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Category: National Rally Championship
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Celebrated Rally driver, Naren Kumar, retires
By Anand Philar
Chennai, 22 July 2011: Just a week shy of his 37th birthday, one of India iconic rally drivers, Velappan Rajendran Naren Kumar, has announced his retirement from motorsports after an 18-year career.
In a telephonic chat with IANS Friday, the Coimbatore-based Naren Kumar said that he wanted to retire when on top rather than delay the inevitable.
“I won my seventh national title last year, driving for Red Rooster Racing. They have since pulled out of motorsports and I was left without a drive this season. So, I thought it was best that I quit when I am on top.”
“It has been a good run, but it is time for me to focus on my business and move on. I will definitely attend rallies, but not behind the wheels of a rally car,” he said.
Naren Kumar said: “This has been a tough decision to make, but I have decided to retire from rallying! It has been a great journey since my first event in 1993 to winning seven national titles (1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2010), an Asia Zone title (2001), and representing India in the World Rally Championship in 2008.”
“There has been tremendous encouragement and support from many quarters and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you in the press for the fantastic support extended to me during this memorable journey.”
“All of this was possible only with the untiring support from Sponsors and friends. I would like to thank my sponsors MRF Tyres, JK Tyre, SIDVIN Core Tech, Red Rooster Racing and VR Foundries for their all important role in this long road of success.”
His long-time co-driver and also first cousin D.Ramkumar admitted that age was a factor in the decision to retire and that he too was following suit.
“I am 45 and Naren will be 37 next week. So, age is catching up with both of us and we have our business commitments. We have achieved quite a lot and I am fully satisfied that we did our best under the circumstances.
“No, I don’t think I can co-drive for anyone else. Naren was a cool-headed driver who took only calculated risks; never hesitated to step the pace or ease off when required. A very clean driver and among the best I have seen,” Ramkumar told IANS.
Statistics do no justice to Naren Kumar’s talent that first surfaced when he finished overall third in the 1994 South India Rally, driving a modified (Group A) Gypsy, a feat that earned him a berth in Team MRF and which he represented close to a decade.
Known for his clean lines through the corners, a skill he honed on the racing tracks, Naren Kumar enjoyed an iconic status in Indian Rallying circuit for his special ability to be blindingly quick and yet safe even on a treacherous surface.
Ramkumar rated the 2005 K-1000 win as among their best drive. “We were trailing the leaders by over a minute after the first Leg. But on Day Two, Naren drove really hard. We made up the deficit and won,” he said.
His forays on the international stage were marked by the 2001 Asia aone title, but his move to the next level, the Asia Pacific Rally Championship in 2002 and subsequently the P-WRC six years later, only resulted in frustration, mostly due to insufficient practice in the four-wheel drive cars.
Editor’s Note: The article by wire agency IANS was first published by twocircles.net
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Kolkota’s Bro-sis duo hog limelight in different teams
By David Bodapati
Chennai, 26 June 2011: Kolkata’s talented youngster Amittrajit Ghosh with co-driver Ashwin Naik of Mangalore saved the day for Team MRF winning the 37th South India Rally as the Red giants lost the second runner Lohit Urs (Srinivasa Murthy PV) to a stewards’ decision in the second round of the Speed Indian National Rally Championship, at Irrungattukottai, 35 kms from here, on Sunday.
Talking about experienced Ashwin Naik, a veteran journalist quipped: “To finish first, first you have to finish. And that happens only when you have a navigator who can control the emotions of a driver,’’ and that’s what Amit Ghosh acknowledged of Ashwin’s expertise today at the Post-event press conference.
Thus, Team MRF dominated the second rally of the season despite strong contender Gaurav Gill of Delhi (co driver Musa Sherif) logging a DNF with gear box problems when he was only a few kilometers to the finish and tried to run only on 5th gear but could not complete on Day One. Experienced Arjun Balu (Sujith Kumar), also of team MRF, saw their car roll to a halt after SS 6 on Saturday but bounced back to get 7 leg points on Sunday as they were the fastest. It was the new recruit Ghosh, who led the Red challenge till the end winning the top class 2000N+ in the Super Rally format . The lone opposition of privateer Arjun Rao Aroor (Satish Rajagopal) who started his own AR Racing after quitting MRF failed he did not complete the rally. The tight corners and twisty route apart from the bumpy terrain of `Track Stage’ took a toll on the cars and 12 out of 27 dropped out, to tell the tale of the challenging terrain.
In the 2000cc N class, talented youngster who was out of the INRC, Karna Kadu of Bangalore, after a crash in Nashik in 2009, made a stunning comeback after a year’s hiatus, to edge out overnight leaders Rahul Kantharaj and Vivek Bhat also of Bangalore and made it a double whammy for his navigator exactly after a year. His codriver, Somonita Ghosh, sister of winner Ghosh, is the only lady driver in the National Championship. The name Kadur rings a bell in the ear of every motorsport fan for the exploits of his father Mr Kadur, and one hopes that the young giant takes forward the family tradition. “It was a brilliant rally and I am happy where I am finished,’’ said a content Kadur, winning his second only run on the powerful Cedia machine in the INRC. Rahul Kantharaj and Vivek Bhat, who finished second in the 2000 cc N category had a flat tyre while Vikram Devadasen and Somayya AG came third. “But for the flat tyre today on SS7, we would have retained our lead,” said Kanthraj with Bhat in tow as they tried to hide their disappointment.
In the Gypsy Class, the seasoned Sanjay Agarwal (Shivaprakash E) from Bangalore dedicated his victory to Manoj Dalal, the Clerk of the Course (CoC), who as a co-participant saved his life 10 years back at the same venue in South India Rally, when Sanjay broke his back and still insisted that he would drive. “I am alive and here, because of Manoj, whose timely help saved my life,’’ said Sanjay, with everyone applauding him. Sachin Singh (Venu Ramesh) who lost a minute due to electrical malfunction and finished second while Shafeeq (Adhiraj Bardhan) came third.
In the 1600cc class, Vignesh Devadasen, ably assisted by Anoop Kumar of Bangalore who survived a 300 ft fall in Nashik, won the rally and proved that the safety is of paramount importance. Leader of the championship, Aniruddha Rangnekar and Overdrive’s Hally Prabhakar as codriver finished a deserved second as they managed to nurture their car.
Here you can watch the YouTube video by OVERDRIVE produced by CNBCTV18.
The results (provisional unaudited partial classification):
Overall: Amittrajit Ghosh / Ashwin Naik (MRF) 1 (2hr, 05 mins, 59.0 secs); Karna Kadur (Somonita Ghosh) 2 (2: 08: 44.0 secs); Rahul Kanthraj / Vivek Bhatt (Pvt) 3 (2: 09: 03.4).
2000cc (N+): Amittrajit Ghosh / Ashwin Naik (MRF) 1 (2hr, 05 mins, 59.0 secs);
2000cc (Group N): Karna Kadur (Somonita Ghosh) 1 (2: 08: 44.0) 1; Kanthraj / Bhatt 1 (2: 09: 34.0); Vikram Devadasen / Somayya AG (Pvt) 3 (2: 09:53.0).
1600cc: Vignesh Devarajan / Anoop Kumar (pvt) 1 (2: 31:56.0); Aniruddha Rangnekar / Halley Prabhakar 2 (2: 41: 31.0);
1400cc (Star Cup): Hrishikesh Thackersey / Kaushik H Shinde 1 (2: 04.14.0); Karan AM / Shanmuga SN 2 (02:03:.4).
Gypsy – stock: Sanjay Agarwal / Shivaprakash E 1 (2:00:31.0); Sachin Singh / Venu Ramesh 2 (2:02:35.0); Shafeeq-ur-Rehman / Adhiraj Bardhan 3 (3:03:34.0).
Note to editors: Since 1400cc and Gypsy Cup are not officially part of INRC, the scratch time given for the cars in the other classes for the cancelled stage are not added to these class cars and the timings are for only ten stages.
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Gaurav Gill wins INRC season opener at Nashik
By David Bodapati
Nashik, 5 June 2011: It was a cake walk for speed demon Gaurav Gill of Team MRF (codriver Musa Sherif) as he had to drive only 72.32 kms of special stages on tarmac out of the total of 351.22 kms including transport section to win the season opener Rally of Maharashtra, the first round of the Speed Indian National Rally Championship. The rally run on Super Rally format over three special stages run twice on Saturday and once each on Sunday made for thrilling spectacle and provided a daunting task for the drivers.
With only 5 entires generated in the top 2000N+ class, it was a facile win for Gaurav Gill who was already on top on the first day with a huge difference of over 6 minutes over his teammate Lohith Urs. The absence of Red Rooster Racing had brought down the competition level of the rally. However, the competition was high despite the less number of competitors and the an incident-packed day saw a lot of crashes. Arjun Balu and co-driver Sujit Kumar who had multiple flat tyre and later failed to cope up with the suspension problem crashed against a giant tree in the fourth special stage became the first casualty followed by Ashwin Gowda and co-driver Anoop Kumar who had a miraculous escape as they misjudged a curve and overshoot the barriers to take deep dive into 300 feet gorge. After rolling over for at least 14 times they were lucky to be stopped by a tree from a further drop of over 100 feet straight into a rocky water surface. “But for the safe roll-cage that is mandatory in the National championship for all cars, I would not have survived,” said a shattered Anoop Kumar after the rally. Even as his driver Ashwin Gowda, was recuperating in the ambulance he added in jest, “Going down was easy! Walking up the hill was more dehydrating.’’ Hats off to the doctor, who went all the way down in no time and ensured that both the drivers are safely out of the car!
Ashwin Gowda and co-driver Anoop Kumar survive a deep fall of over 300 feet in the Nashik Rally. Photo by Kishen Nanjappa for IMG-PSP Castrol supported AR Racing team driver Arjun Rao Aroor along with his co-driver Satish Rajgopal who were running second, though not closer enough to Gaurav, experienced power steering brakdown reached the service bay safely but were not able to overcome the problem and dropped out before SS5.
Amittrajit Ghosh with his co-driver Ashwin Naik after these two major incidents had moved up to second place just behind the leader Gaurav Gill and co-driver Musa Sheriff, but their joy was short-lived as their car stalled just three kilometers before the final stage finish.
With three out of the five cars out, it was Lohit Urs with his co-driver Srinivas Murthy who finished second in the class.
Editor of Overdrive Sirish Chandran with co-driver Nikhil Pai topped the 2000N category with a comfortable margin and filled in the gap as overall third as there were only two cars remaining in 2000N+. He was followed by Shailander Hegde and co-driver Prajwal Pai in second position and in the third place were Rahul Kanthraj and co-driver Vivek Bhatt in the N class.
In Group 1600 cc after the crash of Ashwin Gowda, Aniruddha Rangnekar and co-driver Anjay Kapadia topped the table with a very comfortable margin of over 22 minutes over Vignesh Devarajan and Mukesh Raja.
In the 1400 cc Star Cup, it was Raghu Nandan B with co-driver Sujay Prasad with a timing of 01:04:52 on top followed by Deepak Chetty with co-driver Uday Kumar who clocked 1:06:15. Hrishikesh Thackersey with co-driver Kaushik H Shinde (1:09:00.0) were third.
In the Gypsy class, the leader was the vetran driver from Bangalore Sanjay Agarwal with co-driver Jeeva Rathinam with a timing of 01:06:28.0 followed by Sachin Singh and co-driver Ramesh Venu (01:07:23.0) in second place and Ranjiv Sally and co-driver Faruk Patel (1:10:24.0) in third.
The other casualties of the day were Kochi’s veteran Sob George and a young co-driver Vineeth Vincent Tom in the 1400 cc class. He failed to negotiate a culvert before a hairpin and nosedived into the pit while in the 1600 cc category Siddharth Rangnekar with co-driver Halley Prabhakar went off the road into a field and halted on top of a small rock. The incident-filled day saw only 19 cars finish Day 1. Gaurav Gill further extended his lead upto 8.03 min after clocking the fastest time in first stage of the second day, but also gave an opportunity to his team mates Lohit Urs and Amitrajit Ghosh to do some of the fastest timings. In the 2000N category there was no change in the positions from the day one. The same places were retained after the second day leader was Sirish Chandran followed by Shailande Hegde and Rahul Kanthraj. It was the similar case in the 1600cc class Pune driver Anirudha Rangnekar of Chettinad Sporting finished ahead of Vignesh Devarajan. In the 1400 cc Star Cup It was a first and second finish for Team Ideal as Raghu Nandan B paired with co-driver Sujay Prasad won the class , Deepak Chetty had Uday as co-driver finished second while Hrishikesh Thackersay and co-driver Kaushik Shinde came third. Veteran rally driver Sanjay Agarwal with Jeeva Rathinam both from Bengaluru driving a modified Gypsy with a Baleno engine were placed first. In Gypsy cup N & T2 Sachin Singh and co-driver Venu Ramesh won with a time of 1 hour 40 min, 34 seconds, while Ranjiv Sally and co-driver Farook Patel came second followed by Shafeeq ur Rahman in the third spot. Of the 27 cars that started, only 18 finished the rally.
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Gaurav Gill-Musa Sherif win Misty Meadows Rally
By David Bodapati
Kuttikkanam, 19 Dec 2010: Reigning National champion and speed demon Gaurav Gill of Team MRF overcame the jinx of `Triple S’ on his favourite tarmac surface to comfortably win the Misty Meadows Rally of Kerala, but Naren Kumar of Red Rooster Racing despite finishing third kept his lead in the Speed Indian National Racing Championship standings as the Fifth round came to a close at the winding ghat roads of the mountains of Sahyadri near here on Sunday.
Naren Kumar with co-driver Ram Kumar, the six-time National winners, made sure that they are perched at the top though they lost the rally to Gaurav Gill (co-driver Mussa Sherif). Red Rooster Racing also saw that they bagged second, third and fourth places while MRF had to be content with the top slot. Gill made sure that he controlled his speed and finished the Super Special Special (SSS) which was his nemesis in two of the earlier rounds.
Gaurav Gill, left, and co-driver Musa Sherif with the trophies after winning the Misty Meadows rally on Sunday. An INDIAinF1 image However, the heros of the day were Amittrajit Ghosh of Kolkota and his Red Rooster teammate Vikram Mathias, the only drivers to go under two minutes in the spectator friendly Super Special Stage. Ghosh along with co-driver (Ashwin Naik) was faster by one-hundredth of a second than Vikram (PV Srinivasa Murthy) but for a change the MRF speedster, Gill, managed to win the rally without any last minute hiccups in the Super Special.
With this win Gaurav Gill (Musa Sherif) earned 15 points to add to Nashik’s 16 and jumped to third place in the standings with 31 points, while Naren Kumar (Ram) added 8 points to his 30 to keep the lead in the points table with 38 points. Vikram Mathias (PVS Murthy) kept their second position overall with 33 points as he added 5 points (4th place) here. Amittraji Ghosh (Ashwin Naik) and Arjun Rao Aroor (Srikanth Gowda) with 29 and 26 points stay at a striking distance behind the leaders.
The `Triple S’ held at Hill View (Special Stage 1 near Vegamon) provided a fitting finale to the enchanting Misty Meadows Rally of Kerala with a few hundreds of spectators thronging to the Super Special stage for some seat-edged thrill and excitement. Three of the spectators got a `ride of their life’ when the champion driers give them a joy ride after the Rally.
In the 2000N category, Ovion Racing’s Chikmagalur-Bangalore pair of Girijashankar Joshy and Chndramouli M showed controlled aggression in the Super Special Stage to climb to the top of the National Standings ahead of staunch rivals Sujay Suresh and co-driver Bharath SM, who took the second position. Sirish Chandran (Nikhil Pai) of team Overdrive was third.
In the 1600cc class, Bangalore pair of Rahul Kantharaj and co-driver Vivek Y Bhat won the Rally ahead of Shailendra Hegde / Shiraj Ahmed and Ranjit Gopinath and Suresh Babu finished third. Thus, Rahul and Vivek took a narrow lead in the Championship with 45 points while Shilendra and Shiraj could garner only 44 points for second in the table.
In the 1400 cc class, with local stars Dr Bikku Babu (Vinod Gowda) and Bonnie Thomas (Jeevarathinam) out of the rally, Byram Godraj (Anjay Kapadia) edged out Bangalore brothers Balram CG and Raghuram CG to take the top honours. Anirudha Ranganathan and Halley Prabhakar finished third.
However, the other local favourite Elias Thomas Paarel (Thomas Phillip) will be on the podium as he is placed third behind the formidable Army teams in the Gypsy class. Amrinder Brar (co-driver Nilesh) sealed the issue with a comfortable win and virtually won the championship in the Gypsy class taking an unbeatable lead with only one round to go. Shakti Bajaj and Dharmesh were second.
Venkatapathy MR with co-driver Santosh Kumar won the the Rally Star Cup over championship leaders Phalguna Urs and Anoop Kumar who finished second here. Harikesav N and Somayya are third.
The Rally of Kerala, is organized by Pas-Sear Adventures under the aegis of FMSCI with Bharat Petroleum as the principal sponsors and is promoted by IMG Sports and Pro-Sports Promotion (PSP).
Provisional Unaudited Results – Final:
Overall: 1. Gaurav Gill / Musa Sherif (Team MRF) 1 hour 14 minutes 37.8 secs; 2. Amittrajit Ghosh /Ashwin Naik (Red Rooster Racing) 1: 15: 03.0 secs; 3. Naren Kumar/ Ram Kumar D (Red Rooster Racing) 1: 15: 52.8 secs.
2000 N+ class: 1. Gaurav Gill / Musa Sherif (Team MRF) 1 hour 14 minutes 37.8 secs; 2. Amittrajit Ghosh /Ashwin Naik (Red Rooster Racing) 1: 15: 03.0 secs; 3. Naren Kumar/ Ram Kumar D (Red Rooster Racing) 1: 15: 52.8 secs.
2000N class: 1. Girijashankar Joshy/ Chandramouli M (Team Ovion) 1:21: 47.7; 2. Sujay Suresh/ Bharath SM 1: 21: 51.1; 3. Sirish Chandran/ Nikhil Pai (Team Overdrive) 1: 27: 01.7;
1600 cc class: 1. Rahul Kantharaj/ Vivek Y Bhat (Privateer) 1: 26: 56.1; 2. Shailendra Hegde /Shiraj Ahmed 1: 30: 24.0; 3. Ranjit Gopinath/ Suresh Babu 1: 30: 46.1;
1400 cc class: 1. Byram Godrej/ Anjay Kapadia 1: 28: 42.6; 2. Balram CG/ Raghuram CG 1: 29:16.1; 3. Aniruddha Ranganathan/ Halley Prabhakar 1: 34: 32.0;
Rally Star Cup: 1. Venkatapathy MR/ Santosh Kumar S 1: 29: 03.7; 2. Phalguna V Urs/ Anoop Kumar 1: 29: 39.0; 3. Harikeshav N/ Somayya AG 1: 31: 26.7;
Gypsy class: 1. Amrinder Brar/ Nilesh (Army Adventure Wing) 1: 30: 29.7; 2. Shakti Bajaj/ Dharmesh Sinha (AAW) 1: 33: 26.4; 3. Elias Thomas Paarel/ Thomas Phillip 1: 36: 15.9;
ends/ Note: Updated from the archives of old website
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Arjun Rao-Satish Rajagopal pair wins K1000 rally
By Bodapati David
Bangalore, 5 Dec 2010: Darkhorse Arjun Rao Aroor of Team MRF, with Satish Rajagopal navigating the Mitsubishi Cedia, won the K-1000 Rally, the fourth round of the Speed Indian National Rally Championship making a grand 1-2 finish for MRF as they displayed controlled aggression clocking the second-best time at the Super Special Stage here on Sunday.
However, it was Lohit Urs (Srikanth Gowda), who stole the limelight today with a lightening run covering the of the 4.5km in a blazing 5 minute 59 seconds, the only car on the day to go under six minutes. He thrilled the audience with his driving and as his car drifted sideways towards the grand stand, the crowd gave him a thundering applause. The MRF driver who was unfortunate to go out of contention for top honours on Saturday, finished second and was followed by Red Rooster Racing’s Vikram Mathias and PV Srinivasa Murthy. Vikram who stalled his car during the first lap lost a lot of time but still provided seat-edged thrills for the spectators to clock 6 min 20 seconds.
Thus, Arjun Rao Aroor pitchforked himself into contention for the Speed INRC title but even as Naren Kumar leads the table with Vikram Mathias running close behind. “It was a fantastic day for me. I am at the crossed roads and before this event I decided that I would prove all my critics wrong or else quit the sport. I am so glad, I won this rally,” said a visually pleased Arjun Aroor.
Bangalore Brothers Balram CG and Raghuram CG came overall third, a stunning performance and finished first in their class, the 1400 cc with a timing of 2 hours 17 minutes 14.5 seconds. Rattan Gangadhar and Nikuj finished second.
The Rally Star Cup saw Kaushik H Shinde and Ninad A Mirajgaonkar win the K-1000 with a comfortable 39 second lead over Dr Dhirendra Kumar and Ravi Raidurg, who had to be content with a second position.
The Army team of Amrinder Brar, with Himanshu as co-driver, virtually won the Speed INRC title in the Gypsy class with a fourth straight win while teammates Shakti Bajaj and Dharmesh Sinha came second followed by Harpreet Singh Sidhu and Hardevinder Brar.
Though the Lankan team of Ahamed Farooque and Ashan E Silva, driving a Mitsubishi Evo 10, put on view the beast of a machine on Sunday in the Super Special Stage, they failed to finish the rally in the Open Class.
After the triple S, Speed Master and ambassador for Bharat Petroleum, Narain Karthikeyan, entertained the audience with a quick lap. The first Indian to drive in Formula One said that he took part in simulator test for Force India after the last race in Abu Dhabi recently. Olympian and hockey legend MM Somaya was also present.
Provisional Unaudited Final Results:
Overall: 1. Arjun Rao Aroor/ Satish K Rajagopal (Team MRF) 1 hour 53 min 32.6 secs; 2. Lihitt V Urs/ Srikanth Gowda (MRF) 1: 53: 22.7 secs; 3. Balram CG/ Raghuram CG (privateers) 02: 17: 14.5 secs.
2000 N+ class: 1. Arjun Rao Aroor/ Satish K Rajagopal (Team MRF) 1 hour 53 min 32.6 secs; 2. Lihitt V Urs/ Srikanth Gowda (MRF) 1: 53: 22.7 secs; 3. Vikram Mathias/ PV Srinivasa Murthy (Red Rooster Racing) 2: 17: 28.4.
1400 cc class: Balram CG/ Raghuram CG (privateer) 02: 17: 14.5 secs; 2.Rattan N Gangadhar/ Nikunj GN (pvt) 2: 57: 02.3.
Rally Star Cup: 1. Kaushik H Shinde/ Ninad A Mirajgaonkar (pvt) 2: 14: 15.8; 2. Dr Dhirendra Kumar/ Ravi Raidurg 2: 14: 54.0; 3. Aditya S /Kariappa KB (pvt) 2: 18: 00.4;
Gypsy class: 1. Amrinder Brar/ Himanshu (Army Adventure Wing) 2: 09: 40.6; 2. Shakti Bajaj/ Dharmesh Sinha (AAW) 2: 14: 51.1; 3. Harpreet Singh Sidhu/ Hardevinder S Brar 2: 17: 14.5;
Ends
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Naren-Ram thrill crowds winning in the Rajasthan desert tracks
By David Bodapati
Jodhpur, 19 Sept 2010: Come-back king Naren Kumar, with veteran navigator Ram Kumar in tow, was in his elements as he thrilled the Sunday crowd with controlled aggression in the Super Special Stage but still kept his cool to finish the rally for a second successive victory in the Rally of Rajasthan, the third round of the Speed Indian National Rally Championship 2010 for cars to firmly entrench Team Red Rooster Racing on top of the leaderboard for manufacturers as the first rally in Rajasthan ended here with a sizeable crowd enjoying the daring feats of the drivers.
The third round of the high-octane Speed INRC also helped the champion from Coimbatore to take the lead over former champion and Red Rooster teammate Vikram Mathias by three points. Naren who got 10 points for this victory will now have 27 points to Vikram’s 24. Red Rooster Racing’s Amittrajit Ghosh (Ashwin Naik) finished second but it was Lohit Urs and Srikanth Gowda of Team MRF who scorched the tracks at the Chamia Polo ground to set the fastest time in the `triple s’ to clock 1 min 53.2 seconds, a fraction of a second faster than second placed Ghosh.
Regarded as the most prestigious event in Indian Motorsports, the 3rd round, Rally of Rajasthan, of Speed INRC was organized by Sportscraft under the aegis of FMSCI and is promoted by IMG Sports and Pro-Sports Promotion.
Driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Cedia in the 2000 cc N+ category, Naren Kumar and co-driver Ramkumar were not back in the contention for the National title after a disappointing start in the first event at Nashik. Teammate Amittrajit Ghosh and co-driver Ashwin Naik too bagged valuable points to come back into striking distance.
Sponsored by Bharat Petroleum’s SPEED brand, the Jodhpur round turned out to be a thriller with defending champion Gaurav Gill of Team MRF taking the Maharaja of Jodhpur on a joy ride around the circuit and then did his sliding drifts which sparked seat-edged excitement to the spectators today. Gill crashed out yesterday and could not officially compete today.
Bangalore duo Rahul Kantharajj and Vivek Bhatt pipped arch rivals Shailendar Hegde and Sheeraz in the SSS today and took the honours in the 1600cc class while Vishal and Robinson finished third.
However, it was Kerala pair Dr Bikku Babu and Bonnie Thomas who are unsung heroes as they not only won the 1400cc class but comprehensively defeated higher-rated cars and drivers finishing overall 8 ahead of all 1600cc cars. Byram Godrey and Anjay Kapadia were second in 1400cc category.
Venkatapathy MR and Santosh Kumar won the Rally Star Cup while Maj Amrinder Brar and Lt.Col Himanshu Parek from the Army Adventure Wing came out triumphant in the Gypsy class.
Provisional Unaudited – Final Classification:
Overall: 1. Naren Kumar / Co-driver Ram Kumar, Red Rooster Racing, 35:50.9; 2. Amittrajit Ghosh/Ashwin Naik, Red Rooster Racing, 36:36.8; 3. Lohit Urs/ Srikanth Gowda, Team MRF, 37:12.9;
Group 2000cc N+: 1. Naren Kumar / Co-driver Ram Kumar, Red Rooster Racing, 35:50.9; 2. Amittrajit Ghosh/Ashwin Naik, Red Rooster Racing, 36:36.8; 3. Lohit Urs/ Srikanth Gowda, Team MRF, 37:12.9;
Group 2000cc N: 1. Girijashankar Joshy / Chandramouli M, Ovion Racing, 40:10.9; 2. Sujay Suresh/ Bharath SM 41:23.1; Sirish Chandran/ Nikhil Pai Team Overdrive 42:05.1;
Group 1600cc N: 1. Rahul Kantharaj/ Vivek Bhatt privateer (pvt) 42:56.1; 2. Shailendar Hegde/ Sheraz Ahmed, pvt 43:30.6; 3. Vishal GA/ Robinson, pvt 48:04.6;
Group 1400cc N: 1. Dr Bikku Babu/ Bonnie Thomas, pvt – Kerala, 41:49.0; 2. Byram Godrej/ Anjay Kapadia, pvt, 47:54.0; 3.Sanjay Sikand/ Koka Rahul Rao, 49:33.4;
Group Rally Star Cup (RSC): 1. Venkatapathy MR/ Santtosh Kumar S, 44:52.0; 2. Harikesav N/Ashvin Nadig, pvt, 45:10.8; 3. Kaushik H Shinde/ Ninand A Mirajgaonkar, pvt, 47: 01.0;
Group Gypsy: 1. Maj Amarinder S Brar/ Himanshu Pareek, pvt – Army Adventure Wing, 47:16.6; 2. Harpreet Singh Sidhu/ Sanjay B Gokhale, AA Wing, 48:16.5, 3. Sameer Pandey/ Honey Narula, Pvt, 48:32.5.
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MAK K1000 INRC bike rally on Sunday
Bangalore, 20 August 2010: Bangalore : The Karnataka-1000, the second round of the MAK Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) for two-wheelers will be held Sunday at Siddhalaghatta, near here.
After a successful season opener at Coimbatore, which saw a record entries of over 40 bikes, the Bangalore leg too is bound to provide exciting thrills as the ‘Big Daddies’ are set to make their mark in K-1000.
“Some Bullet fans have approached us showing interest to rally these big bikes and we are expecting to make arrangements and five of these biggie would be seen in action,” said Praneeth Perumal, who set the technically daunting but fast track, about 140 km, from the city.
The second of the five rounds of the MAK INRC for Motorcycles will be organised by the Karnataka Motor Sports Club (KMSC) under the aegis of Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI), the governing body for the sport in the country.
Riders from Team TVS Racing, who have dominated the two-wheeler section for long will continue to be strong contenders. Reigning National champion Arvind KP, along with the Pramod Joshua, who began the season with a bang, winning the Coimbatore leg, will be among the top contenders.
The rally will have two Special Stages of 10.92 km and 8.95 km, and they will be run four times each in the same direction with service breaks in between. The total distance of Special Stage rallying will be 79.48 km.
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Naren Kumar, Ram Kumar duo put Red Rooster on top in home town
By David Bodapati
Coimbatore, 8 August 2010: Veteran war-horse and local pride Naren Kumar of Red Rooster Racing clinched the Speed Rally of Coimbatore, the second round of the Speed Indian National Rally Championship after he thrilled the spectators at the Super Special Stage with controlled aggression at the Ganga Naidu Charities Trust ground here on Sunday.
With Ram Kumar navigating in the Mitsubishi Lancer Cedia, the Coimbatore duo turned the tide for Red Rooster Racing with a facile win. Teammates Vikram Mathias and co-driver PV Srinivas Murthy finishing second, ahead of Team MRF’s Arjun Balu (Sujith Kumar BS). However, it was Team MRF’s Lohit Urs (Srikanth Gowda) who stole the limelight in the two-lap 1.3km Super Special Stage (SSS), the last special stage with a timing of 1 min 53 secs while defending national champion Gaurav Gill stalled his Cedia in the second lap but not before the few hundreds had a taste of his stunning drifts on the first lap. Gill crashed out in the first leg on Saturay but came back today gunning for the leg points in vain.
Team Ovion Racing’s Sujay Suresh and co-driver Bharath SM in a Mitsubishi Lancer Cedia won the 2000cc N category while the other Ovion team Girija Shankar Joshy and co-drier Chandramouli suffered bad luck with a flat tyre twice in the day. Vikram Devadasan (Shivaprakash) finished second ahead of Chethan Shivaram and Roopesh Kholay, who took advantage of mechanical problems faced by Sirish Chandran (Nikhil V Pai) of Overdrive.
In 1600cc N category, Shailendar Hegde (Sheraz Ahmed) brought home their Maruthi Baleno for a victory over the Kerala pair of Vishal GA and Robinson R George. The other team from Kochi, Ranjith Gopinath and Dileep R came third.
Dr Bikku Babu and co-driver Bonnie Thomas won the 1400cc class while Phalguna Urs (Anoop Kumar) took home the Rally Star Cup. The Army Adventure Club duo of Maj Amrinder Brar and Himanshu Pareek pushed back Shakti Bajaj (Dharmesh Singh) to the second place and won the Gypsy class comfortably.
Provisional un-audited Classification:
Overall: 1. Naren Kumar / Co-driver Ram Kumar, Red Rooster Racing, 1:35:58.3; 2. Vikram Mathias / PV Srinivasa Murthy, Red Rooster Racing, 1:36:32.7; 3. Arjun Balu/ Sujit Kumar BS, Team MRF, 1:39:27.4;
Group 2000cc N+: 1. Naren Kumar / Co-driver Ram Kumar, Red Rooster Racing, 1:35:58.3; 2. Vikram Mathias / PV Srinivasa Murthy, Red Rooster Racing, 1:36:32.7; 3. Arjun Balu/ Sujit Kumar BS, Team MRF, 1:39:27.4;
Group 2000cc N: 1. Sujay Suresh / Bharath SM, Ovion Racing, 1: 46: 53.9 ; 2. Vikram Devadasen/ Shivaprakash E, privateers (pvt), 1:51: 21.5; 3. Chethan Shivaram/ Roopesh Kholay, 1: 54: 47.2;
Group 1600cc N: 1. Shailendar Hegde/ Sheraz Ahmed, pvt, 1: 52:32.7;
2. Vishal GA/ Robinson R George, pvt, 1: 52: 55.9; 3. Ranjith Gopinath/ Dileep R, pvt, 1: 54: 55.7;
Group 1400cc N: 1. Dr Bikku Babu/ Bonnie Thomas, pvt-Kerala, 1: 49:59.0; 2. Byram Godrej/ Anjay Kapadia, pvt, 1: 50: 18.6; 3. Monish L /Jeevarathinam J, 1:58:43.9;
Group Rally Star Cup (RSC): 1. Phalguna Urs/ Anoop Kumar, pvt, 1: 52:25.1; 2. Harikesav N/Ashvin Nadig, pvt, 1: 53:38.3; 3. Venkatapathy MR/ Santtosh Kumar S, 1: 55:16.9;
Group Gypsy: 1. Maj Amarinder S Brar/ Himanshu Pareek, pvt – Army Adventure Wing
1: 53:34.6; 2. Shakti Bajaj/ Dharmesh Singh, pvt- Army AW, 1: 56: 22.2; 3. Harpreet Singh Sidhu/ Sanjay B Gokhale, 1: 56: 54.5. -
Gaurav Gill-Musa Sherif win opening round at Nashik
By David Bodapati
Nashik, 27 June 2010: Speed devil Gaurav Gill and co-driver Musa Sherif began with a bang and put Team MRF on the top winning the opening event of the Speed Indian National Rally Championship as they displayed controlled aggression with a comfortable lead in hand and won the Rally of Maharashtra with ease at the Dadasaheb Phalke Smarak here on Sunday.
The spectacular speeds at the spectator spectacle unfolded at the crowded Phalke Smarak and for once Gill had to control his speed an make sure the car does not play truant like last year. However, he did not shy away from entertaining the crowd with his drifts sliding down the corners without lifting off the gas. In the course, it was Red Rooster’s Vikram Mathias, last year’s winner here, who zoomed to the best timing in the Super Special Stage came out trumps in 1 minute 48.4 seconds, a clear 3.1 seconds faster than Gill but had to be content with the second place in his Mitsubishi Cedia with co-driver PVS Murthy. Kolkata’s Amittrajit Ghosh and Aswin Naik also of Team Red Rooster Racing took the third place on the podium in the inaugural event..
“It was a grand opening round for me and my team MRF. Finally, I got the monkey off my back and broke the Nashik jinx,” was how a relieved National champion Gill reacted. At the same venue last year, Gill’s car stalled soon after the start and was out of the competition. Gill never won at Nashik till today morning.
“We went in with a different set-up today and I was more intent on doing some drifts just to give the spectators something to cheer about. Overall, it was a good outing for us and we had no problems with the car,” said Gill as he busied himself to leave for New Zealand for the Asia Pacific Rally championship commencing next weekend.
In the 2000cc N category, Girijashankar Joshy and co-driver Chandramouli won the first title in the season for Team Ovion in its debut race with a timing of 1hr 29:46.5secs. Teammates Sujay Suresh and Varun Sathyanarayan made it a one-two for team Ovion while Sirish Chandran and Nikhil Pai came third.
Bangalore duo, Rahul Kantharaj with Vivek Bhat navigating in the 1600cc notched up an authoritative win over Shailender Hegde/Shiraz Ahmed. “We are very happy to launch our campaign with a win in,’’ said Rahul while Vivek said: “It was a daunting rally for the navigator with a lot of blind corners. The first day was slushy but otherwise it was a good rally with a lot calls. We enjoyed it.’’
Overnight leaders Dr Bikku Babu and co-driver Gerorge Varghese of Kerala won the 1400cc class while Byram Godrej/Anjay Kapadia came second. Monish-Jeeva pair took the third place.
Amrinder Brar and co-driver Himanshu Pareek put paid to the hopes of Sachin Singh/Adhiraj Bhardan pair in their Gypsy while Shakti Bajaj and Dharmesh duo finished third.
In the Rally Star Car category, Mysore pair Phalguna V Urs and Anoop Kumar made sure of their first title of the season with a comfortable win edging out Coimbatore pair Venkatapathy/Santosh Kumar. VS Ratan and Preetham came third.
Final Results (Provisional unaudited classification):
Overall and 2000cc N+: 1. Gaurav Gill/Musa Sherif (Team MRF) (1 hr 22:42.5); 2. Vikram Mathias/PVS Murthy (Team RRR) (1hr 25:03.2); 3.Amittrajit Ghosh/Ashwin Naik (Team Red Rooster Racing) (1:26:35.7);
2000cc: 1. Girijashankar Joshy/Chandramouli M (Ovion Racing) (1:29:46.5); 2.Sujay Suresh/Varun Sathyanarayan (Ovion Racing) (1:32:01.3); 3. Sirish Chandran/Nikhil Pai (1hr 34:30.7)
1600 cc: 1. Rahul Kanthiraj/Vivek Bhat (1hr 36:15.4); 2. Shailender Hegde/Sheraz Ahmed (1hr 40:02.5).
1400cc: Dr Bikku Babu/George Varghese (1hr 36:24.8); 2. Byram Godrej/Anjay Kapadia (1hr 36:39.9); 3. Monish/Jeeva (1hr 45:49.1)
Gypsy: 1. Amarinder Brar/Himanshu Pareek (1hr 37:03.6); 2.Sachin Singh/Adhiraj Bhardhan (1hr 41:19.4); 3. Shakthi Bajaj/Dharmesh Sinha (Army)(1hr 43:00.7)
Rally Star Cup: 1. Phalguna V Urs/Anoop Kumar (1hr 37:26.7) 2. Venkatapathy Mettuchetty/ Santosh Kumar Selvaraj (1hr 38:57.1); 3. VS Ratan/Preetham(1hr 41:58.6). -
Gaurav Gill-Musa Sherif begin with a bang at Nashik
By David Bodapati
Nashik, 27 June 2010: Speed devil Gaurav Gill and co-driver Musa Sherif began with a bang and put Team MRF on the top winning the opening event of the Speed Indian National Rally Championship as they displayed controlled aggression with a comfortable lead in hand and won the Rally of Maharashtra with ease at the Dadasaheb Phalke Smarak here on Sunday.
The spectacular speeds at the spectator spectacle unfolded at the crowded Phalke Smarak and for once Gill had to control his speed an make sure the car does not play truant like last year. However, he did not shy away from entertaining the crowd with his drifts sliding down the corners without lifting off the gas. In the course, it was Red Rooster’s Vikram Mathias, last year’s winner here, who zoomed to the best timing in the Super Special Stage came out trumps in 1 minute 48.4 seconds, a clear 3.1 seconds faster than Gill but had to be content with the second place in his Mitsubishi Cedia with co-driver PVS Murthy. Kolkata’s Amittrajit Ghosh and Aswin Naik also of Team Red Rooster Racing took the third place on the podium in the inaugural event..
“It was a grand opening round for me and my team MRF. Finally, I got the monkey off my back and broke the Nashik jinx,” was how a relieved National champion Gill reacted. At the same venue last year, Gill’s car stalled soon after the start and was out of the competition. Gill never won at Nashik till today morning.
“We went in with a different set-up today and I was more intent on doing some drifts just to give the spectators something to cheer about. Overall, it was a good outing for us and we had no problems with the car,” said Gill as he busied himself to leave for New Zealand for the Asia Pacific Rally championship commencing next weekend.
In the 2000cc N category, Girijashankar Joshy and co-driver Chandramouli won the first title in the season for Team Ovion in its debut race with a timing of 1hr 29:46.5secs. Teammates Sujay Suresh and Varun Sathyanarayan made it a one-two for team Ovion while Sirish Chandran and Nikhil Pai came third.
Bangalore duo, Rahul Kantharaj with Vivek Bhat navigating in the 1600cc notched up an authoritative win over Shailender Hegde/Shiraz Ahmed. “We are very happy to launch our campaign with a win in,’’ said Rahul while Vivek said: “It was a daunting rally for the navigator with a lot of blind corners. The first day was slushy but otherwise it was a good rally with a lot calls. We enjoyed it.’’
Overnight leaders Dr Bikku Babu and co-driver Gerorge Varghese of Kerala won the 1400cc class while Byram Godrej/Anjay Kapadia came second. Monish-Jeeva pair took the third place.
Amrinder Brar and co-driver Himanshu Pareek put paid to the hopes of Sachin Singh/Adhiraj Bhardan pair in their Gypsy while Shakti Bajaj and Dharmesh duo finished third.
In the Rally Star Car category, Mysore pair Phalguna V Urs and Anoop Kumar made sure of their first title of the season with a comfortable edging out Coimbatore pair Venkatapathy/Santosh Kumar. VS Ratan and Preetham came third.
Final Results (Provisional unaudited classification):
Overall and 2000cc N+: 1. Gaurav Gill/Musa Sherif (Team MRF) (1 hr 22:42.5); 2. Vikram Mathias/PVS Murthy (Team RRR) (1hr 25:03.2); 3.Amittrajit Ghosh/Ashwin Naik (Team Red Rooster Racing) (1:26:35.7);
2000cc: 1. Girijashankar Joshy/Chandramouli M (Ovion Racing) (1:29:46.5); 2.Sujay Suresh/Varun Sathyanarayan (Ovion Racing) (1:32:01.3); 3. Sirish Chandran/Nikhil Pai (1hr 34:30.7)
1600 cc: 1. Rahul Kanthiraj/Vivek Bhat (1hr 36:15.4); 2. Shailender Hegde/Sheraz Ahmed (1hr 40:02.5).
1400cc: Dr Bikku Babu/George Varghese (1hr 36:24.8); 2. Byram Godrej/Anjay Kapadia (1hr 36:39.9); 3. Monish/Jeeva (1hr 45:49.1)
Gypsy: 1. Amarinder Brar/Himanshu Pareek (1hr 37:03.6); 2.Sachin Singh/Adhiraj Bhardhan (1hr 41:19.4); 3. Shakthi Bajaj/Dharmesh Sinha (Army)(1hr 43:00.7)
Rally Star Cup: 1. Phalguna V Urs/Anoop Kumar (1hr 37:26.7) 2. Venkatapathy Mettuchetty/ Santosh Kumar Selvaraj (1hr 38:57.1); 3. VS Ratan/Preetham(1hr 41:58.6).ends/david. 973 180 2333
