INDIA in F1

Category: National Rally Championship

  • Gaurav Gill wins Rally of Arunachal: INRC Round 1

    Gaurav Gill wins Rally of Arunachal: INRC Round 1

    By Samikshan Dutta

    Itanagar, 17 Dec 2020: Ace Indian rallyist Gaurav Gill began his Champions Yacht Club-FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship 2020, with a bang winning the Rally of Arunachal in style here on Thursday.

    Gaurav driving on JK Tyre took a total of 56:55.200 minutes to complete eight special stages and record a victory by a margin of an impressive 4:25.700 minutes over Karna Kadur. Dean Mascarenhas finished third overall with a time of 1:02:30.500 hour.

    The three-time APRC champion was in his ominous best and even a flat tyre on final stage could not stop him from underlining his supremacy in the opening round.

    Gaurav along with co-driver Musa Sherif got off to a thrilling start and after opening up a considerable lead on the opening day which witnessed four thrilling night stages; it was all about driving safe and bringing his XUV300 home.

    However that did not stop him from going full throttle and he drove like a man possessed to win three on day four to increase his lead further. On the final stage, he had a flat tyre just two kilometres away from the flying start but he still managed to finish which was enough for him to draw the first blood.

    “It was a great start to the season. The stages were really fast and I enjoyed driving here. The car has been fantastic and there is absolutely nothing I could complain about. We made some adjustments to the car from last year and it has worked wonders. And all I could say is, me behind the wheels of a car like this on tarmac is just the perfect combination,” an ecstatic Gaurav Gill said.

    Karna Kadur on MRF Tyres overcame initial hiccups which involved a tailspin on ss2 to make his way to the podium. Karna driving a Volkswagen Polo who won the final stage of the round clocked a total time of 1 hour: 01 min:2.9 secs. Karna and his navigator Nikhil V Pai who ended the opening day in second place showed great grit to stave off a fierce challenge from Dean (& co-driver Shruptha Padival).

    Dean who finished third claimed victory in his category too, INRC 2. Sahil Khanna & Vidit Jain of Snap Racing took the second place in INRC 2 category with an overall time of 01:03:25.900 hour followed by Rahul Kanthraj & Vivek Y Bhatt who took a total time of 1:06:34.300 hour to complete the round.

    Defending champion Team Yokohama’s Chetan Shivram’s title defence took a great hit as he crashed out of the round in the first stage only due to engine failure. He started off well and in the first few kilometers was a treat to watch but mid-way into the stage his car stalled, crashing his hopes. The malfunction could cost him dear as he is likely to miss out of Round 2 as well which will be held at the same place on December 19th.

    While it was business as usual for the big guns, it was the young Bengaluru women’s team of Pragathi Gowda and co-driver Deeksha Balakrishna who impressed everyone with their performance on their debut outing. Representing Team Vasundhara, an all-women’s rally team, Pragathi posted a total time of 01:07:53.400 hour to not only win the women’s category ahead of her teammate and veteran Bani Yadav (& Subhkiran Pal Kaur Brar), she also won the Junior INRC Category beating the likes of Arjun Rao and Rakshith Iyer. She finished fourth in the INRC 3 category and ended ninth on the overall standing.

    Maninder Singh Prince along with co-driver Vinay Kumar posted a total time of 01:05:49.700 hour to clinch the INRC 3 category, while Fabid Ahmer (&Eldo Chacko) won the second place for their total time of 01:06:05.700 hour. Aditya Thakur and his co-driver Virender Kashyap of Team Nutulapati took 01:07:07.700 hour to complete the rally and take the third position.


    Provisional Results

    1. Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif; (56;55.200 minutes); 2. Karna Kadur/Nikhil Pai (1:01:2.9 hour); 3. Dean Mascarenhas /Shruptha Padival (1:02:30.500 hour)

    INRC2: 1. Dean Mascarenhas /Shruptha Padival(01:02:30.500 hour); 2. Sahil Khanna/Vidit Jain (01:03:25.900 hour); 3. Rahul Kantharaj/ Vivek Y Bhatt (1:06:34.300 hour).

    INRC3: 1. Maninder Singh Prince/ Vinay Kumar (01:05:49.700 hour); 2.  Fabid Ahmer/Eldo Chacko (01:06:05.700 hour); 3. Aditya Thakur/ Virender Kashyap (01:07:07.700 hour);

    INRC4: 1. Lanusanen Pongenar/ Lokaranjan HJ (1:18:03.200 hour); 2. Khyati Mody/ Sagar Mallappa (1:22:53.500 hour); 3. Rohit Iyer/ Manjunath (1:33:11.000 hour);

    Overall Leading: 1. Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif (Delhi/Mangalore) XUV300; (00 hour, 56 minutes; 55.200seconds); 2. Karna Kadur/ Nikhil Pai (Bengaluru) VW Polo (1:01:2.9sec); 3. Dean Mascarenhas /Shruptha Padival (Mangaluru- VW Polo) (1:02:30.500);

    INRC2: 1. Dean Mascarenhas /Shruptha Padival (Mangaluru – VW Polo) (01:02:30.500); 2. Sahil Khanna/Vidit Jain (Gurgaon/Noida – Snap Racing, VW Polo) (01:03:25.900); 3. Rahul Kantharaj/ Vivek Y Bhatt (Bengaluru – Polo) (1:06:34.300).

    INRC3: 1. Maninder Singh Prince/ Vinay Kumar (01:05:49.700); 2.  Fabid Ahmer/Eldo Chacko (Kerala- Polo) 01:06:05.700); 3. Aditya Thakur/ Virender Kashyap (Himachal Pradesh – Polo) (01:07:07.700);

    INRC4: 1. Lanusanen Pongenar/ Lokaranjan HJ (Nagaland/Bangalore – Honda City) (1:18:03.200); 2. Khyati Mody/ Sagar Mallappa (Mumbai/Bengaluru – Honda City) (1:22:53.500); 3. Rohit Iyer/ Manjunath (Mysore/Bengaluru – Esteem) (1:33:11.000);

  • INRC night-stage fireworks light up Itanagar and forces Ghosh to do the firefighting

    INRC night-stage fireworks light up Itanagar and forces Ghosh to do the firefighting

    Itanagar, 16 Dec 2020: Champions Yacht Club promoted Indian National Rally Championship presented an early Christmas gift in the form of Diwali fireworks that woke up the sleepy village of Chimpu with screeching sounds and visible thrills. The few hundred fortunate fans, who enthusiastically cheered and clapped for every car that took the flying finish witnessed and enjoyed the motorsport thrills that only a few or fortunate can witness. The rare moment was the highlight tonight, as the beast of a machines, XUV300 driven at mind-boggling speeds produced pleasing sights.

    After the wheel flew off, for over 70 metres in the pitch-dark night huge sparks lit up the night with the rim screeching the tarmac before coming to a halt at the TC. The flying wheel miraculously missed everyone and sped across in a jiffy and landed near a house in no-man’s land. The hot right front rim, shining bright like a round ring in a smelting furnace, National double champion in 2012 and 2013, Amittrajit Ghosh, sprinting to bring back the tyre in a few seconds like an F1 pit crew, presented a spectacle that reminded a splendid glimpse of what happened in Formula One to Grosjean’s car recently. It was scary though, for only die-hard fans and fraternity who watch motorsports regularly would understand such accidents.

    But it is also a tribute to the safety arrangements done by the Arunachal Pradesh, Lhakpa Tsering, the Director of the event, and all the officials, organisers and marshals. Rally of Arunachal is the only rally in India which gets the safety operations approved and implemented by a State Government with none other than the Superintendent of Police personally seen handling the scene at the spot, just before the stage became green. Closing a National Highway, NH415 in this case, is unheard of in Indian Rallying History until Rally of Arunachal came up.

    Later, in a few minutes, Ghosh got back into the seat and drove off, as if nothing happened. INDIAinF1 caught up at the Service Park with the co-driver Ashwin Naik and Ghosh, who were visibly upset and disappointed. “It was dangerous and just an unlucky incident,’’ dismissed Ghosh initially. But he failed to reel out quotes, as is his wont in normal times. For a few seconds, he was silent, then added: `”It is a rare incident, a wheel would fly off, happens in a decade or so in rallying. My wheel studs came off just before the flying finish.’’ As soon as he stopped after FF, and even as Ashwin is reporting and taking the timesheets, Ghosh jumped out ran, and brought the tyre back.

    The tarmac stage and the highly technical superfast Special Stages, the cold temperatures of a night stage may have spoiled many cars, with some stalwarts suffering initial hiccups even before the start of the SS1 and one such unfortunate exit today was the Volkswagen Polo, of Overall defending champion Chetan Shivram of Snap Racing, who did take the stage but gave up in 13 minutes in SS1. “It stalled before the start and we managed to take the start. But within 5km it stalled again. I am not sure what it is and have to check what happened. We came well prepared and gunning for a big fight but am very, very disappointed,’’ said Chetan Shivaram, who is a mentor to many drivers including the talented newcomer Pragathi Gowda, a newbee who drove like a veteran, doing a wonderful job on the day first day of her debut.  “Amazing, it is a wonderful day. I am so happy and having fun,’’ said a pleased-like a punch MBA student of Symbiosis, Pune. Born and bought up in Bengaluru, the 23-year old gets inspiration from her father, just like her silent navigator, who is born and bred under the motorsports culture. Pragathi’s navigator being none other than, Deeksha, the daughter of Balakrishna, popularly known as BK, and currently elevated to full-time motorsports job as Sporting Director in FMSCI. BK is a life-coach helping many a needy.

    Incidentally, Amer Beg and Shahid Salman of INRC3, also of Snap Racing and defending champion in INRC4, Vaibhav Marathe of Goa, are the three casualties that logged DNF tag today (did-not- finish).  Local driver Pen Sonam and co-driver Lenin Jose did not start their Gypsy.

    For the record, the King of Indian Motorsports Gaurav Gill was fastest in all the four stages despite displaying controlled aggression and easing off in the opening stage. As his car approached into the first few km, it sounded very different, with unusual lift-off sound that broke the screeching, steady noise, which is music to the ears of a rally fan. `I had a set-up issue and did take time but there on managed to touch top speeds,’’ said the multiple APRC champion and six-time Indian National title winner.

    And the reigning champ Chethan Shivram too clocked a DNF stalling his car in the very first stage. Of the 43 cars only 39 finished the Day 1, in the Rally of Arunachal, the first round of Champions Yacht Club fmsci Indian National Racing Championship (INRC) 2020.

    MRF continues to pump in money with COVID only changing their status to Associate Sponsor and Sakthi Herbal Nutpowder, a popular health product in Andhra Pradesh making its debut in another AP, that is Arunachal Pradesh, thanks to the promoters. Team Vasundhara, another Hyderabad Jewellery giant, too added their glittering presence & power to “Women in Motorsport”, a concept that is being promoted by FIA. And along with individual team promoters, Mallikarjuna Rao, of Team Nutalapati, Aashish of Team Vasundhara joined the local village fans and sat on the parapet wall of small kiosk/eatery and awaited the cars. They were lucky to see such thrilling motorsports action on their very first day. Rao was seen jumping with joy and congratulating everyone, when he heard that Dr Speed Bikku Babu, is leading the class, at that point while at the service park. The two Vasundhara team drivers too dished out some stunning times today. The third Team owner, Anumolu Ramakrishna is an NRI in USA and could not come here. But this reporter heard him talk to the drivers of his two cars, Lanusanane, who was excluded before being allowed to take the start.

    Coming back to the `Flying Wheel’, fortunately, every one escaped miraculously, but all the drama and fireworks of this dangerous incident, did throw light on the security arrangements and safety aspects and the Stage Commander and his team and Marshals should be commended for convincing a person no other than the Superintendent of Police, who insisted that traffic should be allowed to go for a few minutes between SS 1 and SS2. Fortunately,better sense prevailed and Stage Commander Chandramouli and senior rally sportspersons like Srikanth Gowda and other team members did a good job convincing the top police chief. The gentle giant did endure some irritating advise from a journalist and stayed on much beyond the midnight mark and supervised safety protocols.

    Provisional Unaudited Leg Results – After Day 1 (Special Stage 4 – SS4)

    Overall Leading: 1. Car#4 Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif (Delhi, #PoweredByMahindra) XUV300; (28minutes: 22.700 seconds); 2. c#8 Karna Kadur/ Nikhil Pai (Bengaluru, Arka Motorsports) VW Polo (31:31.300); 3. C#3 Dr `Speed’ Bikku Babu (Kerala, Pvt) /Bonnie Thomas (Kerala) VW Polo (31:42.200);

    INRC:  1. C#4 Gaurav Gill (Delhi, Privateer #PoweredByMahindra) XUV300; (28minutes: 22.700 seconds);  2. C#8 Karna Kadur (Bengaluru, Privateer, Arka Motorsports) VW Polo (31:31.300); 3. c#7 Amittrajit Ghosh (Kolkota) /Ashwin Naik (Mangalore) (#PoweredByMahindra) (2:29:25.400);

    INRC2: 1. Dr Speed Bikku Babu (Kerala, Pvt) /Bonnie Thomas (Kerala) (31:42.200); 2. Dean Mascarenhas Shruptha Padiva (Mangalore, Pvt) (31:47.800); 3. Sahil Khanna (Gurugaon) / Vidit Jain (Noida) (Snap Racing) VW Polo (32:29.400);

    INRC3: 1. Aditya Thakur (Team Nutalapati) (Himachal Pradesh) (VW Polo) (33:24.300); 2. Mininder Singh Prince/ Vinay Kumar (Snap Racing) C#20; VW Polo (34:06.900); 3. Syed Salman Ahmed/ BK Rishab (VW Polo) (34:47.900);

    INRC4: 1. Mujeeb Rehman/ Goutham CP c#27; (Honda City) (33:22.000); 2. C#30 Lanusanen Pongener/ Lokaranjan HJ (Honda City); 3. Khyati Mod/ Sagar Mallappa, C#31 Honda City; (42:17.000).

    Gypsy Challenge: 1. Amanpreet Ahluwalia/ Sandeep Mansukhani (Maruti Suzuki Gypsy) (35:50.500); 2. Daksh Gill/ Mrinmoy Saha (38:14.000); 3. Mohd. Kaif Khan/ Arjun Dheerendra (38:49.400);

    Note: Junior INRC will be added on the final day.

  • INRC, the flagship event of Indian Motorsports, returns to North East with a double dhamaka

    INRC, the flagship event of Indian Motorsports, returns to North East with a double dhamaka

    By David Bodapati

    Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh), 14 Dec 2020: The flagship event of all the Nationals in Indian Motorsports, the Indian National Racing Championship 2020 (INRC) makes a grand return to the North East with a double dhamaka of back-to-back rounds where a combined 86 highly-competitive drivers and navigators are expected to begin their fight for national honours with the King of Indian Motorsports Gaurav Gill leading the charge in Yellow colours.  INRC 3-day Round 1 is on Dec 15 &to 17 and Round 2 is from 18th to 20 including scrutiny, reconnaissance and Special Stages, with night stages thrown in as bonus.

    Speedmaster and former national Overall INRC champion Karna Kadur of with one of the senior most navigators Nikhil Vittal Pai, can throw a spanner in any of the top-guns with speed, aggression and experience at their command. A win is long-time coming for the Karnataka duo and they can spring a surprise. With Yokohama coming back, the good days of Team Red Rooster Racing were fresh in the minds of Rally lovers. Kadur was also a driver instructor at that academy under 7-time National champion and celebrated tuner N Leelakrishnan.

    Another Bengaluru team Rahul Kantharaj and Vivek Y Bhatt, also former champions, begin as co-favourites in INRC2 class along with Dhruva Chandrasekhar pairing with experienced navigator PVS Murthy and, Suhem Kabir navigated by Jeevarathinam. These stalwarts have been in the rally scene thrilling fans with their skills for many years.

    Bringing in a slew of benefits to the Indian rally scene, the promoters Champions Yacht club under Vamsi Merla have brought benefits that trickled down to the drivers, where huge costs of transportation, tyres, free accommodation, and entry fee waiver were provided along with the organisers, Motor Sports Association of Arunachal.

    Defending champion Chetan Shivram will be back with his tested navigator Roopesh Kholay, representing Yokohoma-shod tuned by FRK Racing in the INRC2 rally-prepared Volkswagon Polo while 7-time National Champion and multiple-APRC title holder Gaurav Gill of Delhi, also seeded A, will be running Yellow on JK Tyres in Mahindra XUV 300 and will be the cynosure of all eyes. His Mahindra teammate Amittrajit Ghosh, who shifted from MRF to JK tyres this season, is seeded B, and will drive XUV300 in INRC, but Mahindra pulled out their team entry season. Such a heavy vehicle, one may think, is not ideal for high rally speeds, but when a heavyweight like Gill, is given an upgrade to Sequential gear system, the mean machine will trend on twitter too, not just on the closed highway Special Stages. This is the only rally in India, where a State Government provides security and closes a National Highway for motorsport. Look for #PoweredByMahinndra hashtag and watch live times at @VgoNext on Facebook! The Rally of Arunachal last held in 2018 as INRC leg, Gill and Musa Sherif, the senior most navigator in the country, were leading by a mile when the drive shaft gave away and Amittrajit Ghosh, capitalised on it with both hands. But not before Gill touched a speed of 172-kmph.

    The other champion drivers of last year seeded A to watch out for are talented Dean Mascarenhas and navigator Shrupta Padival, Kerala’s Speed king Dr. Bikku Babu with co-driver Bonnie Thomas, both in INRC2 along with defending overall champion driver Shivram, whose champion co-driver Dilip Sharan will be missing in action. Goa’s Vaibhav Marathe and Suhan MK, of Coorg, the reigning INRC3 champs will be in Honda City with last year’s junior champion Fabid Ahmer, from Palakkad driving with a new co-driver Eldo Chacko from Ernakulam, is expected to provide stiff fight from behind the wheel of a VW Polo INRC3.

    Conducted by Motorsports Club of Arunachal headed by dynamic Lhakpa Tsering and his hardworking team, in association with Ramakrishna Race Performance (RRPM of Kolkata) and promoted by Champions Yacht Club under the able leadership of Vamsi Merla, under the aegis of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (fmsci), the INRC for two-wheelers returns to Itanagar after a hiatus of a year missing the calendar and the Tarmac terrain of 2018 event is still preferred by all the drivers this year too. The sport touched a new height with 43 confirmed entries reaching the North East assisted by supported transportation by road for the cars and by helicopter ride for some lucky drivers and navigators. “This is the first time that sports persons in the country are being taken to the venue by a copter in any sports discipline for a domestic National event, thanks to COVID19 and the concern of the promoter,” said a rally fan of 25-years from Bengaluru.

    Sponsors of Team Vasundhara arrive along with other drivers and co-drivers in Itanagar which saved them an 8-hour drive. On the right: A couple of drivers interact with the captain of the Helicopter in Itanagar on 14 December 20, Photos by David Bodapati

    The 178.22km Special Stage (SS) rally on closed tarmac 4-way highways runs on a short liaison distance of 70.22km under regular road-traffic rules and along with Special Stage distance of 108km at high rally speeds. Gill touched speeds of 190km in 2018. There are two Physical Stages named Chimpu and Hollongi, both 13.8km, run twice each in forward direction and reverse direction form 8 SS for Round 1 and 8SS for round two. `The terrain is very fast and we are expecting fast times and all the arrangements for regular motorsport safety, scrutiny and the current government supervised COVID bio-bubble is being followe,’’ assured Coc Girijashankar Joshi.

    The fmsci National Championship will run for 19 classes with titles for Drivers, Co-drivers and teams in  INRC, INRC2, INRC3, INRC4, INRC NR4 and Indian National Junior Champion driver. The fmsci Gypsy Rally championship will be a support class.

    “Motorsports needs makes us give utmost priority to safety and now COVID19 Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) taught us to be more stringent on important issues like health and all the drivers, support staff are being taken RTPCR tests and a full safe environment being created with utmost care. The terrain is fast and we have 43 top entries from all over the country. The Arunachal Pradesh government and Tourism department all other supporting us and I thank them,” said Lhakpa Tsering, Director of the Meet and the man behind the big event coming to NE one again.

    Team Nutalapati owner Mr Nutalapati Mallikarjuna (left), well-known builder in the Andhra Pradesh capital region of Amaravati and former chairman of Police Housing Board and the name behind the brand Sakthi Herbal Nutpowder Mr Nagalumera (right) of Shetty Industries, agree to pose in front of the copter on Monday. Along with Team Vasundhara, the news sponsors of two women teams, have brightened the rally scene in the absence of regular tyre giants and manufacturers who disappeared from the scene suddenly due to COVID19 effect. Watchout for this space on how promoter, new sponsors and new teams, specially with a focus on Women in motorsport.

  • Suhail Ahmed hogs limelight; DNF for Rajendra again: 2w K1000

    Suhail Ahmed hogs limelight; DNF for Rajendra again: 2w K1000

    By David Bodapati

    Bengaluru, 6 Dec 2020: Privateer with no sponsor, Suhail Ahmed, astride a KTM 450EXC, stunned the top guns with another good performance to take the overall lead in the championship while defending champion Rajendra RE logged another DNF in the second round of the MRF Mogrip fmsci Indian National Rally Championship for bikes where TVS Racing continued its domination in the other Group B classes in the K-1000 rally here on Sunday.

    Organised by Karnataka Motor Sports Club (KMSC), one of the oldest active members of Federation of Motors Sports Clubs of India (fmsci), its flagship K1000 rally is promoted by God Speed Racing of Pune, the COVID19 guidelines were followed and medical partner MEDISPRO sanitised the bikes and provided safety guidance including masks and sanitisers.

    “Overall experience was great and I enjoyed this round especially with my riding and the bike on these fast and tricky stages. The Tribal Special Stage was a bit technical with a jump after a huge elevation dip and bend and some tight corners while the first physical stage, Kaadu suited me as it was fast with flowing corners. I am buoyed now and looking forward to the Coimbatore round to increase my lead,” said the Bengaluru rider, astride a KTM 450 EXC.

    Rajendra, who lost the opening round in Puttur, suffered an engine failure in SS3 after taking the initial lead in the first two Special Stages and his teammate Nataraj, who could only finish overall 8th won the Group A Superbike Pro-Expert class, which has only two bikes. “It was a bad day again. My engine gave up after I was 2km into SS 3 but I am looking forward to bouncing back as we still have 100 points to fight for in four rounds,” said the defending champion who is on a hat-trick of titles if he claims the championship this year too. The Shimoga rider who spearheads the TVS Racing campaign on an Apache RTR 200 clocked the second-fastest stage time for both Tribal SS (8: 58.722) and Kaadu SS (7:47.160). Through the six stages in the day no one beat his times except Suhail who clocked 8:55.906 in SS1 and went on to perform better and better. He rode the same stage in 8:46.078 (SS3) and 8:42.714 (SS5) as they were run alternately. For the Kaadu Stage, he clocked 7min 46.341sec in the first run (SS2) and dipped it to 7:41.902 in SS4, the second run and eased off in the final SS6 timing 7:51.851 for a comfortable victory as he becomes K1000 Overall Champion, a credit many riders crave for and joins the Hall of Fame with the likes of multiple-champion and legends like Jagat Nanjappa and CK Chinnappa. Suhail Ahmed is the defending champion in Class 6 for SuperSport 55cc.

    Arun T, who won the Class 3, in action, on Sunday – K1000 2w INRC

    Suhail, the fastest rider of the day apart from Overall honours, also bagged his class Group A Superbike Expert class. TVS Racing redeemed their pride bagging three of the eight classes in Group B with Baja World Cupper Aishwarya Pissay and Syed Asif Ali continuing their domination in the Ladies class and Scooter class respectively. Sachin D, another professional rider with TVS Racing, delivered another well-deserved win in SuperSport 260cc class.

    Varun Kumar A who won Class 2 in K1000, the Round 2 of INRC for 2w at Tribal Adventure Cafef on Sunday. Photo by David Bodapati

    But it was Star of Karnataka rider Stephen Roy, the unsung hero on Sunday, as he beat many a stalwart taking 10th overall. Varun Kumar, Arun T, Sajeesh Reghunathan and Naresh VS were the winners in other Group B classes.

    Naresh VS, known as Bruce Lee, among the fraternity, astride the solid-looking Himalayan also clocked cautious times in the first two stages on the first run and then switched up gears to deliver knock-out speeds before relaxing for a facile win with almost a two-minute lead, which may translate into more than 2km lead. “I am on a high and the feeling is definitely great for two reasons: I am participating after a gap of a year in any event, rally or race. Secondly, in my 10-year riding career, I am riding the Bullet Himalayan for the first time. And finishing first in both the rounds makes me very happy and leading the INRC championship in this class with an overall 11th position is a bonus. I am working hard to continue the same pace and look forward to clocking better times in the rounds to come,” quipped Naresh, the Lee, who is on a Himalyan high, after two wins.

    Of the 70 entries received, 68 bikes started the rally and 3 were disqualified while 13 failed to finish the 48.48 km Special Stage distance which included two Stages that were run thrice each.

    Naresh VS aka Bruce Lee winning Class 6 in the INRC Round 2, K1000 on Sunday. A David photo

    Provisional Final Results (Round 2 – 6 Special Stages)

    (Privateer if team is not mentioned; Karnataka if State not mentioned)

    Overall: 1. Suhail Ahmed (Bengaluru) (Privateer) (KTM 450EXC) (49 minutes, 44.598 seconds); 2. Sachin D (Bengaluru) (TVS Racing) (Apache RTR 200 4v(49:51.536); 3. Samuel Shajan Jacob (Mangalore) (TVS Racing) (Apache RTR 200 4v) (51:12.785).

    Group A:

    Class 1: Superbike Pro-Expert: 1. Nataraj R (Kanakapura, Bengaluru) (TVS Racing) (Apache RTR200) (52:50.844); 2. Rajendra RE (Shimoga)(TVS Racing) (Apache RTR200) (DNF in SS3);

    Class 1A: Superbike Expert: 1.  Suhail Ahmed (Bengaluru) (Privateer) (KTM 450EXC) (49:44.598); 2. Sharath Mohan (Malappuram, Kerala) (Suzuki RMX 450Z) (52:01.686); 3. Asad Khan (Chikkamagalur) (Suzuki RMX 450Z) (52:21.017).

    Group B:

    Class 2: Super Sport upto 130cc: 1. Varun Kumar A (Bengaluru) (Yamaha YBX) (58:50.342); 2. Nithesh G Poojary (Mangalore) (Honda CBF Stunner) (1:00:21.715); 3. Rakesh Kumar V (Bengaluru) (Yamaha YBX)  (01:01:06.161).

    Class 3: Super Sport 165cc: 1. Arun T (Hassan) (Hero Impulse) (54:48.775); 2. Francis PV (Chikkamagaluru) (Hero Impulse) (55:29.837); 3. Ahmed Abrar (Mysuru) (Hero) (56:01.513).

    Class 4: Super Sport 260cc: 1.Sachin D (Bengaluru) (TVS Racing) (Apache RTR 200 4v) (49:51.536); 2. Samuel Shajan Jacob (Mangaluru) (TVS Racing) (Apache RTR 200 4v) (51:12.785); 3. Yuva Kumar (Bengaluru) (Hero MotoSports) (Hero Xpulse) (52:22.727)

    Class 5: Super Sport 400cc: 1. Sajeesh Reghunathan (Bengaluru) (KTM Duke) (56:52.044); 2. Harish S (Bengaluru) (KTM Duke 390) (58:08.696); 3. Karthikeyan D (Coimbatore, TN) (KTM Duke 390) (1:02:16.020).

    Class 6: Super Sport 550cc: 1. Naresh VS (Bengaluru) (Himalayan) (54:30.919); 2. Sharath Kumar (Bengaluru) (Bullet) (56:29.533); 3. Arun Joy M (Ernakulam, Kerala) (Himalayan) (57:26.009).

    Class 7: S0 to S3 Scooter 210cc: 1. Syed Asif Ali (Bhopal, MP) (TVS Racing) (NTorq125) (57:43.255); 2. Karthik N (Bengaluru) (Privateer) (Bike: TVS) (57:57.044); 3. Shamin Islam Khan (Nashik, Maharashtra) (TVS Racing) (NTorq125) (58:21.325).

    Class 8: Ladies Class: 1. Aishwarya Pissay M (Bengaluru) (TVS Racing) (Apache RTR 200 4v) (59:20.729); 2. Tanika Shanbag (Satara, Maharashtra) (Hero Impulse) (1:00:12.227); 3. A Ryhana Bee (Chennai) (Hero Impulse) (1:09:23.693).

    Star of Kanataka: 1. Stephen Roy (??) (Hero Xpulse 200) (54:21.090); 2. Dhanush P (Kodagu, Karnataka) (Hero Xpulse) (59:23.719); 3. Syed Thowhid (??) (Hero Xpulse) (1:03:53.947).

    (Editor’s note: Revised results and report edited on 8Dec2020. Riders who want to the contact INDIAinF1 can reach us through WhatsApp on 98455 69496 for editing factual errors. Thanks)

  • K-1000 for bikes, the 2nd round of INRC, flagged off after Recce

    K-1000 for bikes, the 2nd round of INRC, flagged off after Recce

    By David Bodapati

    Bengaluru, 5 Dec 2020: Defending champion Rajendra RE of TVS Racing will be looking to bounce back at the popular K-1000 rally, the second round of the God Speed Racing MRF fmsci Indian National Rally Championship for bikes which was flagged off here at the Tribal Adventure Cafe on Saturday.

    Organised by Karnataka Motor Sports Club (KMSC), one of the oldest active founder members of the Federation of Motors Sports Clubs of India (fmsci), has been running the K1000 for over four decades and with 2W rally being revived in recent years, KMSC, is once again in the thick of action with God Speed Racing as promoters of the 2w Rally Nationals.

    Raghavendra, Senior District Manager of MRF, flagged off the rally. “KMSC has taken all the precautions and the rally is being organised with all safety precautions under strict guidelines as prescribed by the Sports Ministry and the Federation,” said Sanjeev Shah, General Secretary of KMSC.

    Rajendra, who lost the premium class race in Group A to teammate Samuel Shajan Jacob at Puttur in the first round recently, is raring to go. The talented multi-national champion suffered a rare setback and will be astride a Apache RTR 200cc but his teammate Jacob will be eager to do an encore to increase his points tally. TVS Racing once again looks strong in other classes too, and has a World Cup champion in Aishwarya Pissay, who will be defending her title in the Ladies class and has already bagged the first round with a huge lead. Ryhana Bee the runner up and who recently won the Sprint Nationals round will be putting up a fight with three other girls in the fray.

    With reigning champion Syed Asif Ali and Pinkesh Thakkar suffering mechanical issues, another TVS Racing rider Shamim Khan won the first round in the Scooter Class which is usually dominated by TVS Racing as they sweep the podium in every round. One has to watch if the likes of Karthik, who took a podium in Round 1, can get up to speed here.

    Asad Khan, the winner in  Class 1A in Puttur will also look to consolidate his position. KMSC received 70 entries. The two physical stages, Tribal (8.01km) and Kaadu (8.15km), will be run thrice, to make it 48.48km of Special Stage distance. Along with transport (liaison) distance of a bit less than 120km, the total distance of the rally is 168.33km. Both the stages and the parc ferme, are at the Tribal Adventure Cafe, near Devanahalli.

  • Team Nutulapati, an Andhra company, enters INRC as a sponsor with 3 cars

    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.

  • Organisers must waive-off entry fee for women, to host INRC round: Vamsi Merla

    Organisers must waive-off entry fee for women, to host INRC round: Vamsi Merla

    Bengaluru, 2 Sept 2020: Due to the global race against Corona Virus, which affected both national and international motorsports for over five months, the Indian National Rally Championship, too, was postponed after the lockdown was announced in India.

    With the country taking measures to bring back normalcy in the sporting arena along with activities in other walks of life, the Indian government announced Unlock 4.0 and the motorsports fraternity is eagerly waiting for the action to begin. International motorsports, including Formula 1 and MotoGP, have started with tight measures to beat Corona and India too, is expected to resume the events amidst the necessary precautions due to the pandemic.

    Vamsi Merla of Champions Yacht Group, the INRC Promoters

    And the first to respond is the Champions Yacht Club, the promoters of Indian National Rally Championship, the flagship event of Indian Motorsports. The calendar for 2020, was expected to begin with the South India Rally in Chennai but it was the first event to get boxed by the lockdown. The Promoters are eager to announce a seven-round calendar once the go-ahead is given by the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI). As announced earlier, the Champions Yacht Club is keen to promote ‘Women in Motorsports  (WIM)’ and is offering to waive-off the entry fee for all women participants for the Rally rounds apart from providing a slew of incentives for the drivers and teams to promote rallying. “We have written to the Federation to waive the entry fee for female drivers but it looks like the decision has to be taken by the organising club. So Champions Yacht Club has decided to give hosting rights of a rally round only to those clubs who are willing to waive-off the fee,” said Vamsi Merla, the promoter. “So even a male driver with a female navigator will also get a waiver of the entry fee as the team has a female participant,” he clarified.

    He also promised that the accommodation for all the participants would be provided free by the Promoters and arrangements will be made taking strict precautions to beat the Virus. “We have put in place measures to tackle the current situation. Social distancing norms and masks are made compulsory along with checking of temperature with thermal scanners, and sanitisers would be provided at all necessary entry points and other places. All large gatherings will be prohibited,” added Merla.

    “Rally championship holds a special place in Indian motorsports and over the years, in its 31-year history, INRC has thrown up many champions and the Promoters are keen to encourage newcomers and young talent by providing the necessary facilities to continue the tradition of making champioins,” he added.

    When queried how seven rounds could be possible with only four months available, he said that back-to-back rounds were being planned and permission is being sought to extend the calendar for two months into Feb 2021. “Also five clubs have already agreed to waive the fee and promote women participation. So the confirmed rounds are South India Rally in Chennai, K1000 in Bengaluru, Hampi, also in Karnataka, Arunachal Pradesh and Coimbatore,” Vamsi Merla revealed. The calendar will be announced soon.

  • We want to send talented drivers for ERC, says Vamsi Merla

    We want to send talented drivers for ERC, says Vamsi Merla

    Bangalore, 12 June 2020: The Champions Group has started providing free rally training sessions in Mysore for drivers who are newcomers, and novice lady drivers to promote `Women in Motorsports’, according to Vamsi Merla of Champions Yacht Club (CYC), the Promoters of the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) for 2020.

    The training sessions for the newcomers are being undertaken by ace rally driver and Autocross champion Den Thimmaiah and all the infrastructure including the rally-prepared cars are being provided by the Promoters. “Soon we will rope in other senior drivers to take the training sessions. Last year, the drivers trained by Gaurav Gill have done admirably during the season and we want to continue to nurture these young and talented drivers,” he added.

    “We will be training the drivers in basics of rallying but important tips like how to nurture the car are being given prominence,” said Den Thimmaiah, former INRC round winner in his class.

    The Promoters, who are into their second year, are getting ready for the Rally season which was affected by the COVID 19 pandemic. “All the preparations are going on and we are ready from our side and even the organisers of the individual rounds are ready and we are expecting the season to begin in September. If all goes well, the first round will begin with the South India Rally in Chennai,” said Vamsi, the Director of the Champions Yacht Club. However, he cautioned, “I am very eager to start immediately. But it is better not to start if we are putting the drivers at risk. For me, the drivers are very important.”

    Vamsi Merla of Champions Yacht Group, the INRC Promoters

    The promoters have made sincere efforts to not only sponsor many drivers from Team Champions’ side but have also supported many other drivers by getting sponsorships, at least in part, from different corporate houses, and one prominent name is JK Tyres. They have also announced free entry and support in the form of tyres and free transportation of the cars for all woman rally drivers.

    In one of his rare interviews to `Indian Motoring’ on Instagram recently, Vamsi Merla revealed how he took to the sport. “I always loved speed and occasionally used to enjoy and do speed drives on the Nice road near Bangalore. Once, a gentleman stopped me and said: `If you have talent go and race on race tracks but don’t play with your life.’ That has changed my life and after that I took part in rallies where I noticed the scenario in INRC and realised that talented and skilled drivers are not able to continue rallying for want of sponsors. That is when I started Team Champions.”

    Talking about sponsors, he said that big Corporates like Accenture support F1 but not the local motorsports or the local drivers. “So I thought let’s start something and then I thought everybody will join me. It is actually, not me. Everybody should join to support Indian Motorsports,” he said. Talking about the Director of Champions Group, he said: “Mr Shubakara Rao went to a large extent. But how far can he stretch his limit. I too want to support everyone. My mind tells me support all these drivers but my resources tell me, you can only do this much,” he lamented.

    Asked about the tyre giants, Vamsi praised both MRF and JK Tyres, saying that both of them have supported Motorsports from the very beginning. “They are the lifeline of the sport. But what I have seen in the commitment and dedication. I have never in my life seen such committed people in their companies. It is because of such dedicated employees, the companies are doing well. Whether it is Sanjay Sharma or Hari Singh of JK Tyres, or Madhusudhan or Murali of MRF. These are the names that come to my mind immediately but it is such sincere stalwarts who put their companies above their own families that keep the ball rolling. I am pleasantly surprised to see such dedication,” he said.

    Vamsi promoted a concept of rallying, similar to that of a league where Indian States can support rally teams. “I am approaching different State Governments. Like, if each State promotes two drivers and two cars, it is not much of a burden. AP Tourism, Karnataka Tourism and others should chip in. Goa Tourism and North East, have already supported some rallies in the past. I will get the support from the Telugu States and I need friends in other States to talk to the governments,” he put forth an idea.

    In reply to a query, he said that the promoters are supporting drivers from all zones in the country and he named some youngsters who are doing well like Arjun Rao, Fabid Arakkal, Aditya Thakur and Mohamad Kaif from Bhopal. “Off the cuff, these names come to my mind and I have missed some names. But these are talented ones and if nurtured properly, they can go a long way,” he felt.

    Finally, talking about talented drivers he said that they should be promoted abroad. “At the end of the day, it is not just rallying in India. I want to support and get sponsors too, so that our talented drivers can go abroad and take part in bigger events. Once they get laurels for the country, I will be proud. I wanted to start with the European Rally Championship but due to COVID situation, we had put if off for now,” he concluded.

  • Champions Group keen to begin INRC season in June

    Champions Group keen to begin INRC season in June

    Bengaluru, 24 April 2020: The sporting activities all over the world have come to a standstill and it is no different in India. No wonder, the motorsports in India, too, had to bow its head to the epidemic that changed the way people lead their life outdoors. However, with the lifting of the lockdown looming large and the government expected to relax certain activities from May 4, the Champions Yacht Club, the Promoters of the Indian National Rally Championship are looking at June-July to begin the season.

    “If all goes well, we are expecting to start the season with the South India Rally towards June-end and the Rally of Coimbatore would be the second rally followed by the Rally of Arunachal as the third round, weather-permitting,” said Vamci Merla of Champions Yacht Club. “We will abide by all the regulations of the government and make sure that all safety and health aspects are taken care of both for the participants, marshals and other officials. We are planning to put up all the competitors in one hotel or nearby areas and ear-mark areas demarcating the gatherings and briefings for medical check-ups. The Madras Motor Sports Club had made all the arrangements and is ready to conduct the event and once the restrictions are relaxed, we will start the season. The first round also doubles up as an Asia Pacific Rally Championship leg,” added Merla.

    Vamci Merla, Promoter

    Over the years, the Indian National Rally Championship has earned a reputation as the flagship event and has commanded the crowd patronage as the top event of the motorsports calendar of the Federation. However, after a lull in the activities, 2019 saw the entry of Champions Yacht Club of Champions Group as the Promoters and the new team has pumped in a lot of enthusiasm and cheer into the event as it arranged sponsorship for different drivers and some part sponsorship for tyres and other necessities. The curtain-raiser before the season was a big hit and the group also took an initiative and arranged training for select drivers, who were not in a position to afford it, under the tutelage of none other than Gaurav Gill, the multiple Asia Pacific Rally and Indian National Rally champion. The king of speed did his school especially for the group of drivers selected by Champions Group in Coimbatore with Chettinad Sporting providing the technical back-up for the cars. The Champions Group also had their team, which gave a chance to many talented drivers. Thus, last year, almost all the rounds saw a record participation of over 50 cars in all the rounds.

    File photo of a Gypsy driven by Sanjay Aggarwal in 2018 K1000. An INDIAinF1 image

    The media in Jodhpur last year, were greeted by a Chennai rally enthusiast Gopi, who was providing voluntary services, taking reporters around. It was a pleasant surprise to see such passionate fans get a chance to take part in the rally this year. “I am very much interested in rallying but never had the resources to pursue my passion. This year, the Champions Yacht Club is sponsoring me and I am excited to take part in my first rally at Chennai. This is a golden chance for me as they are supporting me to enter all the rounds this season,” said the 31-year old Gopinath Ganapathi, said. A few such lucky competitors will get a chance to fulfil their dreams this year, thanks to the sponsorship support by the Promoter.

    Vamci Merla thanked the MRF Tyres for providing the sponsorship and extending it this year too. He also expressed his thanks to, JK Tyre, who heeded to their request and sponsored some teams and drivers last year and will continue to do so this year also. He added that the season would have five rounds and after the Bengaluru K1000, the calendar will end with a round in either Chikkamagaluru or Kerala.

    Most of the drivers and co-drivers have been taking to social media, especially Instagram to go live and have expressed eagerness to resume rallying. “It is too long and I am looking forward to the first rally,” Gaurav Gill had said.

  • INRC: Winners’ Hall of Fame

    INRC: Winners’ Hall of Fame

    A list of all the winners of all the rounds starting for 1988 is compiled and given below. (Winners of a few years in the initial years are yet to be collected.)

    By David Bodapati

    Bengaluru: Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) has a special charm and attraction in India. It is the Crown Jewel of Indian motorsports and holds a respectable status among all the Nationals and vies for supremacy with National Racing Championship which, perhaps, has overtaken in popularity in the last few years due to the meticulous handling and organisational skills of the Madras Motor Sports Club. The overwhelming crowd patronage, the sheer passion and love shown by the drivers, officials, organisers and fans takes one into a different realm when one pours through the 32 editions held so far.

    The year 1996 is a special year in my life. It is the first year, I saw a rally live and was enamoured by it. I was working with Indian Express then and was transferred to Bangalore Sports Desk in 1996. Since then I have followed all the rallies and have covered at least one rally a year.

    In 1995, I had followed the reports from the rallies, and it was the largest calendar with 9 rounds and 1996 too had a menu of nine rounds, the best two years with the highest number of rounds in the 32 years of INRC history (as of 23Dec200). That year, the first three rounds were held in Nashik, Coimbatore and Madras and there were three different winners which opened up the race for the championship. We were eagerly waiting for the 22nd K1000. Come August and it is rally time here. And there was a new winner once again. Here, I met some of the legends with whom, over the years I developed great friendships. CK Chinnappa, George Francis, Shekar Bojanna, and the like. They used to reel out stories and I was mesmerised. And not to forget the two, Sujith Kumar and Madhu, who introduced me to live F1 screenings at Guzzlers Inn on Church Street, where the atmosphere used to be electric with two camps cheering their F1 heroes while guzzling draught beer. The McLaren fans on one side and the Tifosi on the other.

    Coming back to INRC, I have tried to put together all the winners of all the rounds since INRC began in the present format as a National Championship in 1988. I have started with overall winners and co-drivers. Soon I hope to dig in and come up with winners of different classes. There are a lot of gaps. I request all the respected senior drivers and veteran fans to chip in and help me pool in the missing information. I will be very thankful for any additions and corrections. You can click the link for a particular round, if the link is available, and it will take you to the rally report of that year’s round.

    A 2009 INRC image by Kishen Nanjappa. The IMG and PSP arrival as promoters has changed the rally scene in India in 2009.

    Here we go! Have a nostalgic trip!!

    Statistics Tables

    K 1000 Winners’ List

    2025 INRC – Promoter: Bluedband Sports

    Round 1: April 24 to 27: Chennai: South India Rally, Madras Motors Sports Club

    2024 INRC – Promoter: Bluedband Sports

    2023 INRC – Promoter: Bluedband Sports

    2022 INRC – Promoter: Bluedband Sports

    INRC 2021 Calendar: (announced by CYC on 22 March 2021)

    No rally was held in 2021. The revised calendar after many Covid postponements was supposed to start with Vizag opener from Dec 17 to 19. But it was cancelled in the last minute due to the cancellaltion of the Police permission and despite the best efforts of the Promoter Vamsi Merla, the rally could not be conducted even on the following Tuesday and Wednesday and all the 54 competitors had to go back.

    Later, FMSCI announced a 3-round 2021 calender to be conducted in 2022.

    2021 INRC round Held in 2022

    Aditya-Virender INRC 2021 champs

    Round 1: Coimbatore: Rally of Coimbatore, Coimbatore Auto Sports Club

    Aditya Thakur & Virender Kashyap clinch Rally of Coimbatore in style: INRC Ro.1

    Round 2: Chennai: Madras Motor Sports Club, South India Rally

    Karna Kadur wins APRC round on international debut; Nikhil Pai drives Polo magic again

    Round 3: Final round: Bengaluru: Karnataka Motor Sports Club, K-1000

    Gaurav Gill wins 7th K1000 title; 300th rally cap for Musa Sherif

    2021 INRC – Promoter: Champions Yacht Club

    Round 1 – Chennai: Madras Motor Sports Club – April 23-25; Postponed

    Round 2 – Bengaluru:  45th K1000, Karnataka Motor Sports Club -May 28-30; Postponed due to Covid.

    Round 3 – Coimbatore: Coimbatore Auto Sports Club – July 17-18; Not held.

    Round 4 – *Delhi, BND Motor Sports , August 27-28; Not held.

    Round 5 -Hampi: Motorsports Academy of Vijayanagar – Oct 1-3; Not held.

    Round 6 – *Nagaland, NAMSA, – November 12-14; Not held.

    *Subject to FMSCI inspection and confirmation of organizer

    2020 INRC – Promoter: Champions Yacht Club; Champion: Gill-Musa

    1. Itanagar, Tarmac NH415; 16-17 Dec 2020; Rally of Arunachal Pradesh; (Gaurav Gill-Musa Sherif, Mahindra XUV500, Team Mahindra Adventure, INRC, JK Tyres)
    2. Itanagar, Tarmac NH415; 19-20 Dec 2020; Rally of Arunachal Pradesh; (Gaurav Gill-Musa Sherif, Mahindra XUV500, Team Mahindra Adventure, INRC, JK Tyres)
    3. Coimbatore, Gravel; 29-31 Jan 2021; Rally of Coimbatore; (Gaurav Gill-Musa Sherif, Mahindra XUV500, Team Mahindra Adventure, INRC, JK Tyres)
    4. Bengaluru, Gravel; 12-14 Feb 2021; 45th K-1000 Rally; (Cancelled on 5 Feb 2021 by FMSCI)

    *Hampi* (Karnataka); Gravel, 5-7 Feb 2021; Rally de Hampi 4w contender for fmsci INRC 2021; Organised by Motorsports Academy of Vijayanagar

    **South India Rally at Chennai, Popular Rally in Kerala and Coffee Day Rally in Chikmagalur were cancelled initially for the year 2020 due to Corona Pandemic. Later in the last minute, K1000 was cancelled and Hampi did not get FMSCI clearance and ran as contender.

    Note – All rounds of INRC 2020 were put off due to COVID-19 and only began in Decd 202. The Original calendar was 1. Chennai, Mar 20-22; South India Rally (APRC); 2. Arunachal, April 24-26: Rally of Arunachal; 3. Kerala, May 29 to 31: Popular Rally; 4. Coimbatore, July 24-26; Rally of Coimbatore; 5. Bengaluru, Oct 9-11; 45th K1000 Rally; 6. Hampi (Karnataka), Nov 6-8; Hampi Rally; 7. Chikmagalur, Dec 5-7; Rally of Chikmagalur;

    2019 INRC (Champions: Brothers Chetan Shivram, Dilip Sharan)

    Promoter: Champion Yacht Club

    1. Chennai, Gravel, June 28-30; 41st South India Rally (Dean Mascarenhas-Shruptha Padival, VW Polo, Team Champions, INRC2-Overall 1st) 26/51 cars finished.

    2. Coimbatore, Gravel, Aug 9-11; Rally of Coimbatore (Chetan Shivaram-Dilip Sharan, VW Polo, Team Akshara, INRC3-Overall first) 40/57 finished.

    3. Jodhpur, Sept 20 to 22; Maxperience Rally 2019 (Cancelled after Stage 1 due to Gill accident*)

    4. Bengaluru, Gravel, Nov 22-24; 44th K1000 Rally (Chetan Shivaram- Dilip Sharan, VW Polo, Team Akshara, INRC3-Overall first) Only 23/50 finished.

    5. Kottayam, Asphalt, Dec 20-22;  Popular Rally, (Gaurav Gill-Musa Sherif, Mahindra XUV500, Team Mahindra Adventure, INRC)

    *Note: 3 died in the accident and the rally was cancelled after the first stage.

    2018 INRC (Champions: Gaurav Singh Gill, Musa Sherif)

    Promoter: RRPM

    1. Chennai, Gravel, April 27-29; MRF 40th South India Rally (Gaurav Gill-Musa Sherif, Mahindra XUV 500, INRC1) 19/30 cars finished.

    2. Coimbatore, Gravel, Aug 3-5; MRF Rally of Coimbatore (Gaurav Gill-Musa Sherif, Mahindra XUV 500, Team Mahindra Adventure, INRC1) 30/42 cars finished.

    3. Itanagar, Asphalt, Nov 2-4; Rally of Arunachal (Amittrajit Ghosh-Ashwin Naik, Mahindra XUV 500, Team Mahindra Adventure, INRC1) 13/17 finished

    4. Chikmagalur, Gravel, Nov 29-Dec 2; Coffee Day Rally (Karna Kadur-Nikhil Pai, VW Polo, Arka Motorsports, INRC2 – Overall first) 38/45 cars finished.

    5. Kochin, Asphalt, Dec 14-16; Popular Rally (Gaurav Gill-Musa Sherif, Mahindra XUV 500, INRC1) 30/36 cars finished.

    Note: K1000 missing in the calendar for the first time in INRC due to the Promoter RRPM’s decision.

    2017 INRC (Champions: Gaurav Singh Gill, Musa Sherif)

    Promoter: RRPM

    1. Coimbatore, Gravel, July 28-30; MRF Rally of Coimbatore (Gaurav Gill-Musa Sherif, Mahindra XUV 500, Team Mahindra Adventure, INRC). 22 of 32 finished.

    2. Chennai, Gravel, Aug 25-27, 40th MRF SIR – CANCELLED

    2. Jaipur, Gravel, Sept 22-24; Rally of Rajasthan (Gaurav Gill-Musa Sherif, Mahindra XUV 500, INRC) 11 of 16 finished. Note: One stage of 13.8km cancelled.

    3. Chikmagalur, Gravel, Nov 23-26; Coffee Day India Rally (Karna Kadur-Nikhil Pai, VW Polo, Arka Motorsports, INRC2 – Overall first) 26 of 38 cars finished.

    4. Arunachal Pradesh, Gravel, Dec 21-23; Rally of Arunachal (Gaurav Gill-Musa Sherif, Mahindra XUV 500, INRC) One stage of 18km cancelled. 14/17cars finished.

    5. Bengaluru, Gravel, Jan 19-21, 2018; 43rd K1000 Rally (Gaurav Gill-Musa Sherif, Mahindra XUV 500, INRC)* 17/27 finished.

    *Left over round of 2017 calendar held in 2018

    2016 INRC (Champions: Karna Kadur, Nikhil Pai)

    Promoter: RRPM

    1. Coimbatore, Gravel, July 23-24; MRF Rally of Coimbatore, (PG Abhilash- Srikanth Gowda, Lancer Evo 8, R3A PGA Motorsport, IRC)* 32 of 39 cars finished.

    *Note; On Aug 18 protest was upheld and Abhilash-Gowda were declared winners.

    2. Nashik, Gravel, Aug 27-28; MRF Rally of Maharashtra (Gaurav Gill-Musa Sherif, Mahindra XUV 500, Team Mahindra Adventure, IRC) 25 of 32 cars finished.

    (Abhilash-Srikanth win IRC, Lancer Evo 8, R3A PGA Motorsport – Overall 9th)

    3. Gurgaon, Gravel, Sept 17-18; MRF Rally de North (Arjun Rao Aroor- Satish Rajagopal, VW Polo R2) (Dr Dhirendra-Honey win IRC, Overall 10th) 12/25 finished. Cancelled stage 16.7km.

    4. Chikmagalur, Gravel, Dec 3-5, Coffee Day India Rally (Gaurav Gill- McNeal Glenn, Skoda Fabia R5, Team MRF Tyres; APRC) (Karna Kadur-Nikhil Pai, VW Polo, Team Yokohoma, INRC 2000) 31 of 49 cars finished.

    5. Hosadurga, near Bengaluru, Gravel, Dec 17-18; MRF 42nd K1000 Rally (Amittrajit Ghosh-Ashwin Naik, Mahindra XUV 500, Team Mahindra Adventure, INRC); (Rahul Kantharaj-Vivek Bhatt, Cedia, Team Yokohama, 2000 – Overall 3rd) 20 of 31 cars finished.

    Note: Karna Kadur -Nikhil Pai, finish 5th in K1000; enough to win championship.

    2015 INRC (Champions: Lohith V Urs, Srikanth GM)

    1. Goa, May 29 to 31; – CANCELLED

    1.Nashik, Asphalt, June 12-14, Mahindra Adventure Rally of Maharashtra (Gaurav Gill-Musa, Mahindra XUV 500, Team Mahindra Adventure, IRC) 21 of 26 finished.

    2. Coimbatore, Gravel, July 30-Aug 1, Rally of Coimbatore, (Lohitt V Urs-Srikanth Gowda, Lancer Evo VIII, IRC) 24 of 35 cars finished.

    Rally of Kerala, CANCELLED, Oct 16 to 18 (Labour strike at plantations)

    3. Bengaluru, Gravel, Nov 20-22; Horizon 41st K1000 Rally (Pallath Ganesh Abhilash-Anoop Kumar, Lancer Evo 8, IRC) 23 of 36 cars finished.

    4. Chikmagalur, Gravel, Dec 11-13, Coffee Day Rally (Lohitt Urs- Srikanth Gowda, Evo 8, RC2 IRC). 17.9km stage cancelled. 28 of 41 cars finished.

    2014 INRC (Champions: Gaurav Singh Gill, Musa Sherif)

    1. Nashik, Tarmac, June 13-15; WISA Rally of Maharashtra (Gaurav Gill- Musa Sherif, Mahindra XUV 500, Mahindra Adventure team, IRC) 19 of 20 cars finished.

    2. Coimbatore, Gravel, July 11-13; Rally of Coimbatore (Gaurav Gill- Musa Sherif, Mahindra XUV 500, Mahindra Adventure team, IRC). 21 of 35 cars finished.

    3. Chennai, Gravel, July 25-27; AVT Premiuim 39th SIR (Samir Thaper- Gurinder Mann, Lancer Evo X, JCT Rallying, IRC). 18 of 29 cars finished.

    4. Kolkata, Durgapur, Gravel, Oct 31-Nov 2; 3 Rally de Bengal (Gaurav Gill- Musa Sherif, Mahindra XUV 500, Mahindra Adventure team, IRC). 11 of 18 cars finished.

    5. Bengaluru, Gravel, Nov 21-23; Kar 1000 Rally (Gaurav Gill- Musa Sherif, Mahindra XUV 500, Mahindra Adventure team, IRC). 24 of 41 cars finished. Stages Near Doddaguni, Tumkur.

    6. Chikmagalur, Gravel, Dec 13-14; Coffee Day Rally (Vikram Mathias- Swaroop Mohan, Lancer Evo IX, pvt, IRC). 19 of 34 cars finished.

    2013 INRC (Champions: Amittrajit Ghosh, Ashwin Naik)

    1. Chennai, Gravel, March 22-24; 38th AVT Premium South India Rally (Amittrajit Ghosh-Ashwin Naik, Mitsubishi Cedia, Group N). 19 of 35 cars finished.

    2. Nashik, Asphalt, June 7-9; Mahindra Adventure Rally of Maharashtra (Gaurav Gill-Musa Sherif, Mahindra XUV500, Mahindra Adventure, SUV). 16/28 finished. Amittrajit Ghosh-Ashwin Naik, Cedia, Group N, Overall Winners

    3. Coimbatore, Gravel, July 19-21; Rally of Coimbatore Rally (Gaurav Gill-Musa Sherif, Mahindra XUV500, Team Mahindra Adventure, SUV). 14 of 29 cars finished. Amittrajit Ghosh-Ashwin Naik, Cedia, Group N, Overall Winners.

    4. Bangalore, Gravel, Nov 9-10; IMG 39th K1000 Rally (Gaurav Gill-Musa Sherif, Mahindra XUV500, Mahindra Adventure, SUV). 23 of 36 cars finished.

    5. Chikmagalur, Gravel, Dec 19-21; Coffee Day Rally, (Arjun Rao Aroor-Satish Rajagopal, VW Polo, 1600-Overall first). 17/38 finished. 14.21km Stage cancelled.

    Note: Following rounds were announced in the Calendar but NOT HELD

    Bhuj, Northern Motorsports, April 12 to 14 (Gravel)

    Kolkota, RRPM, May 17 to 20 (gravel)

    Kochi, KASC, Sept 20 to 22 (TBA) tarmac

    2012 INRC (Champions: Amittrajit Ghosh, Ashwin Naik)

    Promoter: IMG-PSP;  (No Sponsor)

    1. Siddlaghatta, Bangalore, Gravel, Sept 21-23; 38th K1000 Bangalore Rally (Lohitt V Urs-Sujith Kumar, Mitsubishi Cedia, 2000, pvt). 22 of 39 cars finished.

    Coorg, Oct 19-21; Rally of Coorg. CANCELLED due to rains.

    2. Chikmagalur, Gravel, Nov 23-25; Coffee Day Rally (Amittrajit Ghosh-Ashwin Naik, Mitsubishi Cedia, 2000). 29 of 43 finished.

    Note: Karna Kadur-Somonnita Ghosh lost at the fag-end due to 40-sec late penalty at the last TC which virtually cost him the Championship.

    Ahmednagar/Nashik, Gravel, Dec 22-23; Rally of Maharashtra. CANCELLED for lack of gravel stage permissions from landowners.

    2011 INRC (Champions: Gaurav Singh Gill, Musa Sherif)

    Promoter: IMG-PSP; Sponsor Bharat Petroleum- Speed

    Calendar announced on 16 March 2011

    1. Nashik, Gravel, June 2-5; Rally of Maharashtra (Gaurav Gill- Musa Sherif, Mitsubishi Cedia, MRF Ltd, 2000N+) 18 of 27 cars finished.

    2. Chennai, Dirt with SSS on tarmac, June 23-26; 37th South India Rally (Amittrajit Ghosh-Ashwin Naik, Mitsubishi Cedia, MRF Tyres, 2000N+). 12 of 27 cars finished. SIR revived after 11 years.

    3. Coimbatore, Gravel, July 21-24; Rally of Coimbatore (Gaurav Gill- Musa Sherif, Mitsubishi Cedia, MRF Ltd, 2000N+). 26 of 39 cars finished.

    4. Bangalore, Gravel, Aug 19-21; 37th K1000 Rally of Bangalore (Gaurav Gill- Musa Sherif, Mitsubishi Cedia, MRF Ltd, 2000N+). 19 out of 41 cars finished.

    5. Chikmagalur, Gravel Nov 18-20; MSCC – Coffee Day Rally (Lohitt V Urs-PV Srinivasa Murthy, Mitsubishi Cedia, MRF Ltd., 2000N+). 29 of 39 cars finished.

    6. Bhubaneswar, Gravel, Dec 9-11; Rally of Odisha (Gaurav Gill- Musa Sherif, Mitsubishi Cedia, MRF Ltd, 2000N+). 15/18 cars finished. Organisers: BMSC & Kalinga MSC.

    7. Durgapur, Gravel, Dec 16-18; Rally de Bengal (Gaurav Gill- Musa Sherif, Mitsubishi Cedia, MRF Ltd, 2000N+). 15 of 21 finished. Organiser: RRPM

    2010 INRC (Champions: Naren Kumar, Dorairaj Ram Kumar)

    Promoter: IMG-PSP; Sponsor Bharat Petroleum- Speed

    1. Nashik, Tarmac-mix (1ss gravel for a bit), June 25-27; Rally of Maharashtra (Gaurav Gill-Musa Sherif, Mitsubishi Cedia, Team MRF Tyres, 2000N+). 25 of 31 cars finished.

    2. Coimbatore, Gravel, Aug 6-8; Rally of Coimbatore (Naren Kumar-D Ram Kumar, Mitsubishi Cedia, Red Rooster Racing, 2000N+). 37 of 50 cars finished.

    3. Jodhpur, Gravel, Sept 17-19; Rally of Rajasthan (Naren Kumar-D Ram Kumar, Mitsubishi Cedia, Red Rooster Racing, 2000N+). 28 of 38 cars finished.

    4. Siddlaghatta, near Bengaluru, Gravel, Dec 3-5; 36th K1000 Rally (APRC contender) (Arjun Rao Aroor-Satish Rajagopal, Mitsubishi Cedia, Team MRF Tyres, 2000N+). Only 12 of 41 cars finished.

    5. Kottayam, Asphalt, Dec 15-19; Misty Meadows Rally of Kerala (Gaurav Gill-Musa Sherif, Mitsubishi Cedia, Team MRF Tyres, 2000N+). 23 of 32 cars finished.

    2009 INRC (Champions: Gaurav Singh Gill, Musa Sherif)

    Promoter: IMG-PSP; Sponsor Bharat Petroleum- Speed

    1. Coimbatore, Gravel, June 26-28; Rally of Coimbatore (Arjun Rao Aroor-Satish Rajagopal, Mitsubishi Cedia, Team MRF Tyres, 2000N+). 28 of 46 finished.

    2. Bangalore, Gravel, Aug 21-23, 35th Rally of Bangalore (Arjun Balu-Sujith Kumar, Mitsubishi Cedia, Team MRF Tyres, 2000N+). 35 of record 61 entries finished.

    3. Durgapur, near Kolkata, Gravel, Sept 18-20; Rally of Kolkata (Gaurav Gill-Musa Sherif, MRF Ltd, 2000N+). 22 of 36 cars finished.

    4. Nashik, Asphalt, Oct 30-Nov 1; Rally of Nashik (Vikram Mathias- PVS Murthy, Mitsubishi Cedia, Red Rooster Racing, 2000N+). 21 of 27 cars finished.

    5. Chikmagalur, Gravel, Nov 20-22; Coffee Day Rally (Gaurav Gill-Musa Sherif, MRF Ltd, 2000N+). 27 of 37 cars finished.

    2008 FMSCI INRC (Champions: Vikram Mathias, PVS Murthy)

    1. Mysore, Gravel, June 13-15; Sidvin Rally of Karnataka (Vikram Mathias- PVS Murthy, Mitsubishi Cedia, Red Rooster Racing, 2000N+) 25 of 34 cars finished.

    2. Bangalore, Asphalt, Aug 8-10; 34th K1000 Rally (Vikram Mathias-PVS Murthy, Mitsubishi Cedia, 2000N+)  27 of 52 cars finished.

    3. Cochin, Asphalt, Sept 12-14; 23. Popular Rally of Kerala (Lohitt V Urs-CM Chandramouli, Mitsubishi Cedia, 2000N+). 20 of 35 cars finished.

    4. Coimbatore, Gravel, Oct 17-19; IMG Mill and Monsoon Rally (Vikram Mathias- PVS Murthy, Mitsubishi Cedia, 2000N+) ?? cars finished.

    5. Coorg, Nov 28-30; Rally de Coorg (Vikram Mathias-PVS Murthy, Red Rooster Racing, Mitsubishi Cedia, 2000N+)

    6. Nashik, Asphalt, Dec 19-21; IMG Rally of Maharashtra (Vikram Mathias-PVS Murthy, Red Rooster Racing, Mitsubishi Cedia, 2000N+)

    Chennai, Gravel, Nov 14 to 16, 36th SIR CANCELLED

    2007 MAI INRC (Champions: Gaurav Gill, Musa Sherif)

    1. Kochin, Asphalt, March 9-11; 22nd Heera Rally, (Gaurav Gill-Musa Sherif, Mitsubishi Cedia, 1600). 17 of 30 cars finished.

    2. Chikmagalur, Asphalt, May 4-6; Coffee Day Championship Rally, (Gaurav Gill-Musa Sherif, Mitsubishi Cedia, Team MRF Tyres; Class 2000). 22 of 37 finished. Day 1 Report,

    3. Bangalore, Asphalt, Aug 17-19; 33rd Bosch K1000 Rally (Gaurav Gill-Musa Sherif, Mitsubishi Cedia, Team MRF Tyres – 2000). 32 of 47 cars finished.

    4. Pune, Asphalt, Nov 30-Dec 1; Rally of Maharashtra (Lohitt V Urs-Jaidas Menon, Ford Fiesta, Team MRF Tyres, 1600). 30 of 37 cars finished. Preview

    2006 MAI INRC (Champions: VR Naren Kumar, D Ram Kumar)

    1. Pune, Gravel, May 5-6; Xtra Premium Overdrive Rally of Pune (Gaurav Gill-Farooq Ahmed, Maruti Baleno, 1600). ?? out of 12 cars finished.

    2. Chikmagalur, Gravel, May 26-28; Coffee Day Championship Rally, (Naren Kumar-D Ramkumar, ???, 1600).  ?? out of 21 cars finished. Day 1 report,

    3. Coimbatore, June 9-11; Rally of Coimbatore,  CANCELLED

    3. Maddur, near Bangalore, Gravel, Aug 11-13; 32 Bosch K1000 Rally 2006 (Gaurav Gill-Farooq Ahmed, Cedia 1600 class). 31 of 46 cars finished.

    4. Chandigarh, Gravel, Nov 3-5; Power Pine Forest Rally, (Lohitt V Urs-Musa Sherif, Maruti Baleno). 19 of 35 cars finished.

    5. Goa, Asphalt, Nov 18-19; WIAA Rally de Goa, (Naren Kumar-D Ram Kumar, Mitsubishi Cedia, 1600). 29 of 35 cars finished.

    Note: Round 6 in Hyderabad, Deccan Rally from Dec 1 to 3 was CANCELLED as organisers said they would not be able to host it.

    2005 MAI INRC (Champions: VR Naren Kumar, D Ram Kumar)

    1. Meghalaya, Gravel, Mar 11-13; Rally Tura (Sandeep Sharma-Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, Maruti Gypsy, Gypsy-Overall first). 9 of 16 cars finished.

    2. Mysore, gravel, May 26-29; Mysore Safari Rally (Arjun Balu-Kumar Ramaswamy, Maruti Baleno, 1600). 15 of 22 cars finished.

    3. Bangalore, Asphalt, Aug 12-14; Mico Bosch 31st K1000 Rally (Naren Kumar-D Ramkumar, Maruti Baleno, 1600). 18 of 25 cars finished.

    4. Chandigarh, Asphalt, Oct 21-23; Power M1 Challenge Rally (Naren Kumar-D Ramkumar, Maruti Baleno, 1600). 18 of 28 cars finished. Local Preview

    5. Delhi, gravel, Nov 11-13; Rally of the North, (Arjun Rao Aroor-CM Chandramouili, Baleno 1600, Team MRF tyres). Only 13 of total 40 cars finished. Preview.

    6. Cochin, Asphalt, Nov 25, to 27, -22nd Popular Rally, ???

    7. Hyderabad, Gravel, Dec 9-11; Sujana MRF Deccan Rally (Naren Kumar-D Ramkumar, Maruti Baleno, 1600). 17 of 26 cars finished. Preview.

    2004 MAI INRC (Champions: Vikram Mathias, B. Sujith Kumar)

    Awards Ceremony held on 24 January 2005

    1. Nashik, Asphalt, July 2-4: MAK Nashik Rally (Phillipos Mathai-Ashwin Naik, Esteem, 1400, Overall first) 12 cars of 14 finished.

    2. Bangalore, Asphalt, August 6-8: 30th Karnataka-1000 Rally (Naren Kumar-D Ramkumar, Baleno, Team MRF Tyres 1600) 18 of 24 cars finished.

    3. Cochin, Asphalt, August 20-22: 21st Popular Rally 2004 (Vikram Mathias- Sujith Kumar, Baleno, 1600) 15 of 20 cars finished.

    Note: Car No.1 Naren Kumar/ Ram hit a five-year-old who died immediately. After four stages, organisers decided to stop the rally.

    4. Panjim, Goa, Gravel, Sept 10-12: WIAA Rallye De Goa (Naren Kumar- D Ram Kumar, Baleno, Team MRF Tyres, 1600). 12 of 20 cars finished.

    5. Chandigarh, Gravel, October 29-31: Power M1 Challenge (Lohitt V Urs- Bonnie Thomas, Baleno, 1600). 17 of the 23 cars finished.

    6. New Delhi, Gravel, November 19-21: Maruti Suzuki India Challenge – Rally of the North (Vikram Mathias- Sujith Kumar, Baleno, 1600). 24 of 32 cars finished.

    7. Pune, Gravel, December 3-5: MRF India Rally (Lohitt V Urs-Bonnie Thomas, Baleno, 1600). 11 of 16 cars finished. A stage of 70.1km cancelled.

    2003 MAI INRC (Champions: Naren Kumar and D Ram Kumar)

    1. Chikmagalur, Asphalt, May 23-25; Coffee Day Rally, (Naren Kumar- D Ram Kumar, Honda City, Team MRF Tyres) 13/19 cars finished. Preview

    2. Nashik, Asphalt, June 6-8; MRF Taj Challenge (Naren Kumar- Musa Sherif, Honda City, MRF Tyres) 10 of 14 cars finished.

    3. Cochin, Gravel, Aug 29-31; 20th Kerala Rally (Naren Kumar – D Ram Kumar, Honda City, MRF Tyres, 1600); 13 of 17 cars finished.

    4. Chandigarh, Gravel, Sept 19-21; 1. Power M1 Challenge Rally (Naren Kumar – D Ram Kumar, Honda City, 1600); 10 of 16 cars finished. (Organiser: Motorsports One).

    5. Panjim, Goa, Gravel, Oct 31-Nov 2; WIAA Rally de Goa (Arjun Balu- Kumar Ramaswamy, Honda City, MRF Tyres, 1600) All 8 cars finished.

    6. Bangalore, Gravel, Nov 14-16; 29. Movva Rally de Bangalore 2003 (Karandip Singh- Jaidas Menon, Honda City, 1600). 11 cars of 14 finished.

    7. Pune, Gravel, Dec 5-7; MRF India Rally -APRC (Jiby Maliakkal- Nikhil Pai, Honda Civic-VTEC, 1600); 7 of 15 cars finished. Flag Off. Friday report. Saturday report.

    Coimbatore, Dec 26 to 28. NOT HELD

     (As per the calendar announced in Mumbai on 13 May 2003)

    2002 MAI INRC (Champions: Naren Kumar and D Ram Kumar)

    1. Coimbatore, Asphalt, Mar 30-31; Servo Mill and Monsoon Rally (Naren Kumar-D Ram Kumar, Honda City VTEC, Team MRF Tyres) 17 of 25 cars finished.

    Note: Organisers Spitfire Motorsports (Karthikeyan drives a Tata Indica Zero car)

    2. Nashik, Asphalt, July 5-7; WIAA Taj Nashik Rally (Naren Kumar-D Ramkumar, Honda City VTEC, 1600). 13 of 15 cars finished the rally.

    3. Panaji, Goa, Asphalt, Sept 27-29; WIAA Rallye de Goa (Naren Kumar-D Ramkumar, Team MRF Tyres, Honda City VTEC). 9 of 16 finished.

    Jiby Maliakkal- Nikhil Pai win 1400cc class.

    4. Bangalore, Asphalt, Oct 11-13; 28. Park Plaza Bangalore Rally (Naren Kumar-D Ramkumar, Honda City VTEC, 1600). 13 of 17 cars finished.

    Jiby Maliakkal-Nikhil Pai win 1400cc

    5.Bangalore, Gravel, Dec 7-8; MRF India Rally, (Arjun Balu-Kumar Ramaswamy, Team MRF Tyres, Honda City VTEC, 1600). 11 of 15 cars finished.

    2001 MAI INRC (Champion: N Leelakrishnan & Farooq Ahmed)

    (Runner-up Sagar Muthappa & Sandeep Rao)

    1. Coimbatore, Gravel, Mar 31 & Apr 1; Servo Mill Monsoon Rally, (Leelakrishnan-Farooq, Honda City)

    2. Nashik, June 8-10; Taj Rally India; (Vikram Mathias-Sujith Kumar, Esteem)

    3. Mumbai (gravel), July 6-8; Orange Monsoon Rally, (Leelakrishnan-Farooq Ahmed, Honda City)

    4. Bangalore, Aug 10-12; 27th K1000 Rally (Karandeep Singh-Jaidas Menon, Maruti Baleno)

    5. Goa, Sept 7-9; Gravel, Old Anchor Rally de Goa, (Naren Kumar-Ram Kumar, Honda City) 15 out of 18 cars finished.

    6. Coorg, Sept 28-30; Coorg Xpresso Rally, (Sagar Muthappa-Sandeep Rao, Honda City)

    7. Cochin, (Asphalt) Oct 26-28; 19th Chandrika Soap Popular Rally 2001 (Sagar Muthappa-Sandeep Rao, Honda City VTec 1600cc) 12 of 17 cars finished.

    8. Mangalore (Asphalt), Nov 24, 25, Coffee Day Action Rally, (Karandeep Singh-Jaidas Menon, Maruti Esteem) 14 of 18 cars finished.

    2000 FMSCI/MAI INRC (Champion: VR Naren Kumar, D Ram Kumar)

    1*. Calcutta, April 28-29; Birla Tyres Wild Run Rally – PG Abhilash-Yogesh Gupta

    2*. Chennai, July 28-30; 36th South India Rally 2000 (Vicky Chandhok-Sandeep Lal, Mitsubishi Lancer (lancer debut) JK Tyre team) 11 of the 19 cars finished the rally.

    *Note: Conducted by FMSCI, so does not show in the MAI calendar. MAI came into existence as FIA ASN on April 5.

    MAI Official National Rounds

    1. Mumbai, Gravel, Aug 4-6; WIAA Monsoon Rally, (Naren Kumar-D Ram Kumar, Esteem)

    2. Pune, Gravel, Sept 1-3; Para-HRA Monsoon Rally of Pune 2000 (Leelakrishnan-Farooq Ahmed, Esteem)

    3. Goa, Gravel, Sept 22-24; Rally de Goa, (Arjun Balu -Kumar Ramasamy, Esteem)

    4. Coorg, Asphalt, October 13-15, Rally of Coorg, (Naren Kumar-D Ram Kumar, Esteem)

    5. Kerala, Asphalt, Nov 3 to 5; 18th Popular Rally, (Arjun Balu -Kumar Ramasamy, Esteem) 9 of 12 cars finished.

    6. Coimbatore, Gravel, Nov 24-26, Rally of Coimbatore, ??

    7. Bangalore, Gravel, Dec 15-17, 26th K1000 Rally, ??

    INRC FMSCI 1999 (Champions: VR Naren Kumar, Farooq Ahmed)

    1. Durgapur, Gravel, March 31-Apr 4; 5 Birla Tyres EMSA Wild Run Rally (Hari Singh-Gurinder Singh Mann, Esteem)

    2. Nashik, Asphalt, June 3-6; Nasa Challenge Rally, (Leelakrishnan- Farooq Ahmed, Esteem)

    3. Madras, Gravel, July 9-12; 35th South India Rally, (Arjun Balu- Kumar Ramaswamy, Esteem)

    4. Bangalore, Gravel, Aug 11-15; 25th Karnataka 1000 Rally (Hari Singh-Gurinder Singh Mann, Esteem)

    5. Cochin, Asphalt, Sept 16-20; 17th Popular Rally, (Naren Kumar-D Ram Kumar, Esteem- MRF). Organiser: KASC

    6. Coimbatore, Gravel, Oct 7-11; 17th Cotton City Rally, (Naren Kumar-D Ram Kumar, Esteem- MRF)

    7. Bangalore, Asphalt, Nov 11-14, 17th Rally d’ Endurance (Karamjit Singh- Jagdev Singh, JK Tyres Rally team, Esteem). Organiser: IASC

    8. Hyderabad, Gravel, Dec 10-13, 14th Deccan Rally, (Arjun Balu- Kumar Ramaswamy, Esteem). Organiser: APMSC, Secunderabad.

    INRC 1998 (FMSCI) (Drivers’ Champ: N Leelakrishnan; Navigators’ champ: Farooq Ahmed)

    Driver’s Championship standings; Navigators’ Final Standings

    1. Nashik, Gravel, May 8-10; Castrol Challenge, (N Leelakrishnan-Chander MK, Esteem)

    2. Madras, Gravel, July 3-6; 34th South India Rally (SIR), (Hari Singh-Gurinder Singh Mann, Esteem). Only 13 of the 28 cars finished the rally.

    3. Bangalore, Gravel, Aug 11-14; 24th Castrol Kar1000 Rally, (Leelakrishnan -Farooq Ahmed, Esteem) 15 of 28 cars finished. Winner time: 1:38:43.

    4. Cochin, Gravel, Sept 11-14; 16th Popular Rally, (Manik Raiky- Vivek Ponnusamy, Esteem)

    5. Coimbatore, Gravel, Oct 9-12; 16th Castrol Cotton City Rally, (Naren Kumar-Chander MK, Esteem)

    6. Coorg, Gravel, Nov 11-13; 16th Rally d Endurance, (Naren Kumar-Chander MK, Esteem) 10 of 23 cars finished.

    7. Hyderabad, Gravel, Dec 5-7, Castrol Deccan Rally, (Dicky Upkar Gill- Aditya Singh, Esteem)

    8. Jaipur, Gravel, Dec 25-28, Castrol Desert Rally (Hari Singh-Gurinder Singh Mann, Esteem).

    INRC 1997 (fmsci) (Champions: Hari Singh, Gurinder Singh Mann)

    1. Nashik, Gravel, May 2-5; Castrol Challenge Rally 97 (Thirumal Roy- Amita Roy, Esteem)

    2. Coimbatore, Gravel, May 23-27;  15th Scissors Action Rally, (Sanjay Agarwal-Shivu Shivappa, Esteem)

    3. Chennai, Gravel, July 11-13; 33rd Castrol SIR 1997 (Dicky Upkar Gill- Manish Kapur, Esteem)

    4. Bangalore, Asphalt, Aug 12-14; The Club 23rd Karnataka 1000 Rally, (Hari Singh- Gurinder Singh Mann, Esteem)

    5. Cochin, Asphalt, Sep 13-14; 15th Popular Rally (Naren Kumar-Chander MK, Esteem)

    6. Simla, Gravel, Oct 3-6, Castrol Mountain Challenge, (Hari Singh-Gurinder Singh Mann, Esteem)

    7. Bangalore, Gravel, Nov 6-9, Castrol Rally d’Endurance (Hari Singh-Gurinder Singh Mann, Esteem)

    8. Hyderabad?, Gravel, Dec 6-8, Castrol Deccan Rally, (Naren Kumar-Ram Kumar, Esteem)

    INRC fmsci 1996 (Champions: Hari Singh, Gurinder Singh Mann)

    1. Nashik, Gravel, Jan 6-7; Castrol Challenge Rally (Farad Batheena- Farooqh Commissariat, Gypsy) 12 of 24 cars finished. Winner time: 1:57:16;

    2. Coimbatore, Gravel, June 1-3, 14th Scissors Action Rally (Sanjay Agarwal-Shivu Shivappa, Esteem) 9 out of 10 cars finished.

    3. Madras, Gravel, July 12-14; 32nd Castrol South India Rally (Majithia-CDR Chowdary, Esteem) 11 of 28 cars finished

    4. Bangalore, Asphalt, Aug 11-13, 22nd Karnataka 1000 Rally, (Samir Thapar-Rahul Rao Koka, Esteem) 28 of 35 cars finished.

    5. Cochin, Gravel, Sept 13-16; 14th Popular Rally (Hari Singh-Gurinder Singh Mann, Esteem). 17 of 29 cars finished.

    6. Delhi, gravel, Oct 11-14; Castrol Mountain Challenge, (Hari Singh-Gurinder Mann, Esteem). 15 of 26 cars finished.

    7. Coorg (Madikeri), Gravel, Nov 7-10; 14th Castrol Rally de Endurance, (Bikram Singh Majithia-Vijayant Chowdhry). 13 cars finished.

    8. Hyderabad, Gravel, Dec 6-8; Castrol Deccan Rally (Naren-??, Esteem)

    9. Bombay, Asphalt, Dec 27-29; Masa Rally (???)

    INRC 1995 (Champions: Hari Singh, Gurinder Singh Mann)

    1. Nashik, Gravel, April 7-8; Castrol Challenge Rally, (Hari Singh -Gurinder Mann gypsy); 20 out of 25 cars finished.

    2. Coimbatore, Gravel, May 27-29; 13 Scissors Action Rally, (Leelakrishnan-Farooq Ahmed, Esteem)

    3. Madras, Gravel, July 6-8; 31st Castrol South India Rally (Hari Singh- Gurinder Singh Mann Gypsy)

    4. Bombay, Gravel, June 21-23; Castrol Masa Rally, (Majithia-Aditya Singh, Gypsy)

    5. Bangalore, Gravel, Aug 12-14; BPL 21st K1000 Rally (Naren Kumar-Chander MK Esteem)

    6. Cochin, Asphalt, Sept 16-17, 13th Castrol Popular Rally, (Majithia-Aditya Singh, Gypsy) 26 of 37 cars finished.

    7. Delhi, Asphalt, Oct 14-15; Castrol Mountain Challenge, (Hari-Gurinder Gypsy)

    8. Bangalore, Asphalt, Nov 11-12, Castrol Rally de Endurance, (Hari-Gurinder Gypsy)

    9. Hyd?? Gravel, Dec 2-3, Castrol Deccan Rally (Hari-Gurinder Gypsy)

    INRC 1994 (Champions: Hari Singh, Gurinder Singh Mann)

    (To be completed)

    1?. Madras, 30th South India Rally, ??

    2?. Coimbatore, Cotton City Rally, ??

    3?. Bombay, ?? MASA Rally, (Jagat Nanjappa-Anita Nanjappa)

    4?. Cochin, Sept 12-15; 12th Popular Rally (Hari Singh and GS Mann, Gypsy)

    5?. Bangalore, 20th Scissors K1000 Rally, (N Leelakrishnan and Farooq Ahmed, Gypsy, Team MRF) (Naren Kumar-??? won Group N) (Shyam Kothari & C Patil won 2w K1000)

    6?.Deccan Rally, Dec 1, Gravel, *(Gurmeher Singh-??? Gypsy)

    INRC 1993 (Champions: N Leelakrishnan, N Mahindran or Farokh Commissariat)

    1?. Kodaikanal, Castrol 29th SIR (N Leelakrishnan-N Mahindran, Gypsy)

    2?. Bombay, MASA Rally, (2W winners: Jagat Nanjappa-Anita Nanjappa)

    3?. Bangalore, Aug 14-15; 19th Scissors Karnataka 1000 (Team Paarel, Vinil Varghese and Anil Devaraj)

    4?. Cochin, Sept 17-19; 11th Popular Rally (For Castrol FIRD and FIRR Championship) (Farad Bathena, Farooq Commissariat, Team MRF)

    5?. Coimbatore, Cotton Rally

    6. Hyderabad, 11th Charminar Challenge Car Rally, (N Leelakrishnan, Farooq Ahmed, Team MRF)

    INRC 1992 (Champions*: N Leelakrishnan, N Mahindran)

    Leela had ten wins in 92-93

    1. Coimbatore, 4 May 1992, Scissors Action Rally (Overall first: N Leelakrishnan/ P Vivekanand, Team MRF) Bikes: (Jagat Nanjappa- Anita Nanjappa)

    2. Kodaikanal, 13 July 1992; 28th South India Rally (N Leelakrishnan/ R Mahendran, Team MRF)

    3. Bangalore, 15 Aug 1992; K 1000 Rally, (N Leelakrishnan/ R Mahendran, Team MRF)

    4. Cochin, Sept 18-20; 10th Popular Rally, (Leelakrishnan, R Mahendran, Gypsy), organisers: Kerala Auto Sports Club (KASC).

    5. Bangalore, 17 Oct 1992: McDowell Rally de Endurance (Nikhil Taneja/ Askif Haidari) or (Hari Singh, GS Mann) – to be confirmed

    *Note: There was a tie between Leelakrishnan-Mahendran and Farad Bathena-Farookh Commissariat, and Leela-Mahendran won the tie-breaker.

    INRC 1991 (Champions: N Leelakrishnan, N Mahindran)

    1. Coimbatore, Gravel, June 21-23, Cotton City Rally, (Leelakrishnan-Jose, Gypsy)

    2. Kodaikanal, Gravel, July 13, 27th South India Rally,  (Farad Bathena- Farookh Commissariat, Gypsy) 9 of 15 cars finished.

    3. Tumkur, near Bangalore, Gravel, Aug 12-13, Rally de’ Endurance, K1000, (Leelakrishnan-Mahendran or GVL Gopal, Gypsy)

    4. ??? – Gravel, Sept 20-21, McDowell Rally, (Farad Batheena-?? Gypsy)

    5. Bombay, Gravel, Oct 5-7, Castrol Rally, (Leelakrishnan-??, Gypsy)

    6. Hyderabad, Gravel, Dec 7-9, Charminar Challenge, (Leelakrishnan-?? Gypsy)

    INRC 1990 (Champions: N Leelakrishnan, CF Jaykumar)

    (To be completed)

    1?. Madras, 26th South India Rally ??

    2?. Bangalore, 16th K1000 Rally, Leelakrishnan, Mahendran, Gypsy Team MRF

    3?. Coimbatore, Cotton City Rally ??

    4?. Hyderabad, Charminar Challenge ??

    INRC 1989 (Champions: Farad Bathena, Raj Bagri) (To be completed)

    1. Bangalore, Rally de Endurance, Farad Bathena/ Farooq Commissariat

    2. Madras, 25th? South India Rally (Farad Bathena- Raj Kumar Bagri, Team MRF, Gypsy)

    3. Bangalore, 15th K1000 Rally, (Harish Samtani/ Rajiv Choudhry, Gypsy, Team MRF)

    3?. Coimbatore, Cotton City Rally ??

    4?. Hyderabad, Charminar Challenge ?? (Ashok Rao Aroor?)

    INRC 1988 (Champions: Farad Batheena, Raj Bagri) (To be completed)

    1. Coimbatore, Gravel, Scissors Master Action Rally  (L Gopoalakrishnan-R Mahendran, Maruti 800, Group A(II) Ind)

    2. Great Desert Rally, Farad Bathena/ Raj Kumar Bagri

    3. Kodaikanal, 24th South India Rally, Farad Bathena/Raj Kumar Bagri (Team MRF)

    4. Karavalli, Karavalli Rally, George Anthony (Team MRF)

    5. Mumbai, MASA Rally, Farad Bathena

    6. Cochin, July 29-31; 6th Popular Rally; (George Anthony, Jose Anthony, Jiju Elias Paarel, Roy)

    7. Bangalore, 14th K1000 Rally (Indian category) Kamlesh Patel, KD Madan, 118 NE.

    8. Great Himalayan Rally (Nikhil Taneja/ Sandeep Lal) Team MRF

    8. Great Desert Rally (Motorycycles), Jagat Nanjappa/ Anita Nanjappa, Team MRF

    9?. Hyderabad, Dec ??; 5th Charminar Challenge ??

    Rallies in 1987* (Champions: N Leelakrishnan, CV Jayakumar)

    1. Rally de Endurance, July 1987, Vicky Bharat Chandhok and Manoj Dalal.
    2. Cochin, 24-25 July 1987, 5th 1000-km Popular Rally,
    3. Bangalore, August 1987, Karnataka 1000, Kamlesh Patel/ KD Madan, Team MRF.
    4. Madras, September 1987, 23th South India Rally, MS Zachariah/ Jagdish Bhatia, Team MRF.
    5. Coimbatore, October 1987, Scissors Action Rally, Subash Chandra
    6. ???, November 1987, Great Himalayan Rally, Nikhil Taneja/ Manjeev Singh Bhalla, Team MRF. (To be confirmed if this round is part of National championship)
    7. Chikmagalur, Nov 1987, Coffee 500, N Leelakrishnan/CV Jayakumar.
    8. Hyderabad, December 1987, 4th Charminar Challenge, N Leelakrishnan/CV Jayakumar.

    *Status of National Championship was not confirmed in 1988

    ends/17apr2020/last updated 2mar2021 11pm; to be updated…