF Tyres.
Mrs. Vasundhara, who started the journey 22 years back, was the first women jeweller in entire South Asia and the idea behind promoting women in motorsports is in line with their company’s ethos of `women empowerment’ in all walks of life.
“A woman team owner, coming forward to promote and empower an all-woman team is a huge moment for Indian motorsports and a first time in Indian Rallying. As a promoter we have always strived for more women participation as part of the `Women in Motorsport’ concept introduced by FIA and FMSCI, and this association is seriously a stepping stone towards bringing in more women enthusiasts into motorsports,” Vamcy Merla, promoter of INRC and director of Champions Yacht Club said.
“Being a woman, my mother had to overcome many tough hurdles and challenges to make for herself. Our brand is all about woman empowerment as that is a personal journey for me. So keeping up the motto, we want to promote and empower women in all walks of life. We are pleased to have this opportunity to be part of an all-woman’s team and are glad to have been able to convince Bani (Yadav), a legend in her own right and Bengaluru youngster Pragathi (Gowda),” said Ashish, Director of Operation, Vasundhara Diamond Roof.
After the North-East round in scenic settings, INRC 2020 will move to Southern India with three rounds in Coimbatore, Hampi and the season-finale will be held in Bengaluru, with the iconic K-1000 as the last stop.
Began in 1988 as a National Championship, INRC the flagship event of Indian Motorsports will have five rounds in the depleted 2020-calendar, due to the Corona Virus, and will extend to two more months in 2021. The 33rd year of INRC will also see Hampi, the famous tourist spot in Karnataka, as a new venue to host INRC. The Hampi round will be in between the two Southern Cities once the venue is inspected and approved by the Federation, which looks like a formality as a non-championship curtain-raiser was run last year successfully. Champions Yacht Club who bagged the rights to promote the National Championship will be in-charge of INRC for two more years, with the Federation extending all championship rights for an extra year due to the disruption of regular events, by the pandemic this year.
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Double for Raghul, Tijil Rao; Jeet, Keith share ITC wins in 2 races
Irungattukottai (Sriperumbudur, TN) 8 Nov 2020: Championship leader Arjun Balu of Race Concepts had a gear-box failure but notched up two podium places even as FB Motorsport had its finest day yet with Hyderabad’s Jeet Jhabakh and Keith D’Souza from Goa, both driving the Volkswagen Polo, taking victories in the two premier Indian Touring Cars races as the second round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship concluded at the MMRT, about 130km from Chennai here on Sunday. Spectators and media were not allowed due to the government COVID 19 safety regulations and the event was held in a bio-bubble.
Also in the limelight was Mamallapuram’s Raghul Rangasamy of Performance Racing, who won both the races on Sunday, in the Super Stock category. Bengaluru lad Tijil Rao, also of Momentum Motorsport, completed a double in the Formula LGB 1300 class by winning the day’s first of the two races in addition to the one he won on Saturday. Viswas Vijayaraj of DTS Racing took the honours in the second of Sunday’s Formula LGB race.
Chennai’s Chetan Korada and Chandresh Tolia from Mumbai won a race apiece in the Toyota Etios MRF Saloon Car series.
Super Stock Race 2 winner Raghul Rangasamy flanked by 2nd placed Alisha Abdullah, left, and Vineet Abhiram, 3rd, ( at right) at MMRT on Sunday. Photo by Anand Philar Jeet Jhabakh, a 28-year old automotive businessman from Hyderabad, a former Volkswagen Ameo and Vento Cup champion, enjoyed a trouble-free run once race leader, Arjun Balu of Race Concepts, dropped out of contention with a gearbox issue. Jhabakh managed to nose ahead of teammate Dhruv Mohite following a brief contact, and gradually extended the lead for a comfortable win, his first of the season. He, like Mohite, have missed the opening round in February. Mohite came in second and Balu managed a distant third for some valuable points.
“It was a good race for me after I got in front. Not sure what happened with Arjun’s (Balu) car, but I passed him and Dhruv to get in front. I am really happy for this win,” said Jhabakh.
Balu started fourth on the reverse grid, but cut through to the front in the very first lap and looked set for another win when the gearbox played up. “In the third lap, I found the car weaving on the straight and I realised something was wrong. So, I let others pass me and in the final three laps, I shifted to fifth gear and stayed there as I wanted to finish and pick up points,” said Balu, who collected 15 points for his third-place to continue to lead the table.
The Race Concepts team then got to work and changed the gearbox in little over 30 minutes, but attracting a five-position grid penalty for Balu for the next race for which the Coimbatore ace had qualified on pole.
From left: 2nd placed Arjun Balu, winner Keith D’Souza and 3rd Jeet Jhabakh, in the ITC class Race 3 on Sunday. Photo by Anand Philar In the next outing, it was Keith D’Souza all the way as he made the best of a strong start to win comfortably from Balu, who made three places, and Jhabakh.
The results (Provisional, all 8 laps unless mentioned):
Indian Touring Cars (Race-2, 10 laps): 1. Jeet Jhabakh (FB Motorsport) (19mins, 11.577secs); 2. Dhruv Mohite (FB Motorsport) (19:14.720); 3. Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) (21:12.781).
ITC Race-3: 1. Keith D’Souza (FB Motorsport) (15:22.987); 2. Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) (15:28.096); 3. Jeet Jhabakh (FB Motorsport) (15:30.188).
Super Stock (Race-2, 10 laps): 1. Raghul Rangasamy (Performance Racing) (20:08.258); 2. Alisha Abdullah (Race Concepts) (20:30.072); 3. Vineet Abhiram (Race Concepts) (20:52.326).
SS Race-3: 1. Raghul Rangasamy (Performance Racing) (16:10.165); 2. Rithvik Thomas (Race Concepts) (16:10.728); 3. Alisha Abdullah (Race Concepts) (16:32.717).
MRF Saloon Car Series (Toyota Etios) (Race-2, 10 laps): 1. Chetan Korada (Chennai) (21:14.775); 2. A Balaprasath (Chennai) (21:15.945); 3. Diljith TS (Thrissur) (19:12.377+1 lap).
Toyota Race-3: 1. Chandresh Tolia (Mumbai) (17:18.519); 2. A Balaprasath (Chennai) (17:19.306); 3. Diljith TS (Thrissur) (17:28.532).
Formula LGB 1300 (Race-3): 1. Tijil Rao (Momentum Motorsport) (15:13.237); 2. Chirag Ghorpade (Momentum Motorsport) (15:13.806); 3. Arya Singh (DTS Racing) (15:19.854).
FLGB 1300 Race-4 (10 laps): 1. Viswas Vijayaraj (DTS Racing) (20:26.904); 2. Chirag Ghorpade (Momentum Motorsport) (20:28.587); 3. Arya Singh (DTS Racing) (20:29.120).
About Madras Motor Sports Club
Since its humble beginnings in 1953, the Madras Motor Sports Club has grown in stature as the hub of motorsport activity in India. Having moved from Sholavaram to its present location in Sriperumbudur in 1979, MMSC has kept pace with changing times by upgrading facilities. At a cost of about Rs 20 Crore, the MMSC built a pit complex comprising 20 garages, VIP hospitality suites and a viewing gallery, on the eastern side, apart from a second Paddock on the western side with its own short circuit. The Control Room too was upgraded with state-of-the-art hardware while the track itself was improved to meet the exacting FIA standards for Grade-2 certification. The facilities are also extensively used by various vehicle manufacturers for testing their products, displays and corporate days.
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Arjun Balu, Rithwik Thomas, Diljith reign supreme
Irungattukottai, near Chennai, 7 Nov 2020: Top speedster and talented Indian racing driver, Arjun Balu of Race Concepts, chalked up another fluent victory to extend lead the championship lead in the top-end Indian Touring Cars class as the second round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship commenced here at the MMRT on Saturday.
Balu from Coimbatore, thus, swept to his third consecutive win despite teething troubles with his car, following a double in the opening round in February, but was far from pleased with his performance. “I was still down on my lap times and was not too happy with the balance of the car. We made some changes to the car from the previous round, and so, had to deal with some teething issues. It was a struggle all weekend and we had to do a lot of work. I hope to do better in the next two races and come back stronger,” said Balu. Starting on pole Balu had a good launch and pulled off a quick lap of eight tenths over Keith in the first lap and did consistently faster laps thereafter, except in the Lap 2. He was not only faster than Keith in the second place but clocked the best lap of 1:53.146 (118.2 kmph). Joel Joseph who came fifth is the tuner of the Race Concept cars.
Arjun Balu in action on Saturday. Image by Anand Philar Finishing behind Balu were two FB Motorsport teammates, Keith D’Souza and last year’s champion Dhruv Mohite, neither of whom came anywhere near the Coimbatore ace who was simply sublime. Mohite who did not take part in the ITC class Round 1, opened his account while Keith is second on the table, adding to his second and fourth in the first two races in February.. “I too had a good start but we did not have the raw pace and all I can do was to keep up with him as much as I could. But I am happy with my race,” said Keith D’Souza of FB Motorsports tuned by Farad Bathena.
Rithvik Thomas after winning the Super Stock Race 1 on Saturday. Also finishing on the top step of the podium was Bengaluru’s Rithvik Thomas, also of Race Concepts, in the Super Stock class and, Diljith TS from Thrissur, in the Toyota Etios MRF Saloon Car Championship.
A couple of rain spells delayed the races but the stop-go proceedings did not affect their competitive nature and produced plenty of action.
Tijil Rao of Momentum Motorsport and Mohamed Ryan of M Sport won a race each in the Formula LGB 1300 category that had two races on Saturday.
Tijil Rao celebrates after winning Race 1 of Formula LGB on Saturday. Pole-sitter Tijil Rao led a 1-2 for Momentum Motorsport after holding off team-mate Chirag Ghorpade in a tense battle and behind them, Diljith TS, of DTS Racing, completed the podium. It was a good run by Ghorpade who started seventh on the grid and cut through the field to catch up with Tijil. The two were locked in a tense battle, but Tijil just about kept his nose in front while Dilijith made two places from fifth to finish third.
Mohamad Ryan giving his bites after winning Race 2 of Formula LGB 1300 at the MMRT. In the second Formula LGB 1300 race, Mohamed Ryan (M Sport) won handily from reverse grid start ahead of Karthik Krishna (Hasten Performance) and Viswas Vijayaraj (DTS Racing). Tijil managed to finish fifth for some important points. “He pressurised me a lot but I managed to keep it up for the win the first race. Now on to the next race,” said Mohamed Ryan. A Balaprasath clocked the best lap in Race 2: 1:53.007 (118.4 kmph) and it was Chirag Ghorpade with the fastest lap in Race 1 timing 1:53.085 (118.3kmph).
The combined saloon car race grid comprised two other classes, including the Super Stock, which was won by Rithwik Thomas of Race Concepts. It was his third success in a row and he extended his championship lead in this class. Raghul Rangasamy of Race Performance came second ahead of Alisha Abdullah, who did a good job to take the podium again ahead of five more racers, including Shivani Pruthvi of Davangere, who switched from rallies to racing once again, after her debut in racing last year at Coimbatore. “It was a good race. I started on the pole and had a fight for a few corners in the beginning before I settled down. Looking forward to tomorrow’s races,” said Rithvik Thomas. He consistently had faster laps and his best lap of 1:58.922 was over a second faster than the best lap of second-placed Rangasamy.
“I am very happy with my performance today and I have more to learn. I am focused now tomorrow’s races and looking forward to it,” said Alisha Abdullah.
Alisha Abdullah get a third place competing with the male racers for the third time running. The MRF Saloon Car Championship with identical Toyota Etios vehicles, made its debut, where Diljith TS topped without much ado. Chennai’s Balaprasath, who also took part in the Karting Nationals at Bengaluru last Sunday, came second ahead of Mumbai’s Chandresh Tolia.
The results (Provisional, all 8 laps unless mentioned):
Formula LGB (Race-1): 1. Tijil Rao (Momentum Motorsports) (15mins, 20.044secs); 2. Chirag Ghorpade (Momentum Motorsport) (15:20.726); 3. Diljith TS (DTS Racing) (15:25.857).
Race 2 (10 laps): 1. Mohamed Ryan (M Sport) (19:10.071); 2. Karthik Krishna (Hasten Performance) (19:11.888); 3. Viswas Vijayaraj (DTS Racing) (19:12.884).
Indian Touring Cars (Race-1): 1. Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) (15:13.588); 2. Keith D’Souza (FB Motorsport) (15:21.592); 3. Dhruv Mohite (FB Motorsport) (15:26.575).
Super Stock (Race-1): 1. Rithwik Thomas (Race Concepts) (16:09.642); 2. Raghul Rangasamy (Performance Racing) (16:15.868); 3. Alisha Abdullah (Race Concepts) (16:33.443).
MRF Saloon Car Championship (Race-1): 1. Diljith TS (Thrissur) (17:04.940); 2. A Balaprasath (Chennai) (17:12.098); 3. Chandresh Tolia (Mumbai) (17:22.490).
About Madras Motor Sports Club
Since its humble beginnings in 1953, the Madras Motor Sports Club has grown in stature as the hub of motorsport activity in India. Having moved from Sholavaram to its present location in Sriperumbudur in 1979, MMSC has kept pace with changing times by upgrading facilities. At a cost of about Rs 20 Crore, the MMSC built a pit complex comprising 20 garages, VIP hospitality suites and a viewing gallery, on the eastern side, apart from a second Paddock on the western side with its own short circuit. The Control Room too was upgraded with state-of-the-art hardware while the track itself was improved to meet the exacting FIA standards for Grade-2 certification. The facilities are also extensively used by various vehicle manufacturers for testing their products, displays and corporate days.
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Arjun Balu and Rithwik Thomas raring to go: National racing resumes
Irungattukottai (Sriprumbudur, TN), 5 Nov 2020: Speedmaster and star racing driver Arjun Balu of Coimbatore is raring to go as the MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship resumes after a COVID-induced break of over eight months at the Madras Motor Sports Track here on Saturday.
Arjun Balu is leading the Championship table with 50 points in the Indian Touring Car (ITC) category while his Race Concepts teammate Rithvik Thomas, who too won both the races in the first round held in February, leads the Super Stock class, also with 50 points. Tuned by Joel Joseph, the Race Concepts team did a commendable job in 2019 but their prospects were damaged due to guest drivers in the last round.
“Happy to be back racing and looking forward to an enjoyable weekend of racing. We need more time to develop the car, as there are many changes made. So not yet optimum yet, but we will try to bring updates for the next round,” said Arjun Balu.
“Coming into this Round, my main aim is to get back into the rhythm of racing and enjoy the weekend after such a long break. How everything else goes is secondary but we are well prepared and I am looking forward to a good weekend,” said Rithvik Thomas, talking to www.INDIAinF1.com
The guest drivers did not score points and were not eligible for the championship but Race Concepts’ lead driver, Arjun Balu, who had some issues with the car in the qualifying session in the final round of 2019 got stuck behind them and lost the championship. Leaving all that behind, Arjun Balu began with a bang and convincingly won both the races in Round 1 in February 2020, which included two races for saloon cars in ITC and Super Stock classes, besides two support events, the MRF F1600 and Volkswagen Ameo Super Race were also held.
With the Corona pandemic eating away vital 8 months of the season, the calendar is reduced to 8 races in all the classes, including both the ITC and Super Stock, which will run three races in this round and three more in the third and final round to be held on November 28 and 29. Formula LGB will have four races this week-end, two on Saturday and two on Sunday and four more in the final round to decide the champion. A new category in the National Championship, the MRF Toyota Etios Junior class will also have four races in this round and four races in the final round on that concludes on Nov 29.
Meanwhile, MMSC has updated many facilities at the track, prominent among them being the covered facilities for Marshal Post and the construction began for a 600-seat Grandstand for spectators.
“It is exactly 220 days since we had the last competitive race at the MMRT on February 16, 2020, which is the longest break ever in the history of the MMSC National Championship. In these times, we at MMSC have not been sitting idle and have been continuously planning and arranging to restart racing events. As per the current scenario, we will need to follow the new protocols/ Standard Operating Procedures and will adhere to all government guidelines,” said an MMSC note to the drivers while releasing the revised calendar in September last week.
New Marshall posts at Madras Motor Sports Club’s track in Chennai. Photo Twitter @VickyChandhok MMSC National Championships Calendar 2020 Date Event Round 10 – 11 October 2020 2W Darg National Championship 1 6 – 8 November 2020 4W Racing National Championship 2 26 – 28 November 2020 4W Racing National Championship 3 5 – 6 December 2020 2W Darg National Championship 2 10 – 13 December 2020 2W Racing National Championship 1 17 – 20 December 2020 2W Racing National Championship 2 For the Car National Championship, we have planned to run 8 races for all the categories in 2020. So the races will be spread over 2 weekends in November as follows, the note added.
FLGB 1300 ITC Super Stock Toyota Etios Junior 14 – 16 Feb (completed) 0 2 2 0 6 – 8 Nov 4 3 3 4 26 – 28 Nov 4 3 3 4 -
Toyota Etios to make its debut as National Racing Championship resumes
Chennai, 5 Nov2020: Toyota Etios enters a National Championship in India for the first time as the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship 2020 resumes in a bio-bubble after eight months at the MMRT circuit here on Saturday behind closed doors necessitated by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The MRF Saloon Car Championship, featuring Toyota Etios, makes its debut in the National Championship.
Experienced speedster Arjun Balu, made up for a bad last round in 2019 by winning both the races in the first round of the National Championship for Indian Touring Cars and leads the points table while his Race Concepts teammate Rithvik Thomas bagged both the races in the Super Stock category to sit on the top of the table. The Round 1 was held along with MRF Challenge and other classes were not held in February. The MRF 1600 and Ameo Cup were run as Support Races.
The strict enforcement of Government-mandated Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) would mean the absence of spectators, guests and the Media with the entry restricted to competitors with a maximum of two helpers each and officials.
By successfully conducting the first round of the National Drag Racing Championship for two-wheelers last month, also in a closed environment, MMSC took the lead to resume motorsport activities in the country following the easing of restrictions by conducting the first of the 11 Nationals in motorsports that are scheduled for this year.
Chairman of the Meet Vicky Chandhok said: “It has been a tough year for everyone due to the pandemic, but after the government eased restrictions and allowed resumption of sporting activities, we conducted the National Drag races last month without any incident. This weekend, we go a step further by resuming the four-wheeler championship, again with protocols in place with no compromise on safety and health of all involved by implementing temperature check, hand sanitisation, wearing of masks and physical distancing. Our very popular hospitality enclosure will also, unfortunately, be sealed off, for now, to ensure that the norms of social distancing are met.
“Having said that, the MMSC would like to thank long-time sponsors MRF Tyres who have stood by us in these difficult times, and of course the competitors who have turned up in good numbers. We also welcome the very affordable newly-launched single-make MRF Saloon Car Championship, with arrive-and-drive programmes.”
The weekend card includes triple-headers in the popular Indian Touring Cars (ITC), Super Stock and the Indian Junior Touring Cars categories, as also the MRF Saloon Car Championship while the Formula LGB 1300, will have four races.
Going into the second round, Race Concepts (Bengaluru) drivers, veteran Arjun Balu (Coimbatore) and Rithvik Thomas (Bengaluru) head the ITC and Super Stock classes, respectively, with 50 points apiece after scoring a double each in the opening round in February. The Formula LGB and the MRF Saloon Car Championship classes will have their first runs of the season this weekend.
About Madras Motor Sports Club
Since its humble beginnings in 1953, the Madras Motor Sports Club has grown in stature as the hub of motorsport activity in India. Having moved from Sholavaram to its present location in Sriperumbudur in 1979, MMSC has kept pace with changing times by upgrading facilities. At a cost of about Rs 20 Crore, the MMSC built a pit complex comprising 20 garages, VIP hospitality suites and a viewing gallery, on the eastern side, apart from a second Paddock on the western side with its own short circuit. The Control Room too was upgraded with state-of-the-art hardware while the track itself was improved to meet the exacting FIA standards for Grade-2 certification. The facilities are also extensively used by various vehicle manufacturers for testing their products, displays and corporate days.
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Team Nutulapati, an Andhra company, enters INRC as a sponsor with 3 cars
Team Nutulapati to line-up with Kerala’s Bikku Babu, Bengaluru’s Dhruva Chandrashekar and Delhi Aditya Thakur
Hyderabad, 2 Nov 2020: Construction giants from Andhra Pradesh, Venkata Rama Constructions, have announced that they will be entering the Champions Yacht Club FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship 2020 (INRC), which is set to begin at Itanagar in December before Christmas with a double-dhamaka of back-to-back rounds in five days.
Nutulapati Mallikharjuna Rao, the man behind the move, announced that they are roping `Dr Speed’ Bikku Babu from Kerala, a veteran rallyist who is known for his consistency and speed over the years. He will be joined by another aggressive driver from Bengaluru, Dhruva Chandrasekhar, and young talent from Delhi Aditya Thakur. It is impressive to note that the Real Estate giant had preferred to support established and talented drivers rather than go for drivers from his own state.
As INRC is gearing up for the new season in a new avatar, after announcing their association with Yokohama Tyres, they now joined hands with Sri Sai Venkata Rama Constructions who will be fielding a team for this year’s competition.
Nutulapati Mallikharjuna Rao India’s premier rally championship has indeed hit the ground running and in a year where all the other major sporting entities are struggling to run their show, INRC not only announced a five-round season but also have managed to draw attention from the corporate world.
Owned by Nutulapati Mallikharjuna Rao, Venkata Rama Constructions, giants from Andhra Pradesh will become the first real estate company to own a team in INRC and shall field a team comprising of last season’s INRC overall second runner-up and INRC 2 champion Dr Bikku Babu of Kerala, Dhruva Chandrashekar of Bengaluru and Aditya Thakur of Delhi. They will be rallying under the banner ‘Team Nutulapati’.
Bikku Babu and Dhruva are expected to take part in INRC 2 category while Aditya will spearhead the team’s challenge in INRC 3 category. All the drivers will be driving a Volkswagen Polo and will be on MRF Rally Tyres.
“It is indeed a great sign for INRC as well as for the overall motorsports scene in the country. Apart from car and tyre companies, no one else has shown shown interest in the motorsports and have invested their time and money in the sport. We promised to take INRC to a different level and we certainly are on the move. We are in talks with other big companies as well and very soon we will announce new partners and teams. We express our gratitude to Mallikharjuna Rao and his team to have understood and decided to support our vision,” said Vamsi Merla, promoter of INRC said.
“We are very excited with this new venture as this is the first time that we are involving in sports in a big way. When we were presented with the opportunity to own a team, at first we were a little apprehensive. But after due diligence by our team, we decided to go ahead and take a plunge. We are confident of our chances in the season, with the kind of drivers we have at our disposal, and we fancy our chances,” Mallikharjuna said.
INRC 2020 will begin on December 15 in Arunachal Pradesh with two rounds in the scenic North-Eastern State. Then INRC will move to Southern India, with three rounds to be held in Coimbatore, Hampi and the season-finale K1000, in Bengaluru.
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Ruhaan clinches National championship in Junior Class; Ishaan, Suriya consolidate lead
By David Bodapati
Bengaluru, 1 Nov 2020: Defending champion Ruhaan Alva of MSport clinched the National Championship in the Junior Class with a round to spare in the Meco Motorsports fmsci National Karting Championship X30 Class at the 1.240-km Meco Kartopia track near Bagalur on Sunday.
The 14-year-old Bengaluru speedster knocked off two more victories on Sunday to complete a clean sweep of Round 4 too but saw stewards strip his Race 2 win following a protest. Thus, he won 14 of the 16 races in the first four rounds. With four more races remaining in the final round to be held in November, Ruhaan has pooled an unassailable 150 points over second-placed Rohaan Madesh, who garnered 109 points thus far. The final results after stewards clearance saw Ruhaan lose three points as he was demoted to second and Rohaan Madesh was promoted to a win, but still, Ruhaan managed to retain the Championship title. Akshat Mishra, also of Bangalore, is in third place on the leader board after four rounds with 71 points ahead of Guwahati lad Jaden Rahman Pariat on 61.
Meanwhile, it was a contrasting style in the Cadet Section, where championship leader Ishaan Madesh had to fight for his points with Pune youngster Sai Shiva Makesh, who offered a tough fight before ending up second, in both the races today. Ishaan, who took 3 wins from four races, bagged 140 points to Sai Shiva’s 112. With yesterday’s win in the first race of Round 4, Sai managed to take the title battle till the last round. Both the races saw a close finish today with Ishaan defending well and winning the first race by just 0.162 seconds and in the final race, Sai did manage to take the `fastest lap’ but ended up second trailing by just 0.2sec. Anshul Sai, who completed the podium in both the races today, is a distant third in the championship table with 98 points after four rounds.
Cadet Class Championship leader Ishaan Madesh (centre) flanked by Sai Shiva Makesh on his left and Anshul Sai at the Prize Distribution event at Meco Kartopia in Bengaluru on Sunday. In the Senior Section, Suriya Varathan, the 17-year-old from Coimbatore, consolidated his position at the top winning a race and then losing the final race to Rishon Rajeev, who shifted from Junior Class to Senior class after Round 3. Defending champion and strong contender Nirmal Umashankar of Chennai kept himself in contention with a second place and a third place. Suriya has 138 points going into the fifth and final round of four races while Nirmal, stays at a striking distance with 111 points. Bala Prasath who was off-colour today and could only get a third place in the last race. Bala is in the third spot on the points table in Senior class with 87 points.
Clerk of the Course Sandeep said
that,``all precautions were taken to make sure that the incidents on the track were controlled and the event concluded with a lot of close racing that ensured competitive stuff.”Fayaz of Meco Motorsports, the Promoters, said that “all the guidelines were followed to make sure that the drivers, mechs and others were safe. Face masks and social distancing was made mandatory.” The event concluded with prize distribution in the afternoon. This is the third Motorsports Nationals in India to resume after the Corona-induced break, after Drag Nationals and 2-wheeler Sprint Nationals. The National Racing Championship for cars is expected to start at Chennai next Sunday while the Indian National Rally Championship is scheduled to start at Itanagar in December with a double-header.
Winner Suriya Varathan, centre, flanked by 2nd-placed Nirmal Umashankar, left, and Bala Prasath, who came 3rd, in the final race on Sunday in the Senior Section. Results (official final classification) after Sunday races: Round 4:
Seniors (15 laps): Race 3: 1.Suriya Varathan (Coimbatore) (14:50.418); 2. Nirmal Umashankar (14:51.142); 3. Rishon Rajeev (Bengaluru) (14:53.583); Best lap: Rishon 56:165. Race 4: *Rishon Rajeev (14:45.174); 1. Suriya Varathan (14:45.483); 2. Nirmal Umashankar (14:46.383); 3. Bala Prasath (14:48.122). Best lap: Nirmal 56.438. *Rishon disqualified for being underweight.
Top-3 Championship table: 1. Suriya Varathan 138; 2. Nirmal Umashankar 111; 3. Bala Prasath 87.
Juniors (12 laps): Race 3: 1. Ruhaan Alva (Bengaluru) (11:29.738); 2. Rohaan Madesh* (Bengaluru) (11:32.699); 3. Akshat Mishra (Bengaluru) (11:43.912); Best Lap: 56:166. Race 4: 1. Ruhaan Alva (11:30.705); 2. Rohaan Madesh (11:38.824); 3. Abhay Kumar (Bengaluru) (11:43.989). Best lap: Ruhaan 56:369. 10-second penalty added for Rohaan Madappa for jump start.
Top-3 Championship table: 1. Ruhaan Alva 150; 2. Rohaan Madesh 109; 3. Akshat Mishra 71;
Round 4: Cadet (10 laps) Race 3: 1.Ishaan Madesh (Bengaluru) (10:46.542); 2. Sai Shiva Makesh (Pune) (10:46.704); 3. Anshul Sai (Bengaluru) (10:55.438); Best Lap: Ishaan I:01.944. Race 4: 1. Ishaan Madesh (11:23.917); 2. Sai Shiva Makesh (11:24.169); 3. Anshul Sai (Bengaluru) (11:35.476). Best lap: Sai Shiva 1:02.010.
Top-3 Championship table: 1. Ishaan Madesh 140; 2. Sai Shiva Makesh 112; 3. Anshul Sai 98.
Editor’s note: Results updated after official results were released with protest result.
X30 Junior Class Round 4, Race 3 winner Ruhaan Alva, centre, with 2nd-placed Rohaan Madesh, left, and Akshat Misra, who took third on the podium at Meco Kartopia on Sunday. -
Ruhaan Alva, Ishaan Madesh, Suriya Varathan extend lead at the top: X30 Karting Nationals
By David Bodapati
Bengaluru, 31 October 2020: Fourteen-year-old Bengaluru talent Ruhaan Alva of MSport continued to hog the limelight dominating the proceedings and left the field to fight behind him in the Junior section as he won all the four races with `Fastest Laps’ to boot, in the Meco Motorsports fmsci National Karting Championship X30 class at the 1.240-km Meco Kartopia Circuit near Bagalur on Saturday.
Cadet karter, Ishaan Madesh, the reigning champion in Cadet Section, excelled once again with three wins but received a jolt in the first race of Round 4, where Sai Shiva Makesh of Pune, spoiled his party, taking a convincing win.
Senior Class table leader, Suriya Varathan, a 12th class student of Vivekalaya Prakriya in Coimbatore, bagged 30 points including for two victories, in the four races held today, to extend his lead to 117 points over defending champ Nirmal Umashankar (94) but it was Bengaluru’s Junior Rishon Rajeev, who shifted his performance a notch up, with a double whammy, winning both the races held on Saturday afternoon in Round 4. Suriya, the MSport racer, who also took part in the Asian X30 races before the pandemic stopped it, is coached by former National Champion Vishnu Prasad.
Ruhaan Alva (Kart No.16) makes the overtake stick, the second time around, after C3, with five laps to go in the last race of the day, a reverse grid start in Round 4 on Saturday. Junior Class leader and defending champion Ruhaan Alva pumps his fist more in relief after winning from P6 on reverse grid in the last race on Saturday. Photo by David Bodapati In the Junior Section, Ruhaan started P6 in the tricky Race 2 of Round 4, which saw a Reverse Grid for the first six finishers of Race 1. It is the fourth and last race of the day, and Ruhaan bid his time, and with five laps to go, he adeptly overtook his only challenger and compatriot Rohaan Madesh after C2, but Rohaan took back the lead immediately. However, Ruhaan wasted no time and made the move stick after C3, and never looked back winning by over 30-metres at the flag with Mumbai’s Shaurya Kapani taking the final place on the podium.
Earlier in the morning, Ruhaan Alva won both the races of Round 3 with ease. But after taking one more second place in the first race of the day behind Ruhaan, Rohaan Madesh dropped points as he could finish only 8th among 9 racers with Rishon Rajeev, who came 3rd in the first race, taking the second place on the podium followed by Abhay Kumar, also of Bengaluru in Race 4. Another Bengaluru racer, Akshat Mishra completed the podium in the first race of Round 4, behind the two leaders, and Shaurya Kapani of Mumbai replaced him on the podium in the next race. Ruhaan leads the table with 133 points followed by Rohaan Madesh (92) in second and Guwahati racer Jaden Rahman Pariat, who had an off-day today, is third with 56 points, at the end of Saturday.
Suriya Varathan of Coimbatore (above) extends his lead in the Senior Class over MSport teammates Nirmal Shankar and Balaprasath on Saturday. In the Cadet Section, defending champion Ishaan Madesh, the 11-year old Vidya Shilp student of Class 6, won both the races in the morning with relative ease making a clean sweep of Round 3, to earn 20 points to the 20 he earned on Friday, but faltered on Saturday afternoon, with a determined Sai Shiva Makesh of Bishop School, Pune taking a well-deserved win in the first race of Round 4. Nikhilesh Raju of Bengaluru came third.
Ishaan Madesh, indicates number 1 spot on the points table in Cadet class after the end of Round 3 on Saturday. In the last race, Sai Shiva, who made his debut only last year finishing overall third in the Cadet championship, posted another podium with Ishaan taking the win, and kept himself at a striking distance, in the title battle, with two more races tomorrow and the final Round of four races, remaining in November. Another local racer, Anshul Sai came third in the last race. Ishaan Madesh leads the championship with 120 points to Sai Shiva’s 98 and Anshul Sai is in third spot garnering 63.
Friday Tid-Bit: Raj Bakhru won the third place in the Senior Class Race 1 on Friday. The 12th class student of Business Management from Mumbai is making his debut in National karting and taking a podium in the first race, and driving a kart only for the third time, is some achievement. You can read Friday’s report here!
Results (Unofficial classification): Saturday:
Sai Shiva Makesh, Photo by Shajahan Round 3: Seniors (15 laps): Race 3: 1. Suriya Varathan (Coimbatore) (14:51.695); 2. Bala Prasath (Coimbatore) (14:52.227); 3. Nirmal Umashankar (Chennai) 14:54.801); 4. Bala Prasath (14:55.310). Race 4: 1. Suriya Varathan (14:27.571); 2. Bala Prasath (14:30.016); 3. Nirmal Umashankar (14:37.791).
Round 4: Seniors (15 laps): Race 1: 1.Rishon Rajeev (Bengaluru) (14:46.500); 2. Nirmal Umashankar (14:47.784); 3. Suriya Varathan (14:48.144); Race 2: 1: Rishon Rajeev (14:35.855); 2. Nirmal Umashankar (14:39.676); 3. Bala Prasath (14:42.259); 4. Ameya Bafna (14:44.915); 5. Suriya Varathan (14:46.647).
Round 3: Juniors (12 laps): Race 3: 1. Ruhaan Alva (Bengaluru) (11:30.682); 2. Rohaan Madesh (Bengaluru) (11:32.915); 3. Rishon Rajeev (Bengaluru) (11:34.564); Race 4: 1. Ruhaan Alva (11:26.358); 2. Rishon Rajeev (11:35.143); 3. Abhay Kumar (Bengaluru) (11:37.869);
Round 4: Juniors (12 laps): Race 1: 1. Ruhaan Alva (Bengaluru) (10:30.995); 2. Rohaan Madesh (Bengaluru) (10:34.536); 3. Akshat Mishra (Bengaluru) (10:42.042); Race 2: 1. Ruhaan Alva (11:21.993); 2. Rohaan Madesh (11:23.804); 3. Shaurya Kapani (Mumbai) (11:27.682).
Round 3: Cadet (10 laps): Race 3: 1. Ishaan Madesh (Bengaluru) (10:54.561); 2. Anshul Sai (Bengaluru) (11:07.963); 3. Sai Shiva Makesh (Pune) (11:15.020); Race 4: 1. Ishaan Madesh (10:28.977); 2. Sai Shiva Makesh (10:31.106); 3. Arafath Sheikh (Pune) (10:46.403); 8. Rohaan Madesh
Round 4: Cadet (10 laps) Race 1: 1.Sai Shiva Makesh (Pune) (10:39.560); 2. Ishaan Madesh (Bengaluru) (10:40.861); 3. Nikhilesh Raju (Bengaluru) (10:58.513); Race 2: 1. Ishaan Madesh (11:05.255); 2. Sai Shiva Makesh (11:05.521); 3. Anshul Sai (Bengaluru) (11:12.547).
(Editor’s note: Corrected typos and updated on Nov 1 at 9.25am)
