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Category: National Rally Championship
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Athira Murali tops Talent Hunt as CYC selects 10 Lady drivers for INRC
Bengaluru, 31 March 2021: Athira Murali, a popular Malayalam Auto vlogger, who made her INRC debut at Coimbatore in January winning the ladies class and taking a well-deserved 5th among 12 INRC4 drivers, is expected to become a regular feature in the Indian National Rally Championship, thanks to promoters, who conducted a Drivers’ School and a selection camp to pick up talented lady drivers for the upcoming season beginning with the APRC round at Chennai from April 23.
Soon after her topping the selection trials among 25, Athira was picked up by Team JK Tyre, and the Kottayam lass will be taking part in the first round of INRC in Yellow colours. “I am so glad to be sponsored by JK Tyre and excited to wear the yellow colours. I will give my best in the upcoming round in chennai,” said Athira.
The Champions Yacht Club (CYC) FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship 2021 will see over 10 women drivers and co-drivers line-up for the start for the first time after coming out on top in a nation-wide Talent Hunt conducted here at the Unite Off-Road Track.
The one-of-a-kind selection and training programme was conducted by 2019 INRC champion Chetan Shivram. The Talent Hunt was supported by promoter Vamsi Merla.
“We believe that Chetan Shivram Motorsports can be the architect and backbone of motorsports in the years to come, as long as we have support from promoters, the way Mr Vamcy Merla promotes and encourages talent. We would be happy to train and support enthusiasts entering motorsports irrespective of age or gender, as bringing more talent to the National level is our priority,” said Shivram.
Twenty-five talented but unheralded women racers were shortlisted from across the country and were given beginners’ and advanced training in rally cars by ace rallyists Suhem Kabeer and Dhruva Chandrashekar before the ultimate shootout. The winners were judged on the basis of their lap timings in the final selection round which was supervised by an FMSCI jury team.
Athira Murali of Kottayam emerged the winner and will be co-driven by her city mate George Varghese, with whom she made the debut in Coimbatore winning the Ladies Class. She would have also taken a podium in INRC4 but a slow car ahead of her prevented her from going further up.Renuka G of Andhra Pradesh who will have Chandni Kotian of Mumbai as co-driver came second in the selections with Ojasvi Mehta of Mumbai taking third place. Ojasvi along with Belgaum’s Isha Sharma are expected to make their debut in Chennai. Anupma Bindra of Gurgaon came fourth and she will go with co-driver Pallavi Yadav of Mumbai, and mother-daughter duo from Mumbai Shivani Parmar and Dr Vani Parmar will be the other ladies’ pair to get selected. Shivani came fifth in the selections.
The will be accorded a fully-sponsored ride by the promoters of INRC which includes entry fee, rally-prepared car, rally tyres and accommodation.
Renuka G, a software engineer from Vizag, stepped into rallying for the first time, thanks to the encouragement by Promoter Vamsi Merla. She first took part in the Ameo Cup in 2018 and has been a biker taking part in the Nationals. “It was a very exciting two days as I learned a lot about rallying. This is the first time for me in a rally car and it is very challenging to shift from tarmac to dirt tracks. I learnt a lot from handling the car to cornering from experienced drivers and it was a new driving style. I thoroughly enjoyed it and am looking forward to the Chennai round,” said Renuka, who became freinds with Chandni Kotian and picked her up as co-driver. Renuka was all praise for Chetan, Dhruva and Suhem for the training and said that it was very useful to make the switch from racing to rallying.
“I have experience in F4 cars and karting, but getting into a rally car is a new experience. I learnt many new things, the judgement when you take into corners and to handle the peculiar shifts… It was a new thrill for me to experience and all it happened because of Vamcy Merla,” said Chandni Kotian, a Mortgage Analyst from Mumbai.
“The training and experience on the dirt track was awesome. It is the first time I ever stepped into a rally car and am really happy to grab the great knowledge as a co-driver under the guidance of ace rallyists Suhem Kabeer and Dhruva Chandrashekar. I am looking forward to the INRC round, waiting for that moment to come. This is a great initiative by the FMSCI as women never get much opportunities to rally. I thank Vamsi Merla for bringing more talented women into Indian Rallying and I really enjoyed the two-day training under champion Chethan Shivram,” said Isha Sharma. She will pair up with Ojasvi. “It is a wonderful opportunity to take part in the Women in Motorsport Talent Hunt as I could meet 25 amazing women. The 2-day training and shootout were exceptional and life changing too. So glad to finish 3rd and get a shot at the INRC. From track-walk to understanding the basics of the car, I don’t think I could have got a better experience…, thanks to Vamsy Sir for giving us a chance to showcase ourselves and a huge shootout to Chetan Sir, Dhruva and Suhem for teaching us from the basics. Eagerly waiting for the first round to begin,” said Ojasvi Mehta, a 23-year MBA student from Mumbai.“My commitment towards supporting existing and upcoming `Women in Motorsports’ made me launch this initiative. We had planned this last year as well but unfortunately due to the pandemic we could not go ahead with the camp. But with normalcy finally getting restored in the country we finally conducted the Talent Hunt this year and now here we are with 10 talented women finally getting the platform and the support they deserve,” Vamsi Merla said.
Last year, the promoter paid the entry fee for six Lady drivers and also helped provide 50 per cent subsidy for transport of cars to over 15 drivers who needed it. “This is the first event of its kind in INRC and we have plans to make it a yearly affair. I am really looking forward to seeing these ladies on the track and hopefully this will mark a new beginning for women in Indian Motorsports,” Vamsi signed off.The first round of the INRC kicks-off with the South India Rally on April 23-25 in Chennai which also doubles up as the Asia round of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC).
Note: Updated with driver quotes on April 7, at 1.42pm.
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K-1000 gets a new slot in May; Hampi, Nagaland new venues for INRC
Bengaluru, 22 March 2021: The iconic Karnataka 1000, well known as K1000, which suffered a two-year break in its chequered history, will begin afresh as the second round of the National calendar with the traditional dates moved from August to May. The Champions Yacht Club, the promoters of the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC), for four-wheelers announced the calendar for 2021 with six rounds and have added two more venues to the historic National championship by naming Nagaland, and Hampi, which successfully completed the Contender round this January. Delhi makes a comeback after last hosting a National round in 2005, the Rally of the North.
After a truncated season, the Champion Yacht Club FMSCI INRC 2021 will begin with the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) round in Chennai, run simultaneously with the Asian and National round, the popular South India Rally, from April 23 to 25. The round will also kick-start the Indian calendar in the hot summer of Chennai. Hosts Madras Motor Sports Club (MMSC), one of the best clubs in India, who are known for their meticulous administration and well-planned events, are making no stone unturned to make the return of `the’ international event a grand success. India did not host any international motorsports events for two years except the MRF challenge racing. The SIR, INRC’s first round will be held in and around Irungattukottai in Kanchipuram district around the MMRT and will have a Super Special Stage and Track stage and there will be two more physical stages named, Avisa and Alpha.
The Nationals will culminate in the picturesque North-Eastern state of Nagaland from November 12 to 14 to be organised by NAMSA, who produced a first-time National winner when Launusanen Pongenar dramatically turned tables and proved all experts wrong winning his class on a vehicle which was initially disqualified for being “old” and lacking `Fitness’. Namsa’s Nagaland venue will be the latest addition to join the map of Indian rallying, as a new INRC venue.
Hampi, which was denied a round by FMSCI in 2020, did a tremendous job of successfully organising a motorsport event, and taught a lesson or two to veteran motorsport organisers on how to rope in a sponsor, as they managed to get a strong backing by JSW. Hampi will be the other new venue for the INRC rounds with a proper round of INRC this year.
Though, Arunachal Pradesh hosted the National event for three years, if fell off the map and Nagaland will be hosting its first ever INRC round to host the grand finale of the country’s premier motorsport event.
After round 1, the bandwagon will move to Bengaluru for K-1000 on May 28 to 30, hosted by Karnataka Motor Sports Club. Then the third round will be hosted by CASC (Coimbatore Auto Sports Club) in Coimbatore from July 17 to 18. The Delhi-NCR round from August 27 to 28, is yet to be finalised as FMSCI is required to approve it.
Also this year’s championship will see the SUV class added into the mix to give a chance to other drivers in the country to display their skill on the national circuit, in view of the cancellation of Raid de Himalaya. SUVs have been part of INRC from 2014 with Mahindra’s fielding the top winning combination of Gaurav Gill and Musa Sherif. However, it will not be a separate National Championship class, and will run only as INRC class.
“We could not go all out last year due to reasons known to all. The pandemic had tied our hands and it was very difficult for us to organise a full season but still we did what we could do best and completed three rounds. But we are back on the track again and will have six rounds again this year,” Vamsi Merla, director of Champions Yacht Club and promoter of INRC said.
“When we came into motorsports, it was always our mission to take the sports to all the parts of the country and make it more inclusive and that is the reason we have given a chance to three new clubs. We are anticipating a great year ahead and hope that it exceeds all our expectations,” he further added.
Motor Sports Academy of Vijayanagar will carry out the operations in Hampi, meanwhile Nagaland Adventure and Motor Sports Association have been given the responsibility of the final round.
While Chennai, Bengaluru, Coimbatore and Hampi have been ratified by the Rally Commission of the FMSCI, the Delhi-NCR and Nagaland round is subject to an FMSCI inspection and confirmation of the local organisers by the FMSCI.
INRC 2021 Calendar:
Round 1 – Chennai: Madras Motor Sports Club – April 23-25;
Round 2 – Bengaluru: Karnataka Motor Sports Club -May 28-30;
Round 3 – Coimbatore: Coimbatore Auto Sports Club – July 17-18;
Round 4 – *Delhi, BND Motor Sports , August 27-28;
Round 5 -Hampi: Motorsports Academy of Vijayanagar – October 1-3;
Round 6 – *Nagaland, NAMSA, – November 12-14;*Subject to FMSCI inspection and confirmation of organizer by the FMSCI
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India to conduct 11 Nationals in different motorsports disciplines in 2021
Bengaluru, 27 Feb 2021: The Indian Federation which runs the motorsports in the country, FMSCI, has announced that 11 National championships would be held in the year 2021. The major difference would be the dropping of the Indian National Drag Championshipo for four wheelers, which was not held in 2020 due to the COVID19 pandemic.
The addition would be Indian National Gymkhana Championship which the current President Mr Akbar Ebrahim promised in 2018 during his last stint as the chief of the Indian body which is the ASN of FIA. The X30 Karting Nationals too have disappeared from the National Championship list and the Indian National Autocross Championship regains its place after a haitus of a few years.
FMSCI, the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India, is the governing body for running motorsports in the country and are recognised by the Ministry of Sports but are not in the priority list of sports nor are funded by the Sports Authority of India (SAI), an arm of the Ministry.
It is interesting to note that Madras Motor Sports Club (MMSC) the rights holder for the National Racing Championship for both two-wheelers and four-wheelers have also announced the Calendar for 2022 in both the disciplines. MMSC is the promoter for the two events, along with the Drag Nationals for three years from 2019 to 2021, but due to the COVID pandemic, the Federation has granted an extended fourth year for all the promoters.
Following are the Nationals to be run in 2021:
1. MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Racing Championship
2. JK Tyre FMSCI Indian National Racing Championship
3. FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship
4. MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship
5. MRF MOGRIP FMSCI National Supercross Championship
6. MRF MOGRIP FMSCI National Rally Championship 2W
7. MMS FMSCI National Karting Championship
8. FMSCI Indian National Autocross Championship
9. MMSC FMSCI Indian National 2W Drag Championship
10. FMSCI Indian National Rally Sprint Championship 2021
11. FMSCI Indian National Gymkhana Championship – 2021
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Mujeeb, Musa win INRC contender Hampi round
Hampi (Karnataka), 7 Feb 2021: Seven-time National champion co-driver Musa Sherif combined with Mujeeb Rehman as team Kasargod to drive their INRC2 car to overall honours in the Indian National Rally Championship Contender round that concluded the INRC 2020 season here on Sunday.
The Kasargod duo rallying a Snap Racing prepared VW Polo clocked the best time of 01 hour, 01min, 2.200seconds for the 50.4-km special stage distance run in four Special Stages. Ritesh Guttedar M and co-driver Lokaranjan HJ, also in INRC2 class Volkswagen Polo, took the second spot trailing by over one minute, despite clocking best times in two of the four Special Stages timing 01:02:30.700. However, they were later disqualified by the stewards for a Parc Ferme violation.
Thus, PSR Yeswanth and co-driver Bharath SM came second overall bringing their INRC4 car home in 01:03:36.300. Ruthvik M Gowda and co-driver Sudheendra came third. Avinash DC and co-driver Kenneth Harsha came fourth in their Honda City VTech while Deepak Chandra and co-driver Mohan Raj, also in an INRC4 car came fifth. Nidhi Sachdeva and co-driver Dheeraj KV brought their Gypsy home in sixth, the last car to finish among the 9 entries. BC Roopesh and Phalguna Raghavendra had a DNF, as they pulled out in the second stage due to a mechanical breakdown.
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FMSCI curtails INRC 2020 for 4-Wheeler season to 3 rounds
Chennai, 5 Feb 2020: The Rally Commission of the Federation of Motorsports Clubs of India (FMSCI) announced on Friday that the 2020-21 Indian National Rally Championship stands concluded after penultimate Round 3 in Coimbatore as the minimum criteria for the Championship to hold was three rounds taking into account the Covid-19 pandemic.
The points accumulated in each category over the three rounds will help in deciding the respective winners, according to a press release by the FMSCI.
Rally Commission chairman Farokh Commissariat revealed that the Council deliberated at length the circumstances and issues that had developed in the last few days.
Gaurav Gill, left, and Musa Sherif after winning the 7th title at Coimbatore recently. “But due to unavoidable operational and non-operational issues it became virtually impossible to even consider postponing as that would adversely affect next year’s calendar, which has to begin shortly.” it added.
It may be recalled the 2020 season had got severely affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing lockdowns across the country.
“Despite all hiccups all our prime National championships for 2020 were completed. The INRC also seemed to be on course but due to unforeseen circumstances all 4 rounds as planned before launch, could not be completed within the stipulated time frame,” the Chairman Rally Commission said.
Champions of INRC 4w 2020 (Provisional)
Team Anumolu sponsored Sahil Khanna of Snap Racing team along with co-driver Vidit Jain emerged as the Champions in INRC2 class for 2020 season. Photo by David Bodapati With the cancellation of the K1000 round, the fourth and final round of the Indian National Rally Championship 2020 for four-wheelers, the following emerged as champions from the points they garnered after the three rounds. The first two back-to-back rounds were held at Itanagar on Dec 16 and 17, and Dec 19 and 20. The third round was held in Coimbatore on January 30 and 31.
Gaurav Gill, who swept all the three rounds winning with much to spare, emerged as a deserving champion as he conquered the INRC for the 7th time to join all-time legends club along with Naren Kumar as he surpassed another giant N Leelakrishnan’s number of 6 Driver Championship titles. His Co-driver Musa Sherif too is on seventh heaven with his 7th title.
In INRC2, Sahil Khanna emerged as the champion in INRC2 ahead of Dean Mascarenhas (77) and Rahul Kantharaj (65).
In INRC3, while Fabid Ahmer with 98 points from three rounds won the class, Aditya Thakur (90) and Maninder Singh Prince (84) finished second and third respectively.
Defending champion Vaibhav Marathe became champion in the INRC4 class garnering 67 points with Mujeeb Rehman second with 61 points and Mysore’s Rohit Iyer third with 58 points as the three leg 1 points helped him to edge out Khyati Mody who did not take part in the third round.
Yokohama manager flanked by Vaibhav Marathe, right, and Suhan M Kabir at Coimbatore on Jan 31. Photo by David Bodapati As per Final Audited Points Table:
Champion Drivers: INRC: 1. Gaurav Gill; 2. Karna Kadur; 3. Fabid Ahmer. Co-Drivers: 1. Musa Sherif; 2. Nikhil Pai; 3. Eldo Chacko.
INRC2: 1. Sahil Khanna 78; 2. Dean Mascarenhas 77; 3. Rahul Kantharaj 62; Co-drivers: 1. Vidit Jain 83; 2. Shruptha Padival 77; 3. Vivek Bhatt 66;
INRC2 Team: 1. Snap Racing; (Sahil Khanna 117; Lakshay 24) Total=141;
INRC3: 1. Fabid Ahmer 98; 2. Aditya Thakur 90; 3. Maninder Singh Prince 86; Co-drivers: 1. Eldo Chacko 98; 2. Virender Kashyap 90; 3. Vinay Kumar Padmashali 86;
INRC3 Team: 1. Snap Racing; (Maninder 77; Amer Beg 7; Arjun Rao 7) Total =91.
INRC4: 1. Vaibhav Marathe 68; 2. Mujeeb Rehman 65; 3. Rohit Iyer 55; Co-drivers: 1. Suhan MK (68); 2. Goutham CP (65); 3. Manjunath (62); (Corrected restoring Goutham to 2nd)
Junior INRC Drivers: 1. Harikrishan Wadia 77; 2. Pragathi Gowda 70; 3. Rohit Iyer 49;
Gypsy Challenge (No National Championship Status): 1. Sanjay Razdan 90; 2. Daksh Gill 74; 3. Mohd. Kaif Khan 64;
Gypsy Co-drivers: 1. Karan Aukta 90; 2. Mrinmoy Saha 82; 3. Arjun Dheerendra 68.
Editor’s note: Rankings were corrected with official rankings released on 19feb2021 by official time keeper VGoNext; Results will be provisional and only treated as final post 25 Feb 2021 after 5pm.
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2020 INRC season ends with a bang at Utsav de Hampi
Bengaluru, 3 Feb 2021: The COVID19-hit 2020 season ends with a bang after Utsav de Hampi, in Bengaluru with the 45th K-1000. Even as the four-wheel contender for Indian National Rally Championship 2021 gets ready to host the mega event at Hampi from Feb 5 to 7 as part of Motorsports Festival with four major events, the rally season with a reduced four-round calendar will conclude a week later on Feb 14, the valentine’s day, near Bengaluru.
Including a successfully conducted MRF MoGrip two-wheeler Indian National Rally Championship (INRC2w) that showcased nine champions of the 2020 with the 2019 FIM Baja World Cupper Aishwarya Pissay, getting her fourth National 2w Rally title in her class for the fourth successive year, the Utsav de Hampi proved that motorsport can still be organised with great vigour and passion if one makes an effort. For Aishwarya, it is a great achievement indeed, to get her 7th National title, along with the three other Road Racing titles she had won before she jumped board to Rallying and then to more demanding Cross-Country rallying.
Then there is the defending champion Rajendra, also of TVS Racing and Asad Khan winning their National titles in their class but it is Samuel Sajan Jacob, also from the stables of TVS, who hogged the limelight winning the Overall honours. The other class champions are yet to be declared but the hosts Vijayanagar Academy of Motorsports get ready to host the contender Four-wheeler rally for INRC to provide that final push to the close of the season.
Coming back to INRC contender round, one has to see if the top guns will attend the rally as the title is already won by Gaurav Gill and Musa Sherif, and the expenses of bringing cars to Hampi may be a little dampener. But the mood and the festival atmosphere is hard to resist and many are already on their way as a prelude to the last round to be held near Bengaluru.
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Musa Sherif joins elite club of four with 7 National titles
Bengaluru, 1 Feb 2021: Following are the Statistics of the Indian National Rally Championship after the end of the third round of the four-round INRC 2020 calendar which is pushed to 2021 due to the COVID pandemic.
The top-most rallying personality who has a gigantic presence in Indian National Rally Championship is N Leelakrishnan, who has six National Drivers’ titles besides 19 titles as a Tuner, including his own six titles. Then we have Naren Kumar, who is the first to bag seven drivers title, which Gaurav Gill equalled at Coimbatore clinching his seventh title with a round (K1000) to spare. Then we have Musa Sherif of Kasargod, who also has topped the Co-Drivers’ list with seven titles. The only co-driver to achieve the feat.
Gaurav Gill and Musa Sherif have been together for 63 Rallies out of which they finished 39 Rallies, notching up 38 podiums and 36 victories. Gill was behind the wheel of a Mitsubishi Cedia for his first three titles while the last four came through the bulky Mahindra XUV.
Musa Sherif becomes the leading co-driver with the highest number of rallies, finishing his 293rd rally in the third round at Coimbatore, consecutively calling the notes for 29 years. He has navigated for 47 drivers in that period. These 293 rallies include over 150 rallies in INRC.
Musa Sherif navigated for the following drivers in his career spanning 29 years from 1993 when he made his debut in Karavali rally in Mangalore. In 1994, he made his debut at the Indian National Rally Riders Championship (INRC 2w, as then titled) and went on to co-drive for cars much later. The different drivers he navigated and made the call are as follows till end of 2020 season on 7 Feb 2921 INRC 2020, contender for 2021 being the last event:
Mr and Mrs Musa Sherif celebrate their Wedding Anniversary on January 12.
Photo by Musa Sherif on @InstagramFile photo of Musa Sherif after winning the Bengal rally in Dec 2011 along with Gaurav Gill (not in pic). An INDIAinF1 image - Gaurav Gill
- Karamjit Singh, Malaysia
- Naren Kumar
- Lohitt Urs
- Arjun Rao
- Samir Thapar
- Sanjay Takle
- Vijayant Chaudhury
- Manik Raikhy
- Gaurav Chirpal
- Rahul Kantharaj
- Nikhil Taneja
- Austin Mascarenhas
- Satish Bhat
- Prasanna GB
- Zuhin TKM
- Khalid Faraz
- Ravi Agarwal
- Saneem Sani
- Jasbir Singh
- Khalid Al Mohanadi
- Monsoor Parol
- Ashok Agarwal
- Shajan Daniel
- Umakanth Alva
- Saurabh Chaudhury
- Sunny Sidhu
- Rohan Rego
- Syed Mehtab
- Dr Pramod Singh
- Ashwin Naik
- UT Abdul Khader
- Naveen Chandra shetty
- Zahir Manipady
- Abbas
- Prasad Malve
- Sachin Meega
- Purujit Singh
- Bembli Gowda
- Abhilash PG
- Philippos Matthai
- Bajwa
- Dr Manender (sandy)
- Druva Chandrasekar
- Paraag Dhiwar
- Santosh and
- Samrat Yadav and
- Mujeeb Rehman (INRC contender Hampi).
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Samuel Jacob clinches Overall National Title; Aishwarya retains National Ladies title: INRC 2w
Hampi (Karnataka), 31 Jan 2021: Samuel Sajan Jacob clinched the National Championship title while defending champion Aishwarya Pissay sealed the Ladies class once again in style with a huge margin in the fourth and final round of the God Speed Racing MRF MoGrip Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) for two-wheelers 2020 organised by Motorsports Academy of Vijayanagar under the aegis of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) here on Sunday.
TVS Racing’s RE Rajendra won the Super Bike Pro-Expert Class while Samuel Jacob continued his winning run in the Super Sport 260cc Group B class to clinch the Championship in his class.
TVS Racing also continued their domination in the Ladies Class with Aishwarya Pissay consolidating her position with another facile win but the Hosur company lost their grip in the scooter field which was won by a TVS rider Karthik N but a privateer displaced the established order taking the second place. Ninganna M Handral from Bengaluru, astride a TVS N Torq was streets ahead of Pinkesh Thakkar of TVS Racing. TVS Racing has been sweeping this class for some time now.
Asad Khan who won the Super Bike Expert Class Group A in the Hampi round on Sunday. The Bullet class was dominated by Himalayans again with three Bengaluru riders sweeping the podium. Privateer Sharath Kumar finished ahead of SD Vishwas and Abhijeet Sarkar even as Naresh was disqualified.
Provisional Results:
Class 1: Super Bike Pro-Expert Group A: 1. #2 Rajendra RE, Hosur (TVS Racing – Apache RTR) (1hour, 9min, 53.686seconds); 2. #1 Nataraj R, Bengaluru (TVS Racing – Apache RTR) (1:11:26.388); 3. #47 Nikhil B, Kodagu (Privateer – Yamaha WR) (1:14:27.967).4. #3; Vinay Prasad, Bengaluru, Hero Xpulse (DNF). 4 Riders took part in this class.
Class 1A: Super Bike Expert Group A: 1. #4 Asad Khan, Chickmagaluru (Pvt – Suzuki RMX 450) (1:13:29.709); 2. #5 Sarath Mohan, Mallapuram (Pvt – Suzuki RMX 450) (1:15:49.166); 3. #7 Amarenda Sathe, Pune (Pvt – TVS Apache) (1:27:37.014).
Class 2: Super Sport 130cc, Group B: 1. #8 Varun Kumar A, Bengaluru (Pvt – Yamaha YBX) (1:23:03.313); 2. #9 Syed Kalaam, Bengaluru (Pvt – Yamaha YBX) (1:31:36.279); Only two of the four riders finished.
Class 3: Super Sport165cc Group B: 1. #17 PV Francis, Chickmagalur (Pvt – Hero Impulse) (1:17:31.427); 2. #18 Shoeb Mohamed Khan, Mysuru (Pvt – Hero Impulse) (1:18:54.571); 3. #10 Abrar Ahmed, Mysuru (Pvt – Hero Impulse) (1:19:33.674). 5 of 7 riders finished the class.
Class 4: Super Sport 260cc Group B: 1. #19 Samuel Jacob, Hosur (TVS Racing – Apache RTR) (1:11:01.565); 2. #21 J Imran Pasha, Mysuru (TVS Racing – Apache RTR) (1:11:15.009); 3. #22 Yuva Kumar, Bengaluru (Pvt – Hero Xpulse) (1:14:59.028). 8 of 9 riders finished the class.
Class 5: Super Sport 400cc Group B: 1. #29 Sajeesh Reghunathan, Bengaluru (Pvt – KTM Duke 390) (1:23:31.810); 2. #30 Harish S, Bengaluru (Pvt – KTM Duke 390) (1:23:32.588 – Including 1:00 penalty); Only 2 of 4 riders in the class finished.
Class 6: Super Sport 550cc Group B: 1. #34 Sarath Kumar S, Bengaluru (Pvt – Himalayan) (1:18:28.232); 2. #31 Vishwas SD, Bengaluru (Pvt- Himalayan) (1:19:20.126); 3. #35 Abhijeet Sarkar, Bengaluru (Pvt – Himalayan) (1:33:11.197). 3 out of 4 riders finished, 4th rider Naresh VS Disqualified (Dsq).
Class 7: So S3 Scooter 210 Group B: 1. #39 Karthik N, Hosur (TVS Racing -TVS N Torq) (1:22:15.338); 2. #38 Ninganna M Handral, Bengaluru (Pvt -TVS N Torq) (1:23:39.334); 3. #36 Pinkesh Thakkar (TVS Racing -TVS N Torq) (1:30:21.819). 3 out of 5 riders finished. One DNF, one DSQ.
Class 8: Ladies Class: Group B: 1. #41 Aishwarya Pissay, Bengaluru (TVS Racing – Apache RTR) (1:20:30.772); 2. #43 Tanika Shanbhag, Satara (Pvt – Hero Xpulse) (1:23:03.591); 3. #42 Ryhana Bee, Chennai (Pvt – TVS Apache) (1:25:06.192). All 3 riders finished.
Non championship Class: Star of Karnataka: 1. #52 Stephen Roy RA, Kushalanagar (Pvt – Hero Impulse) (1:17:39.868); 2. #49 MD Ansar, Bengaluru (Pvt – Hero Impulse) (1:21:49.531); 3. #45 Akshay Raje Urs, Mysuru (Pvt – Hero Xpulse) (1:22:23.201). 6 of 7 riders finished. One DNF.
Overall Points table at the end of fourth and final round in Hampi
MRF MoGrip Indian National Rally Championship for 2w (INRC) 2020
# Name Position Final Points 1 SAMUEL SAJAN JACOB 1 83 2 IMRAN PASHA J 2 48 3 RAJENDRA R E 3 43 4 ASAD KHAN 4 38 5 SACHIN D 5 36 6 YUVA KUMAR 6 34 7 NATARAJ R 7 31 8 SUHAIL AHMED 8 29 9 SARATH MOHAN 9 20 10 SANJAY SOMASHEKAR 10 17 11 NIKHIL B 11 8 12 NARESH V S 12 6 13 SINAN FRANCIS 13 2 14 RAKESH N 13 2 15 TRINESH V 13 2 16 ARMUGAM SATHYARAJ 13 2 17 SUDEEP KOTTARY 14 1 18 STEPHEN ROY 15 1 19 FRANCIS P V 16 1 Note: As received from God Speed Racing, prooters of MRF MoGrip INRC 2w 2020
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Gaurav Gill joins exclusive club in INRC Hall of Fame! Musa Sherif, first navigator to do 293 rallies
Bengaluru, 1 Feb 2021: Following are the Statistics of the Indian National Rally Championship after the end of the third round of the four-round INRC 2020 calendar which is pushed to 2021 due to the COVID pandemic.
Gaurav Gill and Musa Sherif have been together for 63 Rallies out of which they finished 39 Rallies, notching up 38 podiums and 36 victories. Gill was behind the wheel of a Mitsubishi Cedia for his first three titles while the last four came through the bulky Mahindra XUV.
Musa Sherif becomes the leading co-driver with the highest number of rallies, finishing his 293rd rally in the third round at Coimbatore, consecutively calling the notes for 29 years. He has navigated for 47 drivers in that period. These 293 rallies include over 150 rallies in INRC.
INRC Titles from 1988 – 2020
Driver’s Championship winners – After INRC got the National Championship status in 1988
Driver’s Name Number of titles Years won Remarks 1 Gaurav Singh Gill Seven (7) 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2020 2 V Naren Kumar Seven (7) 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2010 3 N Leelakrishnan Six (6) 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1998, 2001 4 Hari Singh Four (4) 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 5 Farad Bhatheena Two (2) 1988, 1989 6 Vikram Mathias Two (2) 2004, 2008, 7 Amittrajit Ghosh Two (2) 2012, 2013, 8 Lohit Urs One (1) 2015, 9 Karna Kadur One (1) 2016, 10 Chethan Shivram One (1) 2019, Co-Drivers’ Championship winners
Driver’s Name Number of titles Years won Remarks 1 Musa Sherif Seven (7) 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2020 2 D Ram Kumar Six (6) 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2010 3 Gurinder Singh Mann Four (4) 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 4 N Mahendran Three (3) 1991, 1992, 1993, 5 Farooq Ahmed Three (3) 1998, 1999, 2001, 6 Raj Bagri Two (2) 1988, 1989, 7 Ashwin Naik Two (2) 2012, 2013, 8 CV Jayakumar One (1) 1990, 9 Sujith Kumar BS One (1) 2004, 10 PVS Murhty One (1) 2008, 11 Shrikanth GM One (1) 2015, 12 Nikhil Pai One (1) 2016, 13 Dilip Sharan One (1) 2019
Drivers, Co-Drivers and Teams that won the National Championship from 1988Year Driver & Co-Driver Team Car Tuner 1 1988 Farad Bathena/ Raj Bagri Team MRF Maruti Gypsy Group II (A) Mohinder Lalwni 2 1989 Farad Bathena/ Raj Bagri Team MRF Maruti Gypsy Group II (A) J Anand 3 1990 N Leelakrishnan/ CV Jaykumar Team MRF Maruti Gypsy Group II (A) N Leelakrishnan 4 1991 N Leelakrishnan/ N Mahendran Team MRF Maruti Gypsy Group II (A) N Leelakrishnan 5 1992 N Leelakrishnan/ N Mahendran Team MRF Maruti Gypsy Group II (A) N Leelakrishnan 6 1993 N Leelakrishnan/ N Mahendran Team MRF Maruti Gypsy Group II (A) N Leelakrishnan 7 1994 Hari Singh/ Gurinder Singh Mann JK Tyre Rally Team Maruti Gypsy Group A-1-A S Karivardhan 8 1995 Hari Singh/ Gurinder Singh Mann JK Tyre Rally Team Maruti Gypsy Group A-1-A S Karivardhan 9 1996 Hari Singh/ Gurinder Singh Mann JK Tyre Rally Team Maruti Esteem Group A-1-A PNR Satish 10 1997 Hari Singh/ Gurinder Singh Mann JK Tyre Rally Team Maruti Esteem Group A-1-A WSRF 11 1998 N Leelakrishnan/ Farooq Ahmed Team MRF Maruti Esteem Group A-1-A N Leelakrishnan 12 1999 VR Naren Kumar/ Farooq Ahmed Team MRF Maruti Esteem Group A N Leelakrishnan 13 2000 VR Naren Kumar/ D Ram Kumar Team MRF Maruti Baleno Group A N Leelakrishnan 14 2001 N Leelakrishnan/ Farooq Ahmed Team MRF Honda City Group A N Leelakrishnan 15 2002 VR Naren Kumar/ D Ram Kumar Team MRF Honda City Group A N Leelakrishnan 16 2003 VR Naren Kumar/ D Ram KUmar Team MRF Honda City Group A N Leelakrishnan 17 2004 Vikram Mathias/ Sujith Kumar BS Team MRF Honda City Group A N Leelakrishnan 18 2005 VR Naren Kumar/ D Ram Kumar JK Rally Team Maruti Baleno Group N N Leelakrishnan 19 2006 VR Naren Kumar/ D Ram Kumar JK Rally Team Maruti Baleno Group N N Leelakrishnan 20 2007 Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif Team MRF Mitsubishi Cedia Group N J Anand 21 2008 Vikram Mathias/ PVS Murthy Red Rooster Racing Mitsubishi Cedia Group N+ N Leelakrishnan 22 2009 Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif Team MRF Mitsubishi Cedia Group N+ J Anand 23 2010 VR Naren Kumar/ D Ram Kumar Red Rooster Racing Mitsubishi Cedia Group N+ N Leelakrishnan 24 2011 Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif MRF Mitsubishi Cedia Group N+ J Anand 25 2012 Amittrajit Ghosh/ Ashwin Naik RRPM Mitsubishi Cedia Group N B Rajan 26 2013 Amittrajit Ghosh/ Ashwin Naik RRPM Mitsubishi Cedia Group N B Rajan 27 2014 Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif Mahindra Adventure Mahindra XUV 500 N Leelakrishnan 28 2015 Lohitt V Urs/ Shrikanth Gowda MRU Motorsport Mitsubishi Cedia Evo8 Mohamed Rafiq Udaya 29 2016 Karna Kadur/ Nikhil V Pai Team Yokohama India Volkswagen Polo Group N N Leelakrishnan 30 2017 Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif Mahindra Adventure Mahindra XUV 500 N Leelakrishnan 31 2018 Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif Mahindra Adventure Mahindra XUV 500 N Leelakrishnan 32 2019 Chetan Shivram/ Dilip Sharan Team Akshara Racing Volkswagen Polo Fazil Khan, FRK 33 2020 Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif JK Tyre Racing team Mahindra XUV 300 N Leelakrishnan 34 2021 -
Gaurav Gill wins record 7th INRC title; equals Naren Kumar’s feat; surpasses Leela’s
By David Bodapati
Coimbatore, 31 Jan 2021: Gaurav Gill and experienced navigator Musa Sherif, clinched their 7th National title in the Rally of Coimbatore, the third and penultimate round of the Champions Yacht Club fmsci Indian National Rally Championship 2020 (INRC), with a round to spare here on Sunday.
Gill equalled the record of Naren Kumar’s seven National titles and surpassed Narayanaswamy Leelakrishnan (6), his current tuner. Incidentally, Gill also won three FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship titles and he has also taken part in the World Rally Championship in WRC2 class.
Gill garnered 116 points from three rounds and with only K-1000 with a maximum of 39 points on offer, left in the calendar, Gill has sealed the championship with a round to spare. Here in Coimbatore, Gill’s XUV 300 turbo suffered from electrical issues and he struggled to do even 100 Kmph.
Yet, Gill won five of the six stages and despite having electrical issues from the very beginning that hampered his speed, he brought home his limping car to get him the latest National title that put him on a pinnacle.
Dr Speed Bikku Babu takes a right-hander in SS5 on Sunday. Babu finished 2nd overall and first in his class in the Round 3 of the Indian National Rally Championship. Gaurav Gill, left and Musa Sherif, who won the seventh National title together “Yes, the stages were very narrow and rough terrain which made it highly technical. This year the stage distance was increased and now it is one of the longest (over 19 Kms) stages in Indian rallies, so the route became very tough. But I like it because, it is always nice to win the Stages which are tough and demanding. I did suffer initial hiccups but as the saying goes, it is nice to conquer things when the going gets tough,” quipped Gill.
The Arjuna Awardee and Delhi-based driver, who is nick-named the King of Indian Motorsports, is truly a force to reckon with, and had he progressed to the WRC earlier than he did, in his peak, India and FMSCI would now have boasted of a World Champion.
But all is not lost as Gill still dreams of WRC, and the champion in him is eager to produce big results. For now, he will be taking part in the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) again with the first round of 2021 season in Chennai from 26 to 28 March. It will be run simultaneously for Asia Cup and South India Rally as the 2021 INRC Round, provided the calendar is approved by FMSCI for INRC.
Meanwhile, two entrants from Kerala, “Dr Speed” Bikku Babu, who is maturing like old wine, won in the INRC 2 class and “Mr Clean” Fabid Ahmer topped the INRC 3 category, to make up for a bad outing in Itanagar. Ahmer managed to recoup, fight and get back with his clean-and-steady driving to lead the championship once again by eight points in INRC3.
Dean Mascarenhas, who retired with a gear box failure, still leads the championship in INRC2 with one round to go. The A seeded driver, Babu, and B seeded Ahmer, are not the only drivers from the stable of Chettinad Sporting, as the Goa-Coorg combination of Vaibhav Marathe, a product of Champions Group, won INRC 4 class, along with co-driver Suhan M Kabir. The duo clinched the issue after some hiccups in Round 1 at Itanagar. The Champions Yacht Club Director in Goa, Marathe, is leading the championship table in his class with a podium in Round 2 and a win here.
Dr Speed Bikku Babu, left, and Bonny Thomas, INRC Overall second and INRC2 winners in the Rally of Coimbatore on Sunday. Photo by David Bodapati The Team which hogged limelight on the day was Chettinad Sporting, led by Thyagarajan and Roshan, the men behind the cars’ performance. The team won three out of four Championship classes and had one more podium to boost as a bonus. It was in 2014 in Nashik that the team had swept all the classes but one, and today is a great day for a team which started its journey with South India Rally in 1996 and went on to field two cars for the rally in Coorg in 2007, where Chettinad Sporting had a good presence with their blue colour dominating the car livery. And today, after 25 years, they came out with flying colours with three wins. “Three cheers to all the mechanics, the drivers, co-drivers and the men who believed in them who made the journey possible… For us, drivers and co-drivers are always the heroes and all praise should go to them,” said Thyagarajan.
Gill, too, has played no less a role, as both Bikku Babu and FabidAhmer were part of his Rally School and learnt the tricks of the trade to blossom and perform to their potential. Chettinad Sporting provieds technical support to Gill’s academy in the Kethanur windmill farms near Coimbatore.
Meanwhile, defending champion Chethan Shivram with a new navigator in Shahid Salman, in his Volkswagon Polo 1.6 bereft of the usual LSD, still managed to finish fourth overall and second in his class which is a big achievement. But the luck that deserted with Dilip Sharan, who is now navigating for Rakesh Shukla in an Esteem, may have dampened the spirit, but the champ in Shivram continues to fight for honours with K-1000 still on the radar. Chetan and his brother Dilip had won the 2019 championship with FRK led by Fazal Khan tuning the car, for Team Akshara Racing, as they got into the exclusive club of 10 Overall INRC winners in 32 years.
Vaibhav Marathe and Suhan Kabir bring Yokohama their first class win in ten years with their last title coming in 2010 for Red Rooster Racing. Photo by David Bodapati Harikrishna Wadi and co-driver Chirag Thakur put their Honda City on top in the Junior INRC category and 11th overall, while Pragathi Gowda, driving with a new navigator in her third rally, in Trisha Jagannath, came second in their VW Polo. Mysore lad Rakshith Iyer and co-driver Chandrasekhar were third in Junior class in an Esteem.
Sanjay Razdan and navigator Karan Aukta won the Gypsy Challenge with veteran Sanjay Agarwal and co-driver Smitha Prasad taking second and the pair of Divyanshu Vyas and VenuRemesh Kumar third.
In the Ladies Class, 27-year debutante Athira Murali of Kottayam won the Round 3 in an INRC4 Esteem along with co-driver George Varghese, despite losing a lot of time due to a slower car ahead which had technical issues. Another lady driver from the north, Amandeep Kaur, who is also making her debut in the INRC, came second, with ever-smiling navigator Mohit Malik in a Baleno ahead of mother-daughter pair of doctors in Dr Shivani Pruthvi and Dr Deepthi Pruthvi, from Davangere in Karnataka, who finished on the podium, despite some issues with the car, in this class.
Of the 59 cars that took the start on Day 1, only 33 cars completed the rally and 26 failed to finish. The fourth and last round of the delayed 2020 INRC 2020, K-1000, is scheduled to be run by Karnataka Motor Sports Club (KMSC) from 12 to 14 February, 2021.
Unaudited Provisional Results: (Round 3 after Sunday’s six Special Stages):
Overall: 1. Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif (Mahindra Adventure3 00) (1hour, 27min, 56.700seconds); 2. Dr Speed – Bikku Babu/ Bonnie Thoma (VW Polo) (1:29:21.100); 3. Fabid Ahmer/ Eldo Chacko (JK Tyre) (VW Polo) (01:29:57.200); 4. Chetan Shivram /Shahid Salman (VW Polo) (01:31.05.500); 5. Aditya Thakur/ Virendra Keshyap (VW Polo) (1:31:36.700); 6. Ritesh Guttedar M/ Lokaranjan HJ (VW Polo) (01:31:43.600); 7. Sahil Khanna /Vidit Jain (Snap Racing) (VW Polo) (01:32:54.200); 8. Maninder Singh Prince/ Vinay Padmashali (JK Tyre – VW Polo) (1:32:57.400); 9. Phillippos Mathai/ Kumar Ramasamy (Mahindra XUV 500) (1:33:18.600); 10. Mohammed Kasim/ Sanath G (VW Polo) (1:33:45.300).
INRC2:1. Dr Speed – Bikku Babu/ Bonnie Thomas (1:29:21.100); 2. Chetan Shivram /Shahid Salman (01:31.05.500); 3. Ritesh Guttedar M/ Lokaranjan HJ (01:31:43.600); 4. Sahil Khanna /Vidit Jain (Snap Racing) (01:32:54.200); 5. Rahul Kantharaj/ Vivek Bhatt (01:54:07.500); 6. Suhem Kabir/ Jeevarathinam (2:12:24.600); 7. Lakshay Veer Dabas/ Sagar Mallappa (Snap Racing/ VW Polo) (2:13:27.500); All in VW Polo.
INRC3: 1. Fabid Ahmer /Eldo Chacko (JK Tyre) (VW Polo) (01:29:57.200); 2. Aditya Thakur/ Virendra Keshyap (VW Polo) (1:31:36.700); 3. Maninder Singh Prince/ Vinay Padmashali (VW Polo) (1:32:57.400); 4.Mohammed Kasim/ Sanath G (VW Polo) (01:33:45.300); 5. Harkrishnan Wadia /Chirag Thakur (Honda City) (01:34:42.300); 6. Pragathi Gowda/ Trisha Jagannath (Team Vasundhara/ VW Polo) (1:37:08.200); 7. Ashad Pasha/ Deeksha Balakrishna (VW Polo) (01:37:18.300).
INRC 4: 1. Vaibhav Marathe/ Suhan MK (Honda City) (01:36:51.700); 2. Yeswanth Padale/ Bharth SM (Honda City) (1:40:34.300); 3. Pradeep Ravi/ Arvind Dheerendra (Maruti Suzuki Esteem) (01:42:13.200); 4.Sumesh M/ Anil Abbas (Maruti Suzuki Esteem) (01:46:31.700); 5. Athira Murali/ George Varghese (1:52:10.400); 6. Amandeep Kaur/ Mohit Mallik (Maruti Suzuki Baleno) (01:14:18.300); 7. Rakesh Shukla / Dilip Sharan (Maruti Suzuki Esteem) (01:53:01.300).
Junior INRC: 1. #28; Harikrishna Wadi/ Chirag Thakur (JK Tyre -Honda City) (1:34:42.300); 2. #38; Rakshit Iyer/ M Chandrashekar (Maruti Suzuki Esteem) (2:04:07.800); 3. #36; Shivani Pruthvi/ Deepthi Pruthvi (JK Tyre Mitsubishi Cedia) (2:15:15.200); Only 4 cars of the 6 eligible for Junior INRC finished.
Non-Championship class
Gypsy Challenge: 1. Sanjay Razdan/ Karan Aukta (01:40:40.200); 2. Sanjay Agarwal/ Smitha Prasad (01:42:44.700); 3. Divyanshu Vyas/ Venu Remesh;Kumar (01:44:03.900);4. Mohd. Kaif Khan/ Arjun Dheerendra (01:44:30.900); 5. Dheeraj KV/ Pramod Raman (01:45:31.700); 6. Daksh Gill/ Mrinmoy Saha (1:57:58.600);
(Only 6 of the 12 Gypsies finished).
Ladies Class: 1. #47 Athira Murali/ George Varghese (Esteem); 2. #46 Amandeep Kaur/ Mohit Malik (Baleno); 3. #36 Shivani Pruthvi/ Deepthi Pruthvi (Mitsubishi Cedia).
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