INDIA in F1

Category: Domestic

  • Gaurav Gill-Musa win K1000 pushing Vikram Mathias_Nikhil to 2nd

    Bangalore, 19 August 2007: Gaurav Gill and Musa Sherif (navigator) teamed together for Team MRF to clinch the Overall honours in their Mitsubishi Cedia, in the Bosch K1000 rally, the third round of the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) which concluded here on Sunday.

    Gill, thus drove Lancer Cedia to his third overall title in the MAI’s INRC, opening up an unassailable lead over the field in his quest for the National title.

    The overall 2nd Place in the rally was bagged by Vikram Mathias and Nikhil Pai of team Red Rooster Racing, also in a Mitsubishi Cedia.

    The rally ran through the three Special Stages at Siddlaghatta, about 120km from here. The Special Stages were run multiple times both on Saturday and Sunday, making it 13 SS for the final count.

    The Super Special Stage was held at Yelhanka on a 3.8km track which was full of  Mitsubishi banners, the co-sponsor of the rally.

    Gill and co-driver Musa Sherif tallied 48 points, while teammate Arjun Rao Aroor (Satish Kumar Rajagopal) remained a distant second with 17points. Another MRF driver, Arjun Balu (Kumar Ramaswamy) was in third place with 13 points. Team Red Rooster’s Vikram Mathias (Nikhil Pai) made an impressive return to rallying by finishing second and is now in the fourth position with Lohit Urs, both with 12 points.

    Gill and Sherif finished the 13 special stages in a time of 1:11.22, a minute and 10 seconds ahead of Mathias and Pai (1:12.32). Lohit Urs and co-driver Jaidas Menon finished in third place in 1:18.27, while 1400 cc drivers Amitrajit Ghosh and Shreshta Patil wrapped up a good showing over three days by finishing fourth and fifth overall.

    Vikram Mathias, making a return to rallying was also satisfied with the second-place finish and said, “this round is more like a learning curve for me. We are looking to make a strong statement next year.”

    The BOSCH K1000 Rally – 4th Round of I N R C was held at Sidhulgatta, Kolar District, Karnataka from Aug 17 – Aug 19.

    A Mitsubishi release adds:

    Mitsubishi Cedia proves its dominance in INRC 2007 by finishing overall first and second places in the grand finale of the Bosch K 1000 Rally in New Yelahanka Town, Bangalore on Sunday.

    By doing so Mitsubishi has proved its mettle once again in the INRC by completing a full round of victories from the first time it participated in the INRC circuit in Bangalore last year around.

    Mitsubishi Vehicles are known for its complete built quality and high powered performance making it the favourite among rally champions and enthusiasts all over the world.

    In the circuit concluded in Bangalore on Sunday, 19th August 2007, Team MRF’s Gauravsingh Gill swept through the twists and curves of the super special stage with ease to finish the three loops in 3.38 mins, adding nine seconds to his overnight lead over second-placed Vikram Mathias.

    Mitsubishi Motors were the co-sponsors of the event. Apart from being the co-sponsors, Mitsubishi Motors offered 2 Safety cars, i.e. The Pajero & Cedia. These cars check the efficacy of the track first and once the green signal is given by the drivers then does the actual rally start.

    Provisional results: Overall section: 1. Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif (Team MRF) (1hour, 07min, 44sec); 2. Vikram Mathias /Nikhil Pai (Red Rooster Racing) (1:08.51); 3. Lohit Urs /Jaidas Menon (Team MRF) (1:14.25); 4. Amitrajith Ghosh /Saurabh Choudary (1:17.10); 5. Shreshta Patil /Ramesh Kumar (1:19.34); 6. Mazeydar Vatcha /Madhu KC (1:19.38).

    1600 cc: 1. Rahul Kanthraj /Vivek Bhatt (1:23.35); (only one competitor finished).

    1400cc: 1. Amitrajit Ghosh /Saurabh Choudary (1:17.10); 2. Shreshta Patil /Ramesh Kumar (1:19.34); 3 Prithvi Dominic /Jeevarthnam (1:20.25).

    Rally Star Cup: 1 Mazeydar Vatcha /Madhu KC (1:19.38); 2. Deepak Paul Chinappa /Srikarunya (1:21.14); 3. Abhijit Pai /Prajwal Pai (1:21.50).

    Gypsy Class: 1. Sandeep Sharma /PVS Murthy (1:25.14); 2. Surendra Babu /Sheraz Ahmed (1:27.43); 3. Rajiv Gupta /Roopa Gupta (1:31.32).

    Note: Updated from the archives to support INRC winners: Hall of fame in April 2020.

  • C S Santosh of TVS Racing capture’s glory

    Baroda, 10 June 2007: In a nail biting finish to the MRF Supercross championship, Team TVS Racing continued their winning momentum in Round 3 of the National Supercross Championship held here on Sunday morning.

    The prestigious ‘Foreign Open’ class was the most gripping and engaging round playing decider to who would top championship points, after the gruesome tie of 71 points that C S Santosh managed at Round 2 in Coimbatore against Karan Kadam, both riders from TVS Racing. Both Moto 1 and Moto 2 were won by the ever-stylish C S Santosh who achieved top honors and went ahead in championship points achieving 111 points Vs Karan Kadam who now trails at 106 points..

    ‘Moto 1’ of the Foreign Open Class, which had a sensational start saw TVS Racing’s C S Santosh lead the pack followed by Karan Kadam right from the very first turn. The ever charged Baroda fans saw their favorite TVS Racing rider Karan Kadam loosing balance on lap 3, falling off his bike, allowing CS Santosh to comfortably widen his gap. The entire race was spectacular with the fans wooing in the best rider right up to the very end. Karan Kadam narrowed down the gap to literally come head to tail against CS Santosh, but was unable to overtake him to leave CS Santosh emerge victor of Moto 1 with a 3 point lead against team mate Karan Kadam. Privateer Yogesh Barguje of Pune, reincarnated on a TVS 250 FX finished 3rd at the end of the race.

    ‘Moto 2’ of the same class saw no reversal of fortunes for Karan Kadam of TVS Racing. The start of the race again saw C S Santosh take the lead, followed by Karan Kadam. Both riders again head to tail, saw a determined Karan Kadam leap over the last jump on lap 3 to overtake his team mate C S Santosh, leaving the crowd emotionally charged up, all in a standing position just to witness the battle between their favorite riders. Privateers Yogesh Barguje and Eeshan Lokhande battled it out for 3rd and 4th position far from the race leaders. Exposed to the move made by Karan Kadam, C S Santosh got even, over taking team mate Karan Kadam on the second last lap keeping it that way till the very end of the race. Without warning Karan Kadam had a punctured front tyre, taking away the opportunity to fight C S Santosh to the finish line. The end of ‘Moto 2’ pronounced Karan Kadam in second place and privateer Eeshan Lokhande taking 3rd.

    Group D Class 4 – Indian Novice – Indian Motorcycles Class above 80 CC upto 160 CC, 2/4 stroke and Group D Class 6 – Indian Experts – Indian Motorcycles Class above 110 CC upto 160 CC 4 stroke saw the same winners, with TVS Racing’s Arvind K P proving his mettle yet again, bagging 1st position, followed by Pinkesh Thakkar on his RX 135 in 2nd and Grishin K C from TVS Racing in 3rd.
    Group B Class 5 – Indian Experts – Indian Motorcycles Class above 125 CC upto 250 CC saw Rustom Patel of Mumbai on his RX 135 bag top honors, followed by Pinkesh Thakkar in 2nd and Sunil Kumar coming in 3rd.

    Local Class 2 & 8, Indian Experts Class and Intermediate Class saw the same race, docking two separate results, announcing C S Santosh of TVS Racing emerging winner of the Intermediate class followed by team mate Arvind K P and Rustom Patel on his RX 135. Yogesh Barguje bagged top honors on his CR250 Honda in the Intermediate Class followed by Eeshan Lokhande in 2nd place and Baroda local Veer Patel in 3rd.

    Indian Experts Class 3, 110 CC upto 250 CC saw TVS Racing’s, Grishin K C winning honors, followed by team mates Arvind K P in 2nd and R Raja in 3rd, all of them riding on a TVS Apache.

    One of the last but most exciting races of the day was the Local Class 7, which consisted of hometown Baroda riders. The winner of the event was Nasir Badshah in 1st position followed by Ansari Faizan in 2nd and Priyank Mahadik in 3rd.

  • Gaurav Gill-Musa Sherif win Coffee Day Rally with ease

    Chikmagalur, 7 May 2007: Talented Gaurav Gill of Team MRF displayed his amazing driving skills to claim his second overall win, finishing the nine special stages of the Coffee Day Rally, the second round of the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) here on Sunday. Gill, along with co-driver Musa Sherif, was a whopping 1 minute 52 seconds, ahead of teammate Arjun Balu here.

    The 23-year-old from Delhi driver along with co-driver Musa Sherif, were leading overnight by 40 seconds over Lohit Urs and Jaidas Menon added another six seconds in Sunday’s opening stage. But alas, Urs toppled in the next stage and was out of reckoning for the top slot.

    Arjun Balu and co-driver Kumaraswamy failed to push Gill, who garnered a comfortable lead and came out an emphatic winner. This is his second first place finish in the MAI’s INRC in as many starts. Gill clocked 1: 41.02 for his special stages while Balu took 1:42.53.

    Thirty one cars started on the second day, of which 26 came into parc ferme at Amalgamated Bean Company Limited (ABC). While four cars had to pull out in the day’s second stage due to technical problems, Deepak Paul Chinappa crashed on the return journey of the transport stage, his car toppling after banging into a boulder. The car was wrecked, but Chinappa and co-driver Sri Karunya escaped without injury.

    Amitrajit Ghosh and co-driver Sourabh Choudhary won the 1400cc category while Arvind J and navigator SM Bharath clinched the Rally Star Cup. Suresh Rana had no trouble winning the Gypsy Cup along with co-driver Harpreet Bawa.

    Gill has virtually rendered the INRC into a one-horse race, such has been his domination in the opening two rounds, notwithstanding his impressive run last year. Completely at ease in the 2000cc Cedia he seems to be improving with every rally, in stark contrast to his teammates, struggling to come to terms with the more powerful cars and finishing nowhere near Gill’s timings.

    “I lost the brakes of the car in the day’s second stage and flipped over after hitting a tree stump. I had to then call some spectators to right the car and lost precious time,” said a disappointed Urs. Any hopes he had in finishing among the top five overall were then dashed when he had a flat tyre in the repeat of the same stage and had to use his spare, which cost him another 20 minutes. Urs finished way back down the list in 2: 07.30.

    Provisional unaudited results:

    Overall: 1. Gaurav Gill/Musa Sherif (Team MRF, 2000cc Cedia) (1hour, 41min, 2sec); 2. Arjun Balu/Kumar Ramaswamy (Team MRF, 2000cc Cedia) (1: 42.53); 3. Arjun Rao Aroor/Satish Kumar (Team MRF, 1600cc Baleno) (1:46.33); 4. Philippos Mathai/ Ashwin Naik (Team MRF, 1600cc Baleno) (1:49.09); 5. BS Pruthvi/ Sunil Shetty (Baleno) (1:50.33).

    1600cc: 1. Arjun Rao Aroor/ Satish Kumar (Team MRF, 1600cc Baleno) (1:46.33); 2. Philippos Mathai/ Ashwin Naik (Team MRF, 1600cc Baleno) (1: 49.09); 3. BS Pruthvi/ Sunil Shetty (Baleno) (1:50.33).

    1400cc: 1. Amitrajit Ghosh/ Sourabh Chaudhary (Esteem) (1:53.44); 2. S Sujay/ M Chandrasekhar (Esteem) (2:01.07); 3. G Raju Prasanth/ Samuel Sangeeth (Esteem) (2:10.11).

    Rally Star Cup: 1. Arvind J/ SM Bharath (Esteem) (1:54.23); 2. Mazdayar Vatcha/ Kaushik Shinde (Esteem) (1: 54.27); 3. Elias Paarel/ Madhu KC (1:55.01).

    Gypsy Cup (3 stages): 1. Suresh Rana/ Harpreet Bawa (1:57.33); 2. Kamaljit Virdi/ Manoj Kumar (2:17.05).

  • Gill-Musa clinch Kerala rally

    Kochi, 11 Mar 2007: Indian speed maestro Gaurav Gill of Delhi, stamped his class once again and conquered new region adding Kochi to his list of triumphs winning the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) round here in the state of Kerala on Sunday.

    The fluent driving and aggressive approach saw the talented champion dominate all the stages on Day 2 and capture a well-deserved win. Veteran champion Jagat Nanjappa was all praise for the youngster as he displayed a class of his own. He was a clear winner by 1 minute 22 seconds at the 22nd Heera Rally, the first round of the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC). With an overnight lead of 48 seconds, the speed master took it easy and it was just a matter of time to notch up another win.

    With disciplined and meticulous Musa Sherif calling the pace notes, Gill, in only his second year on the rallying circuit, had a simple plan. To keep it cool and drive safe. And he did it, with confidence and class. Earlier, he had the strength of Farooq Ahmed as his navigator but Sherif too fitted in as well.

    Gaurav Gill and Musa Sherif (right) receiving the trophy after winning the Heera Rally. Photo courtesy Musa Sherif

    Gill’s teammates Lohitt Urs and co-driver Pradeep Kumar suffered an engine seizure on the day’s first stage and it became virtually a one-horse race. It was left to the pair of Arjun Rao Aroor and Satish Kumar to take the second place, way-beyond the winners.

    Gill, looks forward to the Asia Pacific Rally Championship for Team MRF now after the Chandigarh-leg of the INRC in April. He decided to race against clock rather than take it easy. “There’s no point in being content just winning, it’s how you push yourself that matters and that’s exactly what I did,” said Gill. Gill was doing speeds of 177-km per hour, which distinctly reflected on the stage times as compared to Day 1.

    “Today, I adopted a different approach to my driving, concentrating more on the technical aspects rather then sheer power. Results showed, didn’t they,” he asked in jest.

    Gill clocked 1 hour, 16 minutes, 44 seconds compared to Aroor’s 1:18.06.

    Day 1: Earlier on Saturday March 10, the 25-year-old proved his superiority by shrugging off the handicap of suffering two flat tyres and managed a reduce the gap to 51 seonds behind the leaders. But by the end of the day he not only covered the distance but took a lead of 48 seconds ahead of Lohit Urs and co-driver Pradeep Kumar and also overtook Arjunrao Aroor and co-driver Satish Kumar.

    With six stages completed, Gill, co-driven by Musa Sherif, was his usual self; going flat-out on the 15.06-kilometre opening stage at Illythodu, situated 75 kilometers from Kochi. Clocking 10.10 seconds, he had flats in his front tyre, which he managed to replace, and rear right tyres which he drove on to concede a 51-second lead to Arjun Balu. “I was driving fast and safe and I was aware of what I was doing,” explained Gill, who, over the next two stages, regained a 10-second lead after Balu was forced to pull out and Lohit Urs and Pradeep Kumar had problems aplenty due to a torn exhaust.

    That was the beginning of Gill’s dominance, as in the next two stages he increased the lead to 48 seconds over Lohit, with Arjun Rao Aroor 1 minute, 27 seconds adrift of Lohit in third place.

    While Gill was having his moments on the route, veterans Karandip Singh (Jaidas Menon), Arjun Balu (Kumar Ramaswamy), Prithveen Rajan (PVS Murthy) had their share of ‘luckless’ moments. Karandeep dropped out with a gearbox leak on the transport stage while Arjun, who pushed his car back to the starters’ ramp a day earlier during the ceremonial flag-off also pulled out along with Prithveen who suffered due to car problems at different stages.

    Additional Notes added By David on 29 Sept. 2021 from Archives courtesy Mint, who first published it.

    Team MRF’s Aroor Arjun Rao and his co-driver Satish Kumar Rajagopal came second in the overall standing while third place went to Girijashankar Joshy-Srikanth G M.

    In the 1600 cc segment, Aroor Arjun Rao emerged winner, while the 1400 cc segment was won by Girija Shankar Joshi.

    The Rally Star cup went to Abhijeet N Pai and Prajal Pai while the Gypsy Cup went to Surendra Babu and Sheraz Ahmed.

    18 cars out of the 30 were flagged off on the opening day of the rally with each of them vying for the prize money that amounted to ₹ 4.5 lakhs.

    This was the first round of the Indian National Rally championship, a six-round event organized by the MotorSports Association of India. The next round will be held in April at Chandigarh.

  • TVS Racing Performed Well In 2006, Bagging Numerous National Championships

    Bangalore, 19 Feb 2007: TVS Racing won the following titles in different National championships in 2006:

    1) MRF National Supercross Championship 2006.
     
    Our riders fought it out in the 5 legs held in: Pune, Chennai, Coimbatore, Goa and Kolhapur and won the following championships!
     
    C Vijay Kumar – upto 250CC (foreign bike class) – Riding a TVS 250FX
    C Vijay Kumar – Upto 150CC (2stroke expert class) – Riding a TVS Shaolin
    HK Pradeep – Upto 150CC (4stroke ‘B’group) – Riding a TVS Apache
    CD Jinan – 80 to 110 CC (4stroke’D’ group)- Riding a TVS Victor
    HK Pradeep – 125 to 160CC (4 stroke’D’group) – Riding a TVS Fiero.
    Pramod Joshua – upto 150CC (2/4 stroke’D’group)- Riding a TVS Shogun
     
    2) UCAL Rolon National Road Racing Championship 2006
     
    Total 6 legs, 3 in Coimbatore and 3 in Chennai (MMST track). following championships were won by our Road Racing Riders,
     
    K Rajini – upto 150CC (2stroke’C’group) – Riding a TVS Shaolin.
    K Rajini – upto 150CC (4stroke’B’group) – Riding a TVS Fiero
    Ashwin Sundar – 80 to 110CC (4stroke’D’group) – Riding a TVS Victor.
    Ashwin Sundar – 125 to 160CC (4stroke’D’group) – Riding a TVS Apache
    Ashwin Sundar – won the ‘Champion of Champions’ trophy
     
    3) Gulf Dirt track National Championship 2006
     
    Total 5 legs: Mangalore, Chennai, Raipur(Chhattisgarah), Nashik and Jodhpur. Following championships were won by our team riders,
     
    HK Pradeep -upto 250CC (foreign m/c class) – Riding a TVS250X.
    HK Pradeep -upto 150CC (2&4 stroke’B’group) – Riding a TVS Fiero.
    KP Aravind – upto110CC (2stroke’D’group) – Riding a TVS Shogun (novice class)
    KP Aravind – upto125CC (4stroke’D’group) – Riding a TVS Victor Edge (novice class)
    Hafeez-ur-Rehman -125 to160CC (4stroke’D’group) – Riding a TVS Fiero (novice class)

  • Naren Kumar wins sixth National title: INRC

    Panaji, Goa, 19 Nov 2006: Defending champion Naren Kumar of Coimbatore proved to be a tough nut to crack for his rivals winning Rallye de Goa to clinch his sixth National Championship here on Sunday. The MRF driver with trusted navigator Ramkumar comfortably won the WIAA Rallye De Goa 2006, the final round of the Motorsports Association of India’s (MAI) Indian National Rally Championship (INRC).

    Enjoying an overnight lead of 1 minute and 20 seconds over third-placed Karandeep Singh and Jaidas Menon, also of Team MRF, Naren followed a cautious approach to keep himself in the fray without pushing his machine too much and finished the eight special stages clocking 1hour, 11min, 24sec, a lead of 11 seconds over teammate Gaurav Gill and co-driver Farooq Ahmed (1:11.35).

    Another Team MRF’s driver Lohit Urs finished overall third in 1:13.04 while Karandeep Singh was fourth in 1:13.26.

    It was Girijashankar Joshy who won the 1400 cc category, riding high his big overnight lead and in the process bagged the National Championship in this category with Goa proving to be a good hunting ground.

    The Rally Star Cup was won by Rajesh Gadakh and co-driver Paritosh Kohok and they too bagged the National Championship in this class.

    Naren Kumar took his points’ tally to 45, thus clinching the National title once again. A visibly- pleased Naren said: “I am very happy to win this title. It is an incredible feeling to win the sixth title and I enjoyed this year’s campaign throughout as there were too many ups and downs and I am very satisfied with my win.”

    The champion was queried about his strategy going into the race. “I had to finish ahead of Karandeep in both the legs and hoped somebody would settle between me and him. That happened yesterday, after which it was a no contest,” Naren concluded.

    Provisional results:

    Overall: 1. Naren Kumar and D Ramkumar (Team JK Tyre, Cedia) 1:11.24; 2. Gaurav Gill and Farooq Ahmed (Team JK Tyre, Cedia) 1:11.35, 3. Lohit Urs and Musa Sherief (Team MRF, Baleno);

    1600 cc: 1. Lohit Urs and Musa Sherief (Team MRF, Baleno) 1:13.04; 2. Karandeep Singh and Jaidas Menon (Team MRF, Baleno) 1:13.26, 3.Arjun Balu and Kumar Ramaswamy (Team MRF, Fiesta) 1: 14.23.

    1400cc: 1. Girijashankar Joshy and Srikanth GM (Esteem) 1:15.26, 2. Shreshta Patil and Ramesh Kumar (Esteem) 1:19.55, 3.Domnic Prithvi and Chandrashekar M (Esteem) 1: 24.06.

    Rally Star Cup: 1. Rajesh Gadakh and Parithosh Kohok (Esteem) 1:19.11, 2. Abhijeet Pai and Prajval Pai (Esteem) 1:20.25, 3. Thirtha Patil and Jeevarathinam (Esteem) 1: 21.09.

    Gypsy Cup: 1. Suresh Rana and HS Bawa 1:22.54, 2. Khushwant Randhawa and Amandeep 1:24.34, 3. Suchi Thakur and Zuzer Rangwala 1:32.20.

  • Lohit Urs-Musa Sherif conquer Power Pine Forest Rally in Chandigarh

    Chandigarh, 5 Nov 2006: The City Beautiful turned to be a hunting ground forMysore rally starLohit Urs as he paired with co-driver Musa Sherif to win the overall honours in the Power Pine Forest Rally, the fifth and penultimate round of the Motorsports Association of India (MAI) Indian National Rally Championship (INRC), which concluded at the Kala Gram grounds here on Sunday.

    Lohit, who won the overall title here in 2004, returned to embrace victory once again to stop the barren run after his 2004 win, and it was Chandigarh once again which provided him with the win and the third overall victory of his career. The Special Stages in 2004 were in a different region.

    Despite trailing overnight leader Sunny Sidhu of Team JK Tyre by 40 seconds, Urs never lifted his foot, off the peddle and pushed his Baleno all through the 15.75 km Fagla stage that was run thrice on Sunday. Urs finished the rally in a total time of 2:24: 44 seconds. Yes, he never lifted his foot, even when a dog ran on to his path, in the last stage of the day, but he swished to the side, brushing the dog’s tail and corrected the line in a jiffy with a expert’s touch and was back on the track.

    Lohitt Urs and Musa Sherif (right) celebrate after winning the Pine Forest Rally.
    Lohitt Urs and Musa Sherif (right) celebrate after winning the Pine Forest Rally.*

    Team JK Tyre’s Sunny Sidhu finished second in 2::24:39 and Vikram Mathias, also sporting the yellow colours, ended his barren streak, taking third in a time of 2:24:52. The rally also threw up the first National champion in the Gypsy Cup category, with the father-son duo of Ramesh Shanbhag and Sanket Shanbhag opening an unassailable lead ahead of the concluding round.

    Even a second-placed finish would have been good enough to seal the title for the Shanbhags but leader Suresh Rana turned turtle in the day’s second stage and that was enough for the father-son duo to clinch the issue with a round to spare.

    The final day saw home hero, Karandeep Singh, suffer casualty in the very first stage as the lower arm of his car broke down. Along with Jaidas Menon as co-driver, Karandeep still leads with 34 points, while Gaurav Singh Gill is second with 31 points in their bag. Urs has tied with Naren Kumar for third spot with 29 points and Sidhu is lying in fifth place with 26.

    Provisional unaudited results

    Overall category: 1. Lohit Urs/ Musa Sherif (Team MRF, Baleno) (2hours, 24min, 27sec); 2. Sunny Sidhu/ Vivek Anandan (Team JK Tyre, Baleno) (2:24.39); 3. Vikram Mathias/ Nikhil Pail (Team JK Tyre, Baleno) (2:24.52); 4. Prithvin Rajan/ PVS Murthy (Team MRF, Baleno) (2:31.14); 5. Sanket Shanbhag/ Ramesh Shanbhag (Gypsy) (2:31.49).

    1400cc: 1. Anil Wadia/ Anmol Rampal (Esteem) (2:46.15); 2. Arindam Ghosh/ Sourabh (Esteem) (3:01.28).

    Rally Star Cup: 1.  Amanpreet Ahluwalia/ Manoj Shadija (Esteem) (2:33.14); 2. Rajesh Gadakh/ Paritosh Kohok (2:36.56); 3. Nibi Sayed/ Noufel Sayed (2:44.29).

    Gypsy Cup: 1. Sanket Shanbhag/ Ramesh Shanbhag (2:31.49); 2. Capt AS Brar/ Capt D Saraswat (2:35.39); 3. Maj Rajesh Powar/ Capt Rohit Nayak (2:37.58).

    Note:* Photo updated manually on 5 June 2020, courtesy Musa Sherif archives.

  • Karan Kadam of TVS Racing declared best rider

    Karan Kadam of TVS Racing declared best rider

    Panjim (Goa) 29 October 2006: TVS Racing team continued its dominance at the National Supercross (round 4) held at Panjim’s Campal Parade Ground today. The prestigious ‘Foreign Open’ class was a close battle between the reigning champion C. S. Santosh and the young and promising Karan Kadam. In the end, the latter won by a whisker; which also earned him the ‘The Best Rider of the Day’ title.

    The day began with the ‘Novice class’ race, which was once again a TVS dominated show. This was followed by the Moto 1 of the ‘Foreign Open’ where Karan began with a lead followed closely by C. S. Santosh. Though on several occasions Santosh came close to take the lead, Karan kept his cool and maintained his leadership position throughout. Moto 2 of the same race saw virtually a repeat performance with Santosh closely chasing Karan. In both the motos; the difference between these two riders was less than a second. Last year’s Goa round winner and current championship leader, C. Vijaykumar was reduced to a distant third in both the motos.

    With this win Karan Kadam has closed the gap with C.Vijaykumar who is presently leading this year’s championship at the end of Round 4 with 137 points. Karan is in hot pursuit with 134 points.

    The group B Indian Experts Class upto 150 CC 2-Stroke saw a clear winner in C. Vijaykumar of TVS Racing who won the race by nearly overlapping his nearest rival Syed Zubair of TVS Racing.

    In the stock class category, H. K Pradeep of TVS Racing proved his mettle by taking honours in the Indian Experts Group D 80 CC to 110 CC in his TVS Victor and ‘Experts Group D 125 CC to 160 CC in his TVS Fiero. TVS Racing dominated both these classes with all three podium positions going to the team. Veteran rider C.D Jinan of TVS Racing took the second honours in both these races.

    In the Novice class upto 150 cc; Joshua Pramod of TVS Racing in his Shogun fought it out to win the first spot. Grishin K C and K. P Arvind of TVS Racing closely followed him to take the second and third position respectively.

    The local class, which was clubbed along with Experts Group D 125 CC to 160 CC race saw some interesting fight but it was Imtiaz Kadar who had the last laugh. He was closely followed by Sudhir Borkar and Ibrahim Kadar to take the second and third spot respectively.

  • TVS’ Karan Kadam takes honours at Round 3

    Coimbatore, 8 October 2006: The young prodigy from Team TVS Racing Karan Kadam scored a double by emerging victorious in the first and second moto of the prestigious foreign open class thereby earning maximum points and being adjudged as the ‘Best Rider of the Day’ at the third round of the 2006 season of the MRF National Supercross held in Coimbatore at the Racing Track near Jenny Club, Airport Road, Coimbatore.

    Karan Kadam on his TVS 250X earned a total of 40 points after his victorious win. Both the motos were hard fought with the top three riders displaying amazing skill and endurance in a highly demanding track. In the first moto, Karan Kadam roared into the lead at the first turn and kept his lead winning with a handsome lead over the second placed C Vijaykumar of  Team TVS Racing. It was an incident packed race with C S Santosh of Team TVS Racing and T. K. Viswanath colliding on the second jump of the first lap. He tried gamely to wrest second place position but was thwarted by an equally determined Vijaykumar. Vijaykumar finished second and Santosh finished third.

    The second moto saw a close fight between Karan and Santosh. Karan took the lead at the first bend and held on to it till the end despite constant challenges from Santosh. Santosh almost overtook Karan on at the second turn of lap 8, but Karan managed to keep him at bay. Santosh however had the measure of Vijaykumar in this race and built a steady gap ensuring he came in a comfortable second. Vijay Kumar tried his best but he could not close the gap, and came in third behind Karan and Santosh there by making it all TVS Riders on podium.

    The group B Indian Experts upto 150 CC 2-Stroke saw a clear winner in C. Vijaykumar of TVS Racing on his TVS Shaolin even though C.D Jinan took the initial lead. Vijaykumar overtook Jinan in the last jump of the first lap and built up a huge lead ensuring a comfortable victory. Sayed Zubbair of Team TVS Racing came second and C. D. Jinan of TVS Racing came third.

    In the Group B Indian Experts upto 250cc 4-Stroke, Pradeep H. K. of Team TVS Racing proved his class by taking honours on his TVS Fiero. It must be said that Pradeep showed remarkable aggression and a burning desire to win as he hurled himself and his machine into corners increasing his lead over his rivals with every round. Deepak John and Pramod Joshua both from Team TVS Racing came second and third respectively.

    In the Indian Experts Group D 80 CC to 110 CC class it was C. D. Jinan on his TVS Fiero who raced ahead of the others to cap the top spot, with Pradeep H. K and Pramod Joshua coming second and third respectively.

    In the Indian Expert Group D, 110 CC up to 180 CC it was Pradeep H. K once again who took top honours. C D Jinan came a close second and Deepak John finished third. Team TVS Racing dominated all these races with all the three podium positions going to the team.

    In the Novice class upto 150 cc; Pramod Joshua on his Shogun, dominated to win in commanding style, with Pinkesh Thakkar and K.C. Grishin coming second and third respectively.

    The local class saw some interesting action between various talented and upcoming riders. But it was Grishin from Trichoor who took the initial lead and went on to the podium. C S Anandkumar and D Sivaji came 2 nd and 3rd respectively.

  • Vijaykumar, Karan Kadam win a moto each; Vijay, best rider

    Vijaykumar, Karan Kadam win a moto each; Vijay, best rider

    Chennai, 20 August 2006: Three-time National champion C Vijaykumar of TVS Racing emerged victorious in the first moto and came third in the second moto of the prestigious foreign open class thereby earning maximum points and being adjudged as the ‘Best Rider of the Day’ at the second round of the 2006 season of the MRF National Supercross held in Chennai at the C. Kandaswamy College for Men, Annanagar Chennai in the presence of over a 6,000 strong crowd.

    Vijaykumar on his TVS 250X earned a total of 35 points after he emerged victorious in the first moto and third in the second moto of the prestigious foreign open class. Both the motos were hard fought with the top three riders displaying amazing skill and endurance in a highly demanding track. In the first moto, Vijaykumar gained the initial lead but T. K. Viswanath on his YZ 250F was hot on his heels. Vijay though, held on splendidly to his lead, before a fall forced T. K. Viswanath to lose considerable ground. In the midst of this one saw the heroic efforts of C. S. Santosh who had a fall but came back strongly to challenge T. K. Viswanath. Riding at breakneck speed, Santosh tried his level best to wrest the second position but was thwarted by an equally determined Viswanath. The fight for second place was a hotly contested one with Viwanath coming in second and Santosh coming in third.

    The second moto saw T. K. Viswanath take the lead at the first bend and hold on to it for a couple of laps before a disastrous fall deprived him of his lead. The young prodigy from Team TVS, Karan Kadam seized this opportunity and roared into the lead sending the crowds into raptures at his sheer skill and daredevil riding. Soon, Karan stamped his authority on the race and established a huge lead. There was a tussle for the second place between Vijay and Santosh. Santosh however had the measure of Vijay in this race and built a steady gap ensuring he came in a comfortable second. Vijay Kumar tried his best but he could not close the gap, and came in third behind Karan and Santosh.

    The group B Indian Experts upto 150 CC 2-Stroke saw a clear winner in C. Vijaykumar of TVS Racing on his TVS Shaolin. He built up a huge lead and ensured a comfortable win. Behind him were C. D. Jinan on the TVS Shaolin and Syed Zubbair also on a TVS Shaolin who came in second and third respectively.

    In the stock class of vehicles or in other words motorcycles without any modification; C. D Jinan of TVS Racing proved his class once again by taking honours in the Indian Experts Group D 80 CC to 110 CC on his TVS Victor. It must be said that Jinan showed remarkable aggression and a burning desire to win as he hurled himself and his machine into corners increasing his lead over his rivals with every round.

    In the Indian Experts Group D 125 CC to 160 CC class it was C. D. Jinan once again this on his TVS Fiero who raced ahead of the others to cap the top spot. TVS Racing dominated both these races with all the three podium positions going to the team.

    In the Novice class upto 150 cc; Pramod Joshua of TVS Racing in his Shogun, dominated to win in commanding style. The local class saw some interesting fight between various talented and upcoming riders. But it was E. Clarke on his TVS Fiero who led the pack with an easy lead. C. Anandkumar and P. Ramesh Kumar came 2nd and 3rd respectively.

    In the Intermediate class of foreign open for privateers T. K. Viswanath dominated and won with ease. The only serious threat to him was Eeshan Lokhande who did well too coming in second.