Chetan Shivaram and Dilip Sharan of Team Akshara win the overall title in the Rally of Coimbatore. Photo by Venu Ramesh
Coimbatore, 11 August 2019: Brothers Chetan Shivram and Dilip Sharan of Team Akshara, played a cautious game and focussed on keeping the car on track with a safety-first approach, to chalk-out a deserving win in the Rally of Coimbatore, the second round of the fmsci Indian National Rally Championship (INRC), promoted Champions Yacht Club, at the Windmill farms of Kethanur, near here on Sunday.
Chetan painted the town yellow in his stock Volkswagen Polo prepared by FRK Racing and supported by Ideal Racing and displayed controlled aggression with his brother Sharan calling the notes. The focussed Bengaluru duo weathered a sustained challenge from Race Concepts’ Younus Ilyas and Harish Gowda, the INRC Sprint champions and won by a narrow margin of 4.6 seconds. Further behind, the talented youngster from Kerala Arakkal Fabid Ahmer, with co-driver Sanath Gopalan, also in a Polo prepared by Chettinad Sporting came third for Team Champions. Fabid who was trailing 5th overnight also won the second place in the INRC 3 class.
Chetan Shivaram and Dilip Sharan on the podium. Photo. Chetan’s FB post
Nurturing their four-second lead was made easy as overnight second-placed privateer Suhem Kabeer and co-driver Jeevarathinam clocked 14min, 43.10sec and lost time in the 6th stage to Chetan’s 8:21.30, as they got stuck in the slush but behind them Younus Ilyas (Harish) of Race Concepts who were running third, started reducing the 19-second gap. Chetan Shivaram, however, managed to cling on to the lead and not only won the overall title but also topped the INRC 3 category. Despite losing six minutes or so, Suhem held on to the third place in INRC 2 class but lost the overall podium finishing 15th. Younus was ahead in two of the three stages but that was not enough as they settled for overall second place.
But Younus and Harish had the consolation bagging the title in the INRC 2 category. For the record, it was the doctor from Kerala, Bikku Babu, along with co-driver Milen George who won all the three stages today with top-notch driving. But the experienced Kerala duo found it too difficult to make up the time, over an hour, which they lost in SS5 on Saturday.
Vaibhav Marate and Arjun Balachandran’s Honda City flying through windmill stages. Photo Prabhu Kethanur
But the highlight of the day was the drive from talented youngster from Mangalore Dean Mascarenhas, who fielded his VW Polo as a privateer along with navigator Shruptha Padival. The duo who are leading the championship coming into Round 2, lost a lot of time on Saturday but made tremendous progress jumping 32 places to finish overall 10th and had the bonus of a second place in the INRC 2 category.
While many started today to get leg points, 17 cars failed to finish among the 57 that took the start on Saturday. Pre-event favourites Gaurav Gill and Musa Sherif of Team Mahindra Adventure once again suffered for want of dependable machine and finished 44th in line with teammates Amittrajit Ghosh and Ashwin Naik who were 43rd. Karna Kadur and Nikhil Pai of Arka Motorsports too had a forgettable event finishing 50th overall.
Younus Ilyas and Harish Gowda pose during the Rally of Coimbatore. Photo: FB
In the SUV Challenge, Team Champions swept the podium winning all the top-three places. Lokesh Gowda and co-driver Sudhindra BG won the support class while Gagan Karumbaiah and Thimmu Uddapanda pair came second followed by veteran Sanjay Agarwal and Smitha N.
The next round of the championship will move to Jodhpur in Rajasthan from Septemeber 20 to 22. Kochi, Bengaluru, and Chikkamagaluru will host the last three rounds respectively in November and December.
Gagan Karumbaiah and co-driver Thimmu Uddapanda who won the SUV Challenge cruising on Saturday stages. Photo: Venu Ramesh
Ishaan Madesh of Peregrine Racing keeps his unbeaten record in the Micro Max Championship and leads the table. Photo FB @SharithaDivakar
Bengaluru, 10 August 2019: Ten-year-old local schoolboy Ishaan Madesh of Peregrine Racing kept his slate clean winning all the four races to retain his place at the top of the leaderboard in the Micro Max category after final and pre-final races of Round 3 & 4 in the JK Tyre fmsci Indian National Rotax Karting Championship 2019 at Meco Kartopia here on Saturday.
Agra’s Shahan Ali Mohsin of MSport and Bengaluru’s Rishon of Birel Art won three races each in the Senior Max and Junior Max categories, respectively but both lost the top spot in the pre-final on Friday. While Shahan leads the Senior Max table with 351 points, Mohamed Ryan is still ahead with 322 points in the Junior Max category, thanks to his three 5th place finishes along with a sixth.
On Podium from left: Ruhaan (2nd), Rishon (1st) and Mihir Avalakki (3rd). Birel Art won 12 of the 13 podium places in two rounds in the Junior Max category.
Ishaan, a student of Vidya Shilp Academy in Bengaluru, and the youngest of the two Madesh brothers, won both the Final and Pre-Final races of Round 3 on Friday and went on to win both the races on Saturday to complete a clean sweep and retained his position at the top with 356 points with an unbeaten record. His teammate Jagrat Detroja could only take third places in all the four races but is second in the championship standings with 330 points ahead of Anshul Sai Kumar (317) who failed to get a podium in the two rounds this weekend.
Rishon lost some points coming second to Mihir Avalakki in the Pre=Final race in Round 3 on Friday. Mihir came second in two other races while Ruhaan Alva took a second and two third places on the podium in the Junior Max category.
In the Senior Max class, Vishnu Prasad who won the Pre-Final in Round 3 on Friday, took the second place in the final but could not make it to the podium in Round 4 on Saturday. Yash Aradhya and Manav Sharma shared the minor spoils.
Ishaan Madesh (centre) keeps his unbeaten record intact. An INDIAinF1 photo
Provisional Unaudited Results: Round 4:
Senior Max Final (18 laps): 1. Shahan Ali Mohsin (MSport, Agra) (16:42.810); 2. Yash Aradhya (MSport, Bengaluru) (16:43.229); 3. Manav Sharma (Peregrine Racing, Faridabad) (16:46.895). Best lap: Shahan 55.349. Pre-Final (15 laps): 1. 1. Shahan Ali Mohsin (MSport, Agra) (13:58.934); 2. Manav Sharma (Peregrine Racing, Faridabad) (14:03.310); 3. Yash Aradhya (MSport, Bengaluru) (14:06.307). Best lap: Shahan 55.555.
Chetan Shivaram (left) and Dilip Sharan who took the lead after Day 1. An INDIAinF1 image
Coimbatore, 10 August 2019: On a day full of surprises, INRC 3’s Chetan Shivram of Akshara Racing jumped into the early lead in the Rally of Coimbatore, Round 2 of the Champions Yacht Club FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship, here on Saturday. The overnight rains made the terrain at the Kethanur Windmill farms in Palladam very slushy and only 33 cars of the 58 that started finished the day.
Chetan and his brother co-driver Dilip Sharan were most comfortable in the treacherous terrain, marked by slushy conditions and loose sand, posting a total time of 1:05:32.900 hours to complete Day 1’s five stages to be ahead of a record field.
Suhem Kabeer (with Jeevarathinam) and Younus Ilyas (Harish Gowda) were hot on the tail of the leader, taking the second and third positions by the end of the day. The two JK Tyre drivers, both INRC 2 contenders, were in their elements, with Suhem showing consistency in all the stages while Younus won the last two stages to climb into the top three.
Hot favourite Gaurav Gill (Musa Sherif) of Mahindra Adventure gets stuck in the INRC on Day 1, Saturday at Coimbatore. An INDIAinF1 image by Prabhu Kethanur
Hot favourite Mahindra Adventure’s Gaurav Gill (Musa Sherif) began on a positive note, scoring the fastest times in the first three stages before he picked up a puncture in SS 4 and had to eventually pull out with a malfunction.
Even Karna Kadur and Nikhil Pai of Arka Motorsports and comeback boy Vikram Mathias, along with co-driver Sujith Kumar of Race Concepts had a rough day, falling out of contention after the third stage. Round 1 winner Dean Mascarenhas managed to finish but a very poor second stage that got his car stuck in slush hurt him badly, sliding him to the 20th position.
Rahul Kantharaj and co-driver Vivek Bhatt negotiate slushy terrain on Saturday. Photo: Venu Ramesh Kumar
“After continuous rainfall last night, it suddenly became sunny in the morning leading to the surface becoming really hard. There were stones all over the stages which made it difficult. I am obviously not happy with my current scenario but would say that I would take it as a learning experience and I will bounce back strong,” Gaurav said after the end of Day 1.
Interestingly, none of the 6 INRC entries managed to finish on the first day.
Right behind Suhem and Younus in the INRC 2 category was Ritesh Guttedar (& Lokaranjan H.J) of Team Champions, who is well-placed in the overall category too, finishing fourth.
Coimbatore, 9 August 2019: Multiple National champion and APRC winner Gaurav Gill and his trusted co-driver Musa Sherif, will start a firm favourites despite Dean Mascarenhas stealing a victory at the South India Rally with navigator Shrupta Padival in the season opener of Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) at Irungattukottai, as the second round starts at the rain-beaten windmill sections of Coimbatore from Saturday.
Round 1 winner Dean of Mangaluru will aim to consolidate his lead at the top of the leader-board, as the Rally of Coimbatore, the Round 2 of the Champions Yacht Club promoted National event begins under the aegis of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) here over the weekend.
Dean, who beat a last-minute rush to get his car ready due to some unavoidable situation, heads his INRC 2 table (with co-driver Shruptha Padival) will, however, need to be at his best as he tackles a 65-strong field and slushy conditions out here. He will keep his eye firmly on INRC 3’s Fabid Ahmer (co-driver Sanath.G) of Team Champions, who showed great skill and composure to take the second overall place in the Chennai round.
Sporting the yellow colours, Dean will, however, be wary of his JK Tyre teammate Gaurav Gill, a three-time APRC champion. Gill and Musa Sherif spearhead Mahindra Adventure’s campaign and will be looking to make amends for missing out on the top podium place in the opening round.
Gill had shown remarkable recovery, after struggling with his car in the initial stages, to finish third. He comes into this round on the back of a thrilling win in the Dakshin Dare and will come out all guns blazing for his seventh INRC title.
Arka Motorsport’s Rahul Kanthraj (along with Vivek Bhatt) is just a second off Gill in the overall standings and will also be a driver to look out for. He is currently second in the INRC 2 category.
Team Champions’ Arjun Rao (along with navigator Shanmuga Sundaram) will be another top driver who will look to maintain his good run in the championship. He is second in the INRC 3 category and will be keen to topple his teammate Fabid from the top spot.
The Rally of Coimbatore has attracted a record number of 65 teams, with Team Champions fielding as many as 25 teams, a record of sorts in the INRC.
The rally will span over two days covering a total distance of 141.09 kms, with 119.70 kms earmarked for eight special stages.
The three-day rally was flagged off on Thursday evening at Kethanur on the outskirts, where it be run around 120 kms at special stages on gravel and dirt tracks, Club Head Gautham Shantappa said earlier.
Four women teams are participating in the event. A woman contestant, Shivani from Davangere in Karnataka, who was present said women were receiving good encouragement to participate in such rallies.
The third round will be held in Rajasthan in September, followed by events in Kochi in November, Bengaluru in November and the sixth and final round in Chikkamagaluru in December, Gautham concluded.
Night Fest, testing for night sessions in progress at MMSC on Wednesday. Photos by Anand Philar
Chennai, 8 August 2019: The Madras Motor Sports Club made history on Wednesday, August 7 as it took first baby steps towards full-fledged night racing in the future at the MMRT by conducting a four-hour floodlit test session, the first of its kind in India, that attracted over 100 participants, a clutch of “super cars”, including a Rolls Royce Phantom, first-timers and battle-hardened professional racing drivers in the fully-prepared racing cars, all of whom gave the initiative a thumbs-up.
The first-timers were all excited at the rare opportunity to drive on the track at pace in the night. The professionals, like former Formula 1 racer Karun Chandhok, Aditya Patel, Chetan Korada, Arfath Mohammed, Karthik Tharani, Ishaan Dodhiwala and ex-rally driver Ranjit Ballal suggested improvements in the lighting while hailing MMSC’s efforts to provide another dimension to motor racing in India.
Karun Chandhok, who has raced at night at Le Mans and F1 testing in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi, said: “I think what they (the MMSC) have done is very good. We should do more of these events as they will whet the appetite of the people for the sport. I did a few laps here tonight.
“The visibility was much better than what I expected. Everyone at the club knows the areas to improve. I think, night racing is entirely doable with saloon cars, but with single-seaters, I think there is still a lot of work to do. A huge amount of investment is required to get the level of lighting up to what you need for single-seaters. Aditya (Patel) and I raced each other in saloon cars and were doing 1:55.4, 1:55.0. That is the pace what people do during daytime. So, it shows the level of lighting is good to race at night with a little improvement.”
The night session was conducted in a full-fledged racing environment with temporary floodlight towers in place at select locations, besides Marshals manning the posts around the circuit and other safety precautions.
Volkswagen Motorsport India provided a few race-tuned cars for the night session
All the participants attended a mandatory pre-session briefing by MMSC Vice-President and former racer Vicky Chandhok on racing regulations and safety. The first-timers were taken around the in a convoy behind the Safety Car to learn the racing lines before being allowed to drive at pace. Helmet for the drivers was compulsory. Volkswagen Motorsport provided race-spec Polo, Vento and Ameo cars on hire while some participants opted to drive their own vehicles.
MMSC president Ajit Thomas said: “It is a very exciting evening for us. Globally track days are a great way to get people interested in the sport and we realised that with the hot weather in Chennai we needed to do something different. It is the first time that we opened the track up for people to drive at night which makes sense in Chennai. The weather is great and the atmosphere is fantastic. We have some temporary lighting in place as a test, but if we are going to do this on a long-term basis, we will be getting a higher grade lighting on the track. The response has been great with a cross-section of drivers – beginners and professionals.
“Based on this response and interest, we are hopeful of running a few events. Initially, may be more track days, some short events and then endurance races. As far as the costs are concerned, the MMSC has always been constantly ploughing back funds, both from the club and the Trust (the Madras Motor Race Trust) for the overall development of the sport. We have already invested heavily (about Rs 20 Crores) in upgrading the track, the paddock and various facilities and racing equipment. So, going forward, I think we can manage night racing in the future.”
An elated Vicky Chandhok said: “I go strictly by the reactions of the participants. The fact that they are smiling ear-to-ear is really important for me. Going by the lap times of the pro drivers, they have matched those done during the day. We will have to make the lighting a bit more brighter. Overall, it is nice to see people having a great time here. We are trying to make motorsport fun and develop more fans to come here and enjoy themselves as against serious, hardcore racing.”
Former racer and rally champion Harish Samtani applauded MMSC’s latest initiative. “No question that this is a brilliant idea. Globally, night racing, F1 for instance, is catching up. It brings a different paradigm in motorsport. Of course, this is just the beginning. I have spoken with the drivers, both the pros and the newbies. They like the format. It is now up to MMSC to set up a proper, safe lighting environment where one can do serious racing. Definitely, it (night racing) is here to stay.”
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 from Sholavaram to its present location 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. 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. The facilities are also extensively used by various vehicle manufacturers for testing their products, displays and corporate days.
Rajiv Sethu (80), winner of the Pro-Stock 165cc race ahead of KY Ahamed (33) at MMRT on Sunday. Photos: Anand Philar
Chennai, 4 August 2019: Rajiv Sethu (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) showed why he is arguably India’s top racing rider at the moment by scrambling to a heart-stopping win, his fourth in a row in the Pro-Stock 165cc class, as the third round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship concluded at the MMRT, here today.
KY Ahamed brought some cheer for TVS Racing on a day dominated by Honda as he topped the premier 301-400cc class by a comfortable margin to move within three points of his team-mate Deepak Ravikumar (101 points) on the leaderboard. Ravikumar finished third today behind yesterday’s Race-1 winner, Rahil Shetty (Sparks Racing).
Also hogging the limelight were Bengaluru-based Anish Shetty (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) and Chennai’s Venkatesan I (Moto Maniacz Racing) who both achieved a double this weekend in the Pro-Stock 201-300cc and Novice (Stock 165cc) categories, respectively, while Ryhana Bee (Sparks Racing), also from Chennai, took the honours in the Girls race.
Sethu, who is growing in stature with each outing and scored a double win in the previous round, held off a late-charging KY Ahamed (TVS Racing) despite a bad start and issues with his bike as the duo crossed the finish line in close formation within one-hundredth of a second between them. Sethu’s team-mate and fellow-international, Sarath Kumar, completed the podium. The victory took Sethu to the top of the leaderboard with 100 points, ahead of Jagan Kumar of TVS Racing (94) and Sarath Kumar (93).
The Honda ace, who again failed to capitalise on a pole-position start, yielded ground to seven-times National champion Jagan Kumar who was quick off the grid from third position and built up a commanding lead. However, in the third of the eight-lap race, Jagan retired due to engine issues and Sethu forged to the front with Ahamed hot on his heels. The pair fought tooth and nail and were almost inseparable at the finish line.
Anish Shetty, in notching his third win in a row, cemented his position at the top of the championship in his category with 90 points. Shetty again led a 1-2-3 finish for his team like yesterday with Abhishek Vasudev and Aravind Balakrishnan in tow in that order.
Chennai’s Ryhana Bee, with the win today, her second in three rounds, took a sizeable lead in the championship with 68 points. Defending champion and team-mate Ann Jennifer crashed in the last of the five laps after Ryhana overtook her. Alisha Abdullah (Alishaa Racing) was second followed by private entrant Nivetha Jessica who is now second on the leaderboard with 42 points ahead of Ann Jennifer (40) with two more rounds to be run in the coming weeks.
Later, Md Mikail, the 15-year old from Chennai, won his second race of the weekend riding the FIM Moto3-spec NSF 250R in the Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup, putting in a hot lap of 01:47.974, in the process.
The results (Provisional, all 8 laps unless mentioned):
Rajiv Sethu (80), winner of the Pro-Stock 165cc race on Saturday. Photos by Anand Philar
Chennai, 3 August 2019: International rider Rajiv Sethu (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) notched his third win in a row in the Pro-Stock 165cc class while Hyderabad’s Rahil Shetty (Sparks Racing) kept his nerves and wits to pull off a brilliant victory in the premier Pro-Stock 301-400cc category on the second day of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship Round 3 at the MMRT, here today.
Also scoring impressive wins on the day in the National Championship were Bengaluru-based Anish Shetty who led a podium sweep for Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing in the Pro-Stock 201-300cc category and Venkatesan who topped the Novice (Stock 165cc) race.
Venkatesan (59), on way to winning the Stock 165cc (Novice) Race 1 on Saturday. He also got a double later as he won Novice Class RTR 200 Race 1 also.
Sethu, who missed the first round due to international commitments, is in a catch-up mode in the championship stakes, and his hat-trick of wins took him to third on the leaderboard with 75 points behind TVS Racing’s Jagan Kumar (94) and team-mate Sarath Kumar (78) going into tomorrow’s second race.
The trio was involved in a thrilling battle that went down to the wire with Sethu, having overcome a poor start from pole position, managed to get past seven-times National champion Jagan on the last lap for a well-deserved win while Sarath followed the TVS Racing ace home. Less than a second separated the three podium finishers.
Equally superb win was that of 21-year old Rahil Shetty who battled not just his rivals but also his own error-filled riding before squeezing past TVS Racing pair of Deepak Ravikumar and KY Ahamed in the last lap. “I made too many mistakes today, but somehow managed to pull through,” said a relieved Shetty who started on P3. Despite the second-place finish, Ravikumar continues to lead the championship in this category with 86 points, followed by Ahamed (73) while Shetty (35) is placed seventh.
Racing on the same grid as the 301-400cc bikes, Bengaluru-based Anish Shetty logged his second consecutive win with team-mates Abhishek Vasudev and Aravind Balakrishnan following him home. Today’s win took Anish’s tally to 65, well ahead of Mathan Kumar of Erula Racing (47) and Vasudev (45).
Earlier, in yet another close race, Venkatesan also registered his first win of the season in the Novice class after battling Mohan Babu (Rockers Racing) and Abhimanyu Gautam (Sparks Racing) over six laps. Lakshmipathy Balaji (Alpha Racing) missed out on the podium by a whisker as the four crossed the finish line covered by less than a second. Abhimanyu, though, continues to head the leaderboard with 80 points, trailed by Venkatesan (73) and Mohan Babu (57) going into the second race tomorrow.
The results (Provisional, all 6 laps unless mentioned):
Chennai, 2 August 2019: Sivanesan Sethu pulled off a stunning flying lap to lead a 1-2 for TVS Racing in the Pro-Stock 301-400cc category qualifying session as the third round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship got off to a storming start at the MMRT, here today.
Sivanesan, clocked a sizzling 01min, 54.325secs followed by team-mate and fellow-Chennai rider KY Ahamed (01:54.871), with Hyderabad’s Rahil Shetty of Sparks Racing (01:55.001) completing the front row for tomorrow’s race.
Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing, led by Bengaluru riders Anish Shetty (01:57.384), and Abhishek Vasudev (01:59.890), and Chennai’s Aravind Balakrishnan (02:00.969), qualified for the top three spots in that order in the Pro-Stock 201-300cc class.
Championship leader Ryhana Bee of Sparks Racing (02:11.216), team-mate Ann Jennifer (02:12.189) and Speed Demonz Racing’s Lani Zena Fernandez (02:14.007) were the top three qualifiers in the Girls category.
Lighting up the day’s proceedings was a bunch of teenagers, led by 15-year old Mohammed Mikail from Chennai, scorched the track in the Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup riding the FIM Moto3-spec NSF 250R bikes. All the eight riders comfortably went under two minutes in the qualifying session, with Mikail grabbing pole position (01:48.949), ahead of two other Chennai riders, 14-year old Kavin Samaar Quintal (01:50.345) and 16-year old Varoon Sadasivam (01:51.198). Charan Thangavel, also from Chennai, who finished eighth and last, timed 01:56.828.
Meanwhile, Rajiv Sethu (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing), who scored a double in the previous round, but is trailing team-mate Sarath Kumar by 13 points and championship leader Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) by 26, set the early pace in the Pro-Stock 165cc class by topping the only free practice session, with a flying lap of 01:59.956.
Jagan, a seven times National champion, had a disappointing run with a 02:03.413 to come in ninth as against his team-mate KY Ahamed who was second quickest in 02:00.848, ahead of Yashas RL (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing, 02:01.414). However, the riders are expected to clock better timings in the qualifying session on Saturday.
Hubli, 2 August 2019: Team Mahindra Adventure’s ace driver Gaurav Gill returned to reclaim the Dakshin Dare title along with co-driver Musa Sherif, winning the gruelling rally for the third time here late on Thursday.
Gill, conquered the special stages in the 4-day long route from Bangalore to Hubli in 04:51:49.001 hours. Overall, he covered a distance of close to 2,000 kms.
The JK Tyre-sponsored rallyist holds the unique distinction of winning the country’s most prestigious cross-country rallying every time that he has entered into it.
Gaurav, six-time INRC champion, proved his mettle once again as he came out on top in seven stages out of the nine special stages.
Accompanied by his trusted co-driver Musa Sherif, he won all the three stages on the opening day, clocking a time of 45:45.053 minutes. He fell back on the second day, losing both the stages to his teammate Philippos Mathai (with co-driver PVS Murthy).
Going into the third day, he was trailing by 00:47.261 seconds but that didn’t deter him. He roared back into the front by claiming the two stages of Day 3 to take a handy lead of 6:42.383 minutes.
With such a huge lead, it was near to impossible for anyone to catch Gaurav on the final day. The three-time APRC champion lived up to his reputation on the final day too, clocking around a minute less than his closest competitor to sign off in style.
“I am really excited to win the Dare once again. This is my third Dakshin Dare title and I am really very happy with this achievement. The stages were very challenging but I believe we had a very good car at our disposal and our tyres indeed helped us in maneuvering these treacherous stages. I would like to thank my tuners and mechanics for preparing such a fine car,” Gill said after his triumph.
Action during the bike Nationals at MMRT, Chennai. File photo by Anand Philar
Chennai, 1 August 2019: India’s leading two-wheeler manufacturers will yet again go head-to-head in thrilling battle for points as the third round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2019 gets underway at the MMRT on Friday.
Honda, TVS, Yamaha and KTM have strong presence in the 16-race card that will also showcase India’s top bike racers, including girls, representing a clutch of teams, some privately funded and others supported by the manufacturers in various forms.
This weekend promises plenty of exciting action with riders jockeying for positions in their respective championship leaderboards with an eye on the points that are critical for National titles in various categories.
The premier Pro-Stock classes of 301-400cc, 201-300cc and the 165cc, all run on MRF slick tyres, have dished out edge-of-the-seat competition in the previous rounds with little separating the front-runners. In the event, there is hardly any room for error as every championship point would be worth its weight in gold from here on.
Further down the grid are the fruits of twin initiatives of promoters Madras Motor Sports Club – the Girls championship (Stock 165cc) which is still a work in progress and the Novice (Stock 165cc) class that boasts of 50-plus entries requiring split qualifying sessions to decide the eventual 40-bike grid for the points-scoring double-header. The championship stakes in both these categories are still wide open with promise of more close finishes.
In the previous round last month, Honda caused a huge buzz by introducing the epoch-making, FIM Moto3 spec NSF 250R bikes ridden by youngsters in the age-group of 12 to 19 as part of the Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup that also includes the CBR 150 class for Novice riders who made it to the grid following a pan-India selection process.
Not to be left behind, TVS too have their One-Make Championship in three different categories – Open (RR 310), Novice and Girls (both RTR 200) – all boasting of sizeable and very competitive grids.
