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Category: Non-F1
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Team MRF Tyres wins in Court
By George Francis, Scorp News
Chennai, 12 July 1999: Team MRF Tyres dubbed `Red Thunder’ by their nemesis in motor sports JK Tyres in an ad campaign way back in 1994, did seem to mean the phrase.
The Reds thundered to an emphatic victory in the Indian Motor Sports Appellate Court (IMSAC), which met at Bangalore on August 8th. Exactly one month had passed since the famed South India Rally, ran its 35th chapter in the outskirts of Chennai.
This is the first victory for Team MRF limited in the IMSAC, and the favourable verdict sky-rockets them into an authoritative lead in the Castrol National Rally Championship for cars and Motorcycles, 1999.
The issue should have been sorted out much earlier. On the 12th July N Leelakrishnan of Team MRF, ace tuner and current National Champion, appealed to the Stewards of the Meet that two JK Tyre Rally Team cars, that of 4 times National Champion Hari Singh and Regional Pan Pacific Rally Champion of Malaysia, Karamjit Singh had infringed Articles 5.3 and 5.3.4 of the 4 wheeler Technical Regulations. Articles 5.3 states, `The position of the rotational axis of the mounting point of the suspension to the wheel uprights and to the shell (or chassis) must remain unchanged. In common man’s parlance, what should happen is `an increase in the suspension travel, thereby increasing reliability of a car with such mounting to another without. Said Leela, “It is such modifications that transformed a pathetically bad rally car like Toyota Corolla, to an excellent rally car. Once upon a time the same Corolla was jumping for one bump to the other, because of non-modification of the length and the mounting point.”
The article 5.3.4 states “The position of the centre of the articulation cannot be changed.” The IMSAC admitted that the position support has been modified and as per rule 5.3.6 modification of support is impermissible and there is not express authorisation for modification. The damping element is also large as held/or recorded by the stewards in their order dated July 13th which is also not permitted under rule 5.3.6.
THe IMSAC allowed the appeal on the above noting and gave the verdict. In the meantime, the IMSAC also observed that the appellant (Leelakrishnan) ought not to have sought opinion or clarification from the FIA while the rally is on and depraciated such conduct of the appellant. The IMSAC also ordered the forfeiture of the appeal fees paid by the appellant.
The appeal having been accepted, and verdict given excluded the overall winner Hari Singh and Gurinder Singh Mann (Navigator) and second placed Karamjit Singh and Jagdev Singh (navigator) both belonging to the JK Tyres Rally Team with exclusion, Team MRF Limited’s Arjun Balu, navigated by Kumar Ramaswamy is the declarled winner followed by Manik Raikhy and P Vivekanandan (Team JK Tyres) and N Leelakrishnan and Farooq Ahmed (MRF).
This change in positions, also puts Leelakrishnan in the lead (41 points) in the three National Rallies that have run until now this year. There are 4 more rounds of the Championship and the game is still anyone’s for the taking.
In the meantime, the 2-wheeler category witnessed yet another emphatic win for the Pacer Yamaha team. Rohitaaz Kumar of Chandigarh, blasted the South Indian Terrain, to win acclaim for Sponsors MRF Limited and tuner Pacer Yamaha. Victory was not easy for the lanky Chandigarh lad astride the Yamaha. National Champion Zubin Patel of Mumbai was breathing down his neck all the while, but for his slower Suzuki.
It is an interesting fact that only in the two wheeler segment (in Indian rallying) there has been considerable competition between manufacturers. It was in the pre-1994 days, that Yamahas ruled the roost. The tactically strong Sundaram Industries (TVS) realised the lacuna and lethargy shown by brand leaders Yamaha, and the lack of support from the Escorts Factory. Noticing the chink in their armour, Suzuki’s started a battle supreme with un believable support from their factory. THe ever-enterprising duo of Rajaram and Jayaram are deputed to tune that the TVS Suzukis and what followed is history. From 1994 to 1999 the TVS Suzuki brand grew, and the introduction of Showguns as a rally motorcycle, won them the acclaim they were looking for, team Zen Motors, a retail outlet run by school time friends Krishnamurthy and Praneeth in Bangalore, who were adventurous and ever-willing to help the adventurous lot of motorcycle rallyists who came to them for support, capitalised on promoting the shotguns.
In 1988, the Yamahas (the favourite bike of the rally legends Jagat and Anita Nanjappa) realised that their market presence was definitely being slowly but surely destroyed by TVS. Once again they got their act together and enlisted none else than the inimitable Shekar Bhojana of Town Works, legendary motor sports bike tuners. Sekar set about the work with the precision of an old and experienced artisans getting his tools together after ages of hibernation. He went about the task assigned with perfection and got his first victory when ace rallyist Rohitaaz crossed the mantle to the Team Pacer Yamaha. Chia Prasad (Champion) followed and in the latest rally RH Vikram one of the famous bikers of Bangalore joined Pacer Yamaha. But notwithstanding the fact the best of the Indian Rally riders are moving over to the Yamaha Camp, team Suzuki has set about perfecting the Suzuki Shaolin which when fine tuned should become a competitive rally worthy vehicle.
Today, the heat between the Suzuki’s and Yamahas is so high, that Team MRF Tyres Zubin Patel thrown Team MRF Tyres, an open Team challenge to teammate Rohitaaz, on the future performance in the next rally fo the season, namely Karnataka 1000 at Bangalore.
The old set-up of Yamaha tuners and service supporters getting together is being watched as seriously as the dreaded “SS Group in Germany”.
The South India Rally 1999, was run on similar terrain bike last 3 years, barring the infamous canal stage which dislocated Sanjay Agarwal’s (JK) spine and toppled the famous Manik Raikhy (JK). Another stage on dirt roads which runs around a lake was included. Rains cut short the stage around the MMSC Racing Track, and the south India Rally also proved that the organisers had done well to located 3 stages, included one on the racing circuit tarmac which formed the basic competition. These stages run thrice consecutively with 6 service stops on Day 1 and the same in the opposite direction with 6 service stops formed the total distance of 550 odd kms out of which 147 km were competitive.
23 cars and 45 bikes challenge for the South India Crown with a recce on the 8th July, 9th saw pre-vent scrutiny, reconnaissance, 10th and 11th were the rally days and 12th, the prize distribution.
This rally id dedicated to the Martyrs of Kargil, read the arch at the start ramp in the Music Academy. Rumours that the rally would be stopped by an ex-motor sport competitor (who is currently an MLC) is said to have prodded the organisers to Dedicate the rally to Kargil Heroes.
The two major changes among competitors was the long time MRF campaigner Dicky Gill walking off with navigator Aditya Jaiswal to Team JK, and current group N (Unmodified) car champion Sagar Muthappa (MRF) moving on to a Group A (modified) car.
The rate of attrition was very high. Only 9 cars and 26 bikes finished the South INdia Rally 1999.
The Team MRF walked away with the first two placings in motorcycles, overall Group C (modified) class. Team Pacer Yamaha (some of the riders here are sponsored by MRF Tyres also) stole the limelight winning 7 out of the first 10 placings. Except for the inevitable performance of kingpins Zubin Patel, Nipender Jessy and SP Chinnappa, article Suzuki Shoguns stopping the Yamahas.
Team MRF also walked away with the overall and Group A (modified) class top spots, but had to concede the Group N (unmodified) class to JK Tyres Rally Team “Stunt Driver” Manik Raikhy, who somersaulted his Esteem into a ditch and still managed to land on all fours and continue unperturbed. God bless his navigator P Vivekanandan.
The performance of Vijayant Chowdhry of Team MRF Limited navigated by MK Chander, should be lauded for his excellent performance to score 2nd in Group N and all praise to veteran Nanjappas who finished third behind them.
The other two teams represented Team Chettinad Sporting and Team Kadur, placed 4th and 5th in Group N and 6th and 7th Overall. It is these new teams that foster new talent who should be lauded for spending money on their passion, motor sport.
All said and done, the Madras Motor Sports Club, one of the oldest and one of the most remembered motor sport club in the country, cut a sorry figure in competitor hospitality and media support.
The Rally Ball, an integral part of motor sports, all over the world, was missing, depriving the competitors a chance to let their hair down and commune. It is high time that the rally ball is made mandatory to ensure the last competitor who spends on entry gets his due.
Team MRF Tyres leads the battle field in overall, Group A and Group N in cars and in overall and Group C bikes, in the Castrol National Rally Championship for cars and motorcycles 1999.
The announcement of the IMSAC verdict on the eve of the 4th round of Castrol National Rally Championship for cars and 3rd for bikes, the Karnataka 1000 at Bangalore should wake up JK Tyre Rally Team.
If the JKs and Suzukis do not make up for lost points, in the Bangalore Rally, chances for Championship fight would become weak.
Provisional Results: Cars, Overall: 1. Arjun Balu /KR Kumar (Team MRF) (1hour, 48min, 26sec); 2. Manik Raikhy/ P Vivekanandan (JK Tyre) (1:49:45); 3. N Leelakrishnan/ Farooq Ahmed (Team MRF) (1:50:33); 4. V Choudhry/ MK Chander (Team MRF) (1:50:47); 5. Jagat Nanjappa/ Anita Nanjappa (Team MRF) (1:52:18).
Cars, Group B: 1. Arjun Balu /KR Kumar (Team MRF) (1hour, 48min, 26sec); 2. N Leelakrishnan/ Farooq Ahmed (Team MRF) (1:50:33);
Cars, Group N: 1. Manik Raikhy/ P Vivekanandan (JK Tyre) (1:49:45); 2. V Choudhry /MK Chander (Team MRF) (1:50:47); 3. Jagat Nanjappa/ Anita Nanjappa (Team MRF) (1:52:18); 4. Che Navaz/ Sherin (1:56:25); 5. Kad Umakanth/ Sunil (2:03:20).
Bikes Overall and Group C: 1. Rohitaaz Kumar (Team MRF) (1:48:52); 2. Zubin Kersi Patel (Team MRF) (1:50:39); 3. RH Vikram (Pacer Yamaha) (1:51:22); 4. Nipender Jessy (Suzuki) (1:52:54); 5. BC Roopesh (Pacer Yamaha) (1:53:27).
Bikes Group D: 1. R Srinivas (Pacer Yamaha) 1:57:48); 2. SP Chinappa (Zen Motors) (1:58:13); 3. G Prasad (Pacer Yamaha) (1:58:17); 4. Rohan Rego (Zen Motors) (2:00:29); 5. Amith Kumar K (Zen Motors) (2:01:30).
ends
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Team MRF’s moment of glory
By George Francis
Nashik, 6 June 1999: Red Thunder (Team MRF Tyres) struck terror again in Nashik, taking with it the first three placings in the Cars and Motorcycles Overall category, to beat the challenge out of the Yellows (JK Tyres Rally Team). Team MRF, bitten by a miserable performance in the EMSA Wild Run Rally, 1999, took the NASA Challenge seriously, to secure the championship point they very much needed, to bid for the 1999 Castrol National Rally Championship for Cars and Motorcycles.
Leelakrishnan and navigator Farooq Ahmed won the rally followed by teammates Sagar Muthappa and Sandeep Rao in second and Vijayant Choudhari and MK Chander in third.
Tuners are the kings behind in the world of Rallying or Racing. They are the unsung Heroes. The JK Tyres Rally Team, who have imported tuners like Brian Palmer and Patrick Roert (British) and Abdul Gani and Noor Sha Ali, the skilled Chinese Malaysian Mechanics, and who sport Vicky Chandhok, Mohinder Lalwani and PD Satyanarayanan from India found the MRF juggernaut tough to beat once again. The team MRF had not prepared perfectly in the earlier leg of cars in the National Championship at the EMSA Wild Run Rally, Calcutta, was clear the way the cars were ship shape for NASA.
Brian Palmer, the `Suspension Specialist’ for JK Tyre Rally Team, is the ex-Technical Director of Proton World Rally Team and Ralliart World Rally Team and operates from Malaysia as part of Palmer Motorsport Inc.
On the other hand, N Leelakrishnan, the home-grown hero tunes the team MRF Group A (modified) cars and ace circuit racer and automobile manufacturer J Anand tunes the Group N (Unmodified) cars. Their bunch of mechanics are from Coimbatore and are hard working, with support from Mr Murali of MRF Limited.
On the two-wheeler front, the story is different. The bikers who ride from MRF Limited are sponsored by MRF, but technical expertise comes from Team TVS Suzuki and Team Escorts Yamaha and Zen Rallying known as the lesser-privileged rallyists, it is these bikers who provide the thrills for the common man, who identifies with them.
Rajaram and Jayaram are two TVS Suzuki tuners, who have been in Indian Rallying for the past 10 to 15 years. Sekhar Bojana of Down Town Works, Bangalore and Chennai, the `Escorts money bad manager’ from Delhi and their team put together the Pacer Yamaha Team last year, and have now christened the Team Escorts Yamaha. Team Zen Rallying run by Krishnamurthy and Praneeth Perumal, two confirmed Bachelors who were school-time friends are the saviours of the poorer souls in Indian Motorcycle rallying and racing. If you have a Suzuki bike and loves rallying or racing are are sure of your performance levels, walk into Zen Motors and meet Krishnamurtehy or Praneeth. Most probably they would give you basic support for your machine in any rally. It is said that Zen Rallying do not get free spares from TVS Suzuki, but are crazy about the sport and the up and coming rider. Then comes the tuning outfit of a four-wheeler driver from Hyderabad, Nihar Mody, who is part sponsored by JK Industries Limited. A truck carries all his spares, tools, mechanics? and what not. And the car, to whereever he rallies, pitches tents and slogs until the rally is won or lost. A highly professional outfit managed by Dr Rao (he is better treating cars than human beings) and his team, Nihar could never ask for a better deal.
The 258km of canal embankment roads cracked the wits out of the 19 dare devils in the cars and 42 solo motorcyclists, in one of the radically different routes ever set in Indian Rallying. One could not believe the shockingly narrow route set by the Nashik Automotive Sports Association (NASA) officials. Of course, two wheeler riders revealed as they had only two wheels to bother about, while the four wheeler driver shivered to let their four wheels pass over such a narrow embankment roads. The fear was reasonable, for, it one went off the road, they would land into four feet deep water in the canal on one side or roll down 10 feet on the other side on the dry ground, generally spread with grass.
“I was mentioning to one of the competitors Dicky Gill that four feet is okay if the car landed. Imagine if we rolled upside down,” Dicky feared to vision up.
On June 2, NASA conducted the now compulsory organised Recee for the competitors. The trial run across the canal embankments, spelt `Fear’ for the `adventure seekers’, who were shocked at the sheer prospect of taming these roads at rally speeds of 120kmph at times. The discussion with the rallyists ater the recee gave the feelings that the number of dropouts would be high.
On June 3, he pre-event scrutiny on the competing vehicles was done and the drivers briefing and press conference was held. The Tuners of the MRF and JK Cars were working hard on their cmpeting cars, as Team Escorts Yamaha, Team Suzuki and Team Zen tuned up their motorcycles for the ensuing competition.
The Motorcycles were running the first rally fo the 1999 season, while the cars had already run the EMSA Wild Run Rally in Calcutta in April.
Team MRF Tyres had four Group A, three Group N cars and four Group C (modified) bikes. Team JK Tyres was next with two Group A cars, three Group N cars and one partly sponsored Group N Car. Team Escorts Yamaha supported two Group C and two Group D bikes. Team TVS Suzuki supported two GRoup C Shoghuns and one Group C Shaolin. Team Chettinad sporting brought in three Group N cars and Team Zen Rallying had a battalion o bikers, supporting them in tuning and spares. There were hardly four cars without sponsorship, but at least 28 bikers without any sponsor wanting to challenge the NASA terrain and the sponsored teams.
There were two motor Sporting families one competing and the other officiating. The Patel family from Mumbai had father Kersi Patel and sons Zubin and Rustom competing on bikes. The Bathena family from Mumbai had father Darayus and his wife and sons Farad and Zoru officiating and of course daughter Nava was competing under Team Chettinad banner.
It is interesting to ntoe that the entire route where the NASA ran, is land that belonged to the Department of Irrigation, Maharashtra, who had given them permission to run the event, despite a Dam in the areas. Further, `hats-off’ to NASA, they proved that if there is a will, there is a way, literally. With Castrol India Limited walking out of the individual rally sponsorship scene, the onus was on NASA to run the event with other sponsors, or pull out of the National Championship. “We wanted to stay in the Castrol National Rally Championship for cars and motorcycles and that is why we are running the NASA Challenge, even though there are no sponsors,” said Shekhar, one of the NASA Officials. “We are thankful to Janalakshmi Co-operative Bank, who gave us Rs.6lakhs loan without interest for a year to run the rally. We have to now earn from sponsorship of other smaller events and repay. Our FDs and our Goodwill are our security,” quipped Hoshi Patel, the top boss of NASA, who proved they coud run a well-organised rally even without a sponsor.
On June 3, at 7.01am, the first bike, Rohitaaz Kumar of Team MRF took the starters flag at Sai Palace Hotel on the Mumbai Agra highway. Kudos to Sai Palace, who gave excellent support to NASA to take care of all the rallyists who stayed in the same hotel and where all the official meetings and Prize Distribution were held.
One after the other, the bikes left in one minute intervals followed by a break of an hour between bikes and cars. Manik Raikhy of Team JK Tyre was the first car to be flagged off followed by others in two minute intervals. It was shocking to note that the 1998 winner Zubin Patel (bikes) and N Leelakrishnan (cars) were not flagged off first, which is a customary practice.
It was a treat to watch the two wheelers weaving through the forests on the tank bund at hectic speeds, but when the cars appeared the were disappointingly slow.
The route was very simple. There were five special stages to be run thrice in the same direction (read boring) on the Nashik to Walkhed part of Mumbai-Agra highway. The rallyists went on the highway up to Khatwad where they turned right and did the first stage a loop back to the highway and crossed the hghway to the left side where they did stages 2 to 5, before rejoining the highway at Walkhed. It was at the finish of the Stage 1 that the SErvice Park was set up, a common feature in modern Indian rallying. There was a regroup halt after every trip round the five stages. The Petrol pump Saptashrungi Highway services at Nashik-Dindoni road owned by Mr Thakur had closed their daily operations to support the rally. Speaks for his interest in motor sport and NASA’s goodwill.
When we were at the stages, we realised that why the stages were scary. Narrow canal roads with no run-off areas, were frightening. One wondered the predicament of the car drivers as they drove their machines through these life-or-death roads. The first casualty was three bikes and the Chettinad Sporting car of Sam Katgara and Neville Poonawala of Mumbai. Sam misjudged a corner, went off the canal road, down the slope and crashed a tree and landed. Thank God, the roll cage saved them. As for the motorcycles, two of them did not start the stage and the third retired with minor problems to his bike. Paritosh Kohok, 1998 Castrol Natioinal Rally Motorcycles Group D champion, now on a Group D bike crashed with no injury. The Nashik lad is getting used to a more powerful bike and once he settles down should be a force to reckon with.
The rally proceeded further. Manik Raikhy had climbed an electric pole while testing his Esteem and rendered Nashik powerless for 10 minutes on June 3. The rally proceeded further and then came the shocking news of Naren Kumar of Team MRF and Hari Singh of JK Tyre had pulled out and Amol Talpade (bikes) and many more `also rans’. Whenever the cars or bikes reached the service park, it was a treat to watch the mechanics work. Said Vicky Chandhok, Chief Tuner for JK Tyres Rally team. “Hari had lost time in the first stages and was going for it. He made 59 seconds in the 11th stage and misjudged a turn and crashed, the second crash in his career of 10 years.” The first was MASA 1994, when his brakes failed and crashed.
By the time the rally was over, there were 14 finishers in cars and 30 motorcycles. The NASA Chalenge routes were the best for bikes, while being very unsafe for cars.
Team MRF Limited proved that their 1998 run to the Championship was not a joke and took the top three placings in cars and motorcycles. Team Escorts Yamaha, won the top spot in Overall, Group C an Group D for the first time. “It was my mistake,” said Zubin. “I eased out in the beginning and tried to make time later and had a flip and so finished three seconds behind,” he added. He finished behind Rohitaaz who was astride a Yamaha.
The championship points for the Castrol National Rally Championship are interestingly poised as JK and MRF are even in Overall, Group A and Group N points. The Bikes of course have run only one round and Team MRF leads overall, Group C and Escorts entered in Group D.
On June 6, the post-event scrutiny and Prize Distribution were held at Sai Palace. Pradeep Mhaskar, Clerk of the Course, for the first time in Indian Rallying pointed out the lethargy in competitors filling up entry forms. A press release given out by the Team MRF Limited did not speak about their bikers and proved the old saying that bikers are the `nobodys’ in Indian rallying. The JK Press Release appeared a bit more professional.
In the Prize Distribution, Manik Raikhy and Vivek Ponnuswamy (JK) gave up their prize monies to NASA as a gesture to a club running a National event without sponsors. Kudos to NASA who gave prize monies, though running without a sponsor.
With the NASA Challenge 99 won by few and lost by many, we spoke to the tuners who ensure performance. The Group N tuners for the MRF Limited, J Anand said: “The new FIA regulations format had made the cars much slower. Stock radiators and cylinders, give us very little for our imagination.”
“We were well prepared and the results prove that, said Leelakrishnan, the overall winner and Tuner of MRF Group A cars. The Escorts Yamaha team fizzing champaigne for the first time, pucking up an overall, Group C and Group D victory in the rally said: We are very serious about our efforts now and you will see the scenario changing soon.”
The Castrol National Rally Championship for cars and motorcycles is any ones for the taking today. The South India Rally 1999 at Chennai in July, the favourite of JK Rally Team and the headquarters of MRF Limited and TVS Suzuki will be the focus. Whoever takes the early lead, will be less tense for the rest of the season.
Provisional Results:
Overall Cars: 1. N Leelakrishnan/ Farooq Ahmed (Team MRF) (1hour, 55min, 42sec); 2. B Sagar Muthappa/ Sandeep Rao (Team MRF) (1:57:07); 3. Vijayant Choudhari/ MK Chander (Team MRF) (2:00:13); 4. PG Abhilash/ Jeff PG (Chettinad Sporting) (2:01:41); 5. Nikhil Taneja/ Musa Sherif (JK Tyres) (2:01:52).
Cars, Group A Modified: 1. N Leelakrishnan/ Farooq Ahmed (Team MRF) (1:55:42); 2. Manik Raikhy/ Vivekanandan P (JK Tyres) (2:10:33).
Cars, Group N Unmodified: 1. B Sagar Muthappa/ Sandeep Rao (Team MRF) (1:57:07); 2. Vijayant Choudhari/ MK Chander (Team MRF) (2:00:13); 3. PG Abhilash/ Jeff PG (Chettinad Sporting) (2:01:41); 4. Nikhil Taneja/ Musa Sherif (JK Tyres) (2:01:52); 5. BS Pruthvi/ Shivu Shivappa (JK Tyres) (2:03:43).
Motorcycle Results:
Overall: 1. Rohitaaz Kumar (Team MRF) (1hr, 53min, 35sec); 2. Zubin Patel (Team MRF) (1:53:38); 3. K Prasad (Team MRF) (1: 53:50); 4. Nipender Jessy (Escorts Yamaha) (1:54:11); 5. Amarinder Sandhu (Team MRF) (1:55:07).
Group C: 1. Rohitaaz Kumar (Team MRF) (1:53:35); 2. Zubin Patel (Team MRF) (1:53:38); 3. K Prasad (Team MRF) (1: 53:50); 4. Nipender Jessy (Escorts Yamaha) (1:54:11); 5. Amarinder Sandhu (Team MRF) (1:55:07).
Group D: 1. G PRasad (Escorts Yamaha) (2:05:40); 2. Kunal Singh (TVS Suzuki) (2:08:03); 3. Rohan Rego (TVS Suzuki) (2:09:36); 4. Rustom Patel (TVS Suzuki) (2:10:51); 5. K Amit Kumar (TVS Suzuki) (2:12:02).
Novice class: 1. Nipender Jessy (Escorts Yamaha) (1:54:11); 2. SP Chinappa (TVS Suzuki) (2;04:13); 3. Akash Ithal (TVS Suzuki) (2:04:47); 4. G PRasad (Escorts Yamaha) (2:05:40); 5. Rohan Rego (TVS Suzuki) (2:09:36).
ends/updated from old archives to support INRC winners: Hall of Fame
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Hari Singh-GS Mann help JK Tyre rise from the Ashes
By George Francis, Scorp News
Calcutta, 4 April 1999: JK Tyre Rally Team rose from the Ashes of the 1998 Waterloo to emerge the Group A (modified Car) and Group N (unmodified) winners of the Birla Tyres EMSA Wild Run Rally 1999 whose stages were concluded on the outskirts near here on Sunday. Hari Singh and Gurinder Singh Mann of JK Tyre won the overall honours in the season opener.
Thundering across the West Bengal villages near Durgapur, this unprecedented victory, is a shot in the arm for the `Yellows’ who were struck dumb by the MRF juggernaut which kept rolling through 1988.
The Wild Run, is the first rally of the 9-leg Castrol National Rally Championship for Cars 1999 and the very first one to be run on the strict FIA (Federation Internationale de L’ Automobile) rules this season. The Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI), the supreme body which controls Motor Sports in India, decided to strictly follow the FIA rules this season in an effort to run one of the Asia Pacific Rallies in India soon. Though the decision was taken hardly two months back, the Eastern Motor Sports Association (EMSA) rose up to the occasion and brought in the amendments – it is noteworthy that in a bid to give more publicity to cars and motorcycles alike (and the added advantage of event and competitors’ sponsors) the FMSCI has asked the various Motor Sports organisers around the country to run separate events for cars and motorcycles and not to club them together. EMSA should most probably be the first club to run separate events. The EMSA motorcycle event, should be run end of the season. The last-minute change of regulations did put the spanner into the works of many a competitor at EMSA, but they managed to get their cars ready for the Wild Run.
Team MRF Tyres, who had an exciting season last year and all the possible placings in the Castrol Ntional Rally Chmpionship for Cars and Motorcycles 1998, had a bad start at EMSA. Headed by the Ace Tuner and 5-times Nationial Champion Narayanaswamy Leelakrishnan, only one car finished the event. Naren Kumar who flies in from Australia month after month for the Indian Rally Championship, navigated by Ram Kumar, saved face for the `Red’ , runner, finishing 2nd overall and Group A in the Wild Run.
Much Praise should go to Team Chettinad Sporting, who came in with 2 Group N cars and finished 2nd and 3rd in the Group and 4th and 5th overall, the only sponsor who has no Direct’ advertising advantage in Motor Sport. Mr MAMR Muthiah, who runns team Chettinad should be happy with his team and its performance. Chettinad’s Navaz Bathena and Sherin Balachandran won the Coupe de Dames Trophy and the second spot among thousand competitors. The other Chettinad entry PG Abhilash won the unseeded class.
The local team numbering 12, a couple of whom ran with part sponsorship from JK Tyres, should be lauded, for eight teams finished the gruelling 2-day event.
The EMSA itself deserves praise for getting in to the National Championship circuit hardly within four years of their inception. Headed by Partha Sadhan Bose, an ardent rallyist himself, the EMSA has a group of committed officials, who brought the Wild Run in to the limelight so soon. The Marshalls were `superb’ was the reaction oif the rallyists and according to the FMSCI, the (the Marshalls) have been “well briefed”, by the EMSA officials. If hard work and commitment to a task could bring happiness, it was clearly evidnt at the packed Calcutta Motor Sports Club during the prize distribution function. A beaming Partha Sadhan Bose was sure his team has done a great job, perfectly.
On the 31st March, the Birla Tyres EMSA Wild Run Rally 1999, started its operation on the rally per se, with the compulsory organised recee (or reconnaissance) run is done to ensure that the competitor gets to know the rally route, to avoid (lurking) danger when going `flat out’ at 120 kmph or at higher speeds. This increases the confidence level of the competitor, who plans his speed chart well in advance with the navigators marking the cautions perfectly.
On fools day, April 1, the EMSA did the scrutiny on the competing vehicles and the team MRF and Chettinad Sporting mechanics had to work overtime, shifting the petrol tanks from the top (which was allowed until 1998) to the bottom.
There were 22 entrants, who qualified for the start of the Birla Tyres 5th EMSA Wild Run Rally 1999. At 7am, on Good Friday, April 2, the first round of the Castrol National Rally Championship for Cars was flagged off from the Territorial Army Institute Grounds.
A long transport of 160km greeted the dare devils, as Team MRF’s Narayanaswamy Leelakrishnan, the reigning National Champion, flagged off on to the Khidderpore road on to the Kona Expressway route, on to the Durgapur Expressway to meet the Burdwan by-pass and enter the service park at the end of 158 km. 270 metres of driving on the quite busy expresswaysw brought the rallyists to the Special Stages near Burdwan on way to Durgapur.
Three Group A cars from Team MRF, two Group A and three Group N cars from JK Tuyres RAlly team, two Group N cars from TEam Chettinad Sporting made up the top 10 competitors. Twelve local teams (4 Group Asa nd 8 Group Ns) of which at least four were partly sponsored by Team JK, formed the total entry list of 22 competing vehicles. While everyone had opted for the now tested and perfected Maruti Esteem, one of the competitor Ashish Bagchi and his navigatore Satya Sunder Datta, opted for the maruti Gypsy (Group A).
Three basic special stages formed the essence of the competitive sections of the EMSA Wild Run. Vayusena (Air Force) (9.59km), Brahmangram (9.52km) and Shyamarupa (5.14km) run twice in that order, with only the Vayusena stage repeated a third time on Friday, to complete seven Special Stages. Thre were 3 service stops, one before the start of Special Stage 1, the second on after Stage 4 and the third at the end of Stage 8 after which the continuing cars were to be put in to parc ferme. The Vayusena Stage was predominantly tarmac, while the Brahmangram and Shyamarupa stages were dusty, dirt roads all the way. OUt of the 22 rallyists who started, only 17 remained in the run after Stage 1. IT was breathtaking to watch the rally drivers churn the dirt and go flat out on the narrow roads, with their navigators yelling instructions at the top of their voices. The second stage ended well in day light as the rallyists headed to the pathik Motel, Durgapur to part for the night.
While Naren Kumar and Ramkumar (MRF) were fastest in 4 stages, Hari Singh and GS Mann (JK) were fastest in 2 of the 7 stages. IN Group N, Nikhil Taneja and Moosa (JK) were the fastest in 5 stages, while Navaz Bathena and Sherin Balachander (Chettinad) topped the speeds in one stage.
A dinner arranged at the Peerless Inn at Durgapur for all participants and supporting officials was one of the most deliecious ever organised in rallies in such a small town.
The Leg II started at 7am on April 3, 1999 and four participants out of 17 starters of Leg II pulled out and 13 competitors finished the Wild Run. While the sponsored teams picked up all the top honours, kudos to the veteran rallyists Mitil Chakravorty and Bhabesh Dhabaria, who finished 10th overall and 4th Group N and to Deborshi Sadhan Bose, won of partha Sadhan Bose, navigated by top navigator Sandeep Lal who finished 7th Group N and won the Novice Class prize.
We have found at least six new talents from West Bengal in this Rally, said Partha Sadhan Bose, the chairperson of EMSA. The Prize Distribution function at the Sports Complex of the Calcutta Club was one the well-attended meetings, followed by dinner on the lawns, a bit over crowded. WHile EMSA proved beyond doubt the organisational capacity, they shoulbe thankful to the supoport of Birla Tyres, their Sponsors.
Results: Overall:
1. Hari Singh/ GS Mann (JK Tyres); 2. Naren Kumar/ D Ramkumar (Team MRF Tyres); 3. Nikhil Taneja/ Musa Sherif (JK Tyres).
Group A: 1. Hari Singh/ GS Mann (JK Tyres); 2. Naren Kumar/ D Ramkumar (Team MRF Tyres); 3. Sanjay Arya/ Yogesh Gupta.
Group N: 1. Nikhil Taneja/ Musa Sherif; 2. PG Abhilash/ Jeff GP (Chettinad Sporting);
3. Navaz Bathena/ Sherin Balachandran (Chettinad Sporting);
eom/david/manual migration to new site
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Farooq Ahmed wins National Rally Navigators’ Championship 1998
Madras, 15 January 1999: The National Rally Navigators Championship was won by K Farooq Ahmed of Chikmagalur with 95 points after he took part in five of the eight-leg calendar in 1998. Kumar Ramaswamy of Coimbatore, who navigated for Arjun Balu, was second with 80.25 points followed by MK Chander, also of Coimbatore, on third with 80 points. Following is the official Standings released by FMSCI today.
1998 Posn. Name NASA MMSC KMSC KASCC CASC IASC APMSC PCRT Total 1 Farooq Ahmed. K 10.00 25.00 15.00 22.50 22.50 95.00 2 Kumar Ramaswamy 6.00 18.75 18.75 18.00 18.75 80.25 3 M.K. Chander 20.00 30.00 30.00 80.00 4 Sandeep S. Rao 15.00 15.00 12.00 15.00 15.00 72.00 5 Anita Nanjappa 7.50 12.50 12.00 9.00 15.00 6.00 62.00 6 Gurinder Singh Mann 25.00 1.50 20.00 46.50 7 Sandeep Lal 10.00 6.00 18.00 12.00 46.00 8 Aditya S. Jaswal 15.00 25.00 40.00 9 Jaidas Menon 7.50 10.00 6.00 12.00 35.50 10 P. Vivekanandan 10.00 20.00 30.00 11 Sherin Balachandran 8.00 6.00 10.00 24.00 12 D. Ramkumar 12.00 3.75 15.75 13 C.K. Chinnappa 15.00 15.00 14 Nikhil Pai 2.00 12.50 14.50 15 Moosa Sherif 1.00 12.50 13.50 16 Shivu Shivappa 4.00 9.00 13.00 17 Kulbir S. Dhaliwal 10.00 10.00 18 Deepak Jouhari 2.00 3.00 4.50 9.50 19 Farokh Commissariat 8.00 1.25 9.25 20 Mannu Kapoor 8.00 8.00 21 B.P. Jacob 7.50 7.50 22 S. Pratap 5.00 5.00 T. Sreekanth 5.00 5.00 24 Roshan Akhtar 5.00 5.00 25 B.S. Sujith Kumar 4.50 4.50 26 Zubin Nariman 1.50 2.50 4.00 27 M.V. Saigopan 4.00 4.00 Amit Wadhwa 4.00 4.00 29 Jeff G. Poothakaran 3.75 3.75 30 B.A. Ravinder 3.75 3.75 31 Vishnu Kamath 3.00 3.00 Major Sukhi Singh Sekhon 3.00 3.00 Farookh Wadia 3.00 3.00 34 Sandeep Dodhiwala 2.50 2.50 Bhuvaneswari Srikarunya 2.50 2.50 36 Bipin A. Bhatia 1.25 1.25 37 J.V. Shivram 1.00 1.00 Last Updated on 1/15/99 on FMSCI Infomot
By V.S. SHRIAKANT -
Leelakrishnan bags driver’s championship for 1998
FMSCI Drivers’ Championship Final Standings for year 1998
Madras, 15 January 1999: The National Rally Drivers Championship was won by N Leelakrishnan of Coimbatore with 115 points after he took part in six of the eight-leg calendar in 1998. Arjun Balu of Coimbatore was second with 80.25 points followed by B Sagar Muthappa of Bangalore on third with 72 points. Following is the official Standings released by FMSCI today.
Overall Drivers Posn. Name NASA MMSC KMSC KASCC CASC IASC APMSC PCRT Total 1 N. Leelakrishnan 20.00 10.00 25.00 15.00 22.50 22.50 115.00 2 Arjun Balu 6.00 18.75 18.75 18.00 18.75 80.25 3 B. Sagar Muthappa 15.00 15.00 12.00 15.00 15.00 72.00 4 V.R. Naren Kumar 30.00 30.00 60.00 5 Jagat Nanjappa 7.50 12.50 12.00 9.00 15.00 56.00 6 Hari Singh 25.00 1.50 20.00 46.50 7 Nikhil Taneja 10.00 6.00 18.00 12.00 46.00 8 Upkar Dicky Gill 15.00 25.00 40.00 9 Karandeep Singh Sandhu 7.50 10.00 6.00 12.00 35.50 Navaz Bhathena 3.00 2.50 8.00 6.00 10.00 6.00 35.50 11 Manik Raikhy 10.00 20.00 30.00 12 B.S. Pruthvi 5.00 5.00 4.00 9.00 23.00 13 Nihar Modi 2.50 2.00 12.50 17.00 14 V. Ram Narayan 12.00 3.75 15.75 15 Satkiran P.S. Hara 15.00 15.00 16 Satish Bhat 1.00 12.50 13.50 17 Sandeep Sharma 10.00 10.00 18 Ravi Jouhari 2.00 3.00 4.50 9.50 19 Farad Bhathena 8.00 1.25 9.25 20 Sanjay Sikand 8.00 8.00 21 P.G. Abilash 4.00 3.75 7.75 22 George Antony 7.50 7.50 23 R. Thiagarajan 5.00 5.00 24 V. Thiagarajan 4.50 4.50 25 Homi D. Dhunjibhoy 1.50 2.50 4.00 26 N.K. Ramesh 1.00 3.00 4.00 Aniruddha Jain 4.00 4.00 28 D. Shriram 3.75 3.75 29 Vijayant Chaudhry 3.00 3.00 30 Harish Samtani 1.25 1.25 Last Updated on 1/15/99 on FMSCI Infomot
By V.S. SHRIAKANT -
Hari Singh-GS Mann win Desert Rally; Leela-Farooq clinch National Championship
Jaipur, 28 Dec 1998: Defending National Champion Hari Singh and co-driver Gurinder Singh Mann of JK Tyres Rally Team chalked out a facile win to take the Overall honours in the Castrol Desert Rally, the eighth and final round of the Castrol National Rally Championship which concluded here on Sunday.
The four-time National Champions, Hari Singh and GS Mann, were followed in second place by teammates Satkiran Pal Singh and co-driver CK Chinappa while Nikhil Taneja and navigator Sandeep Lal finished the podium sweep by JK Tyres taking the third spot in the Overall honours. While Hari and Mann also won the Group A Modified Cars class, Satkiran and Chinnappa clinched the victory in the Group N Unmodified class in the final round.
Team MRF, who already sealed all the top spots in the National Championship did not take part in the rally. N Leelakrishnan and co-driver Farooq Ahmed stopped the juggernaut of Hari Singh and won the championship despite not taking part in this rally. Thus the four sucessive wins of Hari Singh came to a halt. It was Hari Singh who stopped the winning run of Leelakrishnan in 1994, after Leela won four titles in a row. So it was a sweet revenge for Coimbatore driver, who regained the National title. However, it is navigator Farooq Ahmed who gave the calls to Leela this year and also bagged his maiden Navigators’ National Championship.
A BADLY ORGANISED RALLY – Report by George Francis/Scorp News
`Torture’ and `tiring’ were the two words uppermost in the minds of the motley crowd of rallyists who took the Desert Challenge. Set on sandy terrain on the river beds of Rajasthan, the Desert Challenge was badly wanting in organisational skill.
The reconnaissance trip ofr the Desert Challenge was fixed on Christmas Eve. Six Maruti Esteems, one Maruti 1000, and five Maruti Gypsys totalled the 12 competing four-wheelers, while 16 Suzuki Shoguns, 11 RX-100s three RXG-135s, two KB-125s and one TVS Supra made up the 33 two-wheelers.
While the fog of Jaipur put the fear into the rallyists, they took the recee to be the rally itself and were reportedly speeding as they liked, forgetting that they were in an organised recee, where they are supposed to travel in single file. The tiring day ended at 7 pm when they returned to Jaipur.
Among the participants were very few well-known names. The best were Hari Singh and Gurinder Singh Mann, National Champion Driver and Navigator from 1994 to 1997, driving for JK Tyres. Next came Nikhil Taneja and Sandeep Lal, Group N National Champions for JK Tyres in 1996, to be followed by JK Tyres sponsored BS Pruthvi and Shivu Shivappa, the most consistent performers this year. Navaz Bathena and Anita Nanjappa were driving for Team Chettinad Sporting, the new non-automobile (business) team that’s come in from 1997. The young turks of Hyderabad, Nihar Kiran Mody and Nikhil V Pai and the JK Tyresw sponsored Satkiran Pal Singh and CK Chinappa were also there. Six privateers, some of them entering for the first time in a National event, were also in the fray. Mention should be made of the father and son team of N Bhasin and Vinod Bhasin, who were in the Maruti 1000. Indian Oil had sponsored this team.
Among the two-wheeler riders Kunal Singh was the most well-known. Incidentally, he is a Jaipurian. Kunal, who has been in the circuit for the past two years, had not taken part in any rally this year due to an appendicitis operation. Vikram Singh from Thane, running second in the Group D Castrol National Rally Championship and D Udayakumar of Bangalore, running third were the other well-known entrants. But, on pre-event scrutiny day D Udayakumar had a mishap and ended up in hospital with leg injuries. The giant, Team MRF Tyres, was conspicuous by its absence.
Performance Cars Racing Trust was the organiser of this rally, the final round of the Castrol National Rally Championship. None of the Championship top spots were open, Team MRF Tyres having sealed the various classes, and overall placings, except Group D Bikes un-modified class which was take by Paritosh Kohok.
Even before the rally started, the first Special Stage, Labana-Tel Mod, was cancelled due to refusal of permission by the State Government.
There were now five stages to be run, namely Kalighatti to Armada, Gugli Mod, Shiv Mandir to Hanuman Mandir, Hanuman Mandir to Dhaull, and Van Vibhag to Barrage. These five stages set on the river beds on the sides of the Jaipur-Delhi highway, were to be run twice in the same direction except the first one which was run in the opposite direction when the rallyists ran throught the second time. This was on Day 1.
On Day 2, all the stages were to be run once, except the first stage, which was run in the opposite direction once more. In effect, in the two days 290.63km of transport and 125.13km of Special Stage distance, totalling to 415.76km were to be run. The maximum average speed expected was 42.45kmph, while the least was 9.91kmph.
When the rallyists arrived at Kalighatti, Hari Singh, who was flagged off first, had enough time to go into the stage in a tractor and confirm, that the sand was too dense. Navaz Bathena had remarked, “if anyone can go through the first kilometre in the stage, then they can finish the rally.” The organisers, who heard the Esteem drivers’ pleas, shifted the start Time Control (TC) to firmer ground. But, when the actual rally began, photographers had hell. Cars and motorcycles came from all directions and one had to repeatedly take evasive action. For the first time in a Special Stage rally, the route was not marked by tapes, and other vehicles moved around freely. Even Children were seen playing an flying kites on the route. “We saw a dozen kids playing on the stage hardly metres away from us. My driver, Nihar, asked me what to do. I said keep going and honking, they should move. Say your prayers first,” said Nikhil Pai.
“The problem of driving in sand is to keep going with the pace. If one stops, they will get bogged down,” said Satpal Kiran Singh of JK Tyres.
“Only if you are in four-wheel drive, could you go peacefully,” said Chinnappa, Satpal’s navigator. With 14 tractors creating havoc on stage one (some of them trying to race with the competing cars), the rally had to be stopped and delayed many a time.
The last two stages were cancelled for bikes, for want of time. Shramik Masturlal, the FMSCI president and the Chief Steward, C Sridhar, the FMSCI Observer, and other stewards felt that the rally should not be continued on the second day, if the organisers did not arrange for safe running.
Things were better on the second day as police were seen at all stages, blocking the route for local vehicles. The marshals too, were better informed about their jobs.
The major dropouts during the rally were BS Pruthvi of JK Tyres, who blew his Esteem’s Engine, Nihar Kiran Modi, who found one of his Esteem’s wheels coming off, and Vikram Singh, who found his Shogun chain giving way.
There were two protests, one in the cars’ section and one among the bikes. Nawaz Bathena had porotested that one of the Gypsy entrants had missed a Time Control and checked into the next. The other protest was against Kunal Singh who used MRF Train Tyres. Many competitors felt that the tyres were not available in the open market.
Nawaz’s protest was turned down. But Kunal was given his prize, and told that the availability of Trail Tyres would be checked with MRF Limited and if they were not available, he would have to forgo his prize.
“These tyres are available freely, at least in the Southern part of India. These are production tyres, and I was riding a TVS Suzuki factory-prepared machine (shogun). TSL had put the tyres, which they bought from Bangalore,” said Kunal. TVS Suzuki tuner Rajaram said: “Two championship events have been won on these tyres. In 1997, Amar Sandhu, used it, and this year we used it in the Cotton City Rally at Coimbatore. Jagat Nanjappa has been using it for two years. Last year’s Championship was won on MRF Trail Tyres. We have been using it for a long time.”
The results of the Desert Challenge were as expected, that is if one discounted the ones who pulled out due to mechanical problems. JK Tyres’ Hari Singh and Gurinder Singh Mann won the rally Overall and topped the Group A Modified cars section hands down. Behind them were teammates Satpal Kiran Singh and CK Chinappa in a Group N unmodified car, winning the group and placing second Overall. Third placed was again a JK Tyre Team, Nikhil Taneja and Saneep Lal. One JK Tyres car did not finish the event.
Kunal Singh won the Group C modified bike class and the Overall top spot. The second-placed in Group C was Anil Gautam, Secretary of the SAAHAS (Society for Adventure Awareness, Humanity and Automobile Sports) in Jaipur. Amar Dev Singh was third. It is interesting to note that all the three (the only ones who finished in the group) were on Suzuki Shoguns.
Mohan Lal Sharma finished second overall and first in Group D unmodified bikes class. PS Jasana and Capt VK Bhatti finished second and third, respectively.
Asked about his victory and the rally, Hari Singh, who runs an adventure tourism business in Chandigarh said: “I am happy but thank God, the rally is over.”
Satpal Kiran Singh said: “It was a real torture. I am happy that I won, and this my first major victory.” Satpal, who runs a real estate business, and a farm on the outskirts of Ludhiana, entered rallying only a year back. This year he did not take part in the earlier rallys due to a wrist injury.
Kunal Singh, who runs a hotel inJaipur, and als deals in jewellery, was a happy man. He said: “I have been waiting for this for a long time. It definitely gives one an advantage to rally in his or her hometown. I was also fortunate to get a works prepared Suzuki Shogun Bike. I thank my tuner Rajaram and KS Motors, Jaipur, who have been supporting me for the past three years. They used to prepare my bike and give me six to seven thousand rupees for every event, which would cover a part of my expenses. I would have relished this victory more, if I could competition from the MRF bikers. The only thing I could do was to compete wit the Group A modified cars, to give myself some competition. After the two legs, I have finished at least eight minuts ahead of Hari’s timings. This is the first time any Group C bike has finished a rally ahead of Group A Overall car. This is taking into account only the stages run by cars and bikes, and dropping the stages which only cars ran.” When one checks the time chart, out of 14 stages (eight on Day 1 and six on Day 2) run by both cars and bikes, Kunal has been faster than Hari Singh in 10 stages.
Mohanlal Sharma, the Group D winner, is another Jaipurian. He makes bearings. “I have been in rallying or the past three years, doing local rallys. I am keen on coming for the other events but there is no sponsorship,” he lamented.
Team Avalanche from Shimla came with a sponsorship from Indian Oil. Six riders on Suzuki Shoguns, Yamahas, Supra and KB-125, formed the team, and for the first time a KB finished a National event. The team of young enthusiasts have applied for affiliation of their club to the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) and plan many events in Shimla. They have already organised a dirt race only for Shimla riders last October. They got 25 entrants and a massive crowd for the event.
It is interesting to note that only one car driver, two bikers, and one navigator have done all the rallys that constitute the Castrol National Rally Championship for Cars and Motorcycles, 1998. Navaz Bathena of Team Chettinad Sporting, and Anita Nanjappa (who also navigates for her husband Jagat Nanjappa in an MRF sponsored car) her navigator in the Desert Challenge are the driver and navigator. Vikram Singh (who pulled out due to chain problems) and D Udayakumar, who entered, but could not start the rally, due to the road accident, are the bikers. It is high time that FMSCI brings in a rule, that all competitors who want to be eligible for the National Rally Championship, should participate in all the rallys. This will ensure that the organisers of the final few rallys of the year are not taken for a ride.
This year, the Castrol Deccan Rally suffered with JK Tyre not participating, and the Castrol Desert Challenge suffered from the absence of Team MRF.
The PCRT should be pulled up for not making the route, as is the rule in Special Stage Rallys, for not ensuring Zero Traffic in stages, and for the errors in the Tulip Chart given to run the event. They should be lauded for locating new rallying terrain, but not disclosing the surface to the competitors before the races (because it is totally new and different) had created problems. Many would have come better prepared, if they knew that they were to go through thick sand. The race also should have been run to regulations, ensuring that no competitor speeded up. In fact, it is reported that Tutu Dhawan, the chief of the organisers, had announced that if anyone could not make it to the organised recee or went off route, they could do it the same evening. When one of the service team members pointed out that when there is an organised reccee, no practice is allowed later, Dhawan corrected himself. One major fact seems clear. The PCRT does not seem to know the dos and don’ts of Special Stage Rallying. It is still in the age of Competitive Stage Rallys.
Looking back at the rallys of 1998, Castrol Cotton City seems to have been the best, taking into account the routing, perfection in timing, the service park provided with equipment and media support.
Provisional Results Cars:
Overall: 1. Hari Singh/GS Mann (JK Tyres Rally Team) (2hours, 11minutes, 50seconds); 2. Satkiran Pal Singh/ CK Chinappa (JK Tyres Rally Team) (2:23:49); 3. Nikhil Taneja/Sandeep Lal (JK Tyres Rally Team) (2:34:42); 4. Sandeep Sharma/Kulbir S Daliwal (3:11:38); 5. Navaz Batheena/ Anita Nanjappa (Team Chettinad Sporting) (3:17:09).
Group A Modified Cars: 1. Hari Singh/GS Mann (JK Tyres Rally Team) (2:11:50); 2. Nikhil Taneja/Sandeep Lal (JK Tyres Rally Team) (2:34:42);
Group N Unmodified Cars: 1. Satkiran Pal Singh/ CK Chinappa (JK Tyres Rally Team) (2:23:49); 2. Sandeep Sharma/Kulbir S Daliwal (3:11:38); 3. Navaz Batheena/ Anita Nanjappa (Team Chettinad Sporting) (3:17:09).
Castrol National Rally Championship for Cars -1998: Final Standings:
Overall – Drivers
1. N Leelakrishnan (Team MRF) 115 points;
2. Arjun Balu (Team MRF) 80.25 points;
3. Sagar Muthappa (Team MRF) 72 points;
4. Naren Kumar (Team MRF) 60 points;
5. Jagat Nanjappa (Team MRF) 48.5 points.
Overall – Navigators
1. Farooq Ahmed(Team MRF) 95 points;
2. KR Kumar (Team MRF) 80.25 points;
3. MK Chander (Team MRF) 80 points;
4. Sandeep S Rao (Team MRF) 72 points;
5. Anita Nanjappa (Team MRF) 56 points.
Group A – Drivers
1. N. Leelakrishnan (Team MRF) 62 points;
2. Arjun Balu (Team MRF) 44 points;
3. Naren Kumar (Team MRF) 34 points;
4. Hari Singh (Team JK Tyres) 32.5 points;
5. Nikhil Tanjeja (Team JK Tyres) 29 points.
Group A – Navigators
1. Farooq Ahmed (Team MRF) 52 points;
2. MK Chander (Team MRF) 44 points;
3. KR Kumar (Team MRF) 44 points;
4. Gurinder Singh Mann (Team JK Tyre) 32.5 points;
5. Sandeep Lal (Team JK Tyre) 29 points.
Group N -Drivers
1. Sagar Muthappa (Team MRF) 65 points;
2. Jagat Nanjappa (Team MRF) 51 points;
3. Navaz Batheena (Chettinad Sporting) 37 points;
4. Karandeep Singh (Team MRF) 36.5 points;
5. Nihar Kiran Modi 19 points.
Group N – Navigators
1. Sandeep S Rao (Team MRF) 65 points;
2. Anita Nanjappa (Team MRF) 57 points;
3. Jaidas Menon (Team MRF) 36.5 points;
4. Sherin Balachander (Chettinad Sporting) 21 points;
5. Deepak Jouhari (Birla Tyres) 16.5 points.
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Naren-Chander win Rallye de Endurance
By George Francis
Madikeri, 13 Nov 1998: Team MRF roared through the coffee estates of Madikeri, to place Overall one to six in the Castrol Rallye de Endurance, 1998. Naren Kumar and MK Chander, N Leelakrishnan and Farooq Ahmed, Arjun Balu and Kumar Ramaswamy, Sagar Muthappa and Sandeep S Rao, Karandip Singh and Jaidas Menon, and Jagat Nanjappa and Anita finished in that order. While the first three were driving Group A Modified cars, the following three were in Group N un-modified class.
Arch rivals, Team JK Tyres crashed all their six Esteems on the treacherous roads of Coorg. But Team Chettinad Sporting’s Navaz Bathena and Sherin Balachandran and the three private teams Thyagu Valliappa and Sujith, NK Ramesh and Vishnu Kamath, and Homi Dhunjibhoy and Zubir Nariman finished the ardous route. Never has Indian rallying seen such domination by one team in any event.
On November 11, the pre-event scrutiny was gone through at Capitol Village, Madikeri, and the compulsory drivers’ briefing was held the same evening. Twenty-three cars passed scrutiny and were ready for the challenge. They comprised eight cars sponsored by MRF Tyres, six sponsored by JK Tyres, two from Team Chettinad Sporting and one from Birla Tyres, and six private entries.
The route looked quite simple. Five estates of the Consolidated Coffee, namely Polibetta, Cottabetta, Woshully, Margolly and Siddapur, repeated three times in the same direction, in the same order, followed by a 60-minute re-grouping of the rallyists and an opoposite run of Polibetta, Siddapur, Margolly, Woshully and Cottabetta in that order, and the repeat of the same barring Cottabetta, made up the 134.81km stages. A service park was set-up near Polibetta, and could be visited once after each sequence, totalling four service stops of 15 minutes each, and a resort in the outskirts of Bangalore on the Bangalore-Hyderabad highway.
At 9.02 hours on November 12, the Castrol Rallye de Endureance started with the 1997 winners and four-times National champion Hari Singh and Gurinder Singh Mann taking the starter’s flag. At 2-minuate intervals, the 23 cars took off. It was interesting to note that Yemagoondi, a very difficult stage in the 1997 chapter of this rally, was dropped this year. The first stage was run with not much of difficulty. But when the rallyists reached Cottabetta the second time, things turned topsy-turvy. Manik RAikhy, of JK Tyres, crashed and pulleld out. Behind him came RAvi JOuhari of BIrla Tyres whose navigator brother Deepak Jouhari missed a call and crashed next. Niaz Ali, the Indian settled in Australia, brought in by JK Tyres, with his Aussie Navigator Darren Mark Macro, also ended their endurance there. With two prime cars for JK Tyres gone, Hari Singh continued his valiant fight for his team.
In the meantime, there was a faux paux by the organisers. When Manik Raikhy crashed, VR Naren Kumar and MK Chander of Team MRF, the third car had already started the Cottabetta stage. Raikhy’s car had blocked the route and Naren and Chander were waiting for the car to be moved out. One of the officials manning the start TC at Cottabetta, arrived on the scene and advised Naren to go back to the start of the stage for a restart. Naren informed the official that it was against the National Competition Rules to go in the opposite direction of the rally, but was told that all other cars behind him have been stopped and there is no danger. Naren went back for the re-start, and it became an issue after the rally was over.
Meanwhile, when the third stage of the day, the Woshully, was on BS Pruthvi and Shivu Shivappa (JK Tyre) and Samir Thapar and Koka Rahul Rao (JK Tyre) gave up with mechanical problems. The only JK cars that remained were of Hari Singh and Satish Bhat. A private entrant Roshan Akhtar and R Thiagarajan also pulled out here.
Upkar Dicky Gill and Aditya Jaswal (Team MRF) decided that Pollibetta was best they can complete and pulled out. That was the first casualty for MRF. Even as the other challengers became more and more confident, Umakanth Alva and Nikhil Dhruv, the last starters, gave up their bid in the Woshully stage, in the first repeat. On the 10th Special Stage namely, Siddapur, JK Tyres Rally Team lost Satish Bhat and Moosa Sherif, who pulled out with mechanical problems. Only Hari Singh continued with the rally.
When the rally reached the 12th stage, the third run of Cottabetta, Vijayant Chowdhry, the navigator turned driver for Team MRF, found his Group N car sputtering to a stop. Piqued by the unbelievable situation, Vijayant checked everything and found all in order. Suddenly, he realised that something important was missing, the Petrol tank. He went back a kilometre, and found the tank with 25 litres of petrol lying on the wayside. That was the second casuality, for Team MRF. SA Sridhar, the two-wheeler legend from Coimbatore, along with navigator Victor, driving for Team Chettinad Sporting, also pulled out here.
The next stage, the third run of Woshully, saw the total `rout’ of JK Tyres Rally Team, as Hari Singh and Gurinder Singh Mann bowed out. STories of Team JK’s plight spread like wildfire across the route. Sandeep Kadur and Dilbagh Gill also pulled out in this stage. There were only 10 cars remaining out of the 23 who challenged the Rallye de Endurance.
Team MRF Tyres was sitting pretty with 1-to-6 placings with Navaz Bathena and Sherin Balachander and three other private teams continuing behind them. The most interesting fact to note was Karandeep Singh and navigator Jaidas Menon, were leading the Group N placings, followed by Sagar Muthappa and Sandeep S Rao, both from Team MRF. That, Team MRF has found an excellent driver in Karandeep, was proved. But, it is reported, that both Karandeep and the third placed in Group N, Jagat Nanjappa, were asked by the team to ease up on the pedal and let Sagar win.
When the second part of the rally took off after the re-group, Team MRF played it cool, to avoid mistakes and finished 1-6. Never has the team had it so good, and every member was all praise for the preparation of the cars.
In the wee hours of November 13, the remaining 10 cars checked into the finish time control at Dominion. The post-event scrutiny put eveyone of the competitors in the 1-10 order, and the stewards asked Naren Kumar of Team MRF for an explanation for going in the opposite direction, which he promptly said was on the official’s insistence. The official requested the steward of the meet to mark them low in the points for running the championship rally, but to spare the competitor.
Team MRF, which took the 1 to 6 placings of the Castrol Rallye de Endurance, also claimed the Group A and Group N championships for 1998.
Provisional Results:
Overall: 1. VR Naren Kumar/ MK Chander (Team MRF) (2hours, 23minutes, 50seconds); 2.N Leelakrishnan/ Farooq Ahmed (Team MRF) (2:25:02); 3. Arjun Balu/ KR Kumar (Team MRF) 2:26:23).
Group A: 1. VR Naren Kumar/ MK Chander (Team MRF) (2hours, 23minutes, 50seconds); 2.N Leelakrishnan/ Farooq Ahmed (Team MRF) (2:25:02); 3. Arjun Balu/ KR Kumar (Team MRF) 2:26:23).
Group N: 1. Sagar Muthappa/ Sandeep S Rao (Team MRF) (2:27:33); 2. Karandeep Singh/ Jaidas Menon (Team MRF) (2:28:45); 3. Jagat Nanjappa/ Anita Nanjappa (Team MRF) (2:32:02).
National Rally Championship Sandings after six rounds:
Overall: Drivers: 1. N Leelakrishnan 115 points; 2. Arjun Balu 61.5 points; 3. Sagar Muthappa 72 points.
Navigators: 1. Farooq Ahmed 95 points; 2. MK Chander 80 points; 3. Sandeep S Rao 72 points;
Group A Modified: Drivers: 1. N Leelakrishnan 115 points; 2. Arjun Balu 61.5 points; 3. VR Naren Kumar 34 points;
Navigators: 1. Farooq Ahmed 95 points; 2. MK Chander 80 points; 3. KR Kumar 34 points.
Group N unmodified: Drivers: 1. Sagar Muthappa 72 points; 2. Jagat Nanjappa 38.5 points; 3. Karandip Singh 36.5 points;
Navigators: 1. Sandeep S Rao 65 points; 2. Anita Nanjappa 38.5 points; 3. Jaidas Menon 36.5 points.
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Naren-Chander win Cotton City Rally
By George Francis/Scorp News
Coimbatore, 12 October 1998: Talented local youngster and strong contender VR Naren Kumar along with another local lad, MK Chander, calling the pace notes, conquered the Castrol Cotton City Rally 1998 brushing aside the challenge from four-time National champion Leelakrishnan and co-driver Farooq Ahmed, here on Sunday.
The Coimbatore duo became the fourth different winners in this year’s Castrol National Rally Championship for cars winning the fifth round of the eight-round National Championship. Leelakrishnan leads the table with two overall wins.
Sagar Muthappa and navigator Sandeep S Rao, who won Group N in Coimbatore on Sunday. Photo by George Francis/ Scorp News But the story of the day, are the Limited slip differentials, Leela’s gear boxes and magical suspensions turned the Red Cars into winners in the Castrol Cotton City Rally here. Team MRF won the top two spots but it was not the famed Leelakrishnan on the top. The expert driver and tuner had to play second fiddle to Naren Kumar for once, as the youngster put in a determined performance to take the first win of the season.
Team JK Tyre which brought in veteran Niaz Ali (co-driver Vivekanandan) and Vicky Chandhok (navigator Manoj Dalal) to increase the pressure on Sagar Muthappa had to bite the dust. Both veterans, who led initially had to pull out due to a roll and mechanical problems, respectively. Sagar Muthappa finished fourth Overall while another Team MRF driver Jagat Nanjappa with his wife Anita as co-driver, finished fifth overall.
Riding the crest of success, Team Red finished first and second in Group A modified Class and took all the top-four placings in the Group N unmodified Class.
In the two-wheeler category, too, Team Red took the first four placings overall, and similar positions in Group C modified class. Only in Group D unmodified class was there a non-MRF winner.
The Coimbatore Auto Sports Club (CASC), well known for its organisational skills and riding high on a 1.5 coefficient in the championship points in the Castrol National Rally Championship, 1998, had moved away from its long-time sponsor ITC. Castrol stepped in as the sponsor. CASC, which had a hell of a problem last year in running the Special Stages at Palladam, about 40km from here, ensured the stages were planned out well this time and allowed an organised reconnaissance to help build the competitors’ confidence.
All the top rallyists were there, with only three newcomers in Niaz Ali of Team JK, Lt.Col. Sukhinder Singh Sekhon and Vijayant Chaudhry of Team MRF. The 40-year old Niaz, who rallied in India until 1986, when he won the Rallye de Endurance Overall top spot, is now an Australian citizen and was offered a drive by Team JK Tyre in this event. “I always wanted to be back in this country rallying, and here I am,” better known as brother of former Miss India, Nafisa Ali. Niaz who rallied in Australia now, has won the Western Australia sprint (1300cc, Group N stock) in a Suzuki Swift and placed second in Rally Australia (World championship) in the Group N Class. That he had a clear advantage over the others in the speeds touched in rallying, was very clear. Ponnusamy Vivekanandan, another Indian settled in Australia and who navigated JK Tyres’ Manik Raikhy to Overall victory in the Popular Rally last month, was Niaz’s navigator.
Vijayant Chaudhry, a former JK navigator and now in Team MRF is the only navigator turned driver among the current breed. Lieutenant Colonel Sukhinder Singh Sekhon, who used to navigate for Team JK driver Kulbir Singh Chauhan, also from the Regiment of Artillery, was in the red shirts, navigating for Vijayant.
The entry of `Pacer Yamaha’ into the rallying circuit with 135 bikes had robbed Team Nanjappas of K Prasad, and put the pressure on Zen Rallying and TVS-Suzuki factory bikes. But their cornering ability was to stand the Suzukis in good stead. In their bid to find a new performer, Suzuki put Amol Talpade, the 1997 Group D National Champion and Mazadayar Vatcha of Pune on Suzuki Shaolins. Zubin Patel and Amar Sandhu of Team MRF were on factory supported Suzuki Shoguns. Team Pacer Yamaha, seemed to have done their homework well, roping in MRF’s Rohitaaz Kumar, K Prasad and RH Vikram along with Srinivas and Nipender Jassy, two die-hard youngsters.
The Cotton City Challenge was two-day event, run over 570km, of which 140km made up 14 Special Stages. A basic three stages with enough run-off area, were repeated to run seven stages on day one and two. The presence of Team JK and Team MRF, after two years of boycotting the CASC rally due to various reasons, put the spirit back into the Cotton City Challenge.
Fifty-nine motorcycles and 28 cars were flagged off into a 90-minute transport section to reach the Special Stages on the Udumalaipet road. Set among windmill farms three Special Stages were in the villages near Palladam. A total dirt rally, with a service park in between the transport section from Stage 2 to Stage 3, ensured absolute order. The spectator-friendly rally had thousands of visitors from Kerala, Bangalore and Coimbatore itself.
Set on smooth dirt, the Cotton City stages looked very different, with none of the dangerous elements noticed in the South India Rally at Chennai. One could drive his heart out and enjoy the rally, but pushing the pedal also meant running off the route most of the time. That the route was well marked out is an understatment. Last Year’s `short-cutting phobia’ ensured the presence of scores of judges from the neighbouring Kerala Auto Sports Club and the CASC to police the event. The pace set by the riders and drivers took the local spectators by surprise.
On Day 1, Team JK’s anchor driver Hari Singh and navigator Gurinder Singh Mann, driving an Esteem suffered two early punctures, losing precious time. Satish Bhat, also of Team JK, navigated by Moosa, rolled in Special Stage 1 and the winner of the earlier Popular Rally, Manik Raikhy and navigator CK Chinnappa, flipped on the second stage. The latter rolled thrice, landed on all fours and tried continuing the run, until his broken car refused to carry him. Team MRF’s Arjun Balu and navigator Kumar Ramaswamy, broke his Esteem’s gear box and retired in the early stages of the rally. Dicky Gill, also from Team MRF and navigator Aditya Jaiswal, broke two imported rims, and lost a lot of time, but continued fighting a lost battle, valiantly.
In the two-wheeler category all riders opted for solo riding, due to the reconnaissance, and the top shots kept the pace high, except for RH Vikram (Team MRF) of Bangalore. His Yamaha engine seized in the very first Stage, forcing him to pull out unceremoniously. Almost every driver and rider was working at improving his performance due to the repeats. Stage 1 was repeated thrice, and the other two stages twice, all in the same direction, to make up the seven Special Stages on the first day.
At the end of the day, completed by 23 cars and 49 bikes, Team MRF led in all classes. Naren Kumar and navigator MK Chander, led Overall, followed by Leelakrishnan and navigator Farooq Ahmed, both from MRF, followed by Team JK’s Niaz Amed and Vivekanandan. Among the two-wheelers , Team MRF’s Zubin led, followed by K Prasad and Rohitaaz Kumar from the same team.
In the stock cars class, Team MRF’s Sagar Muthappa and Sandeep S Rao led, followed by Vicky Chandhok and navigator Manoj Dalal from Team JK Tyre and Karandeep Singh and Jaidas Menon from Team MRF in third.
Paritosh Kohok of Nasik, led in the Group D stock Class for motorcycles, followed by SP Chinnappa and Udayakumar, both from Team Zen Rallying of Bangalore.
On Day 2, all the seven stages were run in the opposite direction. Most of the surviving participants were running the 8-14 stages to complete the rally and pick up some points for the championship. While this was going on, Hari Singh of JK an Dicky Gill of MRF were driving their heads off to gain time lost on the first day.
Team JK lost Niaz Ahmed due to mechanical problems, Vicky Chandhok (accident) and V Ram Narayan due to gear box problems and was fighting valiantly until the finish. Among motorcyclists, Zubin’s impeccable ride on dirt forced on spectator to say, “The rider should be using some gum on the wheels that stops him from falling off his bike in the tight corners.”
Leg II finished as on the earlier day, at the Suguna Kalyana Mandapam in Coimbatore. The percentage of finishers being high, the mood was upbeat as the rallyists went to rest.
Hardwork and perfection in preparation proved that Team MRF still had stuff to win a rally and amass placings, as in the olden times. “In rallies, car preparation is 80 per cent and only 20 per cent is driving, we are happy that we have found the right combination, and our drivers will perform better and better, event after event,” said MRF driver and Group A cars tuner Leelakrishnan. “Team JK is pushed to perform and when you push, one tends to make more mistakes,” opined Group N cars tuner J Anand, a former racer for MRF.
Provisional Results:
CARS Overall: 1. VR Naren Kumar/ MK Chander (Team MRF) (2hours, 13minutes, 51seconds); 2. N Leelakrishnan/Farooq Ahmed (Team MRF) (2:15:35); 3. Nikhil Taneja/Sandeep Lal (JK Tyres) (2:16:52); 4. Sagar Muthappa/Sandeep S Rao (Team MRF) (2:19:28); 5. Jagat Nanjappa/ Anita (Team MRF) (2:19:43).
Group A Modified cars: 1. VR Naren Kumar/ MK Chander (Team MRF) (2hours, 13minutes, 51seconds); 2. N Leelakrishnan/Farooq Ahmed (Team MRF) (2:15:35); 3. Nikhil Taneja/Sandeep Lal (JK Tyres) (2:16:52); 4. BS Pruthvi/Shivu Shivappa (Team MRF) (2:19:54); 5. Hari Singh/ GS Mann (JK Tyres) (2:23:15).
Group N Unmodified cars: 1. Sagar Muthappa/Sandeep S Rao (Team MRF) (2:19:28); 2. Jagat Nanjappa/ Anita (Team MRF) (2:19:43); 3.Karandeep Singh/Jaidas Menon (Team MRF) (2:20:49); 4. Ravi Jouhari/ Deepak Jouhari (Birla Tyres) (2:22:47); 5. Vijayant Choudhry/SS Sekon (Team MRF) (2:23:01).
BIKES Overall: 1. Zubin Patil (Team MRF) (2:20:15); 2. Rohitaaz Kumar (Team MRF) (2:21:06); 3. K Prasad (Team MRF) (2:21:25); 4. Amarinder Sandhu (Team MRF) (2:23:40); 5. S Nipendar Jassy (Pacer Yamaha) 2:24:47).
Group C modified bikes: 1. Zubin Patil (Team MRF) (2:20:15); 2. Rohitaaz Kumar (Team MRF) (2:21:06); 3. K Prasad (Team MRF) (2:21:25); 4. Amarinder Sandhu (Team MRF) (2:23:40); 5. S Nipendar Jassy (Pacer Yamaha) 2:24:47).
Group D Unmodified bikes: 1. Paritosh K Kohok (2:28:16); 2. SP Chinnappa (2:29:57); 3. D Uday Kumar (2:31:07); 4. Vikram Singh (2:33:03); 5. GS Ganapathy (2:33:45).
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Leela-Farooq win K-1000; Zubin Patel tops bikes class
By George Francis/ Scorp News
Bangalore, 14 August 1998: Team MRF ruled the roost in the 24th Castrol Karnataka 1000 Rally, winning the first four places among cars and the first two among motorcycles here on Sunday. Multiple National champion N Leelakrishnan and navigator Farooq Ahmed won the K1000, the third round of the Castrol National Rally Championship for cars 1998 while Zubin Patel also of Team MRF clinched the Overall honours in the Motorcycle section.
The Karnataka Motor Sports Club (KMSC) roped in Castrol as the main sponsor for this National Championship event. The FMSCI president Shramick Masturlal, who was also the Clerk of the Course, had put together a simple, yet highly competitive route for the rallyists.
The K-1000, one of the oldest rallys in the country, was run on the internationally accepted Special Stage format. This format requires specific non-traffic areas designated as Special Stages. During these stages, the two-wheelers are flagged off at one-minute intervals, while the four-wheelers at two-minute intervals.
In each of the categories, the rallyist with the best time is given nil penalties. Those following him are added on time penalties in relation to the fastest time.
The five Special Stages were, Yellapura, Appenehalli, Kondli, India Mines and Gowdhikere. The route between these stages were designated as Transport Sections (TS). The time allotted to traverse the TS is quite comfortable by rallying standards. Also, servicing was made easier by providing for a Service Park at Harenahalli.
An organised recee was provided for on August 11 before the pre-event scrutiny. There were four classes of competition, Group A and N for cars and Group C and D for motorcycles. While Group A and C for modified vehicles, Group N and D were for stock cars and stock motorcycles, respectively.
In all there were nine cars in Group A and 19 in Group N and among motorcycles, Group C had 21 entries and Group D, 44. While the two-wheelers were flagged off first, the cars started later in the afternoon.
A prominent pre-race casualty was Amarinder Singh of Team MRF. During the recee, he suffered a fall from his bike at the end of the Gowdhikere stage and had to be hospitalised with torn muscles.
In the early stages, Dicky Gill from Delhi led, followed by Arjun Balu and N Leelakrishnan, the eventual Overall winner. Among motorcyclists, Zubin Patel looked invincible. After the rallyists had run through the five stages, the first time around, as many as 14 bikes pulled out.
With service over, the rally was on again. Halfway through the skies opened up and the slushy conditions made the route even more of a challenge. With two-thirds of the rally gone through, the contestants wore a ragged look. To add to their woes, there were reports of stone throwing and road blocks by the locals during Kondli stage. This forced the CoC and his deputy to patrol the 18km stretch before letting the competitors through. It also led to one of the Stages being cancelled.
Misfortune continued to dog Dicky Gill in this rally too. His tuner forgot to screw on the radiator cap and his Maruti Esteem engine ceased on the transport section before the finish.
The JK Tyres tea, too, had its share of problems. Four-time National Champion Hari Sing and his navigator Gurinder Singh Mann pulled out with a broken suspension. Nikhil Taneja abandoned the rally after going into a ditch; Satish Bhat and Nihar Singh were forced out due to mechanical problems and Akbar Ebrahim suffered a broken drive shaft.
Team MRF rider Rohitaaz Kumar was out early on the final run and RH Vikram, who was running well, hit a truck near Neelamangala and pulled out.
When the surviving 15 cars and 36 bikes checked into The Club, the members of Team MRF were ecstatic. But even as the celebrations were being planned fresh hurdles awaited them.
Gaurav Dalal of JK Tyres filed a protest with the stewards saying that the MRF drivers had resorted to fly-off hand brakes. But the stewards over-ruled the objection saying, the use of fly-off hand brake was or safety reasons and offered no advantage to the leaders.
Watch the Castrol Video by Sunil Shetty here.
Provisional Results:
Overall: 1. N Leelakrishnan/Farooq Ahmed (Team MRF) (1hour, 38minutes, 43seconds); 2. Arjun Balu/ KR Kumar (Team MRF) (1:39:00); 3. Sagar Muthappa/Sandeep S Rao (Team MRF) (1:39:30).
Group A Modified: 1. N Leelakrishnan/Farooq Ahmed (Team MRF) (1hour, 38minutes, 43seconds); 2. Arjun Balu/ KR Kumar (Team MRF) (1:39:00); 3. Manik Raikhy/ P Vivekanandan (JK Tyres) (1:41:08).
Group N Unmodified: 1. Sagar Muthappa/Sandeep S Rao (Team MRF) (1:39:30); 2. Jagat Nanjappa/ Anita (Team MRF) (1:39:49); 3. Karandeep Singh/ Jaidas Menon (Team MRF) (1:41:08).
Motorcycles:
Overall and Group C modified: 1. Zubin Patel (Team MRF) (1:49:10); 2. K Prasad, Mysore (1:50:52); 3. R Sreenivas, Bangalore, (1:52:32).
Group D Unmodified: 1. Paritosh Kohok, Nasik (1:55:40); 2. K Amith Kumar, Bangalore, (2:05:11); 3. Rohan Rego, Mangalore (2:06:44).
Note: This article is manually migrated from the archives of old website.
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My first rally diary; Majithia-Vijayant win Coorg rally
By Bodapati David
Bengaluru: This is a Diary piece. Not just a rally report. It dates back to two decades. But am adding this today, the 2nd of May, 2020. Thanks to the results by Scorp News, which George Francis gave me in 2004 when we started this site. One day, when Carona passes, I will dig out my own Indian Express report.
Dateline: Madikeri, 10 Nov 1996: I am going to write about my first experience of a live rally after joining Indian Express Bangalore edition in 1996. Forgive me, but you have to bear with me. I have followed many rallies and many rounds of Indian National Rally Championship but this is the first assignment as a journalist and I am writing for Indian Express as an official representative, having been deputed to report the event.
Let me begin with how it all started. I am here, after being transferred to Bangalore from Andhra Pradesh. The Bangalore sports desk of the Indian Express was one of the strongest centres in the country of 19 Express editions. There were big stalwarts. But Mr Anand Philar, Mr Joseph Hooever, and Mr Shree Kumar have left the centre recently. So here I am, doing my bit to fill the vacuum.
Having known Mr Anand Philar, I was thrilled to know that my former boss is also travelling to Coorg and quickly connected, and he graciously agreed to my request. I joined him in one of my first trips to a `live rally’ in my life as a sports journalist, which was going to be a routine fixture, in future… travelling with the `Encyclopedia of Motorsports in India’ has taught me a lot and made me a complete person. My last trip has been to MMRT, just before the lockdown, the last domestic motorsports event in India.
That cold winter night in Bangalore, I got up at 3 am and was all set, preparing myself thoroughly for the Rally Reporting. My Express colleagues and seniors, Vedam and Sharan have given me some useful tips and Roopa too joined to chip in with some kind advice on how to send the copy. There were no emails those days, you know. I had to send it through a teleprinter from a Post Office. I was privileged to have a BSNL smart card which many of my respected colleagues in Bangalore did not have. That was because I was in a remote place and had to travel to places which were virtually cut-off from the world. I was in Vizianagaram, which got me this smart card that allows you to send telegrams, make trunk calls and send reports by Teleprinter from BSNL offices without making any pre-payment. They are reverse-charged to Indian Express, similar to the Call-collect lines of AT & T of USA, those days.
Mr Philar was gracious enough to allow me to accompany him in his Maruti 800. We started at 5 am sharp, and had travelled about two hours when I experienced some shooting pain. I had a bad tooth and the ghat section and the bumpy roads seemed to make it worse and I began to experience the worst kind of a pain in my first motorsports assignment for my new posting. I joined Express seven years back but there were no motorsports in Andhra.
Anand was kind enough to help me with all the unwanted stops and we did buy some pain killers which kept me going and he made the first stop at a dentist’s place as soon as we reached Madikeri, I did get my tooth filled in a quick 30-minute stop and the hotel, the rally headquarters, was not quite far from there.
By about 12 noon, we were at the HQ.
One of the first Rally personalities I met was Chinnappa. “This is CK Chinnappa, a legend,’’ was how Anand described him in short. Chinni, here is David, he said.
Chinni was sitting on a small step on the door-way of an annexe building of the resort, with the revered audience like Hari Singh, Arjun Balu and Leelakrishnan, among others. I am blissfully unaware of all these legends, who were great drivers in their own right, with whom I had the privilege of company, and watched them in action for many seasons to come in the next 20 years.
Chinni reeled out stories galore that were nostalgic and laid the foundation for me to get entrenched in motorsports. In his typical enchanting narration…
The Rally was conducted by the Indian Automotive Sports Club (IASC) and it was a new format. There will be some Special Stages. The roads and routes will be closed and it would be a no-man’s land. As envisioned by the international Special Stage Rallying rules, the Coorg Rally, named the 14th Castrol Rallye de Endurance, will follow the format with 20 Special Stages in the Coffee Estates of The Consolidated Coffee Limited, co-organisers of the rally, a round of the Castrol National Rally Championship. The 134-km of Special Stages and about 483km of liaison distance, which means the transport section was part of the rally.
Having won in Cochin and Delhi rounds, the Sardars from Delhi, Hari Singh and GS Mann were the hot favourites and were expected to take an easy victory for a hat-trick of wins. But that was not to be with teammates Bikram Singh Majithia and co-driver Vijayant Chowdhry, also of JK tyre, taking the lead and winning the rally with ease, with a huge two minute, three-second gap over second-placed Team MRF drivers Arjun Balu and Kumar Ramaswamy.
The JK guys are called as `Yellow Lightning’ while the MRF drivers went by the name `Red Thunder’, explained George Francis, another giant in motorsports media, with whom I spent my first rally assignment on stages. Amidst all these things, I noticed and eked in the memory two things. Arjun Balu, the driver and the blue Chettinadu team, as privateers, among all the Yellow and Red battles. I endeared myself and was attracted to them for the next two decades or so.
For the record, the rally was won by Majithia and Vijayant, the Overall winners from the stable of JK Tyre while MRF’s Arjun Balu and co-driver Kumar took the second place. Nikhil Taneja and Sandeep Lal came third. While Nikhil took the top spot in the Group N, Leelakrishnan and Farooq took the third Overall place.
Provisional Results:
Overall: 1. Bikram Singh Majithia/ Vijayant Chowdhry (JK Tyre) (2:22:46); 2. Arjun Balu/Kumar Ramaswamy (Team MRF) (2:24:49); 3. Nikhil Taneja/ Sandeep Lal (JK Tyre).
Group A: 1. Bikram Singh Majithia/ Vijayant Chowdhry (JK Tyre) (2:22:46); 2. Arjun Balu/Kumar Ramaswamy (Team MRF) (2:24:49); 3. N Leelakrishnan/ Farooq Ahmed (Team MRF) (2:27:36).
Group N: (Provisional): 1. Nikhil Taneja/ Sandeep Lal (JK Tyre); 2. Ravi Jouhari/ Deepak Jouhari (2:32:57); 3. Atikur Rehman/ Sanjeev Shah (2:37:48).