INDIA in F1

Category: Domestic

  • Prithvi Raj files appeal against `unjust ban’; CASC rejects Rs.5-lakh penalty

    Coimbatore, 21 Nov 2019: FMSCI President J Prithvi Raj, issued a statement on 21 November 2019, following the unfair ban imposed on him as Clerk of the Course (CoC). He informed that an appeal was filed by him the Coimbatore Auto Sports Club (CASC) to the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs in India (FMSCI) appellate body.

    On Nov 5, a Committee formed to inquire into the incident that happened in Jodhpur where three people died, had banned Prithvi Raj as CoC for three years and said that he should serve only as DCoC after serving the 3-year period. It also said that he would continue to be the President of FMSCI.

    The CASC was also penalised Rs 5 lakh and was barred from organising any events outside Coimbatore. CASC said that it is unreasonable to punish them for no fault of theirs and have filed an appeal.

    Prithvi Raj, who is also the president of the Coimbatore Auto Sports Club and a veteran of several National and important events said: “I am sharing this statement in my individual capacity, as the CoC of the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) for the Jodhpur Round.

    “As a responsible and senior official of the FMSCI, with over 28 years in the profession in various capacities, including as CoC of innumerable events, I have always carried out my duties with diligence and a sense of responsibility. I have always considered safety and procedure as top priority, never compromising on either of them ever in my life. 

    “As CoC of the Jodhpur Rally too, I had ensured that every safety measure was in place and FMSCI Observer too went on the route and approved the stage setup before giving it the green signal.

    “So, I disagree with the three-year penalty imposed on me. It is harsh and unfair too, especially as the Council members did not give me any opportunity to present my version nor a copy of the report before passing their verdict. This is against the principles of natural justice. 

    “Taking into account everything that has happened before, during and after the Rally, I have decided to appeal against the penalty imposed on me. If nothing, I should be given an opportunity to put forward my case,” concluded Prithviraj. 

    Appeal by CASC is given below:

    To,

    The Members of the Council,

    The Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India, Chennai.

    Sirs,

    We are in receipt of the FMSCI Enquiry Panel report as modified and approved by the Council of FMSCI on 5th November 2019.

    We were shocked and surprised to by the recommendations of the Enquiry Panel and the decision of the Council to impose a monetary penalty of Rs.5,00,000/- on CASC and to ban CASC from organizing National Championship Events outside of Coimbatore till 31stDecember 2022. We hereby place our objections to the same.

    Firstly, CASC was never given any notice by the Enquiry Panel or by FMSCI to attend the enquiry conducted by the Enquiry Panel or to send anyone to represent CASC in the enquiry, which notice should have been sent well before the date of enquiry; second, we were never called upon by any show cause notice to express our objections or differences in respect of the recommendations of the Enquiry Panel post enquiry and post report; we have been, as an entity and as member of FMSCI, entirely unaware of the above developments and recommendations.

    We further find that the report of the Enquiry Panel reads as if Mr. J. Prithiviraj participated in the enquiry as our representative. That is not correct. We never authorized Mr. J. Prithiviraj or anyone else for that matter to represent us in the enquiry since we had not been called upon to do so. The monetary penalty and the ban have been imposed on us is entirely in violation of principles of natural justice and fair play. As such, the same are not legal and binding.

    In light of the above, we request you to withdraw the penalty and ban imposed on us forthwith. In the event of the council failing to withdraw the decision, we reserve our right to seek appropriate remedies.

    Awaiting your reply at the earliest.

    Truly,

    Signed/

    (J.Balu)

    Hony. Jt. Secretary.

  • X1 league round 2 at MMRT on Dec 8

    Chennai, 12 Nov 2019: About 30 top drivers, representing a city each, will take part in the inaugural edition of the motorsports league to be held at Delhi and Chennai this year.

    The X1 Racing League will have about 30 drivers from across the world available for bidding by six franchises, before the league starts on November 30 and ends on December 1. The six franchises are from Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad, and Delhi.

    The X1 Racing League, a franchise-based motorsports competition will have six teams representing a city each. Son of legendary F1 driver Niki Lauda, Mathias was picked by the Delhi franchise (AD Racing) while India’s Arjun Maini and Gaurav Gill will race for Bengaluru (Bangalore Racing Stars) and Delhi teams respectively. The league is powered by JK Tyre Motorsports.

    The league will be held between November 30-December 1 in New Delhi at the Buddh International Circuit and December 7-8 in Chennai at the Madras Motor Race Track. There will be four drivers and two cars in each team. Of the four drivers in each team there will be one international male, one international female, one India international and domestic racer. Of the two domestic racers picked in each team one will get to represent the franchise. Each race will last for 30 minutes and will have three unique team-based race formats per day.

    Team Hyderabad (Blackbirds Hyderabad) was the first to pick in the draft which started off with India’s International racers in the first round, they chose Akhil Rabindra. The next to pick was Team Bengaluru who chose Arjun Maini after which Team Mumbai (Mumbai Falcons) went on to choose Arjun’s brother Khush Maini. The others picked in the round were Krishna Mahadik by Team Ahmedabad (DG Racing), Gill by Team Delhi and Chennai team (NK Racing) auto-picked their team owner Narain Karthikeyan.

    In the male international racers draft, Bengaluru was the first pick and chose English racer Oliver James Webb. The other male international racers who were picked in the draft include Malaysian F1 driver Alex Yoong by Ahmedabad, Mathias joined Delhi franchise, China’s Frankie Cheng went to the Chennai team, former F1 racer Tonio Luizzi by Hyderabad and Danish racer Mikkel Jensen by Mumbai.

    As both male and female drivers would be racing against each other, it was important for each franchise to make sure they had a strong female driver as well. The first female international racer to be picked was Denmark’s Michelle Gatting by Bengaluru. While, English racers Pippa Mann and Alice Powell joined Mumbai and Chennai respectively, Switzerland’s Rahel Frey went to Ahemedabad, Denmark’s Christina Neilsen to Delhi and Polish racer Gosia Rdest to Hyderabad.

    The domestic racers who will be part of the action include Arjun Balu and Yash Aradhya for Chennai, Raghul Rangaswamy and Ashwin Datta for Delhi, Chittesh Mandody and Ameya Walavalkar for Ahmedabad, Sohil Shah and Karthik Tharanisingh for Mumbai, Nayan Chatterjee and Vishnu Prasad for Bengaluru and Arjun Narendran and Anindth Reddy for Hyderabad.

    “All teams are equally balanced and look strong. As all the cars are of the same make, it will be up to the drivers to show their skills and win the race for their team. We hope that the best team wins the league. We are happy with how the draft concluded and the owners are also happy with their teams. We can’t wait for racing to begin,” said co-founder of X1 Racing, Armaan Ebrahim.

    “Some of our domestic Indian drivers will get a chance to rub shoulders with the best of the best. This a chance for the domestic racers who were picked in the draft to make it to the next level and prove themselves against other established International driver. I hope they come out on top,” said co-founder of X1 Racing, Aditya Patel.

    The X1 Racing League follows the X1 Racing eSports Racing season 1, a digital-simulator based racing competition that is currently being held in cities across India. The eSports competition was created by X1 Racing in a bid to tap out talent from different strata of the society and also increase the fan following for motorsport in the country.

    Team Hyderabad: Akhil Rabindra, Tonio Luizzi, Gosia Rdest, Arjun Narendran, Anindth Reddy

    Team Bengaluru: Arjun Maini, Oliver James Webb, Michelle Gatting, Nayan Chatterjee, Vishnu Prasad

    Team Mumbai: Khush Maini, Mikkel Jensen, Pippa Mann, Sohil Shah, Karthik Tharanisingh

    Team Ahmedabad: Krishna Mahadik, Alex Yoong, Rahel Frey, Chittesh Mandody, Ameya Walavalkar

    Team Delhi: Gaurav Gill, Mathias Luada, Christina Neilsen, Raghul Rangaswamy, Ashwin Datta

    Team Chennai:  Narain Karthikeyan, Frankie Cheng, Alice Powell, Arjun Balu, Yash Aradhya

  • Gaurav Gill to race for Delhi; Bengaluru picks up Arjun Maini: X1 Racing League set to begin Nov 30

    Gaurav Gill to race for Delhi; Bengaluru picks up Arjun Maini: X1 Racing League set to begin Nov 30

    From left: Zulfiquar Ghadiyali, CEO private office of sheik Tahnoon Al nahyan (AD Racing Delhi),Yohan Sethna (Team Principal, NK Racing Team), Dhaval Gada(promoter of DG Enterprises, owner DG Racing), Moid Tungrekar (CEO, Mumbai Falcons), Avi Jain (Co-owner, Bangalore Racing Stars), Akhil Reddy (owner, Blackbirds Hyderabad) during the racers draft of the inaugural edition of the X1 Racing League held in Mumbai.

    Mumbai, 11 Nov 2019: The much anticipated drivers draft for the inaugural edition of the X1 Racing League, a franchise based motorsports competition concluded here today as 30 international and domestic racers were drafted by six teams. Son of legendary F1 driver Niki Lauda, Mathias was picked by the Delhi franchise (AD Racing) while India’s Arjun Maini and Gaurav Gill will race for Bengaluru (Bangalore Racing Stars) and Delhi teams respectively. The league is powered by JK Tyre Motorsports.

    The league which is to be held between November 30-December 1 in New Delhi at the Buddh International Circuit and December 7-8 in Chennai at the Madras Motor Race Track will have four drivers and two cars in each team. Of the four drivers in each team there will be one international male, one international female, one India international and domestic racer. Of the two domestic racers picked in each team one will get to represent the franchise. Each race will last for 30 minutes and will have three unique team-based race formats per day.

    Team Hyderabad (Blackbirds Hyderabad) were the first to pick in the draft which started off with India’s International racers in the first round, they chose Akhil Rabindra. The next to pick were Team Bengaluru who chose Arjun Maini after which Team Mumbai (Mumbai Falcons) went on to choose Arjun’s brother Khush Maini. The others picked in the round were Krishna Mahadik by Team Ahmedabad (DG Racing), Gill by Team Delhi and Chennai team (NK Racing) auto-picked their team owner Narain Karthikeyan.

    In the male international racers draft Bengaluru were the first pick and chose English racer Oliver James Webb. The other male international racers who were picked in the draft include Malaysian driver Alex Yoong by Ahmedabad, Mathias joined Delhi franchise, China’s Frankie Cheng went to the Chennai team, former F1 racer Tonio Luizzi by Hyderabad and Danish racer Mikkel Jensen by Mumbai.

    As both male and female drivers would be racing against each other, it was important for each franchise to make sure they had a strong female driver as well. The first female international racer to be picked was Denmark’s Michelle Gatting by Bengaluru. While, English racers Pippa Mann and Alice Powell joined Mumbai and Chennai respectively, Switzerland’s Rahel Frey went to Ahemedabad, Denmark’s Christina Neilsen to Delhi and Polish racer Gosia Rdest to Hyderabad.

    The domestic racers who will be part of the action include Arjun Balu and Yash Aradhya for Chennai, Raghul Rangaswamy and Ashwin Datta for Delhi, Chittesh Mandody and Ameya Walavalkar for Ahmedabad, Sohil Shah and Karthik Tharanisingh for Mumbai, Nayan Chatterjee and Vishnu Prasad for Bengaluru and Arjun Narendran and Anindth Reddy for Hyderabad.

    “All teams are equally balanced and look strong. As all the cars are of the same make, it will be up to the drivers to show their skills and win the race for their team. We hope that the best team wins the league. We are happy with how the draft concluded and the owners are also happy with their teams. We can’t wait for racing to begin,” said co-founder of X1 Racing, Armaan Ebrahim.

    “Some of our domestic Indian drivers will get a chance to rub shoulders with the best of the best. This a chance for the domestic racers who were picked in the draft to make it to the next level and prove themselves against other established International driver. I hope they come out on top,” said co-founder of X1 Racing, Aditya Patel.

    The X1 Racing League follows the X1 Racing eSports Racing season 1, a digital-simulator based racing  competition which is currently being held in cities across India. The eSports competition was created by X1 Racing in a bid to tap out talent from different strata of the society and also increase the fan following for motorsport in the country.

    Team Hyderabad
    Akhil Rabindra
    Tonio Luizzi
    Gosia Rdest
    Arjun Narendran
    Anindth Reddy

    Team Bengaluru
    Arjun Maini
    Oliver James Webb
    Michelle Gatting
    Nayan Chatterjee
    Vishnu Prasad

    Team Mumbai
    Khush Maini
    Mikkel Jensen
    Pippa Mann
    Sohil Shah
    Karthik Tharanisingh

    Team Ahmedabad
    Krishna Mahadik
    Alex Yoong
    Rahel Frey
    Chittesh Mandody
    Ameya Walavalkar

    Team Delhi
    Gaurav Gill
    Mathias Luada
    Christina Neilsen
    Raghul Rangaswamy
    Ashwin Datta

    Team Chennai
    Narain Karthikeyan
    Frankie Cheng
    Alice Powell
    Arjun Balu
    Yash Aradhya 

  • Gala time at sparkling MMSC Awards Night


    Winners of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship titles (Cars and Motorcycles)

    Chennai, 12 Oct 2019: The Madras Motor Sports Club reiterated its decision to introduce night racing for saloon cars next year after successfully conducting India’s maiden night test session in August at the MMRT.

    Speaking on the occasion of MMSC 2019 Circuit Racing Annual Awards function here last night, MMSC president Ajit Thomas said: “In addition to continuing the highly successful mainstream events, we plan to introduce interesting alternate events like Night Racing after successfully conducting the first-ever night test session for saloon cars at the MMRT in August.

    “We also have plans to further upgrade our infrastructure at the track with a permanent Grand Stand and a karting track, after having invested in building two new paddocks, a permanent Drag Racing strip, the only one of its kind in India, state-of-the-art timing equipment, Pit display system, etc.”

    The glitzy evening saw chief guest Mr Arun Mammen, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, MRF Ltd., presenting trophies to the podium finishers of just-concluded Indian National Racing Championships for four-wheelers and two-wheelers – Individual, Team and Manufacturers. Trophies were also presented to the top three finishers in the Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup and TVS One-Make Championship.

    Raghul Rangasamy, winner of the MRF F1600 Championship and Dhruv Shivaji Mohite of Rayo Racing, champion in the Indian Touring Cars, will be participating in one-off races in the UK and South Africa, respectively.

    Reiterating MRF’s commitment to motorsports, Mr Mammen said: “As you are all aware, MRF is India’s No.1 Tyre Company for more than 32 years and has been one of the pioneers in the field of motorsports. MRF has not just grown as a company but has nurtured motorsports in India, whether it is Racing, Rallying, Supercross or Karting.

    “Our efforts to give the best tyres has fructified and today the national motorcycle championship has seen the country’s first slick motorcycle tyres. This has received positive response from the participants of the National Championship including the manufacturers who are keenly putting their efforts into making better machines to race on track. We do not intend to stop with that, we push ourselves to raise our products performance and see that we take Indian racing to the next level.”

    Reflecting on the 2019 season, MMSC Vice-President and former FMSCI chief Vicky Chandhok said: “At the outset, we would like to thank MRF for their continued support and commitment. MRF’s active involvement in our racing activities has helped us to take the sport to the next level as was evident this season when we witnessed exciting season marked by close racing. We saw a quantum increase in number of participants from across India, giving our championships a truly National flavour. We had 260 participants from 18 States and Union territories in two-wheeler championships, 90 representing 15 teams in four-wheeler championship. The season also heralded several emerging young talents in the age-group of 12-18. We also acknowledge and appreciate the participation of manufacturers TVS, Honda, Volkswagen and Yamaha.”

    Mr Indu Chandhok, one of the founders of the sport’s governing body in India, FMSCI, emphasised efforts to focus on road safety through motorsport thus supporting FIA’s move in this direction.

  • Hemanth Muddappa clocks stunning 7.9sec, touches 200kmph for gold: MMSC Drag Nationals

    Hemanth Muddappa clocks stunning 7.9sec, touches 200kmph for gold: MMSC Drag Nationals

    Chennai, 6 Oct 2019: Hemanth Muddappa of Mantra Racing stunned the spectators and fans as he clocked the best timing of 7.976 seconds over 302 metres astride his superbike BMW S1000RR at the MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Drag Championship Round 2 which concluded at MMRT, at Irungattukottai, near here on Sunday. He was the first to break the 8-sec barrier on the track, at the MMRT’s start-finish straight.

    Earlier on Saturday, in Round-1, Muddappa clocked 8.270 secs in the Unrestricted category.

    For the first time, a separate class for the Girls was introduced in the National Championship this year and Nivetha Jessica of Speed-up Racing and Alisha Abdullah shared the spoils bagging a gold each in the first two rounds held on Saturday and Sunday. In Round 1, Jessica clocked 16.516sec for the gold beating Alisha by a fraction of a second, as she timed 16.871. Very popular long-distance biker A Soundari Ananthraj, also from Speed-up Racing, came third in a time of 16.890, another fraction 0f a second deciding the podium places. In Round 2, it was experienced Alisha Abdullah taking control with good reaction time as she clocked 16.851 as Nivetha Jessica was a wee bit slow at the start and had to settle for the second place timing 16.911. Ann Jennifer was third in 17.005.

    Girls 165cc Round 1 podium

    The week-end saw the first two rounds of the championship and Hemant Mudappa, who took part in the four-stroke Unrestricted Open class clocked a leisurely 8.025 sec in the Free Run before upping the pace to set a Track Record, breaking his own record. But the sheer speed sent the few die-hard fans at the Drag Nationals into elation and Hemanth himself was visibly happy revving up, and later hugging all his friends. “I am very happy to get this timing. After two rounds, I am leading the championship and will be here well-prepared for the next round,” said the Bengalurean who touched a top speed of 217.78 kmph.

    Hafizullah Khan, astride a Suzuki Hayabusa, came second in the Unrestricted four-stroke class, timing 8.150 sec while Zubair Ali Jung came third in 8.381 in his Suzuki GSX-R. Both of them also touched speeds of over 200 kmph. All the top three are from Bengaluru. Harish Naik, Ratish Nair and Manohar BN who finished behind the podium winners in fourth, fifth and sixth respectively, also touched speeds of 200kmph. Hemanth’s bike was tuned by Sharan J Pratap of Mantra Racing.

    The next two rounds of the championship will be held at the same venue on December 28 and 29.

    The results (All 4-Stroke unless mentioned):

    Unrestricted (Round-1): 1. Hemanth Muddappa (Mantra Racing) (08.270secs); 2. Zubair Ali Jung (08.311); 3. Hafizullah Khan (08.448). Round-2: 1. Hemanth Muddappa (07.976); 2. Hafizullah Khan (08.150); 3. Zubair Ali Jung (08.381).

    361-550cc (Round-1): 1. Anandhu KK (12.488); 2. Attaulla Baig (12.805); 3. Aiyaz (13.056). Round-2: 1. Aiyaz (12.455); 2. Attaulla Baig (12.714); 3. Anandhu KK (12.774).

    226-360cc (Round-1): 1. Yogeshwaran (13.440); 2. S Ravi (13.913); 3. A Shankar Guru (13.933). Round-2: 1. Alexander AS (13.373); 2. Yogeshwaran (13.499); 3. Bharathraj (13.617).

    166-225cc (Round-1): 1. Badusha M (14.996); 2. Manoj Kumar S (15.037); 3. Ahamed Vasin (15.441). Round-2: 1. Deepak N (14.784); 2. Badusha M (14.796); 3. Ahamed Vasin (15.315).

    GIRLS (Up to 165cc, Round-1): Nivetha Jessica (Speed Up Racing) (16.516); 2. Alisha Abdullah (16.871); 3. A Soundari Anantharaj (Speed Up Racing) (16.890). Round-2: 1. Alisha Abdullah (16.851); 2. Nivetha Jessica (Speed Up Racing) (16.911); 3. Ann Jennifer (17.005).

    2-Stroke 131-165cc (Round-1): 1. Mohammed Rafiq (13.029); 2. Syed Nayeem (13.143); 3. Manoj Kumar (13.304). Round-2: 1. Mohammed Rafiq (12.945); 2. Manoj Kumar (13.303); 3. Rajesh S (13.338).

    Up to 130cc (Round-1): Mohammed Rafiq (13.888); 2. R Madhan Kumar (13.965); 3. Syed Nayeem (14.039). Round-2: 1. Mohammed Rafiq (13.571); 2. Syed Nayeem (13.784); 3. R Madhan Kumar (13.869).

    Hemanth Muddappa in action on Sunday. Photo Rahul Reghu

    Alisha Abdullah wins the gold in the Round 2 of the Indian National Drag Championship 165cc Girls class on Sunday.

    Alisha Abdullah with Sparks Racing team head Rajesh (right) and the tuner Ravi.

    Ann Jennifer poses with team members of Sparks Racing after winning the Round 1 165cc Girls class on Saturday.

    Nivetha Jessica who won the first race in the Girls 165cc class of the National Drag Championship on Saturday.

    Jessica Nivetha clocks the best time on Saturday in Round 1.

    Soundari Ananthraj, aka Sindy, who took the third in Round 1 in action on Saturday

    Alexander, centre, who won the 4stroke 226 to 360cc class in Round 2 flanked by Yogeshwaran, Bharathraj and the tuner.

    (This Report is updated at 11.30 am on 8 October 2019)

  • Girijashankar Joshy, a gentleman rally driver retires

    Girijashankar Joshy, a gentleman rally driver retires

    Bengaluru, 2 Oct 2019: It is exactly two years back, a stalwart of Indian rallying announced his retirement through the pages of Facebook. A disciplined, dedicated sportsperson with high-calibre of commitment, sincerity and hardwork, Girijashankar Joshy.

    This writer had the pleasure of watching Joshy for over 15 years, and as he says it was a wonderful journey. Unfortunately, within a few months after his debut, I left Indian Express and had no time to write about the gentleman of Rally, more later but here is the Retirement Announcement!

    By Girijashankar Joshy

    It was a wonderful journey of 16 years in Motorsport. I have a life-time of memories and experiences as a rally driver. I want to thank many people who helped me in fulfilling my dreams and achieving success.

    Almighty first! I thank my beloved goddess Sri Adishakthyathmaka Sri Annapoorneshwari for her blessings and permitting me to do what I loved the most when I sought her permission. In my journey of rallying, I want to thank my family starting with my dear appa Bheemeshwar Joshy G, amma Rajalaxmi Joshy, my soulmate Savithri Joshy, my three lovely kids and all my family members who stood by me despite all the ups and downs of my rallying career.

    Joshy on a flight in one of the INRC rounds!

    It just makes no sense, if I don’t thank my navigators. So a big shout out to all my co-drivers who sat with me with “NO” fear and trusted and believed in my driving ability that I will get them home safely.

    My beloved friend Srikanth Gowda with whom I started in 2005 and went on to win two Cchampionships, and later with Prajval Pai, with whom I won the overall first runner-up in 2008 INRC Championship. In 2010, Chandramouli Madiraju sat with me and we came very close in winning Group N championship but had to settle down to Second in Championship.

    It’s time to thank my tuners without whom I would not have driven those strong and reliable Rally cars. Firstly, Saminathan Sami of Kari Sports Car Works, who was like my elder brother as he always guided me and gave a wonderful car to compete in.

    Leelakrishnan Narayanaswamy with his mechanical and moral support, I have achieved a lot. Thyagarajan and Roshan from Chettinad Sporting for supporting me to make a comeback in 2017 for a short time.

    Yousaf Ahmed from SNAP racing, who provided me with a fantastic service in the rally in the 2019 season.

    I am very great full to team #Snapracing and #VolkswagenmotorsportIndia who supported me to make a full-time comeback driving in the INRC Class in a Polo 1.2 TSI rally spec. Special mention to Sirish Vissa, Karan AM, Sumit Panjabi and Nitin Jacob, they made my day.

    Would like to thank my sponsors without whom I may not have survived financially. Starting with IndianOil, MRF Tyre, JK Tyre, Team Winspeed, Team Tata Motors, Ovion, Torq3 Sports and Adventure, and Snap Racing.

    Lastly but not least, I like to thank all my friends, well-wishers, fans and followers for coming and supporting me, and cheering me all the time when I was rallying.

    My beloved goddesses Sri Adishakthyathmaka Sri Annapoorneshwar has different plans for my future.

    Hence, I announce my retirement from Motorsports as a rally driver.

    But my love and passion for Motorsport will keep me around in different roles.

    Signing of as a rally driver.

    Girijashankar Joshy

  • Deepak, Venkatesan crowned Champs; Sarath, Ryhana play safe to clinch Championship titles

    Deepak, Venkatesan crowned Champs; Sarath, Ryhana play safe to clinch Championship titles


    National champions (L to R) – Ryhana Bee (Girls), Sarath Kumar (Pro-Stock 165cc) and Venkatesan (Novice) on Sunday. Photos Anand Philar

    Chennai, 29 Sept 2019: Deepak Ravikumar of TVS Racing annexed the premier Pro-Stock 301-400cc title on a day dominated by Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing as the fifth and final round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2019 concluded at the MMRT, here today.

    Ravikumar’s win today, his fourth this season, denied Honda a clean sweep of titles in the Pro-Stock category. While TVS had something to celebrate, Honda riders, Anish Shetty (Pro Stock 201-300cc) and Sarath Kumar (Pro-Stock 165cc) won the championship in their respective categories. Shetty, who had sealed the championship yesterday itself, finished the season with a double and seven wins on the trot, while Sarath won his first National championship title in nine years despite finishing third in his race.


    Deepak Ravikumar (centre), winner of Race-2 in the Pro-Stock 301-400cc category flanked by second-placed Karthik Mateti (left) and third-placed Rahil Shetty

    The other National champions to emerge on the concluding day were Chennai riders Venkatesan I of Team Moto Maniacz in the Novice (Stock 165cc) and Ryhana Bee of Sparks Racing in the Girls category.

    While Ravikumar had to fight hard for his crucial win, Sarath played it smart to finish third behind Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) and a charging Kevin Kannan (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing).

    Likewise, Ryhana Bee rode carefully and was content to finish third that earned her sufficient points to win the championship. Finishing ahead of Ryhana in the race were 2018 champion Ann Jennifer (Sparks Racing) and Alisha Abdullah (Alisha Racing).

    “I am absolutely delighted to win a National championship after a lapse of nine years. We had a strategy for today’s race and I am happy that it worked well,” said Sarath Kumar who had a brief stint in the FIM Moto3 World Championship a few years ago before a knee injury severely affected his racing career as the healing process took much longer than expected.

    The Pro-Stock 165cc race turned out to be a two-man show with Kannan and Jagan exchanging lead through the eight laps while Sarath seemed content to be in a lonely third spot while behind him, championship contender Rajiv Sethu, who had won six races on the trot earlier this season, gradually faded from the contest. By finishing third, Sarath picked up sufficient points to clinch the title ahead of Sethu and Jagan Kumar.

    The Girls race saw defending champion Ann Jennifer hitting the front and go on to win with a measure of comfort with Lani Zena Fernandez (Demonz Racing) and Alisha Abdullah (Alisha Racing) following home. Ryhana Bee finished fourth. However, after the post-race scrutiny, Lena was disqualified for “technical violation” and Ryhana was elevated to third place. Ryhana, thus, finished with a tally of 123 and secured the championship while Jennifer (108) was placed second.

    “Since I had a bad qualifying session, I started only fourth on the grid and with the championship in stake, I was intent on collecting points without taking any risks. This is my first National championship title and I am extremely happy. My thanks to my team, Sparks Racing, Yamaha and all the mechanics who worked behind the scene,” said Ryhana.

    In the Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup came from Chennai’s Md Mikail notched eight consecutive wins for the title in the NSF 250R class (FIM Moto3 spec bikes). Aizwal’s Lal Nunsanga who finished with seven wins, including a double in the final round, emerged champion in CBR 150 class.

    The results (Provisional):

    National Championship:

    Pro-Stock 301-400cc (Race-2, 7 laps): 1. Deepak Ravikumar (TVS Racing) (13mins, 31.612secs); 2. Karthik Mateti (Gusto Racing) (13:32.042); 3. Rahil Shetty (Sparks Racing) (13:35.414). Championship winners: Deepak Ravikumar (Rider), TVS Racing (Team), TVS (Manufacturer).

    Pro-Stock 201-300cc (Race-2, 7 laps): 1. Anish Shetty (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) (13:55.497); 2. Naresh Babu (Eneos Honda Chandra Racing) (13:55.727); 3. Aravind Balakrishnan (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) (14:04.454). Championship winners: Anish Shetty (Rider), Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing (Team), Honda (Manufacturer).

    Pro-Stock 165cc (Race-2, 8 laps): 1. Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) (15mins, 59.392secs); 2. Kevin Kannan (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) (15:59.592); 3. Sarath Kumar (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) (16:10.802). Championship winners: Sarath Kumar (Rider), Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing (Team), Honda (Manufacturer).

    Novice (Stock 165cc) Race-2: 1. Venkatesan I (Motomaniacz Racing) (13:09.759); 2. Manoj Y (Motomaniacz Racing) (13:09.871); 3. S Aravind (Rockers Racing) (13:10.028). Championship winners: Venkatesan I (Rider), Sparks Racing (Team), Yamaha (Manufacturer).

    Girls (Stock 165cc, 5 laps): 1. Ann Jennifer (Sparks Racing) (11:07.846); 2. Alisha Abdullah (Alisha Racing) (11:16.374); 3. Ryhana Bee (Sparks Racing) (11:17.256). Championship winners: Ryhana Bee (Rider), Sparks Racing (Team), Yamaha (Manufacturer).

    One-Make Championship organised by MMSC:

    Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup – NSF 250R (Race-2): 1. Md Mikail (Chennai) (11:04.901); 2. Kavin Samaar Quintal (Chennai) (11:09.254); 3. Charan Thangavel (Chennai) (11:24.314). Race-3: 1. Md Mikail (14:26.574); 2. Kritik Vasant Habib (Gadag) (14:51.658); 3. Kavin Samaar Quintal (15:04.385). Rider champion: Md Mikail.

    CBR 150 (Race-2): 1. Lal Nunsanga (Aizwal) (13:11.665); 2. S Rajdaswanth (Trichy) (13:12.646); 3. Samuel Martin (Bengaluru) (13:19.680). Rider champion: Lal Nunsanga (Aizwal).

    TVS Open (RR 310) (Race-2, 8 laps): 1. Anand R (Chennai) (15:56.785); 2. Aravind Ganesh (Chennai) (15:58.363); 3. Soorya PM (Chennai) (15:58.607). Rider champion: Aravind Ganesh.

    Novice (RTR 200) Race-2: 1. Venkatesan I (Chennai) (13:17.268); 2. Manoj Y (Chennai) 13:17.325); 3. Anish Samson (Bengaluru) (13:21.648). Rider champions: Venkatesan I (Chennai, Boys) and Nivetha Jessica (Chennai, Girls).

    Media Championship: Jehan Darukhanawala (champion rider).

  • Mumbai’s Aaroh wins Novice Cup; Chennai’s Vishnu, Pune’s Tanay back in lead of JKNRC

    Mumbai’s Aaroh wins Novice Cup; Chennai’s Vishnu, Pune’s Tanay back in lead of JKNRC

    The JK Tyre Novice Cup Championship winner Aaroh Ravindra is flanked by Chirag Ghorpade, 2nd, Left, and Mohamed Ryan, 3rd at Coimbatore on Sunday. A IndiainF1 image

    Coimbatore, 29 Sept 2019: Chennai’s Vishnu Prasad and Pune’s Tanay Gaikwad regained the pre-eminent positions in the JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship 2019, shooting to the top of the table in their respective categories as Round 3 concluded here on Sunday.

     
    Mumbai’s Aaroh Ravindra too stamped his authority in the championship, claiming the JK Tyre Novice Cup title that drew to a close.
     
    MSport’s Vishnu Prasad, who didn’t enjoy the best of luck in the second round and had slipped from the top position, reasserted his supremacy, winning one race and taking the second position in the other one. In all, he collected 23 points over the weekend to become the championship leader with 68 points.
     
    Vishnu toppled teammate Raghul Rangasamy, who picked up only 16 points to muster a total of 63 after this round. Raghul stole the second place in the final race to redeem himself but two fifth positions in the other two races held him back.
     
    Dark Don’s Diljith TS, who began the round with a resounding win, finished sixth and fifth in Sunday’s races to hold on to his third position on the table with 48 points.
     
    Meanwhile, Pune’s Tanay Gaikwad stormed into the lead in the JK Tyre Suzuki Gixxer Cup, wrapping up the round with a victory and a second-placed finish.
     
    Tied on 36 points with Syed Muzammil Ali, he enjoyed a stroke of luck as Muzammil logged a DNF on Saturday. He added 8 more points on Sunday to amass 54 points for a handsome 8-point lead.
     
    Muzammil came back strongly to win Race 2 but that was good enough to give him only 46 points. It still gives him an outside chance to win the title in the fourth and final round at the BIC in November. Siddhart Sajan held on the third position after finishing on the third podium in both the races, taking his total tally to 31 points.
     
    Momentum Motorsports Aaroh Ravindra, who began with a 13-point advantage, showed nerves of steel to win the Novice Cup title.  He didn’t enjoy the best of Saturdays, failing to pick up a single point, thanks to a DNS and then a DNF. He, however, collected 4 points in the concluding race to corner the champion’s trophy.
     
    Aaroh had a total of 56 points, which was good enough to pip Chirag Ghorpade (52) and Mohamed Ryan (48) in the title race. 
     
     
    The Momentum Motorsports driver came into the championship round with a lead of 13 points and it was expected to be a cakewalk for him. But things did not go as per the plan and he could log in a single in either of the races on day 1, which spiced up the title hunt and made it a three-way fight between him, his team-mate Chirag Ghorpade and MSport’s Mohammed Ryan on the final day.
     
    Ryan won one race but a DNF and a 11th-place finish deprived him of the title.
    Round 3 Final Day Provisional Results: 

    JK Tyre LGB Formula 4 (Race 2): 1. Balaprasath AS (MSport) 18:09.374; 2. Vishnu Prasad (MSport) 18:12.358; 3. Ashwin Datta (Dark Don Racing) 18:15. 824
    LGB Formula 4 (Race 3):  1. Vishnu Prasad (MSport) 19:25.872; 2. Raghul Rangasamy (MSport) 19:26.830; 3. Ashwin Datta (Dark Don Racing) 19:27.810
    JK Tyre Novice Cup: 1 (Race 2): 1. Chirag Ghorpade (Momentum Motorsports) 18:24.314; 2. Aditya Swaminathan (MSport) 18:29.654; 3. Himanshu Thukral (MSport) 18:35.245
    JK Tyre Suzuki Gixxer Cup (Race 2): 1. Syed Muzammil Ali (Bangalore) 14:12.167; 2. Tanay Gaikwad (Pune) 14:12.445; 3. Sidharth Sajan (Coimbatore) 14:13.942
  • Anish Shetty, Mohamed Mikail crowned champions for 2019

    Anish Shetty, Mohamed Mikail crowned champions for 2019

    Chennai, 28 Sept 2019: Bengaluru-based fitness trainer Anish Damodara Shetty (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) posted his sixth win in a row to annex the Pro-Stock 201-300cc title in the fifth and final round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship at the MMRT, here today.

    Meanwhile, 15-year old Mohamed Mikail from Chennai chalked up his sixth consecutive win and seventh from eight starts in the NSF 250R (FIM Moto3-spec bikes) category of the Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup with two races to spare and which would be run tomorrow. Finishing second behind Mikail was 12-year old Sarthak Shrikant Chavan from Pune ahead of Gadag’s 19-year old Kritik Vasanth Habib.

    Abhimanyu Gautam celebrating his win in the Novice (Stock 165cc) Race on Saturday.

    Also scoring a decisive win was Abhimanyu Gautam (Sparks Racing) from Jind, Haryaya, in the Novice (Stock 165cc) category to move to the top of the leaderboard in this class.

    Experienced Sarath Kumar (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) eked out a close win over TVS Racing’s Jagan Kumar to jump into championship lead in the Pro-Stock 165cc category. He leads team-mate Rajiv Sethu by six points. Sethu finished fifth. Kevin Kannan ensured a double podium for Honda by coming in third ahead of TVS Racing’s KY Ahamed after the six-lap race was red-flagged and reduced to four following a big crash involving two riders, Akash C and Anand R (both riders ok) at the back of the field.

    The 24-year old Shetty, who hails from Hubballi, Karnataka, took an unassailable lead in the championship standing with a tally of 190 points, 67 clear of second-placed team-mate Abhishek Vasudev, with one more race to be run tomorrow and a maximum of 50 points at stake. Incidentally, it is Shetty’s second championship, having won the Pro-Stock 165cc title last year.

    The race was reduced to four laps from scheduled six following a crash involving Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) and Satyanarayana Raju (Gusto Racing) who were competing in the Pro-Stock 301-400cc category that was run on the same grid as the 201-300cc class.


    Md Mikail (Chennai), who sealed the NSF 250R title in the Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup

    After the race, Gusto Racing’s Karthik Mateti from Hyderabad was declared winner (301-400cc) ahead of fellow-Hyderabadi Rahil Pillari Shetty (Sparks Racing) and Chennai’s KY Ahamed (TVS Racing). Deepak Ravikumar (TVS Racing), who finished fourth, continues to head the championship with a 12-point lead over Ahamed with Mateti a further 11 points behind in third spot.

    “At the start of the season, my goal was to win the championship in my category and I am happy that could achieve that. My thanks to my entire team, especially owner Ramji Govindarajan sir who all worked hard towards my success. My aim is to compete and win all formats of two-wheeler racing. Earlier this year, I won the Desert Storm (Cross-country Rally) and now this.

    “Today, I knew if I win, I would seal the championship. Initially, I rode hard, seeing I had a good lead, I eased up. To win six races in a row is just amazing!” said a beaming Shetty.

    The results (Provisional, all 6 laps unless mentioned):

    National Championship:

    Pro-Stock 301-400cc (Race-1, 4 laps): 1. Karthik Mateti (Gusto Racing India) (07:43.694); 2.Rahil PIllari Shetty (Sparks Racing) (07:45.529); 3. KY Ahamed (TVS Racing) (07:45.650).

    Pro-Stock 201-300cc (Race-1, 4 laps): 1. Ansih D Shetty (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) (08:02.611); 2. Mathana Kumar S (Honda Erula Atomic Racing) (08:04.556); 3. Mithun Kumar PK (Honda Erula Atomic Racing) (08:06.279).

    Pro-Stock 165cc (Race-1, 4 laps): 1. Sarath Kumar s(Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) (08:05.465); 2.K Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) (08:05.639); 3. K Kannan (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) (08:06.066).

    Novice (Stock 165cc) Race-1: 1. Abhimanyu Gautam (Sparks Racing) (13:05.011); 2. Manoj Y (Team Motomaniacz Racing) (13:08.802); 3. Annish Samson (Team Speed-Up Racing) (13:08.970).

    One-Make Championship organised by MMSC:

    Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup – NSF 250R (Race-1): 1. Md Mikail (Chennai) (11:07.289); 2. Sarthak Shrikant Chavan (Pune) (11:10.531); 3. Kritik Vasant Habib (Gadag) (11:10.624). CBR 150 (Race-1): 1. Lal Nunsanga (Aizwal) (13:11.576); 2. AS James (Chennai) (13:14.024); 3. Samuel Martin (Bengaluru) (13:15.938).

    TVS Open (RR 310) Race-1): 1. Soorya PM (Chennai) (11:56.038); 2. Anand R (Chennai) (11:57.899); 3. Sivanesan Sethu (Chennai) (12:00.715). Novice (RTR 200) Race-1: 1. Anish Samson (Bengaluru) (13:13.028); 2.Manoj V (Chennai) (13:13.061); 3. Ullas Santrupt (Bengaluru) (13:13.188). Girls (RTR 200) 5 laps: 1. Lakiya Lee (Chennai) (11:29.416); 2. Nivetha Jessica (Chennai) (11:39.457); 3. Haritha Muralikrishnan (Chennai)(11:40.534).

  • Diljith,Tanay and Ryan take honours on Day 1

    Diljith,Tanay and Ryan take honours on Day 1

    Dark Don Racing and Kerala’s Diljith TS in action during Day 1 of Round 3 of the 22nd JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship here in Coimbatore on Saturday. A JK Racing photo

    Coimbatore, 28 Sept 2019: The Chennai duo of Diljith TS & Mohammed Ryan and Pune’s Tanay Gaikwad stole the honours on Day 1 of the JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship 2019 here at the Kari Motor Speedway on Saturday.

    Diljith (Dark Don Racing) made the most of the day to take the maximum possible 10 points in the Formula LGB-4 after clocking a time of 20:52.145 minutes.

    Diljith’s teammates, Sandeep Kumar A (20:52.462 minutes) and Ashwin Datta (20:55.619 minutes), took the other two places on the podium. Vishnu Prasad had to settle for a fourth-place finish, while championship leader Raghul Rangasamy had to settle for the fifth place.

    In the JK Tyre Suzuki Gixxer Cup, Pune’s Tanay Gaikwad made the most of Bengaluru’s Muzammil Ali misfortune. The two riders, tied at the top of the leader-board at the start of the round, were engaged in a keen tussle in Race 1 before Muzammil fell off the bike to clear the path for his closest rival.

    Tanay clocked a total of 14:10.820 minutes to complete his stipulated 10 laps to finish ahead of the pack and go atop the charts. Bengaluru’s Jagadeesh N finished just two seconds off Tanay to take the second place while Sidharth Sajan of Coimbatore took 14:17:570 to finish third on the podium.

    Meanwhile, Mohammed Ryan of MSport stormed into the lead in the JK Tyre Novice Cup,

    winning both his races in style. His team-mate Chirag Ghorpade finished second behind him in Race 1 while Mihir Avalakki of Birel Art took the third position.

    Himanshu Thukral of MSport finished second in Race 2 while Kishore of DTS Racing claimed the third position. Championship leader after the first two rounds fell behind, suffering a DNS and then a DNF on a disastrous Saturday.

    JKNRC Round 3, Day 1 Provisional Results:

    JK Tyre Novice Cup (Race 1) – 1. Mohamed Ryan (MSport) 12:15.739; 2. Chirag Ghorpade (Momentum Motorsports) 12:19.626; 3. Mihir Avalakki (Birel Art) 12:25.387

    JK Tyre Novice Cup (Race 2) – 1. Mohamed Ryan (MSport) 14:15.956; 2. Himanshu Thukral (MSport) 14:18.548; 3. Kishore (DTS Racing) 14:19.647

    JK Tyre Suzuki Gixxer Cup (Race 1) – 1. Tanay Gaikwad 14:11.820; 2. Jagadeesh N 14:16.047; 3. Sidharth Sajan 14:17.570

    JK Tyre Formula LGB 4 (Race 1) – 1. Diljith TS (Dark Don Racing) 20:52.145; 2. Sandeep Kumar A (Dark Don Racing) 20:52.462; 3. Ashwin Datta (Dark Don Racing) 20:55.619