INDIA in F1

Category: National Rally Championship

  • Dean Mascarenhas hogs limelight finishing fastest in Super Special Stage: INRC Ro1

    Dean Mascarenhas hogs limelight finishing fastest in Super Special Stage: INRC Ro1

    Chennai, 15 March 2024: Mangaluru’s Dean Mascarenhas and co-driver Konganda Gagan Karumbaiah from Ammati, Kodagu, came up with a stunning drive to top the time sheets in the MMSC 47th South India Rally, the first round of the Blueband Sports fmsci Indian National Rally Championship 2024 (INRC), which saw the 51 competitors doing two loops of the 1.55-km Super Special Stage (SSS) at the Madras International Circuit near here on Friday.

    While 30-year-old Mascarenhas (DB Motorsports) did the star turn in his Volkswagen Polo to emerge provisional leader, Bengaluru’s Karna Kadur combining with veteran co-driver Musa Sherif (Kasargod) for the first time, led the field in the AVT Gold Cup FIA APRC Asia Cup, but was only sixth fastest in the combined standings.

    Further down the grid, Delhi’s Maninder Singh Prince (co-driver Arjun Dheerendra, Bengaluru) of SNAP Racing, topped in the INRC 2 class while Bengaluru’s Arjun Rajiv (co-driver Vinay Padmashali, Mysuru) took a slender leader in INRC 3 and Junior INRC, and Anushriya Gulati raced to a comfortable lead in the Women INRC categories.

    Meanwhile, the Bengaluru pair of Pragathi Gowda and co-driver Trisha Alonkar, sponsored by SIDVIN and MRF Tyres, in an All-Wheel Drive Subaru Impreza for the first time, struggled a bit and was placed third in the Asia Cup, behind Kadur and Wadia.

    Mascarenhas said: “I am driving the same car as last season which was a bit of up-and-down for me. But today, the car was great and we had no issues with it. Happy to finish the day as the Overall leader, though I am aware it’s still early days and plenty more Stages to negotiate over the next two days.”

    The early leaders after Friday’s shootout when two cars raced on parallel tracks, face acid test over the next two days when the competitors head out to Special Stages in AAVISA and Kelam besides the Track.

    Mangaluru’s Dean Mascarenhas (left) and co-driver Konganda Karumbaiah from Ammati, Kodagu, who clocked the fastest time in the Triple-S on Friday. Photo By Anand Philar

    Provisional (Unaudited) classification after Day 1 (Section 1, Leg 1):

    FIA APRC-Asia Cup: 1. Karna Kadur (Bengaluru) / Musa Sherif (Kasargod) (Arka Motorsports) (02mins, 56.8secs); 2. Harkrishan Wadia (Delhi) / Kunal Kashyap (Himachal) (Arka Motorsports) (02:57.7); 3. Pragathi Gowda / Trisha Alonkar (Both Bengaluru) (Pvt.) (02:58.7).

    Blueband Fmsci Indian National Rally Championship:

    Overall: Dean Mascarenhas (Mangaluru) / Gagan Karumbaiah (Kodagu) (DB Motorsports) (02:53.8); Maninder Singh Prince (Delhi) / Arjun Dheerendra (Bengaluru) (SNAP Racing) (02:55.3); Younus Ilyas (Kollam) / Chandramouli M (Bengaluru) (SNAP Racing) (02:55.7).

    INRC 2: Maninder Singh Prince / Arjun Dheerendra (02:55.3); Philippos Matthai (Delhi) / PV Srinivasa Murthy (Bengaluru) (Arka Motorsports) (02:55.7); 3. Aditya Thakur / Virender Kashyap (both Himachal) (Chettinad Sporting) (02:56.5).

    INRC 3: Arjun Rajiv (Bengaluru) / Vinay Padmashali (Mysuru) (Chettinad Sporting) (02:58.6); 2. Sheshank Jamwal (Himachal) / Aseem Sharma (Chandigarh) (Arka Motorsports) (02:58.8); 2. Vishak Balachandran (Thiruvananthapuram) / Anil Abbas (Ernakulam) (Chettinad Sporting) (02:59.3).

    Junior INRC: 1. Arjun Rajiv (Bengaluru) / Vinay Padmashali (Mysuru) (02:58.6); 2. Arnav Pratap Singh (Delhi) / Rohit N (Bengaluru) (SNAP Racing) (02:59.8); 3. Nikhil J (Bengaluru) / Raghuram Saminathan (Coimbatore) (Pvt.) (03:04.3);

    Women INRC: 1. Anushriya Gulati (Dehradun) / Karan Aukta (Arka Motorsports) (03:06.0); 2. Tarushi Vikram / Sheraz Ahmed (both Chikkamagaluru) (Pvt.) (03:21.9); 3. Harshita Raj Gowda (Bengaluru) / Vignesh Mahalingam (Coimbatore) (Pvt.) (03:27.1);

    Fmsci Challenge – Gypsy: 1. Dr Akarsh Sundar (Chikkamagaluru) / Ravikumar Reddy (Bengaluru) (Pvt.) (03:15.4); 2. Sanjay Agarwal / Dheeraj Manae (both Bengaluru) (Pvt.) (03:16.9); 3. Jayanth Somanathan / R Rajashekar (Pvt.) (03:18.8);

  • 47th edition of the famed South India Rally begins on Friday: INRC Round 1

    47th edition of the famed South India Rally begins on Friday: INRC Round 1

    Chennai, 13 March 2024: There is heightened expectations and excitement ahead of the 47th MMSC South India Rally to be run here from March 15 to 17 and which has attracted 52 entries.

    The three-day event, organized by the Madras Motor Sports Club, and promoted by Blueband Sports, doubles up as the first round of AVT Gold Cup FIA APRC South India Rally – Asia Cup which has received 10 entries, all from India, and the Blueband fmsci Indian National Rally Championship (52 entries, including the 10 APRC contenders) to be contested over 137 Kms of 13 Special Stages and covering an overall distance of about 446 Kms.

    The Madras International Circuit is the hub of most activity, including the Super Special and Track Stages. It will also house the Service Park, the Rally Headquarters and Media Centre.

    The Asia Cup entry list is headlined by Mangalorean Aroor Arjun Rao (co-driver Satish Rajagopal), the 2023 Overall National champion, driving a Maruti Suzuki Baleno and representing Mandovi Racing. Rao also heads the INRC field which includes Delhi’s Harkrishan Wadia (co-driver Kunal Kashyap), the 2023 INRC 2 champion, and Chandigarh-based Jahaan Singh Gill (Suraj Keshav Prasad) of SNAP Racing who has moved up to INRC 2 after capturing the INRC 3 and JINRC titles last season.

    A notable absentee is multiple APRC and INRC champion Gaurav Gill who had originally entered, but withdrew at the last minute due to delay in getting his Ford Fiesta shipped from Dubai in time for this weekend’s event.

    The seven-round INRC comprises various classes that include Overall (INRC), INRC 2, INRC 3, Junior INRC (below 26 years of age) and Women, besides the FMSCI Challenge Cup, a non-championship category for Maruti Gypsy vehicles.

    The weekend action will witness seven female competitors, including five drivers – Pragathi Gowda (Bengaluru), Harshitha Gowda (Bengaluru), Phoebe Nongrum (Arunachal Pradesh), Anushriya Gulati (Pune, 2023 women’s champion) and Tarushi Vikram (Chikkamagaluru), besides two co-drivers Trisha Alonkar (Bengaluru, 2023 National co-driver champion) and Shivani Parmar (Mumbai).

    Pragathi, sponsored by SIDVIN, will be setting a milestone in Indian motorsport. She is poised to become the first female from India to pilot a four-wheel drive car, the 300bhp Subaru Impreza shod with MRF Tyres, with Malaysian Karamjit Singh, the former World Rally champion (Production Cars), tutoring her.

    “I am very excited and looking forward to the South India Rally. I am even more grateful that a legend like Karamjit Singh has taken time out to train me to drive this powerful car and SIDVIN for supporting me. I haven’t had any seat time in this car, and it will be a learning curve for me,” said Pragathi who will be partnered by co-driver Trisha Alonkar.

    FIA Observer, Dale Moscatt from Australia, was all praise for the organisers and the Special Stages. “I did a recce of the Kelam Stage yesterday. The organisers have done a great job in putting together so many kilometres into such a small place. It is fully fenced off area and so security and everything is fantastic in the Stage. It will be challenging to all competitors. Today, we went to the other Stages (Aavisa and Track) which are the same as last year. Lots of turns and bumps, and so, very challenging. The facility here at the race track (Madras International Circuit) is great.”

    Taking an overview of the event, Clerk-of-the-Course (CoC) Manoj Dalal, who is also the secretary of MMSC, said: “You can expect an action-packed weekend as the field, rich in youth and experience, is extremely competitive. There are many familiar faces and a few relatively new entrants. As organisers, MMSC has taken every precaution and all permissions to ensure a safe and successful event which is a showpiece in the INRC calendar. We extend our thanks to all the sponsors, the promoters, the Media and, of course, the competitors, for their whole-hearted support and involvement.”

    The competitors are scheduled to do a reconnaissance of all the Special Stages on Thursday and Friday morning. The competition will commence on Friday afternoon with the Spectator Special Stage at the Madras International Circuit. The following two days will witness the competitors negotiating the other Special Stages (Track, AAVISA and Kelam). The Rally will conclude on Sunday afternoon with prize-distribution ceremony at the MIC.

  • Triumphant Harkrishan, Kunal clinch iconic K1000 Rally for second Overall win

    Triumphant Harkrishan, Kunal clinch iconic K1000 Rally for second Overall win

    Tumakuru, 23 Dec. 2023: Delhi’s Harkrishan Wadia and co-driver Kunal Kashyap turned their overnight lead into a memorable victory at the iconic Blueband K1000 Rally, and won the 2023 INRC2 title bagging full 40 points in the sixth and final round of the Blueband Sports fmsci Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) for four-wheelers, which concluded near Gubbi, here on Saturday.

    The Mangaluru-Bengaluru pair of Aroor Arjun Rao and co-driver Satish Rajagopal has already won the Blueband Indian National Rally Championship 2023 Overall title winning the first three rounds and took a 45-point unbeatable lead going into K1000. Wadia and Kashyap of Himachal, after their maiden win at the Blueband Robusta Rally of Kodagu last month, took their second straight Overall victory at K1000 to comfortably clinch the title in their class, the INRC2. “I am delighted with the back-to-back wins and the title is a bonus. I am grateful to my father and I thank all my team, especially Leela sir, Karna, Phil and all the boys. But for them, this would not have been possible,” said the 25-year Harkrishan, the 2020 Junior INRC champ and son of former rally star Anil Wadia.

    Harkrishan Wadia, left, and Kunal Kashyap, winners of the Blueband 47th K1000 Rally at Tumakuru on Saturday. An INDIAinF1 image

    Mangaluru’s Dean Mascarenhas along with co-driver Gagan Karumbaiah, who were lying in Overall third overnight, finished Overall second ahead of the Snap Racing pair, Younus Ilyas (co-driver Nitin Jacob). Behind Arka Motorsports’ Wadia (co-driver Kashyap), who was driving an INRC2 spec Volkswagen Polo 1.6, it was 2019 champion Chetan Shivram and co-driver E Shivprakash, who took the second place in the INRC2 class. Ritesh Guttedar and Chetan M finished third.

    In the INRC3 class, Jason Saldanha and co-driver Thimmanna Uddapanda, fresh from their exploits in this year’s Malaysian Rally Championship, emerged as winners of K1000 in this class. Jahaan Singh Gill and co-driver Suraj Keshav Prasad finished second, which was enough for them to clinch the INRC3 2023 championship. Daraius Shroff and Shahid Salman, who were in title contention till Hyderabad, lost the plot in the last two rounds. They finished third in their class today.

    Jahaan Singh, who won the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) Junior title last month in Indonesia, also won the Junior INRC title.

    Ammyfied Rallying pair Abhin Rai and co-driver Rohit Gowda won the K1000 on way to their maiden INRC4 title. Kothamangalam privateers Athul Thomas and Sajil V Saji came second and Praveen Dwarakanath and co-driver Kariyappa KB finished third.

    In the Gypsy class, Ammyfied Rallying made a clean sweep of the podium led by Samrat Yadav and Arvind Dheerendra. Darshan Nachappa and co-driver Abhinav Ganapathy were second and that was enough for them to clinch the 2023 FMSCI Gypsy Cup. Dr Akarsh Sunder and V Sekar, who finished third amassed more points but lost on “N minus one’ rule, where drivers can discard one round.

    Anushriya Gulati, who won the K1000 Rally, also clinched the Ladies Class championship for 2023.

    Of the 59 entries, only 30 cars finished. Six cars on Day 1 and 21 cars on Day 2 did not finish.

    Final Provisional Results:

    Overall: 1. Harkrishan Wadia/ Kunal Kashyap (Arka Motorsports) (01hr, 26min, 53.5seconds); 2. Dean Mascarenhas/ Gagan Karumbaiah (Pvt.) (01:27:57:2); 3. Younus Ilyas/ Nitin Jacob (Snap Racing) (01:28:06.1);

    INRC2: 1. Harkrishan Wadia/ Kunal Kashyap (Arka Motorsports) (01:26:53.5); 2. Chetan Shivram/ E Shivaprakash (Jo1 Rallying) (01:30:34.4); 3. Ritesh Guttedar M/ Suraj M (Pvt.) (01:32:27.5);

    INRC3: 1. Jason Saldanha/ Thimmanna Uddapanda (Dark Don Racing) (01:29:39.0); 2. Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad (Snap Racing) (01:29:49.6); 3. Daraius Shroff/ Shahid Salman (Chettinad Sporting) (01:30:02.0);

    INRC4: 1. Abhin Rai/ Rohit Gowda (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:36:25.2); 2. Athul Thomas /Sajil V Saji (Pvt.) (01:47:34.0); 3. Praveen Dwarakanath / Kariyappa KB (Pvt.) (01:51:05.2):

    Gypsy: 1. Samrat Yadav/ Arvind Dheerendra (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:40:02.9); 2. Darshan Nachappa/ Abhinav Ganapathy (Ammyfied) (01:43:29.6); 3. Dr Akarsh Sunder/ V Seker (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:44:03.3);

    Junior INRC: 1. Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad (Snap Racing) (01:29:49.6); 2. Arjun Rajiv/ Milen George (Ammyfied) (01:33:14.2); 3. Abhin Rai/ Rohit Gowda (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:34:45.2);

    Ladies Class: 1. Anushriya Gulati/ Sherwin Dalmeida (Dark Don Racing) (01:51:35.1);

    INRC Champions for 2023:

    Overall 2023 Rally champion: Aroor Arjun Rao/ Satish Rajagopal;

    INRC2: Harkrishan Wadia/ Kunal Kashyap (Arka Motorsports);

    INRC3: Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad (Snap Racing);

    INRC4: Abin Rai/ Rohit Gowda;

    Ladies Class: Anushriya Gulati;

    Junior INRC: Jahaan Singh Gill;

    Gypsy Cup: Darshan Nachappa/ Abhinav Ganapathy;

  • Harkrishan, Kunal duo leads Day 1 again at the iconic K1000 Rally: INRC

    Harkrishan, Kunal duo leads Day 1 again at the iconic K1000 Rally: INRC

    Tumakuru, 22 Dec. 2023: Delhi daredevil and Arjuna Awardee Gaurav Gill, began with a bang and clocked the fastest stage times in the first two special stages but it was his compatriot young gun Harkrishan Wadia, also from Delhi, who stole the limelight beating the best in the next two stages to emerge as the Overall leader at the end of Day 1 in the iconic Blueband K1000 Rally, the sixth and final round of the Blueband Sports fmsci Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) for four-wheelers, near Gubbi, on Friday. In the previous Kodagu Rally also, the duo took the lead on Day 1 and went on to win the Overall title the next day.

    The popular Blueband K1000 Rally, organised by Karnataka Motor Sports Club (KMSC), is the oldest running rally in India and threw more surprises as Wadia, along with Kunal Kashyap of Himachal Pradesh, fresh from their maiden Overall victory at the Kodagu Rally, dominated the proceedings with a late charge and the multiple-champion Gill, who won K1000 many times is trailing in the fifth position, about 84 seconds behind the leaders. Championship leaders Aroor Arjun Rao and Satish Rajagopal, continued to suffer hiccups, but the duo have already clinched their maiden INRC title, with a round to spare.

    Arka Motorsports’ Harkrishan Wadia (co-driver Kashyap), driving an INRC2 spec Volkswagen Polo 1.6 did a commendable job to finish the Leg 1 on top on Day 1 but they need to sustain the tempo for a flourish on the last day of the season tomorrow. The duo also topped their INRC2 class. Younus Ilyas and co-driver Nitin Jacob emerged Day 1 in second followed by Mangaluru’s speed merchant Dean Mascarenhas and Gagan Karumbaiah in third.

    In INRC2, former champions Philippos Matthai and co-driver PVS Murthy are following Wadia in second and 2019 champion Chetan Shivram is in third along with his navigator E Shivaprakash.

    Shivani Parmar (co-ddriver Arjun Dheerendra) leads the Ladies Class after Day 1 at the K1000 Rally near Gubbi on Friday. Due to Christmas, the K1000 Rally finishes on Saturday, instead of the traditional Sunday.

    In the INRC3 class, Jason Saldanha and co-driver Thimmanna Uddapanda, who did well in this year’s Malaysian Rally Championship, emerged as leaders with a late kick pushing behind Shashank Jamwal and Aseem Sharma to second. Talented Jahaan Singh Gill of Chandigarh along with Bengaluru co-driver Suraj Keshav Prasad of Snap Racing, who already clinched the Junior INRC title for 2023, is in third place. They are table leaders before going into K1000.

     “I have a comfortable margin of over 40 seconds, but I am not going to relax. We will carry the tempo and go for it on the final day of the season. It felt good in the last two stages and I want to keep up the momentum,” said the day’s leader, Harkishan Wadia, who came into prominence in the Asia Pacific Rally Star event at Chennai last year.

    Abhin Rai is leading INRC4 class along with co-driver Rohit Gowda, and the Ammyfied Rallying team is looking for a strong finish tomorrow. In the Gypsy Class, another Ammyfied team of Samrat Yadav and Arvind Dheerendra are in P1 looking to sustain the good run on Saturday.

    Provisional Results after Day 1:

    Overall: 1. Harkrishan Wadia/ Kunal Kashyap (Arka Motorsports) (00hrs, 58min, 26.2seconds); 2. Younus Ilyas/ Nitin Jacob (Pvt.) (00:59:11.7); 3. Dean Mascarenhas/ Gagan Karumbaiah (Pvt.) (00:59:14:4);

    INRC2: 1. Harkrishan Wadia/ Kunal Kashyap (Arka Motorsports) (00:58:26.2); 2. Philippos Matthai/ PV Srinivasa Murthy (Arka Motorsports) (00:59:27.2): 3. Chetan Shivram/ E Shivaprakash (Jo1 Rallying) (01:00:44.0);

    INRC3: 1. Jason Saldanha/ Thimmanna Uddapanda (Dark Don Racing) (01:00:09.7); 2. Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad (Snap Racing) (01:00:31.1); 3. Daraius Shroff/ Shahid Salman (Chettinad Sporting) (01:00:38.0).

    INRC4: 1. Abhin Rai/ Rohit Gowda (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:03:27.9); 2. Athul Thomas /Sajil V Saji (Pvt.) (01:10:39.5); 3. Praveen Dwarakanath / Kariyappa KB (Pvt.) (01:12:48.3):

    Gypsy: 1. Samrat Yadav/ Arvind Dheerendra (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:04;58.5); 2. Darshan Nachappa/ Abhinav Ganapathy (Ammyfied) (01:09:11.6); 3. Dr Akarsh Sunder/ V Seker (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:09:24.8);

    Ladies Class: 1. Shivani Parmar/ Arjun Dheerendra (Chettinadu Sporting) (01:03:43.0); 2. Nikeetaa Takkale/ Raghuram Saminathan (Snap Racing) (01:03:55.8); 3. Anushriya Gulati/ Sherwin Dalmeida (Dark Don Racing) (01:04:25.0).

    Junior INRC: 1. Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad (Snap Racing) (01:00:31.1); 2. Abhin Rai/ Rohit Gowda (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:03:27.9); 3. Arjun Rajiv/ Milen George (Ammyfied) (01:03:41.5).

  • Harkrishan-Kunal duo emerges overall winners at Robusta Rally: INRC Ro5

    Harkrishan-Kunal duo emerges overall winners at Robusta Rally: INRC Ro5

    Kodagu, 19 Nov. 2023: Displaying controlled aggression Delhi’s Harkrishan Wadia, along with Himachal’s Kunal Kashyap, of Arka Motorsports bagged their maiden overall victory as they emerged triumphant in the Blueband Robusta Rally of Kodagu, the fifth Round of the Blueband Sports fmsci Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) for four-wheelers here on Sunday.

    The penultimate round organised by Robusta Adventure and Sports Academy, and promoted by Blueband Sports, offered a tough terrain, like the last rally in Hyderabad, with only one INRC spec car finishing in the top-10. With top guns faltering once again, like in Hyderabad, Wadia and Kashyap, unfurled their magic in a lower spec INRC2 Volkswagen Polo 1.6 to win the Overall honours in an INRC event. They also won their class, INRC2. Aroor Vikram Rao and co-driver Somayya, who were third overnight finished a creditable Overall second with young Jahaan Singh Gill and co-driver Suraj Keshav Prasad taking overall third.

    “We are over the moon. This is our first overall victory and first INRC2 win. And our first stage wins, too. We are thankful to everyone who helped us in this journey. Especially, my father, who’s always been my No.1 supporter. Thanks to the whole team at Arka but for whom this sweet victory would not have been possible. They gave us the perfect car throughout the weekend. And Phil bhaiyya (Philippos Matthai) who’s helped improve my driving massively,” said a visibly delighed Wadia.

    Chandigarh’s Jahaan Gill also won the INRC3 class while local star Abhin Rai and co-driver Aravind Dheerendra of Ammyfied Rallying won the INRC4 class. Privateers Mitchu Ganapathy of Gonikoppa and co-driver Venu Ramesh Kumar of Coimbatore won the Gypsy class.

    A total of 23 cars of the 60 failed to finish the course (DNF). Of the 60 that took the start on Day 1 (Leg 1) only 52 finished and of the 52 cars that took the start on Day 2 (Leg 2) 15 cars logged DNF. Sixty one cars entered the fray but one car did not start the raly.

    “We congratulate the winners of Robusta Rally, Coorg. We have received tremendous feedback on the course and the overall experience from the participants. We are grateful for the opportunity to organise and bring back the pride of motorsport back to Coorg,” said Somanna JJ, Founder Partner, Robusta Adventure and Sports Academy.

    Final Provisional Results:

    Jahaan Singh Gill and Suraj Keshav Prasad win INRC3. INDIAinF1 photo

    Overall: 1. Harkrishan Wadia/ Kunal Kashyap (Arka Motorsports) (1min, 45min, 07.2seconds); 2. Aroor Vikram Rao/ AG Somayya (Chettinad Sporting) (01:46:35.8); 3.Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad (Snap Racing) (01:46:51.3).

    INRC2: 1. Harkrishan Wadia/ Kunal Kashyap (Arka Motorsports) (1:45:07.2); 2. Aroor Vikram Rao/ AG Somayya (Chettinad Sporting) (01:46:35.8); 3. Jacob KJ/ Shanmuga SN (Arka MS) (01:47:27.8).

    INRC3: 1. Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad (Snap Racing) (01:46:51.3); 2. Sheshank Jamwal/ Aseem Sharma (Arka Motorsports) (01:48:25.4); 3. Daraious Shroff/ Shahid Salman (Chettinad Sporting) (01:48:32.8).

    INRC4: 1. Abhin Rai/ Aravind Dheerendra (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:52:28.0); 2. Vivek Ruthuparna/ Athreya Kousgi (Snap Racing) (01:56:15.4); 3. Sefeekudheel/ Arun V (pvt.) (02:11:09.2).

    Gypsy: 1. Michu Ganapathy/ Venu Ramesh Kumar (Pvt.) (02:03:30.5): 2. Abhishek Gowda/ Dheeraj Manae (pvt.) (02:04:09.7); 3. Jayanth Somanathan /R Rajashekar (pvt.) (02:04:13.0).

    Ladies: 1. Anushriya Gulati/ Sherwin Dalmeida (Dark Don Racing) (01:55:20.8); 2. Shivani Parmar/ Arjun Dheerendra (Chettinad) (01:56:21.5); 3. Pragathi Gowda/ Trisha Alonkar (AART Motorsports) (02:00:06.3).

    Junior INRC: 1. Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad (Snap Racing) (01:46:51.3); 2. . Abhin Rai/ Aravind Dheerendra (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:52:28.0); 3. Vivek Ruthuparna/ Athreya Kousgi (Snap Racing) (01:56:15.4)

  • Harkrishan, Kunal duo takes lead after Day 1 at Rally Robusta: INRC Ro5

    Harkrishan, Kunal duo takes lead after Day 1 at Rally Robusta: INRC Ro5

    Kodagu, 18 Nov. 2023: Delhi driver Harkrishan Wadia, along with Himachal’s Kunal Kashyap did a splendid job to take the overall lead in the Round 5 of the Blueband Sports fmsci Indian National Rally Championship at the end of Day 1 at the Special Stages near here on Saturday. The Blueband Robusta Rally of Kodagu, organised by Robusta Adventure and Sports Academy, offered a tricky and tough terrain that saw 21 cars, of the 61 that started, fail to finish the course on Day 1.

    Arka Motorsports’ Harkrishan (co-driver Kashyap), driving an INRC2 spec Volkswagen Polo 1.6 did a commendable job to finish the tough Anandpura and Polibetta competitive stages after Day 1. The duo also topped their INRC2 class. Talented Jahaan Singh Gill of Chandigarh with Bengaluru co-driver Suraj Keshav Prasad of Snap Racing came overall second and topped the INRC3 class after six Special Stages on Saturday. The Mangaluru-Bengaluru pair of Aroor Vikram RAo and co-driver AG Somayya of Chettinad Sporting were placed overall third with six more stages to go on Sunday.

    “The day was full of adrenaline. The stages were fast and flowing but down to narrow and bumpy at places from time to time. I thank Arka Motorsport for giving us the perfect car even after the damages at Hyderabad rally. The strategy for Sunday is to do nothing different but follow up on today’s pace. keep the car on road and drive fast,” said Wadia after a tough day.

    Vikram Rao and Sahil Khanna (co-driver Harish KN) are following Wadia in INRC2 class while Jahaan Singh Gill is also leading his INRC3 class with Daraious Shroff (co-driver Shahid Salman) and Sheshank Jamwal (Harish KN) trailing him in that order. Abin Rai and Aravind Dheerendra of Ammyfied Rallying were leading INRC4 class while Darshan Nachappa and co-driver Abhinav Ganapathy topped the Gypsy class on Day 1.

    Provisional Results after Day 1:

    Overall: 1. Harkrishan Wadia/ Kunal Kashyap (Arka Motorsports) (1min, 0min, 55.7seconds); 2. Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad (Snap Racing) (01:01:27.5); 3. Aroor Vikram Rao/ AG Somayya (Chettinad Sporting) (01:01:47.0).

    INRC2: 1. Harkrishan Wadia/ Kunal Kashyap (Arka Motorsports) (1min, 0min, 55.7seconds); 2. Aroor Vikram Rao/ AG Somayya (Chettinad Sporting) (01:01:47.0); 3. Sahil Khanna/ Harish KN Gowda(Snap Racing) (01:02:41.8).

    INRC3: 1. Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad (Snap Racing) (01:01:27.5); 2. Daraious Shroff/ Shahid Salman (Chettinad Sporting) (01:02:51.8); 3. Sheshank Jamwal/ Ashish Sharma (Arka Motorsports) (01:03:08.2);

    INRC4: 1. Abhin Rai/ Aravind Dheerendra (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:04:52.4); 2. Vivek Ruthuparna/ Athreya Kousgi (Snap Racing) (01:05:34.7); 3. Prajwal HM/ Vinay SM (Pvt.) (1:12:19.2).

    Gypsy: 1. Darshan Nachappa/ Abhinav Ganapathy (Ammyfied) (01:10:14.6); 2. Sanjay Agarwal/ Phalguna Raghavendra (pvt) (01:11:28.6); 3. Michu Ganapathy/ Venu Ramesh Kumar (Pvt.) (01:11:40.3).

    Ladies: 1. Anushriya Gulati/ Sherwin Dalmeida (Dark Don Racing) (01:06:22.8); 2. Nikeetaa Takkale/ Raghuram Saminathan (Snap Racing) (01:06:52.9); 3. Shivani Parmar/ Arjun Dheerendra (Chettinad) (01:07:45.7).

    Junior INRC: 1. Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad (Snap Racing) (01:01:27.5); 2. . Abhin Rai/ Aravind Dheerendra (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:04:52.4); 3. Vivek Ruthuparna/ Athreya Kousgi (Snap Racing) (01:05:34.7).

  • KJ Jacob and Shanmuga triumph at Rally of Hyderabad; Big guns topple

    KJ Jacob and Shanmuga triumph at Rally of Hyderabad; Big guns topple

    Hyderabad, 29 October 2023: KJ Jacob and co-driver Shanmuga SN bagged their maiden big victory as they became the Overall winners of the Rally of Hyderabad, the fourth round of the Blueband Sports fmsci Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) 2023 at Sanghi Nagar, near Ramoji Film City, here on Sunday.

    Thrissur’s KJ Jacob, who made his debut in the INRC in 2015 at K1000 rally in Bengaluru, took his first Overall victory. Ably assisted by co-driver Shanmuga of Bengaluru, the duo driving an INRC2 spec Volkswagen Polo 1.6 punched above their weight. Hyderabad’s tough terrain and, the longest special stage among the current rally venues in, India, proved daunting as the top-three in both the INRC1 and INRC2 and many overnight leaders, fell by the way side in the final stage. Of the eight premier class cars, driven by top guns in the country, only Younus Ilyas finished the punishing course.

    Vishakh Balachandran and Anil Abbas and young turk Arjun Rajiv and Rohit Gowda, both driving the lower INRC3 spec Polo 1.6 cars finished Overall second and third. Jacob and Shanmugha also won the INRC2 class while Vishakh and Anil took the INRC3 victory.

    Vivek Ruthuparna and co-driver Athreya Kousgi won the INRC4 while talented Pragathi Gowda and Trisha Alonkar bagged the Ladies class. Baljinder Singh Dhillon and Goutham CP won the Gypsy class.

    Revised Provisional Results: Overall: 1. Jacob KJ, Thrissur /Shanmugh, Bengaluru, Team Arka Motorsports (1hour, 54minutes, 29.2seconds); 2. Vishakh Balachandran/ Anil Abbas (1:55:18.0); 3. Arjun Rajiv/ Rohit Gowda (1:55:28.7);

    INRC2: 1.Jacob KJ/ Shanmugha SN, (1:54:29.2); 2. Ritesh Guttedar / Suraj M (1:57:01.2); 3. Chetan Shivram/ Shiv Prakash (1:58:02.9).

    INRC3: 1. Vishakh Balachandran, Thrissur/ Anil Abbas, Ernakulam (1:55:18.0); 2. Arjun Raj:iv/ Rohit Gowda (1:55:28.7); 3. Jason Saldanha/ Thimmu Uddapanda (1:56:04.7).

    INRC4: 1. Vivek Ruthuparna, Chikkamagaluru/ Athreya Kousgi, Mumbai (2:11:07.5); 2. Safeekuddin/ Arun V (2:21.41.8);

    Ladies: 1.Pragathi Gowda/ Trisha Alonka (Both Bengaluru) (1:58.07.5); 2. Nikeetaa Takkale/ Raghuram Saminathan (2:11:45.3).

    Junior INRC: 1. Arjun Rajiv; 2. Jahaan Singh Gill; 3. Vivek Ruthuparna.

    Gypsy (non championship):1. Baljinder Singh Dhillon/ Goutham CP (2:16:23.5); 2. Sanjay Lal/ V Sekar (2:17:10.7); 3. Abhishek Gowda/ Dhiraj Manae (2:18:01.6).

  • Philippos Matthai wins INRC2, claims stunning overall 2nd; Third win for Aroor Arjun Rao

    Philippos Matthai wins INRC2, claims stunning overall 2nd; Third win for Aroor Arjun Rao

    Coimbatore, 30 July 2023: Philippos Matthai, the Delhi Daredevil from Team Speedsport, claimed a stunning victory in the INRC2 class and finished ahead of many higher-spec cars with an Overall second, even as Aroor Arjun Rao continued his winning spree in the top Overall class annexing the Rally of Coimbatore, the third round of the Blueband fmsci Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) 2023 for four-wheelers which concluded here at the Kethanur Windmill farms on Sunday.

    Hat-trick of INRC wins: Aroor Arjun Rao and Sathish Rajagopal en route to a big win in the Rally of Coimbatore at the Kethanur Windmill farms on Sunday. Photo by Rahul Reghu

    Team Mandovi Racing’s Aroor Arjun Rao with co-driver Satish Rajagopal put in a consistent performance to notch up his third Overall victory in as many rounds and retained his Championship lead while Philippos Matthai and co-driver PV Srinivasa Murthy in a Volkswagen Polo prepared by Leelakrishnan of Arka Motorsports powered to the top of the podium winning INRC2 and beat all the other top-spec INRC cars except that of Arjun Rao in the Overall standings. In the last round in Arunachal Pradesh, Philippos finished second in INRC2 and came Overall 5th after a forgettable first round in the South India Rally where he was forced to pullout within 2-km of the finish due to mechanical problems while leading second Overall.

    Pre-event favourites Arjun Awardee Gaurav Gill (Aniruddha Rangnekar) and defending champion Karna Kadur (Nikhil Pai) failed to finish the rally.

    “With a calculated strategy we garnered as many points as possible in the previous two rallies and our consistent and steady performance helped as we are back on the top in our class. I am very happy and with three more rallies to go, our target is to win the championship,” said the 39-year four-time National champion in different motorsports disciplines. The lawyer by education and car-builder and rally driver by passion, Philippos is remembered for driving the medical chase car at the F1 Grands Prix races held at Buddh International Circuit in 2012 and 2013.

    Philippos Matthai and PVS Murthy in the windmill section… Photo by Rahul Reghu

    Talented Chandigarh driver Jahaan Singh Gill along with Suraj Keshav Prasad won the INRC3 class ahead of Jason Saldanha of Mangaluru with co-driver Thimmu Uddapanda, who last week got on to the podium of RAAT the Rally of Thailand in their class.

    Aroor Arjun Rao, left, and Sathish Rajagopal, after sweeping all the three rounds, celebrate in Coimbatore on Sunday. Supplied photo

    Ruthuparna Vivek and co-driver Athreya Kousgi claimed INRC4 category beating Shirole Prakhyat and Bharath SM by a huge distance. Behind them the Chikkamagaluru paid of Prajwal HM and Vinay SM finished in third place.

    Dehradun’s Anushriya Gulati with a new co-driver in Sherwin Dalmeida of Managaluru won the Ladies class. Representing Dark Don Rallying, the duo had a huge lead over second-placed Nikeetaa Takkale (Venu Ramesh Kumar). Mumbai’s Shivani Parmar and Bengaluru”s Arjun Dheerendra of Chettinad Sporting finished third.

    Provisional Results:  Final Unaudited Classification:

    Overall: 1. Aroor Arjun Rao, Mangaluru / Satish Rajagopal, Bengaluru (Mandovi Racing) 1:53:48.4;

    2. Philippos Matthai, Delhi/ PVS Murthy, Bengaluru (Arka Motorsports) 1: 54:20.0;

    3. Amittrajit Ghosh, Kolkata/ Ashwin Naik, Mangaluru (Arka Motorsports) 1: 54: 31.1;

    INRC:

    1. Aroor Arjun Rao, Mangaluru / Satish Rajagopal, Bengaluru (Mandovi Racing) 1:53:48.4;

    2. Amittrajit Ghosh, Kolkata/ Ashwin Naik, Mangaluru (Arka Motorsports) 1: 54: 31.1.

    3. Rahul Kanthraj Vivek Y Bhatt (Both Bengaluru) (Arka Motorsports) 1: 55: 39.1;

    INRC2:

    1. Philippos Matthai, Delhi/ PVS Murthy, Bengaluru (Arka Motorsports) 1: 54:20.0;

    2. Fabid Ahmer/ Sanath G, both Palakkad (Chettinad Sporting)  1:54:37.7;

    3. Dr Bikku Babu / Milen George, Both Ernakulam, (Chettinad Sporting) 1:55.00.3;

    INRC3:

    1. Jahan Singh Gill, Chandigarh/ Suraj Keshav Prasad, Bengaluru (Snap Racing) 1:55:37.6;

    2. Jason Saldanha, Bengaluru/ Thimmu Uddapanda, Coorg(Dark Don Rallying) 1: 55:45.3;

    3. Daraious Shroff, Mumbai/ Shahid Salman, Bengaluru(Chettinad Sporting) 1:57:04.5.

    INRC4:

    1. Ruthuparna Vivek/ Athreya Kousgi, Privateers, both Chikkamagaluru 2: 03:10.5;

    2. Shirole H Prakhyat/ Bharath SM, Both Bengaluru, 2:06:32.6;

    3. Prajwal HM/ Vinay SM, pvt, both Chikkamagaluru, 2:12:40.6;

    Gypsy: 

    1. Darshan Nachappa/ Abhinav Ganapathy (Both Coorg) Ammyfied Rallying, 2:06:10.7;

    2. Abhishek Gowda, Chikkamagaluru/ Dheeraj Manae, Pvt, Bengaluru 2:07:29.6;

    3.Jayanth Somanathan/ R Rajashekar, Pvt,  2:12:16.0.

    Ladies class:

    1. Anushriya Gulati, Dehradun/ Sherwin Dalmeida, Mangaluru, (Dark Don Rallying) (1:49:14.2);

    2. Nikeetaa Takkale, Pune/ Venu Ramesh Kumar, Coimbatore (Ammyfied Rallying) (2:02:18.4);

    3. Shivani Parmar, Mumbai/ Arjun Dheerendra, Bengaluru (Chettinad Sporting) (2:22:47.0).

    Junior INRC:

    1. Jahan Singh Gill, Chandigarh/ Suraj Keshav Prasad, Bengaluru (Snap Racing) (1:55:37.6);

    2. Ajay Sankar, Kollam/ Nitharshan, Kollakurichi, pvt, (1:59:21.7);

    3. Nikeetaa Takkale, Pune/ Venu Ramesh Kumar, Coimbatore (Ammyfied) 2:02:18.4);

    (Note: Results corrected after release of Official results)

  • Gaurav Gill raring to go; Arjun Rao keen to keep the lead; 23 Ammyfied cars

    Gaurav Gill raring to go; Arjun Rao keen to keep the lead; 23 Ammyfied cars

    Coimbatore, 28 July 2023: Arjuna Awardee Gaurav Gill and co-driver Aniruddha Rangnekar are eager to bounce back while championship leader Aroor Arjun Rao and Satish Rajagopal are looking to looking for a decent finish to garner as many points as possible to keep their title fight alive as the third round of the Blueband fmsci Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) for four wheelers begins at the Kethanur Windmill farms here on Saturday.

    A total of 76 cars are in fray for the rally organised by Coimbatore Auto Sports Club, one of the oldest and founder clubs of fmsci, the Indian federatioin. Though this high number is not a National record, it is one of the events with highest number of competitors in fray. Of these, 23 cars are fielded by Ammyfied Rallying which is sponsored by businessman Vamcy Merla through his sports foundation.

    After the ceremonial start at the traditional Jenneys club on Friday evening, the drivers looked confident with the recce under their belt and Philippos Matthai who just managed to log in some important points in the slippery mountains of Itanagar is raring to go all out in the fast stages of Coimbatore in INRC2 class. The Arka Motorsports driver from Delhi in a rally-tuned Polo will have a fight in hand with Kerala drivers and former champions Dr ‘Speed’ Bikku Babu (Milen George) and advocate Fabid Ahmer (Sanath G).

    Jehan Singh Gill and co-driver Suraj Keshav Prasad, dominated with their raw speed last year but became victims to some errors by the tuners. This year Jehan Singh Gill is expected to showcase his talent to be in the frontrunners not only in INRC3, his class, but is capable of beating the higher-spec machines. Arnav Pratap Singh (Arjun SSB), Darious Shroff (Shahid Salman) and Vishak Balachandran (Anil Abbas) will be vying with each other to be on the top in INRC3 which has a huge number of 28 cars.

    The cars to watch out for in the INRC4 class are Abhin Rai and co-driver Uday Kumar, Ruthuparna Vivek and co-driver Athreya Kousgi, and Jagpreeth Singh Nirwan and Karanpreet Singh Mattu, who are leading the championship in that order.

    The Gypsy class, which is a non-championship Cup event, has attracted more numbers thanks to the generosity of Vamcy Merla.

    Both the Junior INRC and Ladies class will also have stiff competition with the season getting into the midway mark.

    The windmill stages are fast and have two physical stages namely the 8.4km SM Agro and 10.4km BBS which will be run thrice each on Saturday. On Sunday, the longer special stages of Black Thunder (18.2km) and Thunder World (14.99km) will be run twice in the same direction.

    The next round of the six-round calendar, K1000, is expected to be near Bengaluru in August.

  • Supported by Vamcy Merla, Ammyfied Rallying fields record 23 cars: INRC

    Supported by Vamcy Merla, Ammyfied Rallying fields record 23 cars: INRC

    Bengaluru, 28 July 2023: For the first time in the 35-year history of Indian National Rally Championship (INRC), a team has fielded a record number of 23 cars for a round of the INRC as official team entries. The huge number also made it a record 76 entries for the Rally of Coimbatore to be held at the Kethanur Windmill farms on Saturday and Sunday.

    Team Ammyfied Rallying, powered by Vamcy Merla Sports Foundation, has fielded a record-breaking number of 23 team entries for the Rally of Coimbatore, the third round of the Blueband fmsci Indian National Rally Championship 2023 which begins here on Friday. Apart from the team entries, VMSF is said to have supported another 15 privateers.

    “Ammyfied Rallying has a deep vision to promote rallying in India and has been supporting talented drivers from different parts of India. With ample support from VM Sports Foundation, we have created a platform for young talent to step into rallying,” said Aeman Ahmed, Team Principal.

    “I wish all the best to the biggest team, Ammyfied Rallying. Rallying is my passion and I am doing my bit to promote talented drivers so that they can realise their potential,” said Vamcy Merla of the Foundation.

    Ammyfied which has dominated the Gypsy Class so far in the first two rounds has also bagged many podium places in other classes. For this round, drivers were fielded in all the classes except in the top INRC class. Top drivers like Suhem Kabeer and co-driver Jeevarathinam, Maninder Singh Prince and Vinay Padmashali, Chetan Shivram and Shiv Prakash, Ritesh Rai and Lokranjan are in the INRC2 class while Aeman Ahmed and Sagar Mallappa, Himanshu Arora and Kunal Kashyap, Arnav Prathap Singh and Arjun SSB, Arjun Rajiv and Rohit Gowda, Jagbir Nirwan and Karanpreet Mattu, and Nikeetaa Takkale and Venu Ramesh Kumar are in the INRC3 class.

    The team will have another five care in INRC4 namely, Abhin Rai and D Uday Kumar, Prakhyat Shirole and Belli, Phoebe and Sawan, Renuka and Pramod, and Farhan and Arun. Ammyfied’s favourite class, the Gypsy Cup will see the championship leaders Samrat Yadav and Chandu lead eight cars. The other are Darshan Nachappa and Abhinav Ganapathy, Akarsh Sundar and Ravi Kumar Reddy, Gurinder Singh Sidhu and Manjunath GM, Baiju Stephen and Sachin Sharma, Sachin Singh and Prakash M, Madhusudhan V and Harsha, Kalyan MVV and Raghuram Saminathan.

    Vamcy Merla, who recently won the SUV class in a 4×4 event in Coorg, is expected to get behind the wheel of a Gypsy with Raghu as co-driver.

    “I have promoted several FMSCI events in the past too, including the 2019 edition of the Indian National Rally Championship. I have created this foundation to help India’s best rallyists follow their dreams without worrying about money,” said Vamcy Merla, Chairman of the Foundation.

    “The INRC has received a huge boost thanks to VMS Foundation’s enthusiasm and wholehearted support. Several drivers, who can’t afford the costs of competing in an event of this scale and magnitude and skip several rounds every year, are all here in Coimbatore,” J Prithiviraj, secretary of the Coimbatore Auto Sports Club, said. “We have a formidable field and every class is going to be thrilling and a close affair,” he added.