Your basket is currently empty!
Category: National Rally Championship
-
Vikram Mathias, Sujith Kumar crowned INRC champions for 2004
Mumbai, 24 Jan 2005: Bangalore duo Vikram Mathias and co-driver Sujith Kumar of Team MRF were crowned as the new champions in the Indian National Rallying Championship and they were presented with a brand new Maruti Baleno by Maruti at a glittering prize distribution ceremony organised by Motorsports Association of India here on Saturday.
The 2004 season saw eight rounds and it was a close race with Mathias and Kumar winning the crown by just two points. The duo bagged 46 points to beat reigning championsh VR Naren Kumar and D Ramkumar, who garnered 44 points.
Prithveen Rajan and co-driver PV Srinivasa Murthy won the 1400cc title and was also presented with a Maruti Alto. The pair scored 71 points. Sanjay Agarwal and Chandramouli won the Rally Star Cup and drove away a Marut 800.
The Kadet Indian National Karting Championship was won by Chennai’s Vishnu Prasad with 53 points and Ashok Jadhav with 32 points was crowned as the Indian National Karting champion.
In the Asian Zone National Karting Championship, Charlie Charles of Malaysia won the honours and Chennai’s Preetham Muniappa came second.
Winners for 2004:
INRC Overall: Vikram Mathais/Sujith Kumar (Team MRF ) 46 points; V R Naren Kumar/D Ramkumar (Team MRF) 44; Lohit Urs/ Bonnie Thomas 42.
INRC 1400cc: Prithveen Rajan/P V S Murthy 71; Ranjith Ballal /Ashwin Naik 55; Arjun Rao Aroor/CK Chinappa 54.
Rally Star Cup: Sanjay Agarwal/ Chandramouli 72; Rajesh Gadakh/ Parithosh Kohok 49, Jasbir Singh/ Jeetender Nath 38.
Gypsy Cup: Anil Wadia/ Shrikanth GM 31; Along Iyer/ Suresh Rana 25; Gaurav Chirpal/ Satender Singh 18.
Kadet-Indian National Karting Championship (K-INKC): Vishnu Prasad 53; Ajay Kini 38; Chittesh Mandody 36.
INKC: Ashok Jadhav 32; Deepak Paul Chinnappa 27; Preetham Muniyappa 26.
Asian Zone National Karting Championship: Charlie Charles 18; Preetham Muniyappa 16; Mikko Nassi 16.
Vehicle preparation award: J Anand.Outstanding performance by a novice Gypsy driver: Gaurav Chirpal.
Outstanding performance by a novice driver: Rajesh Gadakh.
INRC event of the year 2004: MAK WISA Nashik Rally -
Lohith Urs-Bonnie Thomas win INRC; Karamjit-Allen clinch APRC
Pune, 5 Dec 2004: Ace Mysore driver Lohit Urs and Bonnie Thomas steered their Maruti Baleno to a stunning victory beating Team MRF’s Arjun Balu and co-driver Kumar Ramaswamy and excelled among the Indian drivers to clinch the top honours in the seventh round of th eIndian National Rally Championship (INRC), the MRF India Rally which was held concurrently with the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) here on Sunday.
Ranjit Ballal and co-driver Venu Ramesh Kumar won the 1400cc class pushing aside Philippos Mathai and Ashwin Naik while Sandeep Sharma and Shrikanth GM won the Gypsy Cup beating Along Aier and co-driver Ashok Agarwal. Jasbir Singha and Jatinder Nath came first in the Rally Star Cup for novice drivers.
Karamjit Singh of Malaysia, tackling tough terrain with ease, clocked 2 hours, 1 minute and 17.5 seconds to finish 29.8 seconds ahead of challenger Katsuhiko Taguchi and won the APRC Indian round. The Team Proton Pert driver efficiently managed to steer safely to the finish on a day when when three stages were cancelled in the MRF India Rally 2004, as a safety measure by the stewards. Drivers complained that non-rally vehicles and spectators and other village crowds were straying onto to the track in the closed Special Stages.
Japanese driver Katsuhiko Taguchi of Team MRF Tyres timed 2:01:47 to take the Overall second position in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo8. He navigated the tricky terrain to be the only driver in APRC category to counter Karamjit in the 3 special stages at Tahir.
Naren Kumar, along with co-driver D Ramkumar, who clocked 2:18:14, could only finish fourth in overall APRC classification, behind Karamjit, Katsuhiko and Geoffrey Argyle.
“It took some time for me to get used to the car and thus finishing fourth in APRC is very satisfying,” said the to Indian ace Naren.
Malaysian navigator, Allen Oh, who called the notes for the last time expressed mixed feelings about his retirement after this rally: “I am happy to be part of the winning team, at the same time sad that my last event as co-driver happened to be one of the worst.”
Nazir Hoosein of MAI, the governing boday, said: “Allen is an experienced competitor and his partnership with Karamjit has been nothing short of phenomenal. So such opinions have to be respected and should act as a motivation for all of us.”
The Head of the Indian federation also expressed apprehension that APRC may not be held in India next year. Nazir Hoosein, the vice-president of FIA and chairman of organising committee of the rally said: “We will request FIA to shift the rally dates in the calendar from December to February as it is the best month in India for good road conditions. If FIA agrees, the next APRC event can be held only in Feb but only in 2006.”
Final Provisional Classification:
APRC: 1. Karamjit Singh/ Allen Oh (Team Proton Pert) (2hours, 1min, 17.5sec); 2. Katsuhiko Taguchi/ Mark Stacey (MRF Tyres) (2:01:47); 3. Geoffrey Argyle/ Chris Cobham (Team Total Lubricants) (2:06:15); 4. Naren Kumar/ D Ramkumar (2:12:14); 5. Brian Green/ Fleur Pedersen (Team Total Lubricants) (2:18:54).
INRC: 1. Lohith V Urs/ Bonnie Thomas (1:10:32); 2. Arjun Balu/ Kumar Ramaswamy (MRF Tyres) (1:11:05).
1400cc: 1. Ranjith Ballal/ Ramesh Kumar; 2. Phillipos Mathai/ Ashwin Naik; 3. Jiby Maliakkal/ Nikhil Pai.
Gypsy Cup: 1. Sandeep Sharma/ Srikanth GM; 2. Along Aier/ Ashok Agarwal; 3. Anil Wadia/ Satinder Singh.
Rally Star Cup: 1. Jasbir Singh/ Jatinder Nath; 2. Nitin Batra/ Prashant Mehta.
-
Vikram Mathias-Sujith Kumar top in Delhi Rally
New Delhi, 21 Nov 2004: Team MRF’s Vikram Mathias overtook team-mate and overnight leader Karandip Singh to win the overall title in the MRF-Maruti Suzuki Rally of the North, the sixth round of the Motorsports Association of India’s Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) that concluded at the National Stadium, here, on Sunday.
With defending National champion VR Naren Kumar out of the fray, the coast is clear for Mathias and co-driver Sujith Kumar with one more round in hand. While Naren still leads the points tally with 44, Mathias’ victory here, which fetched him 14 points, has taken his tally to 43.
Mathias’ closest rival is Lohit Urs, who finished fastest on the second day and third overall to take his tally to 29.
Vikram Mathias and co-driver Sujith Kumar on the podium after winning the Rally of the North 2004 on Sunday. An INDIAinF1 photo The 1400cc was won comfortably by championship leader Prithveen Rajan and co-driver PVS Murthy, while Sanjay Agarwal and Anil Wadia maintained their momentum in the Rally Star Cup and Gypsy Cup, respectively, by winning with ease.
Mathias, who trailed Karandip by nine seconds overnight, pulled back two seconds on the first stage itself before conceding one in the second. However, it was in the third stage that he streaked ahead, making a princely 16 seconds on his rival from Chandigarh. The last stage saw both drivers easing up a bit, but here too Mathias was a second faster.
“I wanted to garner as many points as possible in this round, so I can plan my drive in the concluding round (Pune, Dec 4-5),” said Mathias.
Mysore’s Lohit Urs, winner of the Chandigarh round, was the fastest on Sunday. Urs had finished the first day in sixth position, thanks to car problems in the initial stages, but he was literally flying on the second day and finished 13 seconds ahead of Mathias. “A lot of things went wrong on the first day, or else I would have had a good chance to finish overall first,” said Urs, who was simply brilliant in the last stage, completing 8.62 km stage in 6.16 minutes.
All the drivers praised the dirt tracks that were prepared by the organizers Northern Motorsports, which provided for smooth and fast drives. Of the 34 cars that had entered, only four did not finish.
Provisional final results:
Overall: 1. Vikram Mathias/Sujith Kumar (Maruti Baleno, Team MRF) (76 mins 32 seconds); 2. Karandip Singh/Jaidas Mrenon (Maruti Baleno, Team MRF) (76.41); 3. Lohit Urs/Bonnie Thomas (Maruti Baleno) (76.48); 3. Prithveen Rajan/V S Murthy (Maruti Esteem) (77.52); 4. Arjun Rao Aroor/Shanmuga N (Maruti Esteem, Team Methods) (78.11).
1400cc: 1. Rajan/Murthy; 2. Aroor/Shanmuga; 3. Ranjith Ballal/Ramesh Kumar (Esteem) (79.33); 4. Sandeep Sharma/Kulbir Singh Dhaliwal (Maruti Esteem) (80.46).
Rally Star Cup: 1. Sanjay Agarwal/Chandramouli (Maruti Esteem) (79.32); 2. Rajesh Gadakh/Paritosh Kohok (Maruti Esteem) (83.25).
Gypsy Cup: 1. Anil Wadia/Satinder Singh (81.38); 2. Gaurav Chirpal/Sri Kantha GM (81.56).
Ends
-
Lohit Urs, Bonnie Thomas win Overall honours by 3 seconds
Chandigarh, 31 October 2004: Talented Mysore driver Lohit Urs and co-driver Bonnie Thomas pipped reigning National champion Naren Kumar and co-driver D Ramkumar of team MRF by a narrow margin to clinch their maiden overall win clinching the Power M1 Challenge, the fifth round of the Indian National RAlly Championship (INRC), which concluded at Shimla on Sunday.
Winning the rally by a thin margin of three seconds, the 25-year Mysore star steered his Maruti Baleno ahead of the multiple national champion announced his arrival into the big league scoring the biggest win of his career. Though Lohit also suffered mechanical issues like Naren, his overnight lead proved a big advantage as he mixed aggression with caution to safeguard the lead for a stunning win.
However, Naren Kumar and D Ramkumar, who won in Bangalore and Goa, continue to lead the table in the National Championship standing with a tally 44 points, with the 13 earned here. Vikram Mathais and co-driver Sujith Kumar, also of Team MRF, who took the overall win in Cochin, are in second place garnering 29 points.
Lohit Urs earned 15 points here and is currently in 4th place, behind Prithveen Rajan, who is in the third place with 23 points.
Prithveen Rajan and co-driver PV Srinivasa Murthy won the 1400cc category with another impressive outing and is leading the championship standings in this class, nine points ahead of Arjun Rao Aroor and co-driver Shanmuga S, who were trailing him overnight by 22 seconds. Arjun tried hard and reduced the lead by 12 seconds but had to be content with a second place. Prithveen came third overall while Chandigarh driver Sunny Sidhu, came fourth overall.
Running six stages on Saturday and all the tops cars took a beating and both Lohit and Naren opted for a mixed startegy but still went flat out with considerable ground to make. Naren had a misfortune in the very first stage as he broke the struts of his front and rear right wheels but carried on gamely conceding just a two-second lead to Urs.
And battle is going strong till the last stage with both in striking distnce but suddenly misfortune struck Urs this time as he suffered a flat in the rear left. But the Mysore lad drove through the 12.6-km stage and conceded 30 seconds to Naren. But that was enough as he scraped through by just three seconds, clinging on to the victory
“I knew that the stages would get harder every time, so planned my drive accordingly and my car stood the trial,” said a visibly-happy Lohit Urs. Making his debut in 1999, Lohit Urs saw his first major achievement winning the National title in 1400cc in 2003. But this is his first win in the overal category.
Naren was content collecting 13 important points in his quest for the championship. “In the first stage, I had hoped to catch some time on Lohit but I broke both my right struts. By then the lead was quite big, so I eased off in the last stage as I did not want to take unnecessary risks,” Naren said.
Provisional final classification:
Overall: 1. Lohit Urs/ Bonnie Thomas (Maruti Baleno) (2hours, 8min, 35sec); 2. Naren Kumar/D Ramkumar (Team MRF, Maruti Baleno) (2:08.38); 3. Prithveen Rajan/ PV Srinivas Murthy (Esteem) (2:13.05); 4. Sunny Sidhu/ Suresh Rana (Gypsy) (2:13.12); 4. Arjun Rao Aroor/ Shanmuga S (Esteem) (2:13.15).
1400cc class: 1. Prithveen Rajan/ PV Srinivas Murthy (Esteem) (2:13.05); 2. Arjun Rao Aroor/ Shanmuga S (Esteem) (2:13.15); 3. Ranjith Ballal/ Ramesh Kumar (Esteem) (2:17.36).
Gypsy Cup: 1. Sunny Siddhu/ Suresh Rana (2:13.12); 2. Along Iyer/ Zachumo Ezung (2:15.42); 3. Anil Wadia/ Pradeep Kumar (2:17.09).
Rally Star Cup: 1. Sanjay Agarwal/ Chandramouli (2:16.45); 2. Rajesh Gadakh/ Paritosh Kohok (2:26.19); 3. Faraz Khalid/ Arush Vohra (2:40.31).
-
Naren Kumar-Ram win Rally de Goa for 2nd win
Panajim (Goa), 12 Sept 2004: Defending champions VR Naren Kumar and D Ramkumar of Team MRF edged out strong contenders and teammates Vikram Mathias and Sujith Kumar to win the WIAA Rally de Goa, the fourth round of the MAI Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) here on Sunday.
Naren Kumar put the tragedy in the second round behind him and drove a steady rally driving his Baleno with control to win by 13 seconds. Naren, thus gained valuable points, with this second win in the INRC, having won K1000, the second round at Bangalore. The first round at Nashik was won by Philippos Mathai and Ashwin Naik while Vikram Mathias and Sujith Kumar clinched the third round at Cochin.
1600cc and Overall winners, Naren Kumar, left, and Ram Kumar at the podium ceremony in Goa on Sunday. Photo courtesy Team-BHP.com Prithveen Rajan and co-driver PVS Murthy won the 1400cc class beating Ranjit Ballal and co-driver Ramesh while Sanjay Agarwal and co-driver Chandramouli won the Rally Star Cup. Gaurav Chirpal along with navigator GM Srikanth won the Gypsy Class beating Anil Wadia and co-driver Pradeep Kumar.
Provisional (Unaudited) Results: 1600cc INRC: 1. VR Naren Kumar/ D Ramkumar (Team MRF) (1hour, 13min, 32sec); 2. Vikram Mathaias/ Sujith Kumar (Team MRF) (1:13.45).
1400cc: 1. Prithveen Rajan/ PVS Murthy (1:18.44); 2. Ranjit Ballal/
Ramesh (1:18.57); 3. Purujit Singh/ Musa Sherif (1:22.43); 4. Philippos Mathai/
Ashwin Naik (1:22.59); 5. Nitin Batra/ Gaurav Srivastav (1:23.14).Rally Star Cup: 1. Sanjay Agarwal/ Chandramouli (1:00.11); 2. Jasbir Singh
Randhwa/ Jeetendra Nath (1:02.11); 3. Rajesh Gadakh/ Paritosh Kohok (1:04.02).Gypsy category: 1. Gaurav Chiripal/ GM Srikanth (1:24.16); 2. Anil Wadia/
Pradeep Kumar (1:24.16). -
Mishap mars Popular Rally; Sad end to the rally
Kochi, 21 August 2004: An unfortunate mishap in the 21st Popular Rally 2004, involving competitor No. 1 Naren Kumar and co-driver D Ramkumar, which resulted in the death of a five-year-old spectator Bobby, forced the organisers, the Kerala Auto Sports Club (KASC) to terminate the rally after four special stages which were run in the area around the forest sanctuary of Boothathankettu, about 40 kms from Kochi, here, on Saturday.
Trailing behind Vikram Mathais by four seconds after the completion of three special stages, defending champion Naren Kumar was touching speeds of over 100 kms when the mishap happened, the young kid crossing the road unexpectedly to join his father on the other side and colliding head on with the speeding Maruti Baleno.
According to the other spectators, the boy was on the opposite side of his father and brother just beyond a narrow bridge and ran to join them on being called. The father did not take into consideration the fast speed of the rally cars and it resulted in the unfortunate mishap. The child was rushed to hospital in the rally ambulance but succumbed to his injuries before reaching the hospital, where he was declared dead.
An official statement released by the organisers said, “After running 4 special stages, the organisers have decided to terminate the Popular Rally 2004, in view of an unfortunate accident in a closed special stage section, wherein a spectator, Bobby, a 5-year-old boy succumbed to his injuries in an accident involving competitor No. 1, Naren Kumar. The boys was accompanied by his father and his brother.
The fast and treacherous stages also claimed its own victims, three cars, which crashed out in the first special stage, the 15.06 km long Illythodu stage. Overall leader Philipose Mathai, the last round’s 1400cc winner, Prithveen Rajan and Rally Star Cup leader Rajesh Gadakh, all went off the road at high speeds, crashing their cars but escaping unhurt. Also going off the road was Karandip Singh, who smashed into a tree and destroyed the front arm of his car.
After three special stages, Vikram Mathais was leading the overall field with a time of 25.40 seconds, four ahead of Naren Kumar (25.44). Arjun Balu was in third place with 26.13.
Following are the provisional results after three stages:
Overall: Vikram Mathais/Sujith Kumar 25.40 mins; V R Naren Kumar/D Ramkumar 25.44; Arjun Balu/Kumar Swamy 26.13.
1400cc: Arjunrao Aroor/CK Chinappa 26.52; Ranjith Ballal/Ramesh Kumar 28.33; Sandeep Sharma/Kulbeer Singh 28.52.
Rally Star Cup: Sanjay Agarwal/Chandra Mouli 28.20; Khalid Faraz/G S Joshi 31.40; Jasbir Singh/Jeetender Nath 35.33.
Vikram Mathias (right) and co-driver BS Sujith Kumar with the Overall Trophy they won at the Popular Rally 2004. Photo by George Francis, Scorp News. -
Naren-Ram begin account in style; MRF sweep podium
Bangalore, 8 August 2004: Ace rally pair from Coimbatore, Naren Kumar and co-driver D Ramkumar of Team MRF began their title defence with a comfortable victory in the 30th Karnataka-1000 Rally, the second round of the Indian National Rally Championship here on Sunday.
The rally which was flagged off from The Club on Mysore Road on Friday ran the Special Stages at Bagepalli, off Bellary road, about 100km from the city. Defending champions Naren and Ram, began their account this year as Philippos Matthai and co-driver Ashwin Naik stole the victory at the first round in Nashik in July. The champion duo had to contend their teammates Karandip Singh and co-driver Jaidas Menon, who finished second and Vikram Mathis and co-driver Sujith Kumar, who had to settle for third. Thus Team MRF swept the podium in the overall category.
Prithveen Rajan along with navigator PV Srinivasa Murthy won the 1400cc category while Sanjay Agarwal and co-driver Chandramouili lifted the Rally Star Cup.
Two physical special stages, Garuda and Banda, were run thrice each on Saturday and twice each on Sunday near Bagepalli.
Provisional Results: Overall: 1. Naren Kumar/D Ramkumar (Team MRF) (43:32); 2. Karandeep Singh/Jaidas Menon (Team MRF) (44:28); 3. Vikram Mathais/Sujith Kumar (Team MRF) (44:29).
1400cc class: 1. Prithiveen/PVS Murthy (45:34); 2. Arjun Rao Aroor/C Chinappa (45:51); 3. Philippos Matthai/Ashwin Naik (45:51).
Rally Star Cup: 1. Sanjay Agarwal/ Chandramouli (48:36); 2. Chetan Shivraman/ Srikarunaya; 3. Rajesh Gadakh/Paritosh Kohok (50:03).
The following reported is first published in Deccan Herald and reproduced here Courtesy Deccan Herald.
Bangalore, DHNS, Monday August 9, 2004: Reigning National champion V R Naren Kumar (co-driver D Ramkumar) of Team MRF expectedly clinched the overall title with yet another stunning drive in his Baleno as the 30th Karnataka-1000 Rally, the second round of the MAI Indian National Rally Championship, concluded here on Sunday.
Incidentally, Naren had begun his Rally career by winning the group N (unmodified) title in a Gypsy in the 1994 K-1000 and had returned the following year to claim his first ever Overall crown in an Esteem.
Averaging 126kmph, the Coimbatore-based Naren destroyed the opposition even as his nearest overnight challenger and team-mate Arjun Balu (co-driver Kumar Ramaswamy), packed up with a broken suspension early in the first of the two 17.6 Kms stages that were run on Sunday at Bagepalli, about 120 Kms from Bangalore.
In the bargain, the Chandigarh-Bangalore combination of Karandip Singh and co-driver Jaidas Menon, also of Team MRF, finished second, but a mere one second ahead of team-mate Vikram Mathias (Masinagudi) and co-driver Sujith Kumar (Bangalore).
Meanwhile, Coimbatore’s Prithveen and co-driver PVS Murthy of Bangalore, spared seven seconds to local challengers, Arjun Rao Aroor and his veteran co-driver C K Chinnappa to top the 1400cc class.
Arjun Rao and the Nashik Rally winner, Philippos Matthai tied with penalty timing of 45 minutes, 41 seconds, but the former was adjudged second on the basis of more stage wins.
In the Rally Star Cup, Bangalore’s Sanjay Agarwal (co-driver Chandramouli), who was supported by Chettinad Sporting, topped comfortably while Chetan Shivaraman and co-driver Srikarunya of Bangalore, nursed their overnight second position despite suffering mechanical problems.
Provisional results: Overall/1600cc: Team MRF (VR Naren Kumar/D Ramkumar) 1 (43mins, 32 secs); Team MRF (Karandip Singh/Jaidas Menon) 2 (44:28); Team MRF (Vikram Mathias/Sujith Kumar) 3 (44:29).
1400cc: Prithveen/PVS Murthy 1 (45:34); Arjun Rao Aroor/C K Chinnappa 2 (45:41); Philippos Matthai/Ashwin Naik 3 (45:41).
Rally Star Cup: Sanjay Agarwal/Chandramouli 1 (48:36); Chetan Shivaraman/Srikarunya 2 (49:22); Rajesh Ghadag/Paritosh Kohok 3 (50:03). -
Philippos-Naik win maiden Overall title at Nashik
Nashik, 4 July 2004: Talented Philippos Mathai and co-driver Ashwin Naik won the MAK Nashik Rally, the opening round of MAI Indian National Rally Championship (INRC), sponsored by Gulf Oil, which concluded here at the Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan on Sunday.
The Nashik Rally is the season opener of Motorsports Association of India’s (MAI) ambitious 8-round calendar for 2004. The rally fraternity will move to Bangalore for the second round K1000 in August.
Strong contender Jiby Maliakkal and co-driver Nikhil Pai, who won the final rally last year in Pune, fell into 37-second arrears on Saturday night and made an aggressive attempt to cut the gap but could make only 22 seconds and ended up second overall.
Thus Philippos Mathai and Ashwin Naik bagged their maiden overall title. The Maliakkal and Pai duo, who lost crucial time when their 1600cc Honda City V-Tec went off the road. The duo finished 15 seconds behind clocking one hour 31minutes and 18 seconds. The duo of Mathai and Naik also won the 1400cc title. Arjun Rao Aroor and experienced CK Chinappa came second in the 1400cc class while Sandeep Sharma and co-driver Kulbir Singh Dhaliwal were third.
The Rally Star Cup was won by Zohrab Zorabian and co-driver Rayomand Banajee ahead of Amith Kumar and co-driver Amith Anand. Rajesh Gadakh and co-driver Paritosh Kohok finished third.
The results (provisional):
Overall: 1. Phillipos Mathai/Ashwin Naik 1:31.18; 2. Jiby Maliakkal/Nikhil Pai (Team Chettinad) 1:31.33; 3. R. Karthikeyan/G. Satish 1:31.42.
1400cc category: 1. Phillipos Mathai/Ashwin Naik 1:31.18; 2. Arjunrao Aroor/CK Chinappa (Methods) 1:32.40; 3. Sandeep Sharma/Kulbirsingh Dhaliwal 1:35.12.
Rally Star Cup: 1. Sohrab Zorabian/Rayo Banerjee 1:38.16; 2. Amith Kumar/Amith Anand 1:40.07; 3. Rajesh Gadakh/Paritosh Kohok 1:44.57.
Note: This article is manually migrated from the archives of old website.
-
Karamjit wins Pune leg by loses APRC title by a point
Pune, 7 Dec 2003: Karamjit Singh of Malaysia won the MRF India rally with a stunning drive on a difficult terrain on the western outskirts of Pune, steering his Group A Proton to a creditable victory but failed to retain his FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship title, losing by just a point to Armin Kremer, here on Sunday.
INRC Winners – Jiby & Nikhil
Meanwhile, it was Jiby Maliakkal and co-driver Nikhil Pai, who clinched the honours in the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) bringing home their Honda City VTec to a comfortable win in the 1600cc class. The INRC was held concurrently with the APRC round here in Pune. Mysore driver Lohit Urs and co-driver Musa Sherif won the 1400cc class.
Tactical Kremer gains
Coming back to APRC, German Armin Kremer not only won the the overall honours for the year but also took home the Production Class victory for the year 2003 by finishing 2nd overall in the final leg in Pune. Behind the wheel of a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 7, Kremer won the title on his MRF tyres-backed Mitsubhishi by garnering seven super rally points for his drive here, which proved crucial in the end.
Before the start of the APRC final round here, four drivers were competing with a chance to win the championship. Kiwi driver Geoff Argyle was on table top with 45 points followed by Kremer on 43 and, Japan’s Fumio Nutahara was third another six points behind Kremer on 37. Defending APRC champion, Malaysian Karamjit Singh had only 34 points but still had a fair chance of clinching the title again with a maximum of 19 points on offer in the last leg in Pune. However, as one would have it, despite taking the Overall victory here, Karamjit missed a chance to retain the title by a point as Kremer managed 7 super rally points to seal the championship.
Kremer was leading overnight after a good run in the first leg while Karamjit lost about 90 seconds due to a puncture and the three super rally points stood Kremer in good stead with Singh getting only two, which in the end proved costly for the Malaysian.
Despite winning the next two legs and the points, Karamjit Singh had to rue the point he lost in the first leg. He increased the lead to 2 minutes 22 seconds but Kremer was cool enough to guard his second place in the last two legs, thus winning the championship.
Italian Nico Caldarola was third in a Mitsubishi Lancer 7 and MRF team-mate of Kremer, David Doppelrieter was fourth.
Geof Argyle had issues all the day as he had problems with shock absorber before overheating and punctures ruined his chances and he ended up at 6th place by the end of Day 1. But he still had a chance on the following days for the other legs as his contender for the championship Fumio Nutahara crashed out with a suspension issue. His team-mate Katsu Taguchi also pulled out with bad gearbox.
Playig a tactical game and a second place enough for the championship, Kremer took it easy in the second leg and let the Malaysian Karamjit pull up a gap in the lead and was content protecting his second place. “I know I just had to come second. But I have to finish and take the second place for the bonus point for the day which is very crucial. It meant I couldn’t back-off. With the rough conditions it was difficult to know the right pace,” said Kremer. But the way he drove, Kremer judged well during all the stages on the final day. And, he finally made it by just a point.
“I’m very happy to take the overall win because we came here looking for the Group N title for this year. So this is fantastic. This is a wonderful championship with so many countries, conditions and cultures. For European drivers it is such a good experience to have so many events with gravel and they are all so different. It is over and we now we think about next year,” concluded the champion from Germany.
Karamjit Singh said: “I am happy to win in India as this country is very special to me. But it is a bit frustrating to lose the championship by a point.”
-
Karamjit Singh takes lead after Day 2: APRC
Pune, 6 Dec 2003: Celebrated rally driver Karamjit Singh and co-driver Allen Oh of Petronas Eon Racing team, Malaysia, driving a Group A, modified Proton Pert, snatched a 90-second lead over Germany’s Armin Kremer and co-driver Fred Berssen of Team MRF Tyres, to take the day’s honours on Saturday at the end of Leg 2 of the MRF India Rally, the fifth and concluding round of the 2003 FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship, simultaneously run along the seventh and final round of the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) here on Saturday.
Karamjit, the 2002 Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) and Production Cars category World Rally Championship winner, managed to erase the deficit of over one minute to overnight leader, Kremer who lead at the end of Leg 1.
Driving aggressively and hitting top speeds in the first Special Stage of the day (SS6), Karamjit took 14 second off Kremer, the 2001 European champion, and went on clip a further 54 seconds in the next stage and reclaimed the lead he had on Friday but some technical issues with suspension later on, spoiled his good work as he lost almost two minutes.
However, Karamjit consolidated his lead increasing it by another 45 seconds in SS-8 and then enhanced it to one minute, 29.7 seconds at the end of Leg 2.
Kremer, who had clinched the Group N (unmodified) title last night after his closest rival Japan’s Fumio Nutahara had dropped out following an off-road excursion, had to deal with gear selection problems. He was forced to drive his Group N Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 7 in third gear through much of SS-7 and SS-8.
“It was basically a technical problem and I was stuck in third gear for nearly 10 kms of SS-7 and also the next Stage. It has been a tiring day for me, with the Stages being long, narrow and tricky. However, we only need to finish second Overall to win the APRC championship and that is not too bad a position to be in. But then, I need to keep an eye on Nutahara who might be starting again tomorrow to try for some Leg points,” said Kremer at the final Service halt.
Nutahara, after crashing out yesterday, started Leg 2 today, but half-way through SS-7, the gearbox of his Evo 7 gave way, forcing him to retire for the day. However, he plans to restart on Sunday.
Karamjit had no such issues, though he had to come to terms with a suspension that had gone soft and some problems with the brakes. “We have had no punctures, no big problems. So, I’m pretty happy with our performance,” said Karamjit.
Meanwhile, two top New Zealand entries, Geof Argyle (co-driver Steve Smith) of Racetech Seats and Andrew Hawkeswood (co-driver Paul Fallon) of Force Motorsport Ltd., dropped out of contention.
Argyle, in a Group A Evo 6.5, has had a wretched outing here. “I broke both the front struts today and had a puncture on SS-9 that cost me three minutes. So, it has been a disappointing Rally for me. Perhaps, I should have run on harder suspension, given the rough terrain here,” said Argyle who is placed fifth Overall, but second in Group A, behind Karamjit. Hawkeswood, also in a Group A Evo 6.5, retired after a puncture on SS-7 and broken strut on SS-8.
“I had broken two struts yesterday. So, I do not have any spares. It has been a disappointing APRC season for me, as I finished only two of the five rounds. Perhaps, I will take a year’s break and come back in 2005,” he said.
David Doppelreiter of Austria (co-driver Ola Floene of Norway), representing Team MRF Tyres, put in some fast times in his Group N Evo 7, to finish Leg 2 at fourth Overall, behind Karamjit, Kremer and 2002 Group N champion, Nico Caldarola (co-driver Paolo Cecchini) of Italy.
Provisional/unaudited classification after Leg 2:
APRC Overall: 1. Karamjit Singh/Allen Oh (Team Petronas Eon Racing) (3hrs, 9mins, 29.3secs); 2. Armin Kremer/ Fred Berssen (Team MRF Tyres) (3:10:59.0); 3. Domenico Caldarola/ Paolo Cecchini (3:14:44.7); 4. David Doppelreiter/ Ola Floene (Team MRF Tyres) (3:20:02.2); 5. Geof Argyle/ Steve Smith (Team Racetech Seats) (3:29:15.1); 6. Chris Atkinson/ Ben Atkinson (Team Monster Sport Australia) (3:33:03.2); 7. Brian Green/ Fleur Pedersen (Team Force Motorsport Ltd) (3:43:54.5).
APRC Group N (unmodified): 1. Kremer/Berssen ; 2. Caldarola/Cecchini ; 3. Doppelreiter/Floene 3.
Leg 2 Points: Karamjit Singh 3 pts; Kremer 2 pts; Caldarola 1 pt.
Total points after Leg 2: Kremer 5, Karamjit 5, Caldarola 2.
