INDIA in F1

Category: Domestic

  • Double for Jagan Kumar, Sofyyan Ahamed

    Double for Jagan Kumar, Sofyyan Ahamed

    Bengaluru, 12 Nov 2006: Jagan Kumar from Chennai (TVS Racing) and Bengaluru’s Sofyyan Ahamed (Quick Shift Racing) achieved a double each in the first round of the MMSC fmsci Indian National Drag Racing Championship at the Taneja Aerospace facility near here on Saturday.

    International rider Jagan Kumar from Chennai, astride the TVS RTR Apache, got into his stride by clocking 14.250 seconds for the 400-metre sprint in the Up to 165cc class.

    Later, he took the honours in the Indian Open class with a time of 13.484 seconds which was the quickest in the National Championship category.

    “I could have probably clocked a better timing had I reacted to the start lights faster. I am not used to having lights so low. So, my reaction time was a bit slow, and I also did a wheelie unintentionally, but it was a good run nevertheless,” said Jagan, the National track racing champion.

    Emulating the double was Sofyyan Ahamed who topped in the 360cc and 225cc classes of the National Championship. “I was much quicker in a recent drag race here, but today, I had some issues with the clutch and hence was a bit slower. But I am happy to have won a double as the competition was stiff,” said Sofyyan.

    ​

    Kalim Pasha (Bengaluru, Indian Open), Attaullah Baiq (Bengaluru, 350cc), Md Touheed (Bengaluru, 165cc) and Khalid Pasha (130cc) won in their respective classes in the the MMSC Drag Race series which doubled up as the support event.​

    The championship concludes on Sunday when the Superbikes and cars get into action that promises to be as close as it was today.

    Provisional results (National Championship – all 4-Stroke):

    Indian Open: 1. Jagan Kumar (Chennai) (13.484secs); 2. Ashwin Kumar (Chennai) (13.707); 3. Aiyaz (Bengaluru) (13.723).

    Up to 550cc: 1. Zaker Baig (Mysuru) (13.689); 2. Aiyaz (Bengaluru) (13.725); Anantharaj (Chennai) (13.946).

    Up to 360cc: 1. Sofyyan Ahamed (Bengaluru) (15.410); 2. Avinash R (Bengaluru) (15.944); 3. Abdul Hafeez (Bengaluru) (17.130).

    Up to 225cc: 1. Sofyyan Ahamed (Bengaluru) (15.527); 2. Avinash R (15.831); 3. Harsha V (Bengaluru) (16.604).

    Up to 165cc: 1. Jagan Kumar (Chennai) (14.250); 2. KY Ahmed (Chennai) (14.385); 3. Khalid Pasha (Bengaluru) (15.796).

    MMSC Drag Races (2-Stroke – winners only): Kalim Pasha (Bengaluru, Indian Open), Attaullah Baiq (Bengaluru, 350cc), Md Touheed (Bengaluru, 165cc), Khalid Pasha (130cc).

     

    eom/AP Media Communications press release

    Jagan Kumar, on way to wining the 165cc class title (4-Stroke) on Nov 12, Saturday at the Taneja Aerodrome in Hosur. Image by Anand Philar
    Jagan Kumar, on way to wining the 165cc class title (4-Stroke) on Nov 12, Saturday at the Taneja Aerodrome in Hosur. Image by Anand Philar
  • Aishwarya, Shruthi for FIM Asia Cup in Taiwan

    Aishwarya, Shruthi for FIM Asia Cup in Taiwan

    Chennai, 1 Nov 2016: Aishwarya Madhusudhan and Shruthi Nagarajan are about to make the country proud by representing FMSCI Team India in the 2016 FIM ASIACUP of Road Race in Taiwan, at the Penbay International Circuit, organised by CTMSA.
    The race would take place between November 4th -6th and the race machine that is used for this race is YAMAHA Cygnus 125.

    The FIM Asia Cup of Road Racing is three-round championship to promote young and upcoming talent in the Asia region. In this championship the host nations provide the bikes and bring riders from Asian countries. India hosted a round of this Asia Cup of Road Racing in 2011 and 2013.

    Shruthi Nagarajan, a 22year-old delicate-looking girl to the eyes, is a racer at heart. Learning to ride gear bikes at the ages of 12, Shruthi started out on her motorcycle enthusiasm as a writer for Bikes on road, moving on to racing in the year 2016 and has already emerged as one of the finest female racers in India.  “This is like a dream. Representing the country, as a woman, is very special. There is lots of exposure in every other field. Women compete in various other sports internationally but not in motorsports. This is the first time women are competing at this level”.

    Aishwarya Madhusudhan is the other female inspiration, who is a constant seeker of the “adrenaline rush” as she calls it. When asked if she had always wanted to race, she says she was more of a traveller but a “fast” one. When the racing spirit in this 21 year- old was getting too evident, she began her career at the month of May in 2016, and has sought podium finishes in various series.   “I want to break the stereotype. There were many who told me this is not my cup of tea. But I say, follow your heart”.

    Sujith Kumar, Chairman of 2w Racing Commission, expressed his happiness about the nominations and conveyed his wishes to these budding women racers. “We are very happy to nominate two female racers to participate in the ACCR. This is the first time in the history of FMSCI that two female riders are nominated. These two girls are very talented and this is a very big exposure for them to ride with some of the fastest young racers in Asia and I’m sure they would perform well too. We wish them the very best for the upcoming races”.

    Zayn Khan, President of FMSCI, wished the lady participants the very best saying, “We are seeing a big jump in women participants in our motorsport events. This is a wonderful initiative by our two-wheeler racing commission”.

    Gone are the days when motorsports was a man’s sport. These two stirring women are rewriting the story by breaking barriers and creating a path on their own.

    eom/FMSCI press release

  • Hari, Sethu finish in top 10: Asia Dream Cup race

    New Delhi, 1 Oct 2016: Indian riders Hari Krishnan Rajagopal and Rajiv Sethu put in impressive performances to finish among top 10 in the Asia Dream Cup category of the Asia Road Racing Championship, organized by the Madras Motor Sports Club, at the Buddh International Circuit, Greater Noida, on Saturday.

    While the home riders fought hard to make an impression, Australia’s Anthony Keith West, a 35-year old veteran, made the best of the pole position and rode his Yamaha to the limit in the premium SuperSport 600cc class for his first win of the season that otherwise has been disappointing.

    The SuperSport 600cc race which was red-flagged following an on-track incident and reduced to 13 laps from scheduled 16, saw West capitalizing on a good start to win from re-start to finish while another veteran and former champion Decha Kraisart finished second after a great battle with Indonesian Ahmad Yudhistira who completed the podium.

    The 22-year old Hari Krishnan who earlier this year became the first Indian to bag back-to-back podium spots, including a win, finished a creditable sixth after being in the hunt for a possible podium position while Sethu, only 19, fought his way through a bunch to come in ninth.

    The third Indian in the fray, debutant Mathana Kumar blew opportunities for a top-10 finish and ended up 12th and vowed to do better in the second race of the double-header on Sunday.

    Hari Krishnan, starting 10th on the grid, swiftly made places and moved to fourth by the end of second of the seven-lap race after pole-sitter Broc Pearson crashed. He then tucked into a chasing bunch of six riders behind leader and eventual winner Hiroki Nakamura of Japan, but a mistake in the last lap which caused him to run wide at Turn-3, Hari Krishnan settled for sixth.

    “I thought I had a podium in my grasp as I kept fighting for third-to-fifth positions. I had a good chance in the last lap, but I ran wide at Turn-3 and it cost me a couple of places. I will now have to strategise better for the second race tomorrow,” said Hari Krishnan.

    Likewise, Sethu got stuck in the midfield bunch having qualified 12th. He struggled long and hard before gaining ground in the last lap for a ninth place finish.

    “I had mechanical issues with my bike during the qualifying session this morning and then, in the race, I had a bad start. I made a mistake at Turn-1 itself and ride wide which cost me track position. Later, I got stuck in a tight bunch, but on the last lap, I managed to climb to ninth. I hope to do better tomorrow,” said Sethu.

    Meanwhile, Mathana Kumar, having received a wild card entry, had an equally tough time after starting 14th and spent most of the seven laps at the back of the field before making positions to finish 12th.

    “I changed the gearing in the morning and was not too happy. Then I made a few more changes and got confused. I was not happy, but tomorrow is another day and I want to make up,” said Mathana Kumar.

    Ahmad Fazli Sham from Malaysia took the honours in the Underbone 130cc class after a thrilling battle while Thailand’s Apiwat Wongthanon continued his domination in the Asia Production 250cc race with his seventh win in nine starts.

    Earlier, championship leader in the Volkswagen Vento Cup Ishan Dodhiwala consolidated his lead with a comfortable victory ahead of Karminder Pal Singh and Aditya Vijay Pawar.

    Jeet Jhabakh who started tenth on the grid, finished a position below to seal the Junior Drivers Vento Cup title securing a sponsored place in the next season of Volkswagen Motorsport India’s one-make series.

    The results (Provisional):

    Asia Road Racing Championship – SuperSport 600cc (Race-1, 13 laps): 1. Anthony Keith West (Australia, Yamaha) (25mins, 21.592secs); 2. Decha Kraisart (Thailand, Yamaha) (25:26.378); Ahmad Yudhistira (Indonesia, Kawasaki) (25:27.378).

    Underbone 130cc (Race-1, 7 laps): 1. Ahmad Fazli Sham (Malaysia, Yamaha) (17:19.913); 2. Md Amirul Ariff Musa (Malaysia, Honda) (17:20.514); 3. Md Izzat Zaidi (Malaysia, Yamaha) (17:21.451).

    Asia Production 250cc (Race-1, 9 laps): 1. Apiwat Wongthananon (Thailand, Yamaha) (20:35.928); 2. Anupab Sarmoon (Thailand, Yamaha) (20:36.163); 3. Takehiro Yamamoto (Japan, Kawasaki) (20:37.437).

    Asia Dream Cup (Race-1, 7 laps): 1. Hiroki Nakamura (Japan) (17:01.674); 2. Yassin Gabriel Somm (Indonesia) (17:05.258); 3. Muhd Febriansyah (Indonesia) (17:06.104).

    MMSC One Make Championship – Honda CBR 250 (Open, Race-1, 5 laps): 1. Rajiv Sethu (12:48.696); 2. Mathana Kumar (12:49.304); 3. Mithun Kumar PK (12:52.629).

    TVS Apache RTR 200 (Open, Race-1, 5 laps): 1. Prashanth Kumar (14:03.350); 2. Arvind Ganesh (14:04.598); 3. Shyam Shankar (14:04.784).

    Suzuki Gixxer Cup (Open, Race-1, 5 laps): 1. Aaron Gunawardena (Sri Lanka) (14:10.851); 2. Meka Vidhuraj (14:12.635); 3. Vivian Gladwin (14:13.015).

    Volkswagen Vento Cup (Race-1, 6 laps): 1. Ishaan Dodhiwala (19:51.066); 2. Karminder Pal Singh (20:02.198); 3. Aditya Vijay Pawar (20:08.234).

    About Madras Motor Sports Club

    The Madras Motor Sports Club has been the pioneer in developing and promoting motorsport in India since 1953, and we look to further improve in the years to come. It is the club’s endeavor to provide more opportunities for competitors and to this end, it has chalked out a progressive program for 2016. From the days of Sholavaram , MMSC built its own racetrack which was inaugurated in 1979 and secured its FIA Grade-2 international certification in 2015, making it the only club which owns such a facility. The club has organised the Porsche Super Cup, Formula Campos, Formula Asia, Asian touring car championships, Formula 3, Tata Prima Truck racing championship, the Asian 2-wheeler racing championships besides a host of other motorsport events over the years. The club also has active participation for its events from vehicle manufacturers who also use the Madras Motor Race Track (MMRT) extensively for testing their products.

     

    eom/MMSC press release

  • Gill sets early pace to take lead: APRC Rally Hokkaido

    Gill sets early pace to take lead: APRC Rally Hokkaido

    Obihiro (Japan), 14 Sept. 2016

    File photo of Gaurav Gill in Hokkaido. Image by MRF
    File photo of Gaurav Gill in Hokkaido. Image by MRF

    : Team MRF Skoda driver Gaurav Gill from India enjoyed a trouble-free run and emerged clear leader after Leg-1 of the Rally Hokkaido, the fourth round of the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship here on Saturday.

    Capitalising on his vast experience, Gill, the 2013 APRC champion, and his new co-driver Stephane Prevot, pulled away from the pack in his Skoda Fabia R5 to enjoy a lead of one minute, 24.9 seconds over his nearest rival and team-mate Fabian Kreim (Christian Frank).

    “It’s been a good day. I had good rhythm and speed. It was smooth sailing with Stephane and that was something I was nervous about prior to the rally, but we have a really good setup. Although we made a few changes to the car, it’s working very well and I wish to continue like this tomorrow,” said Gill who has won all the three previous rounds in New Zealand, Australia and China.

    Meanwhile, Kreim managed to fight his way back into second after a troublesome morning which saw him with very little rear grip and a puncture on Stage Four.

    “So far, it’s not bad for the first time here. It was not so easy, there are very deep ruts and a lot of deep gravel, but so far we are satisfied. The car setup is getting better and better and we will keep trying tomorrow. I think some more changing on setup tonight and then we will see,” said Kreim.

    New Zealander Mike Young also suffered a puncture in exactly the same place as Kreim, as a section of a cattle grid became dislodged and caused punctures to multiple competitors; all on the right hand side of the car.

    Young had managed to hold second place all morning, but fell to third at the end of the first day after suffering from a second puncture, like other competitors behind him.

    eom/AP Media Comm. release

  • Arjun Rao Aroor-Satish Rajagopal win Rally de North

    Gurgaon, 18 Sept 2016: Ace rallyist Arjun Rao Aroor and co-driver Satish Rajagopal won the Rally de North, the third round of the MRF FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) while championship leader Amittrajit Ghosh (co-driver Ashwin Naik) finished way back in fifth here on Sunday. But the Kolkata driver still kept his lead on the top in the championship standings.

    Dr. Dhirendra Kumar and navigator Honey Narulla won the Indian Rally Championship (IRC) while for Asia Pacific Rally Champion Gaurav Gill and Musa Sherif had to be content with an overall third place in the INRC as they found the bulky SUV500 a bit tough for the terrain. Arjun Rao Aroor clocked 47 minutes 10 seconds while Karna Kadur and co-driver Nikhil Pai timed 48.04 seconds to finish second ahead of Gill and Musa who 20 seconds more than Karna clocking 48.24sec.

    Organised by Sports Route Trust, the MRF Rally de North, the second gravel event of the calendar, saw INRC return to the North after a gap of over a decade. The last time a North Indian city hosted the rally was in 2005. The six Special Stages covered a distance of about 65km of dirt tracks on the outskirts of Gurugaon. A total of 38 cars started the rally.

    PG Abhilash, who won Round 1 and 2 of IRC crashed out in Stage 2. Karna Kadur and Nikhil Pai also won the INRC 2000cc category.

    Dhirendra Kumar and Honey, entered in the MRF FMSCI Indian Rally Championship (IRC) and won their category with a time of 1:00:04 after overnight leader Samir Thaper retired. Indian drivers in Indian cars were eligible for the INRC while Indian or foreign drivers in Indian or foreign cars were eligible for the IRC.

    Arjun Rao said: “Rally de North has always been lucky for me as I won overall way back in 2005 and then again history repeats. Overall, rally was very challenging as the stages became pretty rough towards the end and we had to save the car as well as keep pace and make sure we are doing good stage timings.”

    The second-placed driver Karna Kadur said: “All I can say is that, it’s been an epic battle to finish 2nd on the podium along with Gaurav and Arjun.”

    Finishing third was Gaurav Gill who said: “It was a great weekend rallying in the northern part of the country finally. Wasn’t the best for our team and car but we still managed to pick up the 3rd spot and that’s still good set of points in the bag.”

    Results: Overall: 1. Arjun Rao Aroor/ Satish Rajagopal 47 min 10sec; 2. Karna Kadur/ Nikhil Pai 48:04; 3. Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif (Team Mahindra Adventure) 48:24.

    IRC: 1. Dhirendra/ Honey Narulla 1: 00:04; 2.

    2000cc: 1. Karna Kadur 48:04; 2.

    (Note: Complete results are not released by the organisers/promoters)

  • Facile win for Ahamed; Jagan crashes out but still keeps the championship lead

    ​Chennai, 3 Sept 2016: Nineteen-year old KY Ahamed of Team TVS Racing notched up a comfortable win in the premium Super Sport Indian 165cc class in the third round of the MRF MMSC FMSCI National Motorcycle Racing championship at the MMRT track near here, on Saturday.

    Starting from P2, Ahamed made the best of the absence of his teammate and championship leader Jagan Kumar. He moved past pole sitter Rajini Krishnan at the second corner in the very first lap to take the lead. But with Rajini dropping out with a technical problem after three laps, Ahamed opened a huge gap over second-placed Sarath Kumar of Honda Ten10 Racing for an easy win. Deepak Ravikumar of RACR was further behind in third.

    Jagan, who was disqualified on technical grounds after taking pole on Friday, still leads the championship by three points over Deepak Ravikumar (80). Starting from the back of the grid, Jagan crashed at Turn-2 in the second lap. “I was pushing too hard and crashed out. I will come back strongly in the next few races to keep my chances alive,’’ said Jagan

    ​ who will start from pole position on Sunday.​

    In the Pro-Stock 165cc race, Kannan Karnan of Performance Racing pipped D Dinesh Kumar of RACR while Prabhu, also of RACR came third.

    Once again Rockstar Racing dominated the Super Sport Indian 300-400cc class by winning all the three podium places in Race 1. It was a facile win for Ami van Poedeooijen while Abhishek Vasudev came second and Amarnath Menon K was third.

    Antony Peter of Performance Racing notched up his third win in five starts in the Stock 165cc category while Joseph Mathew of Sparks Racing finished second followed by Anish Damodara Shetty of United Tech Torque Racing .

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

    National Championship:

    Super Sport Indian 165cc (Race 1): 1. KY Ahmed (TVS Racing) (12mins, 05.530secs); 2. Sarath Kumar (Honda Ten10 Racing) (12:12.355); Deepak Ravikumar (RACR) (12:12.516).

    Super Sport Indian 300-400cc (Race 1): 1. Ami van Poederooijen (Rockstar Racing) (11:59.648); 2. Abhishek Vasudev (Rockstar Racing) (12:04.426); 3. Amarnath K Menon (Rockstar Racing) (12:10.435).

    Pro-Stock 165cc (Race 1): 1. Kannan Karnan (Performance Racing) (12:40.607); 2. D Dinesh Kumar (RACR) (12:41.444); 3. Prabhu A (RACR) (12:45.290).

    Stock 165cc (Race 1): 1. Antony Peter (Performance Racing) (13:21.828); 2. Joseph Mathew (Sparks Racing) (13:22.315); 3. Anish Shetty (United Tech Torque) (13:26.890).

    One-Make Championship:

    Honda-MMSC CBR 250 Open (Race 1): 1. Mathana Kumar (Honda Ten10 Racing) (12:20.800); 2. Hari Krishnan (Honda Ten10 Racing) (12:22.797); 3. Ananth Raj P (Pro Lap Racing) (12:32.051). CBR 150 Novice (Race 1, 4 laps): 1. Soorya PM (Chennai) (09:02.273); Anish Shetty (Hubballi) (09:02.312); 3. Mahesh Murali (Kerala) (09:03.395).

    TVS-MMSC Apache RTR 200 – Open (Race 1): 1. Kannan Karnan (Chennai) (13:17.989); 2. Jaden Gunawardena (Sri Lanka) (13:21.168); 3. Arvind Ganesh (Chennai) (13:21.892). Novice (Race 1, 4 laps): 1. Yashas RL (Bengaluru) (09:01.585); 2. Hari Prasath R (Chennai) (09:14.317); 3. Kamran Alam (Patna) (09:15.274).

    Suzuki Gixxer Cup – Novice (Race 1, 4 laps): 1. Joseph Mathew (Chennai) (08:58.965); 2. Antony Peter (Coimbatore) (09:04.755); 3. Amarnath Rajan (Chennai) (09:21.467). Race 2: 1. Mathew (09:08.007); 2. Peter (09:09.585); 3. Alan Victor Fernando (Mumbai) (09:25.974). Rookie Cup: 1. Aaron Gunaderdan (Sri Lanka) (08:57.368); 2. Sachin Choudhary (Ahmedabad) (09:20.422); 3. AS Alexander (Chennai) (09:21.865). Race 2: 1. Gunaderdan (09:03.310); 2. Choudhary (09:10.101); 3. Alexander (09:34.239).

    Support Races – Superbikes (Race 1): 1. Deepak Ravikumar (Chennai) (11:32.877); 2. Naresh Babu J (Chennai) (12:03.117); 117); 3. Rizwan Khan (Mysuru) (12:06.281). AATA Ladies (4 laps): 1. Olesya V Dias (Goa) (10:04.499); 2. Renuka Gajendran (Bengaluru) (10:15.490); 3. Pratheeba P (Chennai) (10:19.253). Honda Ladies (4 laps): 1. Aishwarya Pissay (Bengaluru) (09:49.114); 2. A Ryhana Bee (Chennai) (09:49.564); 3. Shruthi N (Chennai) (10:06.350).

    About Madras Motor Sports Club

    The Madras Motor Sports Club has been the pioneer in developing and promoting motorsport in India since 1953, and we look to further improve in the years to come. It is the club’s endeavor to provide more opportunities for competitors and to this end, it has chalked out a progressive program for 2016. From the days of Sholavaram , MMSC built its own racetrack which was inaugurated in 1979 and secured its FIA Grade-2 international certification in 2015, making it the only club which owns such a facility. The club has organised the Porsche Super Cup, Formula Campos, Formula Asia, Asian touring car championships, Formula 3, Tata Prima Truck racing championship, the Asian 2-wheeler racing championships besides a host of other motorsport events over the years. The club also has active participation for its events from vehicle manufacturers who also use the Madras Motor Race Track (MMRT) extensively for testing their products.

    eom/AP Media Communications Release

  • MRF MMSC Motorcycle Racing 3rd round begins

    Chennai, 1 Sept 2016: The heat is on as the competition intensifies with nearly 200 entries in fray, including several international riders, and 22 races scheduled for the third round of the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship which gets underway at the MMRT track in Sriperumbudur, near here on Friday

    The weekend fare includes races in the three main classes of the National Championship – the Super Sport Indian (165cc and 300-400cc), Pro-Stock 165 and Stock 165 – besides the MMSC One Make Championships for the three major manufacturers Honda (CBR 150 and 250), TVS (Apache RTR 200) and Suzuki Gixxer Cup.

    The programme also showcases two support races in the Superbike (600-1000cc) category and two Ladies races by Honda and Alisha Abdullah Racing Academy.

    Much of the focus this weekend will be on the top-end Super Sport Indian class that has a combined grid of 300-400cc and up to 165cc bikes piloted by established riders, some of them like TVS Racing’s Jagan Kumar, Sarath Kumar of Honda Ten10 Racing and veteran Rajini Krishnan (Team RACR), with international experience.

    Jagan heads the 165cc leaderboard with an 18-point lead over RACR’s Deepak Ravikumar. Behind the pair of front-runners, five riders are bunched tightly within 14 points of each other. TVS Racing’s Harry Sylvester leads this chasing pack ahead of Sarath Kumar, team-mate Kannan Subramaniam, Rajini Krishnan and young gun KY Ahmed (TVS Racing).

    Another international rider Hari Krishnan of Honda Ten10 Racing heads the Pro-Stock category, having won all four races over the previous two rounds. Behind him are RACR’s Dinesh Kumar and Honda Ten10’s Rajiv Sethu, who like Hari Krishnan is a regular on the Asian circuit, with just one point separating them.

    Coimbatore’s Antony Peter (RMC Racing) and Anish Shetty from Hubballi (United Tech Torque Racing) are within nine points of each other at the top of the Stock 165cc class which attracts first-timers and young, aspiring racers.

    The three MMSC One Make Championships have proved to be very popular going by the huge number of entries and have produced keen competition in the previous rounds. It will be no less fierce this weekend with more than a handful of riders in contention for the championship titles.

    About Madras Motor Sports Club

    The Madras Motor Sports Club has been the pioneer in developing and promoting motorsport in India since 1953, and we look to further improve in the years to come. It is the club’s endeavor to provide more opportunities for competitors and to this end, it has chalked out a progressive program for 2016. From the days of Sholavaram , MMSC built its own racetrack which was inaugurated in 1979 and secured its FIA Grade-2 international certification in 2015, making it the only club which owns such a facility. The club has organised the Porsche Super Cup, Formula Campos, Formula Asia, Asian touring car championships, Formula 3, Tata Prima Truck racing championship, the Asian 2-wheeler racing championships besides a host of other motorsport events over the years. The club also has active participation for its events from vehicle manufacturers who also use the Madras Motor Race Track (MMRT) extensively for testing their products.

  • Gaurav Gill, Musa Sherif conquer Nashik Rally

    Nashik, 28 August 2016: Team Mahindra Adventure’s Gaurav Gill and long-time co-driver Musa Sherif won the Rally of Maharashtra for the sixth time, winning the Round 2 of the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) which concluded at Nashik on Sunday. Gaurav and Musa clocked 52min 8sec for the win.

    Gill was fastest in four of the six stages and took a commanding lead of 1min 4sec over Arjun Rao Aroor and co-driver Satish Rajgopal. Kolkata driver Amittrajit Ghosh along with navigator Ashwin Naik, who were the winners of the first round at Coimbatore, could only finish third here timing 53min 59sec, almost two minutes adrift of the toppers. Ghosh’s said, he had punctures in SS 1,3 and 4.

    In the Indian Rally Championship class (IRC), Abhilash PG and co-driver Srikanth Gowda took the overall win clocking 55min 20sec. Suraj Kute and navigator Shamim Khan came second in 1min 7sec while Amol Satoskar and co-driver Dinesh S were third clocking 1min 13sec.

    Dr Bikku Babu won the INRC 2000 class, with Milen George calling the pace notes as the Kerala duo clocked 54min 33sec. Bangalore pair, Karna Kadur (co-driver Nikhil Pai) finished just a second behind to take the second place.

    Switching to a new format under RRPM promoters, the Rally of Maharashtra this year was held in a one-day format with three Special Stages run in two loops. The Special Stage distance was only 70km and along with liaision the entire rally covered almost 400km. SS1 which doubled up as SS4 in the second run, is the new physical stage this year. It took the competitors through a narrow tarmac road with hardly any run-off area and it tested the drivers concentration. According to Musa, it was a very technical stage that helped bring in all the aspects of a rally stage. The consistent drizzle made the roads quite slippery making it more challenging for the drivers.

    The next round of the INRC will be held in Gurgaon on September 17 and 18.

    Provisional Unaudited Classification:

    Overall and INRC: 1. Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif (52min, 08sec); 2. Arujun Rao Aroor/ Satish Rajagopal (53:12); 3. Amittrajit Ghosh/ Ashwin Naik (53:59).

    IRC: 1. PG Abhilash/ Srikanth Gowda (55:20); 2. Suraj Kute/ Shamim Khan (1:00:07); 3. Amol Satoskar/ Dinesh S (1:00:13); 4. Mohammed Kasim/ G Sanath (1:00:25).

    INRC 2000: 1. Dr Bikku Babu/ Milen George (54:33); 2. Karna Kadur/ Nikhil Pai (54:34); 3. Younas Ilyas/ Suraj Prasad (54:55).

    FMSCI Cup:  1. KJ Jacob/ Manoj Mohanan (57:21); 2. Yashas Nayaka M/ Uday Kumar D (59:06); 3. Michu Ganapathi/ Venu Ramesh Kumar (1:00:37).

  • Nayan, Yash, Arjun win Round 4: JK Tyre National karting

    Kolhapur, 21 August 2016: On a rain-hit Sunday, championship favourite Ricky Donison suffered a double blow that saw him surrender his leadership position after the fourth and penultimate round of the 13th JK Tyre FMSCI National Rotax Max Championship here at the Mohite Racing Academy.

    Donison of BPC Racing, who had won all three earlier rounds, couldn’t come to terms with the wet and slippery conditions on the track and lost his edge in the Senior Max category. He zipped into the parcferme area in the scrutiny bay as he felt that he had a problem with his kart.

    He came back a few minutes later to rejoin the race but by then the race organisers had removed his transponder, deeming him DNF (did not finish) on technical grounds. It meant that he had to be content with 38 points in the final that saw him slip to the second position with 324 overall points.

    Chennai’s Vishnu Prasad jumped into the lead in the battle for the championship by finishing third in the pre-final and fourth in the final on an action-packed Sunday. He has a nominal 4-point lead now with 328 points in his bag, going into the final round next month.

    The round itself was won by Mumbai’s Nayan Chatterjee (Meco Racing) in an exciting race.  Starting from the sixth place, he drove aggressively to come into contention in the opening lap itself. By the fifth, he was in the lead and didn’t give any other driver the opportunity to catch him.

    For a brief while, Kolhapur fans had something to cheer as Dhruv Mohite grabbed the lead. But he couldn’t handle the heat generated by Nayan and the rest and slowly fell behind and eventually pulled out in the 12th lap. But the crowds still had reason to celebrate as another local boy Chittesh Mandody surprised all by coming from behind to finish second. Akash Gowda of Meco finished a commendable third, having started from the pit lane.

    Interestingly, the Junior Max and Micro Max categories too saw the current leaders, Manav Sharma and Shahan Ali, suffer defeats but that didn’t affect their positions on the championship table.

    In Junior Max, Manav of Peregrine Racing only managed to finish sixth after struggling with technical problems with his kart all through the weekend. But that was enough to keep him ahead of the pack with 334 points.

    Yash Aradhya of Meco won the round to climb one place up to second position with 328 points.

    Chirag Ghorpade of BPC had a great weekend, winning the two heats on Saturday and the pre-final in the morning. But he fell behind in the race that mattered and finished second. He is now in the fourth place in the championship race with 317 points.

    In Micro Max, Shahan Ali looked unbeatable till the rains came down. The 12-year-old from Agra preferred not to take any undue risk and couldn’t do anything as Arjun Nair (Meco Racing) sneaked past him in the opening lap itself.

    Shahan waited for Arjun to make a mistake but that didn’t happen; he made a late charge, even clocking the quickest timing in the last and 15th lap but Arjun held on to his nerve and warded him off. Bangalore’s Arjun is now just 28 points behind the leader in the championship race.

    Results

    MICRO MAX Final (15 laps)

    1. Arjun Nair, Bangalore (16:23.165); 2. Shahan Ali Mohsin, Agra (16:27.692); 3. Yeasash More, Bangalore (16:28.345)

    Pre-final (12 laps)

    1. Shahan Ali Mohsin 11:55.795); 2. Kunal Vinod, Bangalore (12:02.361); 3. Arjun Nair (12:02.361)

    JUNIOR MAX Final (18 laps)

    1. Yash Aradhya, Bangalore (18:52.000); 2. Chirag Ghorpade, Bangalore (19:09.584); 3. Paul Francis, Bangalore (19:14.258)

    Pre final (15 laps)

    1. Chirag Ghorpade, Bangalore (13:20.373); 2. Yash Aradhya, Bangalore (13:22.885); 3. Jonathan Kuriakose, Mumbai (13:23.918)

    SENIOR MAX (15 laps) Final

    1. Nayan Chatterjee, Mumbai (20:34.842); 2. Chittesh Mandody, Kolhapur (20:40,493); Akash Gowda, 20:45.403)

    Pre-final

    1. Ricky Donison, Bangalore (13:20.373); 2. Dhruv Mohite, Kolhapur (13:22.885); 3. Jonathan Kuriakose, Mumbai (13:23.918)
  • Vikash Anand wins title with a double, earns ticket to Indy shootout

    Vikash Anand wins title with a double, earns ticket to Indy shootout

    Vikash Anand in action on Sunday. Image by Srinivasa Krishnan
    Vikash Anand in action on Sunday. Image by Srinivasa Krishnan

    Chennai, 21 August 2016: Twenty-two year old Chennai lad Vikash Anand won a double to clinch the title in the MRF Formula 1600 category and a ticket for the Mazda Road to Indy shootout as the fifth and final round of the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Racing Championship concluded at the MMRT track in Sriperumbudur, near here on Sunday.

    Going into this weekend’s triple-header, Vikash Anand and Karthik Tharani were locked on 138 points. Anand began his campaign with a second place finish behind Tharani on Saturday, but won both the starts today to seal the championship.

    Championship winners (Left to Right) - Keith Desouza (IJTC), Arjun Narendran (ITC), Vikash Anand (MRF F1600) and Raghul Rangasamy (Super Stock, F1300). Image by Srinivasa Krishnan
    Championship winners (Left to Right) – Keith Desouza (IJTC), Arjun Narendran (ITC), Vikash Anand (MRF F1600) and Raghul Rangasamy (Super Stock, F1300). Image by Srinivasa Krishnan

    “I worked hard to win this championship and I really can’t explain how I am feeling right now. Indy is a great opportunity to go abroad and explore new opportunities and learn. I will give my best to be competitive,’’ said Vikash Anand who returned to racing this season after an 18-month break and notched six wins for a tally of 206 points, 10 ahead of Tharani.

    Also achieving a double was Raghul Rangasamy who won both the races in the F1300 Rookie Championship and annexed the title. He later went on to claim the championship in the Super Stock class after Race 2 winner Veeresh Prasad was given a 20-second penalty for overtaking under yellow flags which demoted him to fourth place. The result saw Raghul and Veeresh tying on 142 points. Raghul was declared champion on the basis of three wins to Veeresh’s two on the countback which was employed to break the tie.

    Goa’s Keith Desouza (UNIMEK Racing) topped the Indian Junior Touring Cars class with a crucial win today which helped him finish on 199 points while his nearest rival Ananth Pithawala (Team N1) from Mumbai ended up on 191.

     

    Coimbatore’s Arjun Narendran (Red Rooster Racing), who had already clinched the championship in the premium Indian Touring Cars class, ended the season with a double for a tally of 240 points, well clear of Bengaluru’s Deepak Paul Chinnappa (Race Concepts) who finished on 135.

    Ishaan Dodhiwala from Delhi won Sunday’s both races in the Volkswagen Vento Cup to consolidate his position at the top of the leaderboard.

    The results (Provisional):

    MRF F1600 (Race 2, 10 laps): 1. Vikash Anand (Chennai) (16mins, 54.111secs); 2. Raghul Rangasamy (Chennai) (16:58.677); 3. Karthik Tharani (Chennai) (17:02.390). Race 3 (10 laps): 1. Vikash Anand (16:55.247); 2. Karthik Tharani (16:56.108); Anindith Reddy (Hyderabad) (17:03.391). Championship: 1. Vikash Anand 206 points; 2. Karthik Tharani Singh 196; 3. Raghul Rangasamy 171.

    Indian Touring Cars (Race 2, 8 laps): 1. Arjun Narendran (Red Rooster Racing) (15:14.881); 2. Ashish Ramaswamy (Red Rooster Racing) (15:26.777); 3. Siva Ramakrishnan (Red Rooster Racing) (15:34.819).

    Indian Junior Touring Cars (Race 2, 10 laps): 1.Keith Desouza (Unimek Racing) (23:54.238); 2.Ananth Pithawalla (Team N1) (23:55.704); 3.Charen Chandran (Red Rooster Performance) (23:57.784). Championship: 1.Keith Desouza 199; 2.Ananth Pithawala 191; 3.R Sri Hariram 113.

    Super Stock (Race 2, 10 laps):  1.Raghul Rangasamy (Performance Racing) (24:04.104); 2.Deepak Ravi Kumar (Pvt) (24:06357); 3.Dean Mascarenhas (Race Concepts) (24:08161). Championship: 1.Raghul Rangasamy 142 (3 wins); 2.Veeresh Prasad 142 (2 wins); 3.Dean Mascarenhas 117.

    F1300 Rookie Championship (Race 2, 8 laps): 1. Raghul Rangasamy (Wallace Sports) (15:38.816); 2. Tejasram CS (Wallace Sports) (15:43.047); 3. Alex Bora (Wallace Sports) (15:43.896). Championship: 1. Raghul Rangasamy 205; Tejasram CS 179; Alex Bora 135.

    Volkswagen Vento Cup (Race 2, 9 laps): 1. Ishaan Dodhiwala (Hyderabad) (20:13.197); 2. Dhruv Bhel (Delhi) (20:15.171); 3. Niranjan B Todkari (Pune) (20:17.447).  Race 3: 1. Dodhiwala (Hyderabad) (19:44.856); 2.Karminder Pal Singh (New Delhi) (19:46.918); 3. Todkari (19.50.640).

    Caption: Championship winners (Left to Right) – Keith Desouza (IJTC), Arjun Narendran (ITC), Vikash Anand (MRF F1600) and Raghul Rangasamy (Super Stock, F1300)

    About Madras Motor Sports Club

    The Madras Motor Sports Club has been the pioneer in developing and promoting motorsport in India since 1953, and we look to further improve in the years to come. It is the club’s endeavor to provide more opportunities for competitors and to this end, it has chalked out a progressive program for 2016. From the days of Sholavaram , MMSC built its own racetrack which was inaugurated in 1979 and secured its FIA Grade-2 international certification in 2015, making it the only club which owns such a facility. The club has organised the Porsche Super Cup, Formula Campos, Formula Asia, Asian touring car championships, Formula 3, Tata Prima Truck racing championship, the Asian 2-wheeler racing championships besides a host of other motorsport events over the years. The club also has active participation for its events from vehicle manufacturers who also use the Madras Motor Race Track (MMRT) extensively for testing their products.

    ends/AP Media comm. release