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Category: Non-F1
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Sahil Khanna and Harish KN move up to Overall 2nd
Coimbatore, February 27: The Stewards of the Rally of Coimbatore, the first round of the FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship 2021 with MRF T yres as Associate Sponsor, disqualified the crew of Maninder Singh Prince (Delhi) and co-driver Vinay Padmashali (Bengaluru) for an infringement and following a post-event complaint reported by the chief scrutineer, here on Sunday.
Accordingly, the results were revised as below with the tandem of Sahil Khanna (Gurugram) and co-driver KN Harish (Bengaluru) being moved up a slot to third Overall and second in INRC-2 category.
The infringement was with regard to removal of his car from parc ferme when it was closed and therefore not being present for the post-event scrutiny. The Stewards summoned Prince for a hearing before disqualifying him. Provisionally, Prince had finished third in Overall classification and second in the INRC-3 category.The revised final results:
Overall / INRC: 1. Aditya Thakur / Virender Kashyap (both Himachal) (02Hrs, 03mins, 29.5secs); 2. Fabid Ahmer / G Sanath (both Palakkad) (02:04:29.2); 3. Sahil Khanna (Gurugram) / KN Harish (Bengaluru) (02:05:03.4).
INRC-2: 1. Fabid Ahmer / G Sanath (both Palakkad) (02:04:29.2); 2. Sahil Khanna (Gurugram) / Harish KN (Bengaluru) (02:05:03.4); 3. Aroor Vikram Rao / AG Somayya (both Mangaluru) (02:06:25.7);
INRC-3: 1. Aditya Thakur / Virender Kashyap (both Himachal) (02:03:29.5); 2. Syed Salman Ahmed (Mysuru) / Rishab BK (Mangaluru) (02:06:08.6); 3. Byram Godrej (Pune) / Varun Satyanaranaya (Bengaluru) (02:06:15.6).
INRC-4: 1. Mujeeb Rehman (Kasargod) / Ravindra Kumar (Bengaluru) (02:12:18.3); 2. Deepak Chandra / Kenith Harsha (both Bengaluru) (02:24:39.6); 3. P Ananth Kumar / GM Manjunath (both Bengaluru) (02:29:18.0).
Junior INRC (only 2 finishers): 1. Raghuram Saminathan (Coimbatore) / Bharath Sargur (Bengaluru) (02:17:16.5); 2. Shivani Pruthvi (Davangere) / Deeksha Balakrishna (Bengaluru) (02:22:45.2).
FMSCI Gypsy Challenge: 1. Rupender Sheoran (Gurugram) / Mohit Malik (Faridabad) (02:13:46.0); 2. Sanjay Agarwal / Smitha Prasad (both Bengaluru) (02:15:17.7); 3. Mettuchetty Venkatapathy / S Santosh Kumar (both Coimbatore) (02:17:15.4).
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Vishnu Prasad, Ruhaan Alva crowned National Champions
Coimbatore, 27 Feb 2022: Multiple-national champion Vishnu Prasad regained the LGB Formula 4, the coveted JK Tyre National Racing Championship for 2021 while Ruhaan Alva clinched the Novice Cup title in the 24th JK Tyre fmsci National Racing Championship 2021, which concluded with Round 4 at Kari Motor Speedway here on Sunday.
Anish Shetty won the 2021 Championship in the maiden JK Tyre present Royal Enfield Continental cup which made its debut along with the JK Tyre 4-wheeler National Racing Championship this year. The delayed 2021 championship calendar was completed only today due to COVID.
In the LGB Formula 4 category, Chennai’s Vishnu Prasad beat Sandeep Kumar, also from Chennai, as the later trailing by two points coming into the final round, crashed out and it hurt his championship. Sandeep recently won the Polo Cup National title.
In a keenly-contested race, the top-four drivers were in the title-hunt with just seven points separating them. Young-gun from Kolkata Arya Singh won the final race beating Ashwin Datta and Vishnu finish to second and third respectively.
Earlier in the first race, Vishnu, the Championship leader in the Feature event, led the race and his closest contender Sandeep crashed out pushing for the title. Meanwhile, Diljith TS, fought back and managed to stave off a fighting Mira Erda to 2nd. Thus, the Championship went go down to the wire with the final race deciding the champion.
In the Continental GT Cup, too, the top-two riders having just seven points between them for the Championship title. Anish D Shetty won the maiden Championship title which presented by JK Tyre along it four-wheeler National Racing Championship. The top-three riders, Meka Vidhuraj, Allwin Xavier and Anish engaged in a tight fight but Anish took the lead after a few laps but could not sustain it. Both Meka and Allwin managed to exploit corners and overtook Anish, to finish first and second in that order.
Leading the table with 98 points in the Novice Cup, Ruhaan Alva was declared the Championship Winner for 2021. On Sunday, Jaden R Pariat scored back-to-back wins. The two karting boys, who were friends off the track had a good day. Ruhaan, the senior of the two, is a gifted driver who tuned his racecraft in Europe before winning National karting championships in India. Jaden, from Guwahati, has shifted from a Delhi school to Bengaluru to improve his racing skills and graduated to open-seat cars this years after just a couple of seasons in karting where he was nurtured by teammate Ruhaan.
Elated with his Championship title, Ruhaan said, “It’s been a tough fight with the competition constantly improving. COVID has had a big impact on my preparation but am happy to finish on the top. My ultimate aim is to get into F1.”
Equally ecstatic with his performance on the last day of the season, Jaden said, “The start was a tough moment so I just focused. With the winner’s cup in hand, I look forward to race in F4 now.”
National Championship Winners for 2021 (provisional standings)
NOVICE CLASS
1. Ruhaan Alva, 98 points, National Champion
2. Jaden R Pariat, 80;
3. Neym Rizvi, 49.
Team Champion: Msport, 202 points
LGB Formula 4
1. Vishnu Prasad, 70 points (National Champion)
2. Diljith TS, 59 points
Joint 3rd: Arya Singh & Sandeep Kumar- 55 points each,
Team Champion: Dark Don Racing- 167 points
Support Class: JK Tyre presents Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup
Overall Championship Standings (provisional):
1. Anish D Shetty, 64 points – Champion;
2. Allwin Xavier, 61 points;
3. Anfal Akdhar, 40 points.
Day 2 Provisional Results:
JK Tyre Novice Cup (Race 2):
Jaden R Pariat (MSport) – 15:41.357
Aadithya Parasuram (Hasten Performance) – 15:46. 318
Neym Rizmi (MSport) – 15:46.513
Race 3:
Jaden R Pariat – 17:59.256
Ruhaan Alva – 18:01.576
Aadithya Parasuram – 18:02.166
LGB Formula 4 (Race 2)
1. Vishnu Prasad (MSport) -22:44.206
2. Diljith TS (Dark Don Racing) -22:46.755
3. Balaprasath (Msport) – 22:51.546
Race 3 (timings not available due to technical issue)
1. Arya Singh (Dark Don Racing) –
2. Ashwin Datta (Dark Don Racing) –
3. Vishnu Prasad (MSport) –
Continental Cup: Race 2:
1. Allwin Xavier (17:28.877)
2. Meka Vidhuraj -17:31.885
3. Anish Shetty (time not available).
Note: This report was uploaded on 1 March 2022.
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Aditya Thakur & Virender Kashyap clinch Rally of Coimbatore in style: INRC Ro.1
Coimbatore, 27 Feb 2022: Aditya Thakur, a farmer from Himachal Pradesh, along with his co-driver Virender Kashyap, scripted a dream-win in the Rally of Coimbatore, the first round of the FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship 2021 of which MRF Tyres is the Associate Sponsor, here on Sunday.
The overall result changed after the Stewards meeting which disqualified Maninder Singh Prince and co-driver Vinay Padmashali for removing their car from Parc Ferme at a time when it would amount to an infringement. Thus, defending champions in their class Sahil Khanna and Harish moved to Overall third place. Read the report here.
It was a day of dramatic twists and turns as the tricky Special Stages took a heavy toll of the top contenders in the Coimbatore Auto Sports Club-organised season-opener. Favourite and 7-times National champion Gaurav Gill (Musa Sherif), overnight leader Karna Kadur (Nikhil Pail), Amittrajit Ghosh (Ashwin Naik) who led briefly today after moving up from overnight fourth, and Dean Mascarenhas (Gagan Karumbaiah), who was placed third overall going into Leg-2 today, dropped out due to various issues with their vehicles, thus opening up the path for 32-year old Thakur’s maiden win.
Thakur, taking part in the INRC-3 category but eligible for Overall classification, thus notched his maiden Overall win in a National Championship since his INRC debut in 2018, also at Coimbatore. “I am absolutely delighted with my maiden win in the National championship. We made a small mistake yesterday which put us in second position overnight. Today, I decided to just go for it and did not back off though I was a bit careful.
“The MRF tyres were simply fantastic in terms of the grip and durability. Also, Chettinad Sporting built this car like a tank. So, I was able to push. A big thanks also to Sanjay Sikand (ex-Rally driver) whose birthday it is today, for nurturing my skills from when I was eight years old. My family and friends who pooled in some money to help me take part in the championship, were of a great support,” said an emotional Thakur.
Meanwhile, Gill, who had retired yesterday with an electrical problem, but rejoined today under the Super Rally format, was the quickest for much of the day until his second retirement while Palakkad’s Fabid Ahmer (G Sanath) was among the most impressive performers on the day by clocking some fast times which took him up the leaderboard and finish Overall second, and first in INRC-2 category.
A very dejected Kadur said: “We had to pack up due to some electrical issues which we are trying to understand and sort out. We started having issues like drop in power towards the end of today’s first Stage. Then, two Kms into the second Stage, the car stalled entering a corner. We tried everything to start and continue, but just couldn’t. It is another learning lesson, though expensive in terms of losing from a winning position.”
The winners in the other categories were: Mujeeb Rehman (Ravindra Kumar) in INRC-4, Raghuram Saminathan (Bharath Sargur) in Junior INRC and Rupender Sheoran (Mohit Malik) in FMSCI Gypsy Challenge.
Provisional results (after Leg-2):
Overall / INRC: 1. Aditya Thakur / Virender Kashyap (both Himachal) (02Hrs, 03mins, 29.5secs); 2. Fabid Ahmer / G Sanath (both Palakkad) (02:04:29.2); 3.
Maninder Singh Prince (Delhi) / Vinay Padmashali (Bengaluru) (02:04:36.8).3. Sahil Khanna (Gurugram) / Harish KN (Bengaluru) (02:05:03.4); (Note: Result revised after Stewards meeting penalty, late evening)INRC-2: 1. Fabid Ahmer / G Sanath (both Palakkad) (02:04:29.2); 2. Sahil Khanna (Gurugram) / Harish KN (Bengaluru) (02:05:03.4); 3. Aroor Vikram Rao / AG Somayya (both Mangaluru) (02:06:25.7);
INRC-3: 1. Aditya Thakur / Virender Kashyap (both Himachal) (02:03:29.5); 2. Maninder Singh Prince (Delhi) / Vinay Padmashali (Bengaluru) (02:04:36.8); 3. Syed Salman Ahmed (Mysuru) / Rishab BK (Mangaluru) (02:06:08.6).
INRC-4: 1. Mujeeb Rehman (Kasargod) / Ravindra Kumar (Bengaluru) (02:12:18.3); 2. Deepak Chandra / Kenith Harsha (both Bengaluru) (02:24:39.6); 3. P Ananth Kumar / GM Manjunath (both Bengaluru) (02:29:18.0).
Junior INRC (only 2 finishers): 1. Raghuram Saminathan (Coimbatore) / Bharath Sargur (Bengaluru) (02:17:16.5); 2. Shivani Pruthvi (Davangere) / Deeksha Balakrishna (Bengaluru) (02:22:45.2).
FMSCI Gypsy Challenge: 1. Rupender Sheoran (Gurugram) / Mohit Malik (Faridabad) (02:13:46.0); 2. Sanjay Agarwal / Smitha Prasad (both Bengaluru) (02:15:17.7); 3. Mettuchetty Venkatapathy / S Santosh Kumar (both Coimbatore) (02:17:15.4).
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Karna Kadur jumps into the lead; Gaurav Gill retires after setting blistering pace
Coimbatore, February 26: On a day of shock exits, Bengaluru pair of Karna Kadur and co-driver Nikhil Pai (Arka Motorsports) took the overall lead in the Rally of Coimbatore, the first round of the FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship 2021, here on Saturday.
Driving a Volkswagen Polo, Kadur, supported by MRF Tyres, enjoyed lead of over one minute in the Overall standings after four loops of the extremely dusty Special Stages ahead of Himachal Pradesh’s Aditya Thakur (Virender Kashyap) and Mangaluru’s Dean Mascarenhas (Gagan Karumbaiah) who, however, is placed first in INRC-2 category. Thakur leads the INRC-3 class at the end of Leg-1.
The Rally, organised by Coimbatore Auto Sports Club with MRF Tyres as the associate sponsor, will conclude on Sunday when the two physical Special Stages will be run twice in the reverse order. The scheduled start is at 8:48 am.
This morning, 7-times National champion Gaurav Gill (co-driver Musa Sherif) packed up after SS-2 due to an electrical issue with their Mahindra XUV 300 and when he was ahead by 49 seconds. Also to retire was 2019 champion Chetan Shivram (Dilip Sharan) from Bengaluru with a broken drive-shaft in SS-1. Both Gill and Shivram, however, will rejoin the rally on Sunday in a bid to secure Leg points.
Kadur, despite nil seat time, showed tremendous pace. “I made some mistakes with the set-up for the first loop, but otherwise, enjoyed a good run despite not having any seat time in the car ahead of the rally,” said Kadur.
On his part, Thakur whose driving skills are honed in the mountains of Himachal, was fortunate to survive a crash after his Polo hit a tree in SS-1, damaging the front fender. “The incident did not really affect the performance of the car. I had good pace today and hopefully, we will do better tomorrow,” said Thakur.
Mascarenhas, supported by JK Tyres, came away with a bent rear wheel after his Volkswagen Polo slammed into a tree, but had enough pace to lead in the INRC-2 category. “We hit a tree sideways. One of the wheels got bent, but I managed to keep the car on the track. The pace, otherwise, was good. Tomorrow, I will continue with the bent wheel and hopefully, will be able to make time on the leaders,” said Mascarenhas.
Meanwhile, fancied Fabid Ahmer (G Sanath) from Palakkad, who is considered a front-runner for a podium finish, had a disappointing day after suffering a puncture on SS-1 and he continued with it in SS-2 before changing the tyre at the service halt. It pushed him to fourth in Overall standings. “We lost some two minutes due to the puncture. We had no time to change the wheel between the Stages. In the second loop, we made about 40 seconds. So, I will push hard tomorrow,” said Ahmer.
Provisional results (after Leg-1):
Overall / INRC: 1. Karna Kadur / Nikhil Pai (Arka Motorsports, Bengaluru) (01hr, 00: 06.2secs); 2. Aditya Thakur / Virender Kashyap (both Himachal Pradesh) (01:01:42.2); 3. Dean Mascarenhas (Mangaluru) / Gagan Karumbaiah (Virajpet) (01:02:03.3).
INRC-2: 1. Mascarenhas / Karumbaiah (01:02:03.3); 2. Sahil Khanna (Gurugram) / Harish KN (Bengaluru) (01:02:16.0); 3. Aroor Vikram Rao / AG Somayya (Mangaluru) (01:03.03.1).
INRC-3: 1. Thakur / Kashyap (01:01:42.2); 2. Maninder Singh Prince (Delhi) / Vinay Padmashali (Bengaluru) (01:02:18.0); 3. Byram Godrej (Pune) / Varun (Bengaluru) (01:02.58.1).
INRC-4: 1. Vaibhav Marathe (Goa) / Dinesh S (Shivamogga) (01:07:22.7); 2. Mujeeb Rehman (Kasargod) / Ravindra Kumar (Bengaluru) (01:07:24.8); 3.Shivani Parmar / Dr Vani Parmar (both Mumbai) (01:08:35.4).
Junior INRC: 1. Pragati B / Trisha Jagannath (both Bengaluru) (01:04:03.6); 2. Raghuram Saminathan (Coimbatore) / Bharath Sargur (Bengaluru) (01:05.52.3) 3. Shivani Pruthvi (Davangere) / Deeksha Balakrishna (Bengaluru) (01:14:16.2).
FMSCI Gypsy Challenge: 1. Rupender Sheoran (Gurugram) / Mohit Malik (Faridabad) (01:05:12.8); 2. Sanjay Agarwal / Smitha Prasad (both Bengaluru) (01:06:26.0); 3. Mettuchetty Venkatapathy / S Santosh Kumar (both Coimbatore) (01:08:38.2).
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Gill terms new Coimbatore stages at twisty and tricky
Coimbatore, 25 Feb 2022: Seven-time National champion Gaurav Gill feels that the new dirt terrain is challenging as it is very twisty and tricky despite some parts of flowing corners and fast stretches as he looks forward to the Rally of Coimbatore, the first round of the 3-round fmsci Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) 2021 which was flagged off here on Friday.
Organised by the Coimbatore Auto Sports Club (CASC) with MRF as the associate sponsors, the 120-km stage rally has attracted 57 entries in the four National championship classes for INRC Overall championship, INRC2, INRC3 and INRC4 spec cars.
Gaurav Gill and Musa Sherif will start as strong favourites as they look for the record-breaking eighth INRC National title with young guns Karna Kadur and co-driver Nikhil Pai looking to upset the applecart of three-time APRC champion. The others in the 7-team INRC line-up are teammates Amittrajit Ghosh and Ashwin Naik also in a Mahindra SUV while experienced campaigners Arjun Rao and navigator Sathish Rajagopal (Baleno) along with Younus Iiyas and Aniruddha Ranganekar in a Cedia and newcomers, Arnav Pratap Singh and Suraj Keshav Prasad in a VW Polo 1.6.
The INRC2 class spearheaded by 2020 champion Sahil Khanna, who have seven cars including Fabid Ahmer, who moved up after winning the INRC3 title last year. INRC3 has attracted a huge number of 23 cars and INRC4 category has 9 cars. The Gypsy Cup (11) and Junior INRC will be support classes. There will three all-ladies cars among the nine lady entries, as they will be competing on equal terms.
Earlier, CASC President and Clerk of the Course (CoC) welcomed everyone to the new INRC season and said the club had found new stages which are smooth and fast. “The earlier windmill stages at Kethanoor had their own charm but are very harsh and hard on the drivers and cars. The new dirt stages are smooth but challenging and we hope the drivers will like them,” he said about the two 15-km physical stages, Black Thunder and SM Agro, which will be run twice in the forward direction on Saturday and twice each again, in the reverse direction on Sunday.
In the pre-event Press Conference, Gaurav Gill said: “It was a long break for all of us and it is good to be here as rallying is what we love to do. The terrain is not the typical Coimbatore stages. The dirt stages are slippery and it is difficult to generate traction in some parts of the stages. So it is important to keep the right momentum as it will be no walk in the park.” Preparing the pace notes after the recce on Friday morning, his co-driver Musa Sherif, who is doing his 294th rally, agreed and said: “I had to do 95 pages of notes for the 60km.”
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TVS Racing’s Rajendra wins maiden Dakshin Dare crown
Chitradurga (Karnataka), 17 Feb. 2022: TVS Racing factory rider Rajendra RE came out triumphant winning the Overall title in the Motorsport Inc 12th edition of the Dakshin Dare, a cross-country event under the aegis of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (fmsci), which concluded here on Wednesday night.
The 35-year old warhorse, a multiple National champion, who began his rally-raid career winning the Group B class in thelonger version of the Dakshin Dare in 2017, won his maiden Overall title beating stiff competition astride a TVS Apache RTR 450FX and added one more trophy to the TVS Racing’s cabin. The Shivamogga-born rider who is also an Indian National Rally champion said: “I am very glad to win the Dakshin Dare title. Though it is a shortened version, the competition was high and I am happy that the organisers managed the event despite the pandemic. With the support from TVS Racing, I am looking forward to a fruitful 2022.”
Rajendra receiving the winners trophy from Chief Guest at Chitradurga on Wendesday. The popular cross-country rally which was restricted to two-wheelers this year saw good response of over 36 bikes despite the pandemic and the tough terrain proved that only 23 finished the course. With many National champions fighting for honours in different classes, the four-day event saw the riders traverse a distance of over 300 km of competitive off-road sections starting from Bengaluru Triple-S, a spectator special, and two loops of Selective Sections (SS) about 100-km each, around Chitradurga on Tuesday and Wednesday. The first day saw the riders take the country-side roads on the picturesque foothills, amidst the windmills near Hiriyur, while the flowing flat-out stretches near Challakere saw the top guns touching speeds of 146-kmph on Day 2.
Sarath Mohan of Asura Garage from Mallapuram came overall second astride a Husqvarna FE450 while another champion Yuva Kumar of Hero MotoSports had to be content with an overall third but he claimed the gold in his class, the Group B 166 to 260cc category. Rajendra also won the Group A upto 600cc class. Youngster Goutham topped the Group B upto 165 class while another veteran Aakash Aithal of Puttur won the Group B 261 to 400cc event.
Winners all – Dakshin Dare 2w concludes in Chitradurga on 16 Feb. 2022. Photo: AutoTrack Hero MotoSports stalwart Sathyaraj bagged the Group D upto 260cc section while Suhail Ahmed of Bengaluru, a former multiple Supercross National champ, clinched the heavyweight Bullet class on a Himalayan. Pinkesh Thakkar, an expert motocross champion, now riding a TVS NTorq, conquered the Scooter Class. Sachin D is the one of the big names who crashed on Day 1.
“Since we ran the Dare on public roads extra precaution was taken for Safety of the riders and all COVID protocols were in place. The riders enjoyed the flowing stages and I appreciate all the efforts of the Officials and the team who made sure that the event was a big success,” said Jaidas Menon, the Promoter. The Dakshin Dare for four-wheelers is being planned for August 2022.
Final Audited Results:
Overall: 1. Bike #1 Rajendra RE (TVS Racing, Bengaluru) (4 hours,19 minutes, 23.561 seconds); 2. #6 Sarath Mohan (Mallapuram), (4:30:51.777); 3. #37 Yuva Kumar (Hero MotoSports, Bengaluru) (4:35:36.889); 4. #10 Suhail Ahmed (Bengaluru) (4:44:49.415); 5. #11 Satyaraj (Hero MotoSports, Chennai) (4:45:30.605); 6. #29 Pavan BK (Bengaluru) (4:46:31.400); 7. #7 Sinan Francis (Kottayam) (4:46:50.773); 8. #5 Naresh VS (Bengaluru) (4:54:32.819); 9. #18 Aakash Aithal (Puttur, near Mangaluru) (4:55:12.360); 10. #4 Karthik (TVS Racing, Jaipur) (5:04:02.545).
1. Group A upto 600cc: 1. Rajendra RE (TVS Racing, Bengaluru) (4:19:23.561); 2. Sarath Mohan, (4:30:51.777); 3. Sinan Francis (Kottayam) (4:46:50.773).
2. Group B upto 165cc: 1. #2 Goutham (Bengaluru) (5:07:29.526); 2. #21 Jithu (Kottayam) (5:11:16.870); 3. #28 Manmeet Singh (Kolkata) (5:42:06.189).
3. Group B 166 to 260cc: 1. Yuva Kumar (Hero MotoSports, Bengaluru) (4:35:36.889); 2. Karan Mohan (Bengaluru) (5:36:09.257); #25 Sachin D (Bengaluru) (TVS Racing) (DNF).
4. Group B 261 to 400cc: 1. Aakash Aithal (Mangalore) (4:55:12.360); 2. #22 Uday Ganguli (Kolkota) (5:21:16.408); 3. #26 Dwarith Manna (Kolkata) (5:41:18.873).
5. Group D: Upto 260cc: 1. Satyaraj (Hero MotoSports, Bengaluru) (4:45:30.605); 2. Pavan BK (Bengaluru) (4:46:31.400); 3. Karthik (TVS Racing, Bengaluru) (5:04:02.545).
6. Bullet Class: 1. Suhail Ahmed (Bengaluru) (4:44:49.415); 2. Naresh VS (Bengaluru) (4:54:32.819).
7. Group B Scooter Class: 1. #15 Pinkesh Thakkar (Pune) (TVS Racing) (5:30:10.195).
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Shahan Ali Mohsin emerges champ in MRF F1600 Arjun Balu, Tijil Rao retain titles
Chennai, February 13: Agra teenager Shahan Ali Mohsin won the biggest prize of his blossoming career in the senior section as he annexed the title in the premier MRF F1600 category to finish the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship 2021 on a high at the MMRT, here on Sunday.
Also annexing the National titles in their respective categories were Bengaluru’s Tijil Rao (Momentum Motorsport) in the Formula LGB 1300, Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) from Coimbatore in the Indian Touring Cars, Chennai’s Deepak Ravikumar (Performance Racing) in Super Stock, Hatim Shabbir Jamnagarwala (Performance Racing), also from Chennai, in Indian Junior Touring Cars, Sandeep Kumar (Chennai) in Volkswagen Polo and Mumbai’s Fahad Kutty (Redline Racing) in MRF Saloon Cars (Toyota Etios).
Shahan, 17, survived a roller-coaster season that included a DNF (did not finish), to win the championship. In the final race which he went in with a two-point advantage, Shahan came in second behind Bengaluru’s Rishon Rajeev, who thus completed a double, but crucially, ahead of another Bengalurean Chirag Ghorpade.
The result meant that Shahan, winner of the Asian Karting championship in 2016, finished on 194 points and four wins, while Chirag ended second on 189 (2 wins) and Rishon (172, 2 wins) was placed third in the championship.
The 2021 National Car racing champions (Left to Right): Sandeep Kumar (Volkswagen Polo), Fahad Kutty (MRF Saloon Cars), Arjun Balu (Indian Touring Cars), Shahan Ali Mohsin (MRF F1600), Tijil Rao (Formula LGB 1300), Hatim Shabbir Jamnagarwala (Indian Junior Touring Cars) and Deepak Ravikumar (Super Stock) along with FMSCI president Akbar Ebrahim (extreme left) and MMSC Vice-president Vicky Chandhok (extreme right). Earlier, defending champion Coimbatore’s 47-year old Arjun Balu, who made his racing debut in 1992, ended the season on an emphatic note by completing a double to take his tally to six wins in eight starts to win the championship in the ITC category. It was his 10th National title. In the final race today, Balu, starting third on the reverse grid behind the Rayo Racing pair from Hyderabad, Ishaan Dodhiwala and Jeet Jhabakh, bided his time before easing his way to the front for a commanding win. The Coimbatore veteran’s searing pace was evident as he clocked a best lap of one minute, 50.076 seconds in the eighth of the 10-lap race.
Meanwhile, two second place finishes proved sufficient for Chennai’s Hatim Shabbir Jamnagarwala to claim the title in the IJTC category, though, following a protest, the final outcome is awaited.
The title in the Super Stock class was already pocketed by Deepak Ravikumar on conclusion of the third round last month. He finished this weekend with a second place and a win, his sixth of the season.
Tijil Rao, the 18-year old from Bengaluru, played it smart and safe to finish second in a race that was red-flagged twice and the number of laps reduced to seven. Prior to that, last year’s winner Tijil displayed amazing pace to move from P12 at the start on the reverse grid to P1 before tucking himself just behind the front-runners to avoid close racing. The experienced Raghul Rangasamy (MSport) won the race ahead of Tijil and Deepak Ravikumar (Momentum Motorsport).
The results (all 10 laps unless mentioned):
MRF Formula 1600 (Race-2): 1. Rishon Rajeev (Bengaluru) (19mins,11.167secs); 2. Shahan Ali Mohsin (Agra) (19:13.495); 3. Arya Singh (Kolkata) (19:15.714). Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Rishon Rajeev (Bengaluru) (16:36.017); 2. Shahan Ali Mohsin (16:36.781); 3. Chirag Ghorpade (Bengaluru) (16:37.188). National champion: Shahan Ali Mohsin (Agra).
Indian Touring Cars (Race-2): 1. Arjun Balu (Race Concepts, Coimbatore) (19:03.534); 2. Ishaan Dodhiwala (Rayo Racing, Hyderabad) (19:07.781); 3. Jeet Jhabakh (Rayo Racing, Hyderabad) (19:12.281). National champion: Arjun Balu (Race Concepts, Coimbatore).
Indian Junior Touring Cars (Race-2): 1. Varun Anekar (Race Concepts, Bengaluru) (19:51.297); 2. Hatim Shabbir Jamnagarwala (Performance Racing, Chennai) (20:34.450); 3. Raghul Rangasamy (Performance Racing, Chennai) (20:34.620). National champion (Provisional): Hatim Shabbir Jamnagarwala (Performance Racing).
Super Stock (Race-2): 1. Deepak Ravikumar (Performance Racing, Chennai) (20:11.966); 2. RP Raja Rajan (Performance Racing, Chennai) (20:31.732); 3. Suprej Venkat (Race Concepts, Coimbatore) (20:47.678). National champion: Deepak Ravikumar (Performance Racing, Chennai).
Formula LGB 1300 (Race-2, 7 laps): 1. Raghul Rangasamy (MSport, Chennai) (13:36.695); 2. Tijil Rao (Momentum Motorsport, Bengaluru) (13:37.163); 3. Deepak Ravikumar (Momentum Motorsport, Chennai) (13:41.072). National champion: Tijil Rao (Momentum Motorsport, Bengaluru). Team Championship: Momentum Motorsport.
Volkswagen Polo (Race-2): 1. Avik Anwar (Bangladesh) (22:45.394); 2. Sourav Bandopadhyay (Thane) (22:45.790); 3. Pratik Sonawane (Pune) (22:46.397). Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Anmol Singh Sahil (Ghaziabad) (15:49.022); 2. Oshan Kothadiya (Pune) (15:55.239); 3. Sai Sanjay TS (Salem) (15:55.929). National Champion: Sandeep Kumar (Chennai).
MRF Saloon Cars (Toyota Etios) Race-3: 1. Fahad Kutty (Redline Racing, Mumbai) (16:44.973); 2. Anand Prasad (Redline Racing, Chennai) (16:45.559); 3. Justin Singh (Redline Racing, New Delhi) (16:50.139). National champion: Fahad Kutty (Redline Racing, Mumbai).
About Madras Motor Sports Club
Since its humble beginnings in 1953, the Madras Motor Sports Club has grown in stature as the hub of motorsport activity in India. Having moved its racing activities from Sholavaram to its present location, the MMRT circuit in Sriperumbudur in 1979, MMSC has kept pace with changing times by upgrading facilities. At a cost of about Rs 20 Crore, the MMSC built a pit complex comprising 20 garages, VIP hospitality suites and a viewing gallery, on the eastern side, apart from a second Paddock on the western side with its own short circuit. Parallelly, MMSC imported timing equipment specifically for Drag racing. The Control Room too was upgraded with state-of-the-art hardware while the track itself was improved to meet the exacting FIA standards for Grade-2 certification. MMSC also constructed a 500-capacity grand stand with provision for garages / storage below. In another upgrade, the MMSC purchased Digi flags from TAG Heuer Chronolec that will be positioned strategically around the track. The facilities are also extensively used by various vehicle manufacturers for testing their products, displays and corporate days.
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Arjun Balu sets National record for saloon cars on way to his10th National title
Chennai, 12 Feb. 2022: Celebrated racing driver Arjun Balu of Coimbatore, driving an amazing Race Concepts Honda City VTech tuned by Joel Joseph of Bengaluru lit up the Madras Race Track with a stunning Indian record in the Qualifying session and went on to post an easy victory to clinch his tenth Indian National title on the second day of the three-day fourth and final round of the MRF MMSC fmscil Indian National Car Racing Championship 2021 at the renamed Madras Race Track, about 40 km from here, on Saturday.
It was a mixed day of skilled experience and youthful exuberance at the Madras Motor Sports Club promoted Car Racing Nationals as another teenager Suriya Varathan, also from Coimbatore notched up, a hard-fought victory with a display of his maturity as a driver and kept at bay an advancing Shahan Ali Mohsin. Meanwhile, championship leader Chirag Ghorpade finished third, losing three points of his lead to Mohsin. The later two are fighting for the MRF F1600 title with two races still remaining in the season on Sunday. Fahad Kutty also clinched the Saloon cars title in the one-make Toyota Etios series with a race to spare as his team Redline Racing dominated the day. The 18-year old Varathan is a former Karting National champion.
Thus, Balu, the experienced racing ace, dubbed as the ‘Gentleman of Indian Motorsports’ proved once again that one need not indulge in dirty racing to win a title. He may have lost many a deserving National Championship to such tactics in the past but the clean-and-safe driver whose dedication and sincerity stood him in good stead all these decades in sport, notched up his 10th National Championship crown winning the premier Indian Touring Cars (ITC) class Championship and the in the process the Arjun-Joel magic combination broke another National record for four-door cars. Amit Arora of Madras Motor Sports Club confirmed the circuit record set today by Arjun Balu in saloon cars during the qualifying session. Arjun timed the fastest lap 1min 49.023seconds.
Arjun Balu who made his motorsports debut in 1992, started in Indian National Rally Championship with a Gypsy in 1994 and matured into a multi-faceted motorsport personality bringing laurels both for the country and himself, in both racing and rallying.
Balu, the 47-year old defending champion, qualified for pole in the morning by setting a lap record of one minute, 49.023 seconds in a Honda City, chalked up his fifth win of the season beating his own circuit record of 1:49.860 set in Feb 2020.
On Saturday, another impressive drive came from Nellore’s Viswas Vijayaraj (DTS Racing) who won the Formula LGB 1300 race in style, ahead of two Momentum Motorsport rivals, championship leader Tijil Rao from Bengaluru and local ace Deepak Ravikumar. Teenager Tijil consolidated his position on the leaderboard and requires only 12 points from the last race to be run on Sunday, to clinch the title in this category.
Meanwhile, Mumbai’s 38-year old Fahad Kutty (Redline Racing) recorded his fourth win of the season in the MRF Saloon Cars (Toyota Etios) category to seal the championship in this class. His team-mate Anand Prasad from Chennai, returning to active racing after a 14-year break, took the honours in the second race of the day.
Ghaziabad’s Anmol Singh Sahil roared to his second consecutive win in the Volkswagen Polo category, but Sandeep Kumar (Chennai), with a third place finish behind Pune’s Oshan Kothadiya, continues to lead the championship, enjoying a healthy 61-point advantage with two more races to be run on Sunday.
Varathan drove brilliantly in the eight-lap MRF F1600 race starting from pole despite being constantly harried by Agra youngster Shahan Ali Mohsin and Bengaluru’s Chirag Ghorpade. He not only survived the close attention but also a Safety Car period following an on-track incident, which left the drivers with a three-lap sprint to the finish. “I had won the first race of the season, but suffered a crash thereafter which shook my confidence. However, I had some good practice and test sessions in the car and managed to put it all together today,” said Varathan who is currently placed third in the championship behind Shahan Ali and Chirag Ghorpade.
Balu, on the other hand, left nothing to chance as he was quick off the line from pole and built up a massive lead for a comfortable win. “It is certainly great to win the championship. It has been a very challenging season as the team had to deal with a lot of issues. However, I am happy at the way the car performed for which I thank the entire Race Concepts team for working on it for long hours. And yes, the record lap in the qualies was as satisfying,” said Balu who moved to 79 points for an insurmountable lead over his nearest rival, Hyderabad’s Jeet Jhabakh, with a maximum of 12.5 points on offer in the final race of the season.
Provisional results (all 8 laps unless mentioned):
MRF Formula 1600 (Race-1): 1. Suriya Varathan (Coimbatore) (17mins, 29.252secs); 2. Shahan Ali Mohsin (Agra) (17:29.511); 3. Chirag Ghorpade (Bengaluru) (17:30.188).
Indian Touring Cars (Race-1): 1. Arjun Balu (Race Concepts, Coimbatore) (15:16.979); 2. Jeet Jhabakh (Rayo Racing, Hyderabad) (15:25.150); 3. Ishaan Dodhiwala (Rayo Racing, Hyderabad) (15:26.345).
Indian Junior Touring Cars (Race-1): 1. Varun Anekar (Race Concepts, Bengaluru) (15:50.484); 2. Hatim Shabbir Jamnagarwala (Performance Racing, Chennai) (16:18.581); 3. K Srinivas Teja (Performance Racing, Chennai) (16:25.152).
Super Stock (Race-1): 1. RP Raja Rajan (Performance Racing, Chennai) (16:13.456); 2. Deepak Ravikumar (Performance Racing, Chennai) (16:13.947); 3. Rithvik Thomas (Race Concepts, Bengaluru) (16:15.609).
Formula LGB 1300 (Race-1): 1. Viswas Vijayaraj (DTS Racing, Nellore) (15:22.116); 2. Tijil Rao (Momentum Motorsports, Bengaluru) (15:22.553); 3. Deepak Ravikumar (Momentum Motorsports, Chennai) (15:23.275).
Volkswagen Polo (Race-1): 1. Anmol Singh Sahil (Ghaziabad) (15:58.466); 2. Oshan Kothadiya (Pune) (15:58.852); 3. Sandeep Kumar (Chennai) (15:59.430).
MRF Saloon Cars (Toyota Etios) Race-1: 1. Fahad Kutty (Redline Racing, Mumbai) (16:39.303); 2. Anand Prasad (Redline Racing, Chennai) (16:39.677); 3. Justin Singh (Redline Racing, Delhi) (16:46.523). Race-2 (10 laps): 1. Anand Prasad (Redline Racing, Chennai) (20:59.670); 2. Angad Matharoo (Redline Racing, Chandigarh) (21:05.286); 3. Zahan Commissariat (Redline Racing, Mumbai) (21:08.907).
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Agra teenager Shahan Ali Mohsin dominates practice sessions
Chennai, 11 Feb. 2022: Shahan Ali Mohsin, the 17-year old from Agra, eyeing the title in the MRF F1600 category, dominated both the Free Practice sessions to set early pace as the fourth and final round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship 2021 got underway at the MMRT, here on Friday.
Trailing championship leader Chirag Ghorpade (Bengaluru) by 13 points, Shahan posted a best lap of 01 minute, 39.541seconds in FP-1 and then bettered it with a 01:39.340 in the second session ahead of the triple-header to be run over the next two days.
Overall second quickest in this premier category was Bengaluru’s Rishon Rajeev in 01:39.378. The three races this weekend promise to be high on thrill and excitement as the top seven drivers were covered by less than a second in the two practice sessions.
Defending champion in the premier Indian Touring Cars category, Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) from Coimbatore, posted the fastest lap of 01:50.074 in the morning’s FP-1 and followed it up with a 01:50.762 in the second outing later in the day.
Also topping the time charts was Bengaluru’s Tijil Rao (Momentum Motorsport) who clocked a best lap of 01:51.909 over two sessions in the Formula LGB 1300 where he heads the championship.
Chennai’s RP Raja Rajan (Performance Racing) was the quickest overall in the Super Stock category (01:57.643) as was Bengaluru’s Varun Anekar (Race Concepts) in the Indian Junior Touring Cars class (01:56.868).
Pratik Sonawane from Pune, lying ninth in the championship and trailing leader Sandeep Kumar (Chennai) by 100 points, topped the combined practice sessions in the Volkswagen Polo category with a hot lap of 01:56.625. It bettered Sandeep Kumar’s best of 01:56.806 posted in FP-1.
Chennai’s Anand Prasad, returning to active racing after a break, was the quickest in the MRF Saloon Cars (Toyota Etios) category with a best lap of 02:03.423 which he clocked in FP-2 to improve on Delhi-based Justin Singh’s 02:04.932 in FP-1.
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Chennai racer Sandeep Kumar raring to go: VW Polo Cup
Chennai, 10 Feb 2022: National racing champ Sandeep Kumar of Chennai has found his wonted form and is raring to go as he heads into the final round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship 2021 beginning here on Friday in the Polo Cup which acquired National status this year.
With a healthy lead in the Volkswagen Polo Cup, which was conferred the status of National Championship this year, the former champion and karting talent, is eager to turn his consistent performance into championship title, with three races scheduled for the final round at the 3.7-km clock-wise MMRT tarmac.
Sandeep is a former Volkswagen Polo R Pro Cup champion and also the VW awardee for the German Scirocco R Cup for two years. After that fruitful racing experience with the elite in Europe, the steady racer returned to India and entered formula racing, taking part in both the Forumala and Saloon cars with many podium finishes and wins and went on to win the LGB Formula 4 National Championship 2020 before the pandemic slowed down sporting activity.
Sandeep Kumar in action in Round 2 last month at the MMRT. This year he is back in the VW Polo cup and is firmly focused on winning the Championship with the final round scheduled to take place in Irungattukottai, near here. He is leading the Polo Cup title-race with 280 points ahead of second-place Saurav Bandopadhyay, who is on 226 followed by Avik Anwar (223) in third. The title fight is wide open with 156 points on offer from the three races in the final round.
“This year’s car is an amazing and I am enjoying the powerful car built by Volkswagen Motorsports India. The championship being a one-make and equipment same for everyone, it had added to the challenge and motivates me. Being in the leading group, my focus is firmly trained on driving safely and I am banking on my skills and hard work to deliver the final weekend in the Volkswagen Polo Cup,” said the seasoned driver, who garnered important points in every round.
The Chennai Corporate advocate, who is knowledgeable about the rules of the sport, feels that consistency and clean driving is important than always trying to go for the kill. “Winning is not always a goal, depending on where I qualify and the package I have for the day, I visualise and set realistic objectives for the day. I take it race by race, but my focus is always on consistent and steady driving where I attack corners and make moves only when I am safe and sure,” said the racing ace, who made his motorsports debut at Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore taking part in his first Rotax Max National karting championship in 2008.
Sandeep Kumar He finished the year as vice-champion. He not only remained the bridesmaid in karting but the year 2017 where he missed all the three championship titles he entered, changed his life. He became vice-champion despite fighting till the end in the MRF 1600, Formula LGB 4 and Vento Cup, that year. But the gritty driver, sat down made amends and improved his skills by dint of his hardwork and dedication which yielded results as he won the Formula LGB 4 championship in 2020. “It was a bad year and one of the lows in my career. But it also gave me a chance to review myself. I decided to make amends and acquired new skills. Now I make notes for every race, I visualise before the race with some quite moments for myself. I set the objectives taking all factors into consideration and focus on delivering my own targets. It has helped me break the block and I am in a much better position to for it,” revealed Sandeep, who loves his home track the MMRT near Chennai.
His ability to generate good pace and reliable race-craft got him good results in Round 1 and 2, as he proved steady and consistent. Despite slight hiccups in Round 3, he continued to log in crucial points after a tough qualifying and bad starting positions in the next three-race weekender where he climbed up the grid to rally back with podiums in all three races. “Overall, though I did not manage the top step, I was keen on getting steady points and three podiums from three races helped me garner enough points and save the championship lead. I am in an ideal and healthy position to go for the final dash and confident going into the final round,” concluded the karting mentor for many youngsters, who is also a popular Clerk of the Course for many Indian National Karting Championships and a practicing corporate lawyer from the Madras bar.
