INDIA in F1

Category: Domestic

  • Gaurav Gill and Musa Sherif claim overall title at INRC Nashik leg

    Nashik, 15 June 2015: As expected, reigning National champion Gaurav Gill and co-driver Musa Sherif claimed the Overall title by a sizeable margin in the Mahindra Adventure Rally of Maharashtra, the second round of the FMSCI Indian Rally Championship which concluded here on Sunday.

    Gill, the 33-year old Delhi-based 2013 Asia Pacific champion sealed his fifth Rally of Maharashtra title after the two concluding rounds of the Spectator Special Stage that were run on Sunday, winning by a margin of three minutes, 59 seconds.

    While Gill cruised to victory in the Rally organized by the Western India Sports Association, the drive of the day came from Mangaluru’s Arjun Rao Aroor (co-driver Sathish Rajagopal) who, piloting the Volkswagen Polo R2 made up a 10-second overnight deficit and pipped Mahindra Adventure’s Amittrajit Ghosh (Ashwin Naik) by just one second to finish second Overall.

    Ghosh and Aroor were tied going into the final run of the Spectator Special Stage. “I just didn’t think how much time I had to make up, but drove the car to its limits. I am extremely happy that I managed to make one place to finish second,” said Aroor.

    Gill was pleased as punch in scoring his 21st win with Sherif over the past eight years. “I just love the Rally of Maharashtra. The Special Stages are very technical and fast which suit my driving style.

    Obviously, it is great to start the domestic season on a winning note and we hope to carry forward the momentum,” said Gill.

    Finishing behind the top three was Mysuru’s Lohitt Urs (Srikant Gowda) in a Mitsubisihi EVO VIII that arrived in Nashik barely hours before the Rally commenced on Friday.

    “Our spares and tyres came only after we completed the first loop of the Stages on Friday. Until then, we were running on street tyres with just 50 litres of fuel to play with. It was tough, but we will do much better in the remaining four rounds of the IRC,” said Urs who came back to rallying after a year’s break.

    Meanwhile, Bengaluru’s Rahul Kanthraj and his co-driver of 15 seasons, Vivek Bhatt, driving a Mitsubishi Cedia for Team Yokohama, comfortably won the IRC 2000cc class where he faced little or no competition.

    “We had an excellent outing here in Nashik. Hopefully, we will continue to perform for the rest of the season. The car was superb and so were the Yokohama tyres,” said Kanthraj.

    Topping the IRC 1600cc class was 21-year old Dean Mascarenas from Mangaluru and co-driver Sudipta Padival in a VW Polo.

    “We are extremely happy to have won the title here and a great start to the new season. We had no issues with our car and except for the mistake in Friday’s Spectator Special Stage when due to an under-steer I crashed into the barriers, everything was just perfect,” said Mascarenhas.

    In the FMSCI 1600 Cup, Dhruva C (Jeeva Rathinam) took the honours in the Honda City V-Tec, as he easily held on to a big overnight lead.

    Provisional, Final classification:

    IRC Overall: Gaurva Gill / Musa Sherif (Mahindra Adventure, Mahindra XUV 500) 1 (01 Hr, 31mins, 28secs); Arjun Rao Aroor / Sathish Rajagopal  (Volkswagen Polo R2) 2 (01:35:27); Amittrajit Ghosh / Ashwin Naik (Mahindra Adventure, Mahindra XUV 500) 3 (01:35:28).

    IRC 2000cc: Rahul Kanthraj / Vivek Bhatt (Team Yokohama, Cedia) 1 (01:38:06); Hrishikesh Thackersey / Ninad Mirajgaonkar (VW Polo) 2 (01:41:52); Sumit Panjabi / Sagar M (Cedia) 3 (01:43:36).

    IRC 1600cc: Dean Mascarenhas / Sudipta Padiwal (VW Polo) 1 (01:38:17); Dr Biku Babu / George Milen (VW Polo) 2 (01:42:12); Vikram Rao Aroor / AG Somayya (VW Polo) 3 (01:44:44).

    FMSCI 1600 Cup: Dhruva C /Jeeva Rathinam (Honda City V-Tec) 1 (01:44:49); Ashwin Reddy Daram / Salman Shahid (Rally Cross, Honda City V-Tec) 2 (01:45:43); Adith KC / Harish KN (Kari Sports, Honda City V-Tec) 3 (01:46:10).

    eom/FMSCI

    Overall winners in the Mahindra Adventure Rally of Maharashtra which concluded in Nashik on Sunday Gaurav Gill and co-driver Musa Sherif (middle) flanked by second placed Arjun Rao Aroor (extreme left) and Sathish Rajagopal, and third placed Amittrajit Ghosh and Ashwin Naik (right). Image by Anand Philar
    Overall winners in the Mahindra Adventure Rally of Maharashtra which concluded in Nashik on Sunday Gaurav Gill and co-driver Musa Sherif (middle) flanked by second placed Arjun Rao Aroor (extreme left) and Sathish Rajagopal, and third placed Amittrajit Ghosh and Ashwin Naik (right). Image by Anand Philar

    press release

  • Yokohama to enter INRC 2015 with Rahul Kantharaj, Karna Kadur

    Yokohama to enter INRC 2015 with Rahul Kantharaj, Karna Kadur

    Bangalore, 13 June 2015: In order to strengthen its Motorsports activities in India and further gain a stronger footing for future car rallies, Yokohama India Private Limited, the wholly owned arm of Japanese tyre major Yokohama has announced its team for Motorsports 2015 India.

    A press release from Yokohama said: “Team Yokohama will compete in the 1600 and 2000cc categories of the Indian Rally Championships. The team consists of experienced rallyists Rahul Kanthraj and Co-Driver Vivek Bhatt driving a Mitsubishi Cedia, competing in 2000cc and Karna Kadur and Co-Driver M Chandrashekar driving in 1600cc on a Volkswagen Polo. Yokohma also supports Prithvi Domnic and Co-Driver Pruthvi Ithal in 2000cc. Domnic is a Yokohama YCN dealer in Bangalore as well as a regular Motorsports rally enthusiast.

    Takeshi Harada, Director (Sales and Marketing), Yokohama India, while introducing the team said: “Yokohama has been part of Motorsports events the world over. I would also like to mention the completion of 10 years as a sole Tyre supplier to WTCC, an FIA World Championship, this is a proud moment. Therefore, for us participating in the IRC was a foregone conclusion as Motorsports is today part of the Yokohama philosophy.”

    “The launch of Team Yokohama is a proud moment, we have been providing Tyre support and participating for various Motorsports events in India since 2008 and excellent results have encouraged us to continue in this course,” Sanjay Chatterjee, General Manager, Yokohama India added.

    From 2008 -2010 Yokohama had been the official tyre partner to Red Rooster racing for INRC events. The results during that partnership were encouraging. Since 2008 year after year Yokohama Tyre supported cars have always found place on the Podium at Raid De Himalaya, one of the toughest Rallies. Yokohama’s IRC 2014 results have also been encouraging with the Team winner 2000cc, Team winner 1600cc and Rahul Kanthraj as Best driver 2000cc.

    Rahul Kanthraj and Vivek Bhatt duo started rallying in the year 2000 and has participated in over 75 rallies. Together they have won 4 Group and National championships and finished runners up on 4 other occasions. They will participate in the 2000cc category.

    Participating in the 1600cc category, Karna Kadur, who has been part of over 95 (2& 4 Wheel) events and has won two National Championship titles and 12 National event wins. He has had 80 podium finishes with his co-driver M Chandrashekar.

    The three cars: from left: Rahul Kantharaj & Vivek Bhatt, Karna Kadur & Chandrasekhar, Dominic Pruthvi and Prithvi Ithal.

    The FMSCI was founded in the year 1971. The Indian rally championship (IRC) was renamed in 2014 but started had way back in the year 1978 and ran as the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC).

    Globally other than replacement tyres business, Yokohama tyres is original equipment suppliers to many top of the line car manufacturers like Audi, Honda, Mercedes Benz, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Porsche, Suzuki and Toyota.

    Yokohama India is 100% subsidiary of The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. Yokohama Rubber Company(YRC) is already running in to 10th decade of its establishment in Japan, under its management plan GD100 (Grand Design 100, on completion of 100 years of operations in 2017) decided to foray in to Indian market in 2007. India being one of the fastest growing automobile markets got Yokohama India to invest in land for its manufacturing unit.

    Note: Updated from archives

  • 7th JK Tyre Hornbill Motor Rally flagged off

    7th JK Tyre Hornbill Motor Rally flagged off

    DIMAPUR, 4 Dec 2014: The 7th JK Tyre Hornbill Motor Rally was flagged-off here on Thursday with Mr Tovihoto Ayemi, Parliamentary Secretary Information Technology & Communication, Technical Education, Science & Technology and Taxes, doing the honours.

    The JK Tyre Hornbill Motor Rally is organized by the Nagaland Adventure and Motor Sports Association (NAMSA) and coincides with the famous Hornbill Festival of Nagaland, a seven-day extravaganza of cultural performances, ethnic food courts, handlooms and handicrafts bazaars, film and art festivals, fashion shows and National rock music contest.

    The JK Tyre Hornbill Rally will conclude on Friday at the Heritage Village, Kasima, the hub of the Festival with Mr TR Zeliang, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Nagaland, giving away the prizes.

    JK Tyre nurtured and developed the Hornbill Rally in a bid to provide opportunity to regional motorsports enthusiasts to express their talent and skill, be it driving or navigation. The Rally is now an integral part of the Hornbill Festival.

    Over the years, the Hornbill Festival as evolved into a global tourist destination and the event received a massive boost and profile upgrade when Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself inaugurated the 2014 Festival earlier this week. In the past, the Hornbill Festival received endorsement from the President of India.

    National championship leaders SK Ajgar Ali and navigator MK Mohammed Musthafa headline the JK Tyre Hornbill Rally which will be run on Friday after Thursday’s ceremonial flag-off.

    Ali and Musthafa are the defending champions in the JK Tyre Hornbill Rally which they will start as the hot favourites and currently, they also are heading the FMSCI Indian National TSD Rally Championship.

    The JK Tyre Hornbill Rally has attracted over 40 pan-India entries and that include last year’s champions in the amateur class, Nitoka N Chophy and navigator Philip Lam, one of the three entries sponsored by Spearhead Initiative.

    TSD (Time Speed Distance) Rally is usually conducted on public roads and following Traffic Rules, but sometimes including off-road and track sections, testing both driving and navigational skill of the crew members.

    The objective of the TSD Rally is to maintain precise times and average speeds on various segments of a predefined route. Each team consists of a rider/driver and navigator. The route instructions, known as the Tulip, also provide assigned speeds. As such, participating vehicles do not require any special upgrade by way of safety features such as a roll cage.

    Hence, any roadworthy vehicle is eligible to enter a TSD Rally and the crew is not required to don special gear such as fireproof overalls, gloves and helmets, as in a Stage Rally.

  • Gaurav Gill-Musa Sherif win Rally de Bengal with ease

    Kolkata, 7 Nov 2014: Speed king Gaurav Gill and experienced navigator Musa Sherif of Team Mahindra Adventure continued their domination winning the Indian Rally Championship class in Rally de Bengal, the fourth round of the Indian National Rally Championship at Jhargram, about 167km from here, on Sunday.

    After winning the first two rounds in Nashik and Coimbatore, Gill piloted his Mahindra XUV500. to a victory once again to take a comfortable lead in the championship. The spectacular performance of the Super XUV500 driven by current APRC champion Gaurav Gill (co-driver Musa Sheriff) while the current Desert Storm Champion Sunny Sidhu along with co-driver PVS Murthy, came third.

    Vivek Nayer, Chief Marketing Officer, Automotive Division, Mahindra & Mahindra Limited said: “This victory by the Mahindra vehicles is a testimony to the tough and rugged ‘Mahindra DNA’. Having won top positions in the first three rounds of the Indian Rally Championship, our win at the ‘Rally De Bengal 2014’, has continued to keep us in the lead. Time and again our vehicles are proving their mettle against the competition and we will continue to do so during the rest of the upcoming IRC season this year.”

    The Rally De Bengal is a round of FMSCI Indian Rally Championship (IRC). It is run in compliance with the International Sporting Code of the FIA, the General Prescriptions for rallies (4W) of the FMSCI and all relevant Regulations concerning IRC championship. It runs special stages of 108km.

    Note: Other winners to be added.

  • Yokohama to field IRC team for INRC 2014

    Yokohama to field IRC team for INRC 2014

    Nashik, 15 June 2014: Yokohama India, the 100 per cent subsidiary of the Yokohama Rubber Company is introducing for the first time Team Yokohama for the Indian Rally Championship (IRC). The Round 1 of INRC will be held at Nashik from June 13 to 15 under the aegis of Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI).

    The unveiling of the Team Yokohama colors will take place at the first round of the 3rd edition of the FMSCI- Indian Rally Championship. The team comprises of  Rahul Kanthraj for the 2000cc category and Vikram Devdasen, who are currently ranked 3rd in India for the 1600 cc category.

    The Indian Rally Championship is a rallying series organised by the FMSCI. The Nashik leg of the rally has a total distance of 621.31 km. The special road surface stages will be held on asphalt.

    Sanjay Chatterjee, General Manager, Sales, Yokohama India said that this was a special moment for the company as it was the first time they were participating as a  team. Starting with supporting only one car during the 2007 Raid De Himalaya, the company now has its own team, noted Chatterjee.

    He further mentioned that today a majority of rally drivers  prefer using the Yokohama rally tyre because of its durability. Yokohama in India has been part of several major Motorsports activities since 2007.

    The 2014 season consists of nine rounds. Three rounds will be held in the East zone (Baripada, Kolkata and Ranchi) and one each will be held in North (Jaipur) and West (Nashik). Four  rounds will be held in the south (Chikmagalur, Bengaluru, Coimbatore and Chennai).

    On the global front Yokohama has been the sole official tyre supplier to the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) since 2006.  Yokohama also has been the sole tyre supplier for 31 consecutive years to the Mecca of Formula 3, which is held in Macau every year.

     Yokohama tyres are also the original equipment suppliers to many car manufacturers like Audi, Honda, Mercedes Benz, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Porsche, Suzuki and Toyota, to name a few.

    Ed. Note: Uploaded from archives.

  • Tata Motors launch T1 Prima Truck Racing Championship

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goNkalRupis
    A view of the Buddh International Circuit from a Tata Truck.

    By David Bodapati

    New Delhi, 22 Jan 2014: Tata Motors announced the launch of the T1 PRIMA TRUCK RACING CHAMPIONSHIP on 22nd January 2014, in Delhi to bring truck racing to India for the first time. The first ever truck racing championship in India is inscribed on the calendars of FIA (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile) and FMSCI (the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India). The T1 Truck Racing Championship is held at the internationally acclaimed Buddh International Circuit and it gives Indian audiences a grand spectacle of PRIMA trucks competing against each other.

  • Arjun Rao Aroor wins in style to clinch 1600 INRC title

    Chikmagalur, 21 Dec 2013: Dark horse Arjun Rao Aroor and co-driver Satish Rajagopal won the INRC 2013 season finale winning the Coffee Day Rally to clinch the championship in the 1600cc class. It was day to celebrate for Volkswagen, as Polo R2 rally cars dominated the overall class and the 1600 category. The fifth and final round of the Indian National Rally Championship ended here on Sunday in the rally stages at the coffee estates.

    Amittrajit Ghosh and Ashwin Naik have already sealed teh 2013 championship in the last round at K1000 in Bengaluru.

    Sirish Chandran and Hrishikesh Thackersey, also driving Polo rally cars, came second and third to make a clean sweep in the INRC 1600 category for Volkswagen-powered cars. Rohan Pawar, also driving Volkswagen Polo, won the Junior INRC category (JINRC).

    Arjun also won the 1600 category brushing aside the challenge from Vikram Devadasan and also topped overall in this round. Sirish Chandran also finished second in 1600 and came overall third.

    With this victory, Arjun clinched the 2013 INRC 1600cc title. Hrishikesh Thackersey followed Sirish in INRC 1600 on the podium in third spot. While Sirish was the first reason for Slideways Industries to celebrate, Rohan Pawar won in the Junior INRC category to give the Volkswagen customer team a second reason to celebrate.

    Karamjit Singh, driving Volkswagen Motorsport India developed, Polo R2, was the fastest till SS9 and was leading overall. However, a mechanical failure forced him and co-driver Jagdev Singh to opt for a retirement on SS10. Their car broke down and stood across the route forcing the organizers to cancel the SS10. Results till SS9 were taken as the final results.

    Prithviraj Siddappa, Head of Volkswagen Motorsport India, said: “Volkswagen cars cruised to victories with Arjun Rao showing top notch performance and clinching a win overall while Rohan won the JINRC. Sirish made a mark by finishing second in 1600 and third overall. We are extremely delighted with our Customer Sport competitors’ performance and we hope to go even bigger the next season. I would like to specially congratulate Arjun on winning the title in a Polo rally car.”

    Earlier, the Coffee Day Rally saw a visit by FIA Observer Nanthan from Malaysia and Murray Brown from New Zealand who examined the logistics. The Chikmagalur Rally is under scrutiny as a candidate and would host a round for 2014 Asia Pacific Rally Championship, if all goes well.

    Earlier on Dec 19, Venkatesh, Director, Coffee Day Hotels and Resorts said that the Coffee Day Rally has become a tradition and people from all over the country visit to watch the rally cars in action. “This year, Coffee Day Rally, for the first time, will run in four Coffee Day estates spread over 2,500 acres. This year more than 7,000 spectators are expected,” he added.

  • TVS Racing’s Aravind KP wins MRF National Supercross Championship

    Bengaluru, 21 Nov 2013: Aravind K P of TVS Racing, romped home in his own true style, winning the second moto of the fifth and final leg of the MRF FMSCI MOGRIP National Supercross Championship, which was held over the weekend at the makeshift CODISSIA track in Coimbatore.

    Having already notched up a comfortable lead of 31 points in the championship over his nearest rival, Javed Shaikh, a privateer from Goa, Aravind needed to win at least one moto to clinch the title. An eager Aravind however pushed a bit too hard in the first Moto and ended up finishing third and adding only 16 points to his kitty.

    His TVS Racing teammate Harith Noah took the first place while privateer C D Jinan from Kerala came second. The thirst for victory brought out a completely different rider in him in Moto 2.

    Despite stiff competition from Jinan, a determined Aravind K P rode head down in a steady line, with clean and confident jumps to emerge the clear winner. He finished with 173 points, claiming the trophy in the Foreign Open Class (250 – 500cc).

  • K1000 at Gubbi, Tumkur on Nov 9, 10

    Tumkur, 8 Nov 2013: 39th K1000, the fourth round of Indian National Rally Championship of 2013 is scheduled for this weekend. After a long hiatus the rally returns back to its older territory, famous for the car breaking mining stages near Gubbi, Tumkur.

    As year the rally moves from the previous few years’ Sidlaghatta‘s forest stages to the age old mining area near Kibbanahalli cross, the transport section is much bigger and makes most of the rally’s cumulative distance. The weather is mostly dry and dusty, and temperature is expected to hover around 30+ °Celsius, but must confess to its spectacularly scenic countryside around the stages.

    There are three physical stages, in which are run totally thrice for each of them. Total distance of the rally is 562.48 km, total liaison distance is 453.37 km and a total SS distance at 109.11 km. There are six stages for Saturday, 9th November 2013 and third loop of 3 stages for the final day on Sunday, 10th November 2013.

    That being the difference of venue, coming to the rally cars in India which are finally evolving to the much modern day models like Volkswagen Polo, Mitsubishi Evo X in the top level competition makes the championship much more exciting.Day one starts with a long liaison of 88.96 from the rally HQ to the service park. Rally starts on Saturday with the opening stage, at 10:13 hrs with the Alpha Stage [14.50 km], quickly followed with the Beta Stage [14.55 km] and later the India Mines Stage [7.32 km]. This completes the morning set of stages, and the much battered cars and crews head to the service are for the much needed pampering for the both.Post a mid-day service, at the service park located near to the stages adjacent to NH-206, and the repetition of morning’s loop of stages starts at 13:12 hrs, for the first car pass. Day’s action with the total six special stages of the day and the return liaison to the Rally HQ will conclude the day’s action.

    The final day’s action on Sunday, will start with the same long liaison and the remaining third loop of the stages, with service breaks before and after the specials. The final return liaison will end the rally back at the Rally HQ, with the announcement of results and Podium ceremony.

    Edditor’s note: to be edited

    Source: ralliheart.com

  • Leela wins ITC National title

    Leela wins ITC National title

    Noida (New Delhi), 19 Sept 2013: N Leelakrishnan was crowned champion in the Indian Touring Cars (ITC) class in the fifth and final round of the National Racing Championship for cars at the Buddh International Circuit here Sunday.

    Leelakrishnan started on pole and convincingly led from start to finish. Arjun Balu starting second, also had a good start and was followed by Sivaramakrishnan and V Ramnarayan.

    Despite a hard chase from Sivaramkrishnan who was all over him, Balu stayed put in second place. Sivaramkrishnan made his move on the third lap and passed Arjun Balu with Ramnarayan also getting ahead of him in the next lap.

    Meanwhile, Leelakrishnan took the flag first and crosssed the finish line only to be slapped a penalty which pushed him down to third place. However, his third position in the race was good enough to clinch the National title in ITC class. Arjun Balu came second in the championship ahead of Ramnarayan in third.

    N. Leelakrishnan, also known as Leela in Indian motorsport circles, is a seven-time National Rally Champion and one time Formula 3(India) champion from Coimbatore.