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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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Sheena and Trupti, felicitated for exploits at Rally Jameel, Saudi Arabia
Chennai, 11 April 2023: It was a surprise, but a pleasant welcome when Sheena Sabharwal and co-pilot Trupti Gupta got a call from fmsci that they were selected to take part in the Rally Jameel, an all-woman TSD rally in the desert sands of Saudi Arabia. Thus began the exploits of IndiGals, one of the two teams from India that took part in Rally Jameel in March.
Sheena and Trupti were honoured at the fmsci Annual Awards Ceremony and were handed over their trophies here on Tuesday.
A homemaker from Pune with two teenage daughters, Trupti began her motorsport sojourn with the Times Women’s Drive from Pune to Goa in 2017 and the next year she met her driver Sheena Sabharwal, an architect, at the Malwa TSD car rally in Indore, their first rally together. And Rally Jameel is the first international debut for the Pune pair. “Learning and growing with each rally and pushing boundaries every time, our aim was to get higher with every step,” said Sheena.
The rally was organised by Bakhashab Motorsports Development and the two Indians were sponsored by the official partners, Abdul Latif Jameel, an Automotive Company, which provided a rally-prepared new 4×4 Toyota Fortuner.
Sheena Sabharwal, left, and Tripti Gupta, right, with fmsci President Akbar Ebrahim, 2nd from right, and Vice-President Gautham Shanthappa at the Annual Awards Ceremony at Trident Hotel, Chennai on Tuesday, 11 April 2023. Photo: Trupti Overwhelming Op to make their international debut
“We were overwhelmed with the opportunity. I never thought of doing an International car rally that too in Saudi Arabia. I had never heard of places like Alu La or Hail. I only had a sketchy idea of what was going to come our way. With determination and trust we took the leap,” said Trupti. “We were nervous but willing to learn. But sharing the stage with professional women including some who had Dakar titles under their belt was an exciting experience,” felt Sheena. “Representing our country is always an honour and pride and it gives us a sense of responsibility. We enjoyed the experience thoroughly,” echoed both of them in tandem.
For the record, the Indians finished Rally Jameel in 7th place in their category and 11th Overall. “It was three days of racing over 1600 km. About 550 km is the timed speed stage. Navigating and locating approximately 200 waypoints is a stunning experience as we did not have any saddle time or experience of navigating this kind of rally,” added Trupti. They began with a few hiccups ending the first leg on Day 1 in 26th position and improving to 14th on Day 2. They switched up gears and picked up the tempo for a creditable 7th on Day 3 as they ended the third leg, and went on to finish with a bang taking a creditable podium place (Leg 4) on the fourth and final day with a second position.
“Navigation was amazing. It was tough with new instruments and a new set of apps to understand and roll out. The whole point system was completely different from the TSD formats in India. I had to figure out our key abilities and then use them to score in places that made our positions better. The rally began as an unknown world to me as I never sailed in the desert before. I was happy and pleased with the positive ratings that helped me push my pilot Sheena to the finish line. In the end, finishing all the Specials without a puncture was satisfying,” Trupti narrated.
Sheena, left and Trupti speak after they were honoured by the fmsci at the Awards Ceremony on Tuesday in Chennai. With a lot of variation in terrain that consisted of rocks, sand patches, different speed controls in stages, and very different road regulations and speed limits in the liaison section, it was a challenging event. The vehicles with left-hand drive added to the challenge forcing a major change in orientation for the Indian drivers. That brought out the focus and concentration of the navigator, who had to keep a constant vigil on the driver to provide timely alerts to be on the track. “By habit, I am more of a shift-stick driver. An automatic car was comparatively easier on the road but the whole dynamics with it work differently on off-road sections. We needed some time and understanding of the vehicle on the Special Stages. Getting to know the 4×4 shifts as per the requirement and delivering was a new and enjoyable experience,” said Sheena.
The duo was careful with the air pressures, constantly deflating and inflating as per the change in terrain. Monitoring any tyre damage in the timed stages and keeping track of major losses in time with a new navigation system was too much to handle. But co-driver Trupti adapted as fast as she could with Sheena handling the vehicle admirably.
Winning debut at TSD Nationals
The lady drivers from Pune made a winning debut in the fmsci Nationals in 2021 clinching the Ladies’ title after a slew of privately- organised TSD rallies. They qualified for the 2022 finals in Siliguri for the Himalayan Drive, where they did well topping the round but finishing runners-up in the Nationals. Nevertheless, they managed to get the call from the Federation in February for the Jameel Rally. Another ladies’ team of Jessie and Jyothi, which did well in 2021, was nominated as the second team.
Background of Rally Jameel
After a call by King Salman Al Saud to recognize women’s right to drive cars in Saudi Arabia, in September 2017 as per Vision 2030, Abdul Latif Jameel Motors and Abdullah Bathashab Est., the leading motorsports developers in Saudi Arabi, started the Rally Jameel.
And today dozens of Saudi women participate in the rallies and several women from around the world completed the second edition of Rally Jameel successfully. “If you love what you do, success will follow you,” was how Trupti ended the interview with INDIAinF1.com.
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fmsci honours 2022 Indian National champions
Chennai, 11 April 2023: After successful conduct of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship earlier this year in Hyderabad, the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India is hopeful that the FIM MotoGP World Championship will be held as scheduled at the Buddh International Circuit in September.
List of all the awardees honoured by fmsci is here!
Delivering the keynote address during the Annual Awards function of the FMSCI, here on Tuesday, when it honoured 118 National champions of the 2022 season across various formats of the sport, president Akbar Ebrahim said: “Last year, we had announced that MotoGP will be coming to India and I am informed by the Indian promoters and FIM that work is in progress, and all are hopeful that event will be held as planned.”
INRC double overall champion Karna Kadur, left, along with fmsci Commission chairman Farooq Commissariat and experienced co-driver Nikhil Vittal Pai after receiving the Indian National Rally Championship Overall winners award at Trident hotel in Chennai on Tuesday. fmsci councillor and former INRC driver Vicky Chandhok (left) applauds the 11-time National champion (including3 fissme Cup titles) after presenting him the award for 2022 Indian Touring Cars National title. All photos by Anand Philar The FMSCI, besides felicitating the 2022 season National champions, presented special awards to Bengaluru’s Pragathi Gowda who won the FIA Rally Star Asia-Pacific final round in Chennai, and Shriya Lohia (Sundernagar, Himachal Pradesh) who represented India and finished fifth overall at the FIA Girls On Track event in Paris, France.
Ebrahim, recounting various milestones of the FMSCI which is celebrating its Golden Jubilee, revealed that Hyderabad produced India’s first FIA Grade 2 and FIA Formula E street Circuit.
He also announced plans to promote the sport at grassroots level. “We want to take the sport to the masses. We will also be conducting training programmes for Stewards and Marshals to ensure events are run adhering to all safety requirements. Only the accredited officials will supervise all motorsport events in India. At the moment, there are 2,500 FMSCI license holders and we would like to increase the number to 20,000.”
“It is the 50th year of the FMSCI and we owe it to the five founders. We overcame all the challenges because of the passion and dedication of all stakeholders involved in the sport. The FIA and FIM now take India seriously and our country is spoken of highly in various international forums.”
Ebrahim congratulated MRF Tyres for winning the prestigious European Rally Championship (ERC) title. “Indian drivers are now participating in various international events from Karting to Rallying to racing and fighting for podium positions,” he concluded.
The FMSCI Council Members, various Commission heads, promoters and sponsors were also present at the function.
About the FMSCI
The Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) was founded in the year 1971 and was registered as a Private Limited Non-Profit Company in 1973. It became affiliated to Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) in 1979 and to the Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) in 1986. Fifteen years after its inception, the FMSCI was recognised by the Government of India as the sole authority to control and conduct Motor Sport events in India. It is also recognised by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS). The FMSCI is the affiliated National Sporting Authority (ASN) of the International federations for 4-wheeler and National Motorcycle Federations (FMN) of the 2-wheeler motorsports viz. the FIA, headquartered at Paris, and the FIM, headquartered at Switzerland. It is also a part of the FIA Commission Internationale de Karting (CIK or CIK-FIA) which is the primary international sanctioning body for Karting. The FMSCI has a wide, pan-India base of affiliated member clubs totalling 48 currently.
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Southern Safari, National TSD Championship finals flagged off
Bengaluru, 24 Feb 2023: Southern Safari, the grand finals of the 2022 fmsci Indian National TSD Rally Championship (INTSDRC) is flagged off at ‘The Club’ on Mysore Road and is set to provide a fitting finale with a long run of over 600Km for the two days. The final will run to Shivamogga on Leg 1 on Saturday and returns to conclude here on Sunday. The Prize Distribution will also be at The Club on Sunday evening.
Promoted by Pro Sports and organized by Karnataka Motor Sports Club (KMSC), the final of the National Championship offers National titles in the following four categories for both drivers and navigators (co-drivers): INTSDRC, INTSDRC2, INTSDRC – Women and INTSDRC – Novice.
Experienced drivers Sk Asgar Ali and Md Mustafa who topped the East Zone qualies will start as favourites along another former champions Ganesh Moorthy and T Nagarajan from South, but the latter duo trailed Maheshwaran N and P Muthuswamy in the points table in the Qualifiers. Other pairs to watch out for are INRC regulars Aeman Ahmed and Sagar M, and Kolkata pair of Subir Roy and Nirav Mehta. However, it is a winner-take all finale and each pair will be gunning for glory as the National titles are at stake.
The TSD Nationals being flagged off at ‘The Club’, Mysore Road on Friday.
Instagram Photo @Autotrack.ind.inThe INTSDRC2 class has seen Deep Dutta and Chandan Sen from Kolkata top the East Zone qualifying round while Rohit Kashyap and Sailendra Singh led from the West Zone event and Harish VS and M Chandrasekhar did well in the South Zone followed by Anil Abbas and Amal Abbas from Kerala while the Bengaluru ladies Aparna and Lalitha qualified third in INRC2 class and will fight in the ladies class too.
Aritra Chakraborty and Sanjit Chaudhuri in the Novice class from East and Nizar and Vinoth Kumar topped the South qualies. Two other teams also made it to the final in the Novice class.
SK Olivia and SK Prasad in the Ladies class have also qualified from the East Zone. Lt Col. Reena Jha and Kasish Malhotra Mehta, and Geetika Pant and Meena Jain are the other Ladies team who qualified from West Zone.
Well-know techie pair of Aparna Pathak and Lalitha Gowda, who qualified from South along with Sheena Sabrewal and Trupti Gupta, Jasmeet Kaur and Jyothi Iyengar will make up the other ladies finalists.
“The response was good for the regional rounds and the drivers dished out excellent performances that saw keen competition. All safety measures are in place and we did the final route inspection yesterday. Now all set for crowning new champions for 2022,” said Sujith Kumar BS, the man behind Prosports, the promoters of TSD Nationals. He is also the Vice-President of the FIM ASIA.
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MMSC honours National Champions, celebrates 70 years
Chennai, 19 Feb 2023: The Madras Motor Sports Club celebrated its 70th anniversary while also presenting trophies to the winners of the recently-concluded MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle and Car Racing Championships here at Hotel Taj on Sunday.
Speaking on the occasion, MMSC president Ajit Thomas offered salutations to long-time sponsor MRF Tyres for their support over the past decades and also the riders and drivers for their participation in large numbers in the National Championships.
Arun Mammen, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, MRF Limited, who was the chief guest at today’s function, outlined the company’s involvement in motorsport since the 1980s and said: “With a pedigree for over four decades, the MRF Brand name in racing now competes and wins Globally. It is a matter of pride for India that MRF achieved yet another first – winning the 2022 European Rally Championship with tyres developed and manufactured in India. This is a firstfor any Asian Company that too in the home ground and backyard of MNCs.
“Today is the culmination of a hard-fought season which started at Coimbatore and the subsequent rounds at the Madras International Circuit in Sriperumbudur leading up to this afternoon’s function awarding the National Championships for both motorcycles and cars across various categories for the year 2022. The riders and the drivers have pushed their teams to extract every ounce of performance from their machines. It is also heartening to note that these Championships are enabling our riders and drivers to hone their skills and take it to International levels.”
Later, MMSC Vice-President Vicky Chandhok, presented a brief history of MMSC and the famous Sholavaram races to the eventual shifting of its racing activities to the present MIC facility. He announced that a CIK-approved go-karting circuit is being built at the MIC and expected to be ready for competitions in August.
MMSC Secretary Manoj Dalal proposed a vote of thanks.
The National champions were presented with the trophies in the two road-racing National Championships for two and four-wheelers, promoted by Madras Motor Sports Club, along with one-make Support Races and Cups.
2-Wheeler Racing
MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship 2022:
Pro-Stock 301-400cc:
National Champion: Rajini Krishnan (Chennai, RACR Castrol Power1).
Team Champion: Petronas TVS Racing, Chennai. Manufacturer title: Yamaha
Pro-Stock 165cc:
National Champion: Mathana Kumar (Trichy, Pacer Yamaha)
Team Champion: Pacer Yamaha, Bengaluru. Manufacturer – Yamaha
Novice (Stock 165cc):
Rider – Sarvesh Balappa (Hubbali, Axor Sparks Racing). Team – Axor Sparks Racing, Chennai. Manufacturer – Yamaha.
Girls (Stock 165cc):
Rider – Jagruti Kiran Penkar (Mumbai, Axor Sparks Racing). Team – Alpha Racing. Manufacturer – Yamaha
Non-Championship one-make classes:
TVS Open (Apache RR 310):
Rider – Rahil Pillarisetty (Hyderabad).
TVS Novice (Apache RTR 200):
Rider – Chiranth Vishwanath (Bengaluru).
TVS Girls (Apache RTR 200):
Rider – Aditi Krishnan (Bengaluru).
Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup – Open (NSF 250R):
Rider – Sarthak Shrikant Chavan (Pune).
Novice (CBR 150):
Rider – Raheesh Mudassar Khatri (Mumbai).
4-WHEELER RACING
MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2022
MRF Formula 2000:
Driver – Sai Sanjay (Salem).
Indian Touring Cars:
Driver – Arjun Balu (Coimbatore, Race Concepts). Team – Rayo Racing (Mumbai)
Indian Junior Touring Cars:
Driver – Akkineni Anand Prasad (Team Performance). Team – Team Performance Racing, Chennai
Super Stock:
Driver – Ritesh Rai (Chennai, Team Performance). Team – Redline Racing, Chennai.
Formula LGB 1300:
Driver – Viswas Vijayaraj (Nellore, DTS Racing). Team – DTS Racing.
Non-Championship classes
Volkswagen Polo Cup:
Driver – Pratik Sonawane (Mumbai).
MRF Saloons (Toyota Etios):
Driver – Justin Singh (Gurugram, Redline Racing). Team – Redline Racing, Chennai.
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Champions 2022 – Sai Sanjay: MRF Formula 2000 class
Chennai, 2 Feb 2023: Young racing talent Sai Sanjay dished out dominating performance in the top category for the fastest Formula cars in India to be crowned the National champion in the MRF Formula 2000 class, in the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Car Racing Championship 2022, at the Madras International Circuit here on Sunday.
Sai Sanjay, the 20-year-old from Salem, won his maiden National title in his debut season in the premier open-wheel Formula category. He notched up three race wins, and displayed mature driving skills and consistent performance throughout the season that got him eight podium places. He garnered 201 points from the 12-race, four-round Nationals and won with a race to spare beating second-placed Ryan Mohamed by (165) 36 points.
“I am very excited and the moment feels surreal. It’s an honour to be crowned the Indian National Champion of the fastest national car racing series in India. We’ve had a great season, the pace was consistently there and the hard work of my team, mechs, finally paid off. Thanks to JA Motorsport and MRF Racing for giving us an opportunity to race in these cars,” Sai Sanjay said.
A Mechatronics student at VIT Chennai, Sai, made his motorsports debut in 2015 and after gaining some international exposure racing in the karting championships in the UAE and also became the Rotax Senior Max UAE vice-champion in 2018. He made the switch to formula cars the same year and raced in the LGB Formula 1300 and MRF 1600 championships. He also has experienced racing the well-known Volkswagen Polo Cup in 2021. All along, he notched up many podiums and dished out many fastest laps and made the switch to faster Formula cars for a successful winning debut in the top class of the country. Sai is currently a part of NK Racing Academy and is being mentored by India’s first Formula 1 driver, Narain Karthikeyan.
“Coaching by Aditya Patel and Armaan Ebrahim during the season also helped polish my skills,” he added. And the restart of the MRF Formula 2000 class after two years of pandemic, gave a huge opportunity for the consistent performer.
“I thank my family for being the biggest and best support in this huge journey. I will continue to push limits and try reaching new heights,” he concluded and had a special word of thanks for Rajarajan, the race mechanic, for pushing and encouraging him. Sai will continue in the Formula races and hopes to go racing abroad in pursuit of his dreams.
In the other championship classes, Viswas Vijayraj won the LGB F1300 National title while veteran Arjun Balu bagged the ITC crown, his 11th National title. Ritesh Rai (Super Stock) and Akkineni Anand Prasad (IJTC) were the other National champions.
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Salem’s Sai Sanjay clinches MRF F2000 crown; 11th National title for Arjun Balu
Chennai, 29 Jan 2023: On a day of twists and turns, Salem’s Sai Sanjay pocketed the title in the premier MRF Formula 2000 category as the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship 2022 concluded at the Madras International Circuit here on Sunday.
While Sai Sanjay gathered enough points this weekend in the three races to seal the championship, Bengaluru’s Sohil Shah, winner of Race-1 yesterday, won both the races today to complete a triple crown. The 21-year old Sohil, who missed two of the four rounds, finished fourth in the championship behind Sai Sanjay, Ryan Mohamed (Chennai) and Divy Nandan (Gurugram).
Also sealing the titles in their respective categories were: Viswas Vijayraj (Nellore, DTS Racing) in the Formula LGB 1300; Ritesh Rai (Chennai, Performance Racing) in Super Stock; Akkineni Anand Prasad (Chennai, Performance Racing) in Indian Junior Touring Cars; Justin Singh (Gurugram) in the MRF Saloon Cars (Toyota Etios) and Pratik Sonawane (Mumbai) in the Volkswagen Polo Cup.
Polo Cup winner Pratik Sonawane is flanked by National championship winners Vishwas Vijayraj, left, (Formula LGB1300) and Sai Sanjay (F2000) at MIC on Sunday. Photo by Anand Philar. Meanwhile, the popular Indian Touring Cars category witnessed as many as three disqualifications for technical infringements. Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) and Arjun Narendran (Arka Motorsports), both from Coimbatore, were disqualified from yesterday’s Race-1. Narendran suffered the same fate in Race-2 today, but later won Race-3. However, the revised results fetched Balu the National title ahead of Narendran in the provisional championship standings.
Viswas Vijayraj sealed the title in the Formula LGB 1300 category though finishing second behind Bengaluru’s Tijil Rao (Momentum Motorsports) in the final race today. The other championship leader Raghul Rangasamy (MSport) dropped out of contention after he was disqualified for ignoring a black flag.
Defending champion Arjun Balu, retains his ITC National championship at MIC, to earn his 11th National title on Sunday. File photo by Anand Philar. “I don’t know what to say. It is such an emotional moment for me. After missing the championship a few times in the past, it is great to finally win it in my fifth season. I owe everything to my parents who I know are watching the live streaming, and MRF Tyres for their support,” said Viswas.
Mumbai’s Zahan Commissariat, hailing from a family of racers, scored an impressive win starting from P10 in the MRF Saloons (Toyota Etios) category, and the victory helped him to finish fifth in the championship. Gurugram’s Justin Singh failed to finish following an incident, but had sufficient cushion to annex the title ahead of Angad Mathroo (Chandigarh) by five points. Mathroo came in second behind Commissariat and ahead of Pune’s Diana Pundole, who ended up third in the championship.
Ritesh Rai, who won the National title for 2022 in Super Stock class. The results (Provisional – all 10 laps unless mentioned):
MRF F2000 (Race-2): 1. Sohil Shah (Bengaluru) (15min, 36.462sec); 2. Mohamed Ryan (Chennai) (15:40.983); 3. Dillon Thomas Zachariah (Chennai) (15:42.064). Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Sohil Shah (Bengaluru) (12:28.545); 2. Sai Sanjay T (Salem) (12:33.894); 3. Chetan Korada (Chennai) (12:52.777).
Indian Touring Cars (Race-2, 12 laps): 1. Arjun Balu (Coimbatore, Race Concepts) (25:00.290); 2. Sandeep Kumar (Chennai, Rayo Racing) (25:08.270); 3. Jeet Jabakh (Hyderabad, Rayo Racing) (25:11.802). Race-3: 1. Arjun Narendran (Coimbatore, Arka Motorsports) (18:58.937); 2. Arjun Balu (Coimbatore, Race Concepts) (19:12.399); 3. Sandeep Kumar (Chennai, Rayo Racing) (19:14.297).
Indian Junior Touring Cars (Race-1, 12 laps): 1. Raja Rajan (Chennai, Performance Racing) ( 25:27.541); 2. Akkineni Anand Prasad (Chennai, Performance Racing) (25:27.700); 3. Deepak Ravikumar (Chennai, Performance Racing) (25:27.997). Race-3: 1. Raja Rajan (Chennai, Performance Racing) (19:36.876); 2. Gurunath Meiyappan (Chennai, Race Concepts) (19.38.441); 3. Akkineni Anand Prasad (Chennai, Performance Racing) (19:40.541).
Super Stock (Race-2, 12 laps): 1. Narendran S (Chennai, Redline Racing) (26:19.871); 2. Ritesh Rai (Chennai, Performance Racing) (26:23.033); 3. Jason Deepak Saldanha (Mangaluru, DB Motorsports) (26: 28.874). Race-3 (9 Laps): 1. Ritesh Rai (Chennai, Performance Racing) (19:01.675); 2. Narendran S (Chennai, Redline Racing) (19:07.807); 3. Dilijith TS (Thrissur, DTS Racing) (19:12.675).
Formula LGB 1300 (Race-2, 10 laps): 1. Tijil Rao (Bengaluru, Momentum Motorsports) (20:10.154); 2. Viswas Vijayraj (Nellore, DTS Racing) (20:10.291); 3. Dhruvh A Goswami (Bengaluru, MSport) (20:10.865).
Volkswagen Polo Cup (Race-3, 8 laps): 1. Ritesh Rai (Chennai) (15:50.470); 2. Pratik Sonawane (Mumbai) (15:54.571); 3. Raaj Bakhru (Mumbai) (15:57.079). Race-4: 1. Ojas Surve (Mumbai) (19:42.853); 2. Avik Anwar (Dhaka) (19:49.034); 3. Pratik Sonawane (Mumbai) (19:52.460).
MRF Saloons (Toyota Etios – Race-2): 1. Zahan Commissariat (Mumbai) 20:49.191; 2. Angad Mathroo (Chandigarh) 20:53.991; 3. Diana Pundole (Pune) 20:54.112.
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Sohil wins but Sai Sanjay on course for title; Diana back on podium in Saloon cars’ race
Chennai, Sat, 28 Jan, 2023: For the second-day running, Bengaluru’s Sohil Shah became the fastest driver of the day as he roared to a big win, his second of the season, in the premier MRF Formula 2000 category in the fourth and final round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship 2022 at the Madras International Circuit here on Saturday.
Coimbatore veteran Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) who hardly played a false note while orchestrating a massive victory, his fourth of the season, in the top-end Indian Touring Cars category.
Nellore’s Viswas Vijayraj (DTS Racing) also notched a fluent lights-to-flag win in the Formula LGB 1300 race to move within eight points of championship leader Raghul Rangasamy (MSport) from Mamallapuram who took the second spot ahead of Kolkata’s Arya Singh (Momentum Motorsports).
The win notwithstanding Sohil, 21, will not be fighting for the title as he missed the first two rounds of the championship. Sohil is the only driver to dip under the one minute, 32-sec mark in the compact field driving the F2000 machine, the fastest formula car in India. The Indian Racing League driver missed five races from the first two rounds.Salem’s Sai Sanjay finished second behind Shah. Divy Nandan, a late starter from Gurugram, who made his racing debut in the karting Nationals a couple of seasons ago under the tutelage of Narain Karthikeyan, has worked hard not only to shed a huge amount of weight to become fighting fit but improved his racing skills admirably to take a podium again, finishing third. Earlier, Divy also got himself a birthday gift with a maiden win on Jan 7 in Round 2, two days after he turned 20. Sai Sanjay’s 34-point lead means, a fifth-place in both the remaining races is enough for the Salem lad, even if second-placed Mohamed Ryan wins the last two races. With his parents watching the race, Sai did a commendable job once again with a cool head, knowing that Shah’s win will not deter his chances. Chennai’s Ryan finished fourth in today’s race.
Later, Balu was in a league of his own as he built up a commanding lead of about six car lengths by the third corner itself and halfway into the first of the 10 laps extended his lead, after starting from pole position to make up for a disappointing third round a week back, where he scored a second (18) and zero points from the two races that saw his 39-point lead dwarf to 8 points. Behind him, Arjun Narendran (Arka Motorsports), also from Coimbatore, came in second, but remained 14 points adrift of Balu in the championship standings with two races to go on the final day on Sunday. In third was Rayo Racing’s Sandeep Kumar, the lawyer from Chennai, the reigning Polo Cup champion. However, the ITC race is under review after post-race scrutiny,but the 10-time National champion came out unscathed from the Stewards meeting to retain full points.
Chennai racers dominated the Indian Junior Touring Cars category with Gurunath Meiyappan (Race Concepts) finishing ahead of Performance Racing pair of Akkineni Anand Prasad and Deepak Ravikumar. Consequently, Anand Prasad extended his championship lead to 22 points ahead of team-mate Raja Rajan.
Another Chennai driver, Ritesh Rai (Performance Racing) came through untroubled in the Super Stock category with Narendran S (Redline Racing) and Diljith TS (DTS Racing) following home in that order. Rai, thus, opened up a commanding 38-point lead over Narendran on the leaderboard.
Ritesh Rai and Avik Anwar from Dhaka, Bangladesh recorded their maiden win each in the Volkswagen Polo Cup double-header today. After winning the first race, Ritesh sat out the second that was won by Anwar, who has raced in the UAE and Malaysia, and is in his second season here. The win took Anwar (79 points) to third place in the championship behind Pratik Sonawane (89) and Raaj Bakhru (83) with two more races to be run on Sunday.
Later, Gurugram’s Justin Singh scored his fifth win of the season in the MRF Saloons (Toyota Etios) category that gave him a 23-point advantage with just one more race to be run on Sunday and a maximum of 25 points on offer. But the highlight of the race is the return of “Racing Queen”, after a disappointing third round. The lady driver from Pune, who has been giving a tough fight to all the men, and to Justin at the top, all through the season, finished a creditable second. The lady cut her teeth in karting and later earned a free drive in the JK Nationals in an open-wheel formula car, before a stint in the polo cup in 2021. Starting on P2, she maintained a close distance with the leader and even pelted a best lap (02:02.021) mid-way through to reduce the gap from 0.7 ,to 0.5 seconds, (about a car’s length in actual distance) but decided to play safe to salvage a podium and deservedly took second, beating a handful of male drivers to promote FIA “Women in Motorsports” concept at the domestic level. Among other ladies, Sravanthika Lakshmi, another graduate from karting did well, and both the ladies were given Special prizes for finishing first the second among women.
Sunday will be the last day of the National Championship with all the title-fight for all the five National classes going to the wire. The champions will be decided in Indian Touring Cars class, Indian Junior touring Cars, Super Stock and the Formula classes MRF Formula 2000 and Formula LGB 1300. Apart from these, two one-make, non-championship classes for the VW Polo Cup and MRF Saloon class.
The results (Provisional – all 8 laps unless mentioned):
MRF F2000 (Race-1): 1. Sohil Shah (Bengaluru) (12min, 31.381sec); 2. Sai Sanjay T (Salem) (12:36.091); 3. Divy Nandan (Gurugram) (12:39.156).
Indian Touring Cars (Race-1, 10 laps): 1. Arjun Balu (Coimbatore, Race Concepts) (18:53.861); 2. Arjun Narendran (Coimbatore, Arka Motorsports) (18:57.871); 3. Sandeep Kumar (Chennai, Rayo Racing) (19:13.150).
Indian Junior Touring Cars (Race-1, 10 laps): 1. Gurunath Meiyappan (Chennai, Race Concepts) (19:37.194); 2. Akkineni Anand Prasad (Chennai, Performance Racing) (19:38.495); 3. Deepak Ravikumar (Chennai, Performance Racing) (19:44.652).
Super Stock (Race-1, 9 laps): 1. Ritesh Rai (Chennai, Performance Racing) (19:00.108); 2. Narendran (Chennai, Redline Racing) (19:09.762); 3. Diljith TS (Thrissur, DTS Racing) (19:10.429).
Formula LGB 1300 (Race-1): 1. Viswas Vijayraj (Nellore, DTS Racing) (15:06.216); 2. Raghul Rangasamy (Mamallapuram, MSport) (15:13.825); 3. Arya Singh (Kolkata, Momentum Motorsports) (15:13.984).
Volkswagen Polo Cup (Race-1): 1. Ritesh Rai (Chennai) (15:49.646); 2. Pratik Sonawane (Mumbai) (15:52.970); 3. Raaj Bakhru (Mumbai) (15: 53.869). Race-2 (10 laps): 1. Avik Anwar (Dhaka, Bangladesh) (19:51.961); 2. Prashanth Tharani Singh (Chennai) (19:54.052); 3. Munjal Savla (Mumbai) (19:55.725).
MRF Saloons (Toyota Etios – Race-1): 1. Justin Singh (Gurugram) (16:29.741); 2. Diana Pundole (Pune) (16:30.531); 3. Zahan Commissariat (Mumbai) (16:36.259).
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Pole position for Sohil Shah, Ritesh Rai: Racing Nationals
Chennai, 27 Jan 2023: Bengaluru youngster Sohil Shah and Chennai’s Ritesh Rai grabbed pole position in the MRF Formula 2000 and Volkswagen Polo Cup categories, respectively, on the opening day of the fourth and final round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship 2022 at the Madras International Circuit, here on Friday.
Sohil Shah is the only driver to dip under 1 minute 32-second mark, both in practice session and qualifying, and became the fastest driver of the day.
The 21-year old Shah set a best time of one minute, 31.668 seconds to qualify for the pole position ahead of championship leader Sai Sanjay from Salem (01:32.095) and Gurugram’s Divy Nandan (01:32.246). In fact, Sohil went quicker in the qualifying as compared to his time in the practice session (01:31.969) earlier in the day. Shah, who missed the first two rounds, is not in contention for the title. Sai Sanjay leads the championship table with 153 points ahead of Mohamed Ryan who has 125 points in second. Three more races offering a total of 75 points are in the menu for the week-end.
Meanwhile, 40-year old Chennai racer, Ritesh Rai, who is placed eighth in the championship, put in a hot lap of 01:56.000 to earn himself the pole position in the VW Polo Cup. Qualifying for P2 was Mumbai’s Pratik Sonawane (01:56.419) who heads the points table, while Raaj Bakhru (01:56.605), also from Mumbai, will start tomorrow’s race from P3.
Earlier, Coimbatore’s Arjun Narendran (Arka Motorsports), placed second in the points table behind Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) warmed up for the double-header by topping the time sheets in the Indian Touring Cars practice session with a 01:52.389. Veteran Balu, the defending champion, had issues with an overheating engine after just two laps which forced him to pit.
Gurunath Meiyappan (Race Concepts, 01:54.901) and Ritesh Rai (Performance Racing, 02:03.252) were the fastest in the practice session for Indian Junior Touring Cars and Super Stock categories, respectively.
Championship contender in the Formula LGB 1300, Viswas Vijayraj from Nellore (DTS Racing) was the fastest in the practice sessions with a best lap of 01:51.451. Behind him were team-mate Diljith TS (01:51.533) from Thrissur and championship leader Mamallapuram’s Raghul Rangasamy (01:51.698) of MSport.
Gurugram’s Justin Singh, who heads the points table, was the fastest in practice for the MRF Saloons (Toyota Etios) category, clocking 02:02.427.
The results (Qualifying – top 3):
MRF F2000: 1. Sohil Shah (Bengaluru) (1:31.668); 2. Sai Sanjay (Salem) (1:32.095); 3. Divy Nandan (Gurugram) (1:32.246).
Volkswagen Polo Cup: 1. Ritesh Rai (Chennai) (1:56.000); 2. Pratik Sonawane (Mumbai) (1:56.419); 3. Raaj Bakhru (Mumbai) (1:56.605).
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4W Racing Championship poised for a thrilling finish
Chennai, 26 Jan 2023: The stakes and expectations are as high as they can get in the fourth and final round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship 2022 to be held at the Madras International Circuit on the weekend of January 27-29.
The two premier categories, MRF F2000 and the Touring Cars comprising three classes, will have three races apiece while four will be run in the Volkswagen Polo Cup, and two each in the Formula LGB 1300 and the MRF Saloons (Toyota Etios).
The titles in each of these categories are up for grabs and few points separate the front-runners, thus setting the stage for an exciting finish to the monsoon-interrupted 2022 season that spilled over into 2023.
In what could be a humdinger, the MRF F2000 is headed towards a nail-biting finish with as many as five drivers having realistic as well as mathematical chances (depending on the results) of clinching the championship. With a maximum of 75 points on offer, Sai Sanjay (153), Mohamed Ryan (125), Dillon Thomas Zacharaiah (117), Divy Nandan (113) and Chirag Ghorpade (112) are the front-runners.
Of the lot Salem’s Sai Sanjay has won three races as against two by Bengaluru youngster Chirag Ghorpade who dropped a lot of points with a non-finish in one of the four races last weekend.
Two Coimbatore stars, 10 times National champion Arjun Balu (Race Concepts, 93 points) and former title winner, Arjun Narendran (Arka Motorsports, 86), head the Indian Touring Cars category. Narendran scored a double in the previous round last weekend to move closer to Balu who retired from the first of the two races due to engine issues. However, three wins in the earlier rounds ensured Balu stayed at the top in the points table.
As per provisional standings, Chennai drivers and Performance Racing team-mates Akkineni Anand Prasad (92) and Raja Rajan (78) who between them have won four of the five races so far, are ahead of the pack in the Indian Junior Touring Cars category. Another Chennai and Performance Racing driver, Ritesh Rai (111) enjoys a healthy 31-point lead over Narendran S (Redline Racing) in the Super Stock class.
The Formula LGB 1300 category has seen the closest races this season with plenty of wheel-to-wheel competition. Raghul Rangasamy (MSport) from Mamallapuram and Nellore’s Viswas Vijayaraj are separated by 15 points in the provisional points table.
Gurugram’s Justin Singh (129) leads Angad Mathroo (119) in the MRF Saloons (Toyota Etios) category while there is only a 10-point gap among the top three in Volkswagen Polo Cup – Pratik Sonawane (71) form Pune, Raaj Bakhru (66) from Mumbai and Bengaluru’s Adtiya Swaminathan (61).
Incidentally, Sandeep Kumar won all four Polo Cup races last weekend, but is not eligible for championship points since he is a guest driver.
Chairman of the Meet Vicky Chandhok said: “On the evidence of last weekend’s races, there is much to look forward to in the final round as we bring closure to the 2022 season that stretched into 2023. We at the MMSC take this opportunity to thank our sponsors MRF Tyres, the competitors and the Media for their wholehearted involvement in various roles.”
About Madras Motor Sports Club
Since its humble beginnings in 1953, the Madras Motor Sports Club has grown in stature as the hub of motorsport activity in India. Having moved its racing activities from Sholavaram to its present location, the Madras International Circuit (earlier MMRT), in Sriperumbudur in 1979, MMSC has kept pace with changing times by upgrading facilities. At a cost of about Rs 20 Crore, the MMSC built a pit complex comprising 20 garages, VIP hospitality suites and a viewing gallery, on the eastern side, apart from a second Paddock on the western side with its own short circuit. Parallelly, MMSC imported timing equipment specifically for Drag racing. The Control Room too was upgraded with state-of-the-art hardware while the track itself was improved to meet the exacting FIA standards for Grade-2 certification. MMSC also constructed a 500-capacity grand stand with provision for garages / storage below. In another upgrade, the MMSC installed Digi flags from TAG Heuer Chronolec that will be positioned strategically around the track. The facilities are also extensively used by various vehicle manufacturers for testing their products, displays and corporate days.
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Pune’s 14-year Sai Shiva Makesh gets maiden podium
Chennai, January 22: Fourteen-year-old Sai Shiva Makesh, the youngest among all the drivers in the National Championship, pulled a rabbit out of his hat to clinch his maiden podium, taking a well-defended second place in the Formula LGB class as the third and penultimate round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship 2022 concluded at the Madras International Circuit here on Sunday.
The 9th Standard student of Bishop’s school in Pune, started on P3 in the reverse grid and defended well to keep his position till the last lap but with the driver ahead of him spinning in the last corner, Sai Shiva clinched a second place in the Formula LGB 1300 Race 2. After making his presence felt in the karting Nationals, Sai Shiva graduated to the Formula cars, only this year making his debut in the last round, the Round 2 of the Championship.
MSport’s Raghul Rangasamy (left) pats rookie Sai Shiva as Team head Fayaz (right, in whites) looks on. Photo by Shajahan The MRF Formula 2000 category had three races today making it four races in this round. And the premier class saw four different winners from four races while Coimbatore ace Arjun Narendran bagged a double in the Indian Touring Cars class
The competition in the MRF F2000 category was fierce with Sohil Shah (Bengaluru), Dillon Thomas Zachariah (Chennai), Sai Sanjay (Salem) and Mohammed Ryan (Chennai) each winning a race over the weekend.
If Sohil Shah had won the first race yesterday quite comfortably, Dillon, Sai Sanjay and Mohammed Ryan had to earn their victories today. Dillon shrugged off an otherwise disappointing weekend, to notch his maiden win of the season while Ryan held off Sohil Shah in the next outing. It was then Sai Sanjay’s turn to edge out Sohil Shah in the fourth race to safeguard his top position in the championship standings.
Arjun Narendran (Arka Motorsports), winner of Race-1 yesterday, swept to another fine win starting from P5 on the reverse grid in the Indian Touring Cars category. Championship leader Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) from Coimbatore who moved up after starting P8, limped behind him for second place with his car suffering from loss of power, while Hyderabad’s Jeet Jabakh (Rayo Racing) finished a distant third in the 12-lap race interrupted by a Safety Car period.
In the Indian Junior Touring Cars category, Akkineni Anand Prasad led a podium sweep for Performance Racing with Raja Rajan and Srinivas Teja coming in second and third, respectively. Another Performance Racing driver, Ritesh Rai, also from Chennai, topped the Super Stock category to complete a double for the weekend.
Earlier, the experienced Raghul Rangasamy (MSport) survived tough competition to notch his third win in the Formula LGB 1300 category after starting from P8 on the reverse grid. Raghul received close attention from Viswas Vijayaraj (Nellore, DTS Racing) before the latter skidded off the track at the last corner when the pair was going wheel-to-wheel.
The incident saw Pune’s Sai Shiva Makesh Sankaran (MSport) finishing second, followed by Tijil Rao (DTS Racing) from Bengaluru.
Chandigarh’s Angad Mathroo notched his second win of the season in the MRF Saloon Cars (Toyota Etios) category. The victory brought him within 10 points of championship leader Justin Singh (Gurugram) who finished second ahead of Jai Prashanth Venkat (Coimbatore).
Later, Chennai’s Sandeep Kumar completed a clean sweep by winning his fourth consecutive race in the Volkswagen Polo Cup this weekend.
The fourth and concluding round will be held at the same venue on the weekend of January 27-29.
MRF Formula 2000 (Race-2, 10 laps): 1. Dillon Thomas Zachariah (Chennai) (15mins, 41.751sec); 2. Divy Nandan (Gurugram) (15:45.155); 3. Mohamed Ryan (Chennai) (15:45.403). Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Mohamed Ryan (15:12.845); 2. Sohil Shah (Bengaluru) (15:13.898); 3. Divy Nandan (15:19.875). Race-4 (10 laps): 1. Sai Sanjay T (Salem) (15:35.461); 2. Sohil Shah (15:36.167); 3. Dillon Thomas Zachariah (15:47.167).
Indian Touring Cars (Race-2, 12 laps): 1. Arjun Narendran (Coimbatore, Arka Motorsports) (27:34.644); 2. Arjun Balu (Coimbatore, Race Concepts) (27:34.913); 3. Jeet Jabakh (Hyderabad, Rayo Racing) (27:52.303).
Indian Junior Touring Cars (Race-2, 12 laps): 1. Akkineni Anand Prasad (Chennai, Performance Racing) (28:07.045); 2. Raja Rajan (Chennai, Performance Racing) (28:11.000); K Srinivas Teja (Chennai, Performance Racing) (28:15.481).
Super Stock (Race-2, 12 laps): 1. Ritesh Rai (Chennai, Performance Racing) (29:05.372); 2. Diljith TS (Thrissur, DTS Racing) (29:13.249); Jason Saldanha (Mangaluru, DB Motorsports) (29:14.491).
MRF Saloons (Toyota Etios) (Race-2, 10 laps): 1. Angad Mathroo (Chandigarh) (20:52.676); 2. Justin Singh (Gurugram) (20:54.991); 3. Jai Prashanth Venkat (Coimbatore) (21:19.977).
Formula LGB 1300 (Race-2, 9 laps): 1. Raghul Rangasamy (Mamallapuram, MSport) (17:11.423); 2. Sai Shiva Makesh Sankaran (Pune, MSport) (17:11.572); 3. Tijil Rao (Bengaluru, Momentum Motorsports) (17:20.620).
Volkswagen Polo Cup (Race-3, 8 laps): 1. Sandeep Kumar (Chennai) (15:43.185); 2. Jeet Jabakh (Hyderabad) (15:47.025); 3. Aditya Swaminathan (Bengaluru) (15:47.891). Race-4 (10 laps): 1. Sandeep Kumar (19:43.676); 2. Raaj Bakharu (Mumbai) (19:48.119); 3. Aditya Swaminathan (Bengaluru) (19:55.032).
