INDIAinF1 starts a series on champion drivers and riders beginning this week. As we head to the third round of the Indian National Rally Championship in Jodhpur next Sunday, we feature Lokesh Gowda, the winner of SUV Challenge at the second round in the Rally of Coimbatore.
Car #3 Lokesh Gowda and Uday winning the Sprint de Bengaluru near Chikkaballapur in March. Photo by Arun T Pillai
Bengaluru 19 August 2019: The Indian National Rally Championship has always been a flagship event in Indian motorsports and it enjoyed huge patronage and high visibility with both the fans and the participants embracing it to make it popular and ever-green.
However, the Rally Nationals in two-wheelers suffered many breaks and heartaches before the championship was revived once again. Likewise, the rally events in the last few years have taken a beating with rising costs and other ground-level difficulties faced by drivers and teams alike, and the promoters and organisers too despite their best efforts have failed to pump-in the necessary resources both financially and otherwise to promote the sport. INRC has become a shortened event winding up in one-and-a-half days and the huge amounts that the promoters have to pump in, has strained even the big guns.
Under these circumstances, the arrival of Champions Yacht Club as the new Promoter has brought in a whiff of fresh air for the drivers and teams. Though the stage distances and the format remains the same, many drivers found new enthusiasm with the Champions Group fielding teams in all classes and backing them with the much-needed financial and technical support. Many talented and even experienced drivers and co-drivers were supported by the group and some of them have regained their wonted form with many of the nitty-gritty issues taken care of by the Team.
One of such drivers who was back in the limelight with Champions Group picking him up to drive for Team Champions is Lokesh V Gowda. The former celebrated bike rider, who pairs with talented navigator Sudhindra BG, has tuned his Honda CRV to field it in the SUV Challenge in the INRC. After their winning exploits in the curtain-raiser at the Sprint de Bengaluru, the Bengaluru duo put behind the travails at Chennai, where they had suffered a set back in the South India Rally and bounced back in the second round at Coimbatore, thriving the tricky terrain at the Windmill farms of Kethanur, and mastered the slushy conditions to come out triumphant in the SUV class. For the record, Team Champions made a sweep of all the three podium places in this class.
The top three places in the SUV Challenge went to Lokesh Gowda and co-driver Sudhindra BG who won the support class, while Gagan Karumbaiah and Thimmu Uddapanda pair came second followed by veteran Sanjay Agarwal and Smitha N.
Usually, the top classes always hog the media limelight and to support other winners, this Indian Motorsports website, www.INDIAinF1.com, will start a series of articles, beginning today, to feature the winners in the lower categories, as they too deserve appreciation for the hard work and dedication, which is no less than any other class. Today we feature Lokesh Gowda.
Well-deserved winners in the SUV Challenge class, Lokesh Gowda and Sudhindra on the podium in Coimbatore
At the turn of the century, Lokesh Gowda made his debut in motorsports as a bike rider in 2001, at a local Autocross event, and soon he became addicted to motocross after winning his class in his third-ever event. And immediately, the passion found its strong roots.
“As a teenager, I was always intrigued by motorsports especially two-wheelers and the cross-country rallies ignited my interest. In 2001, I started with a local 2w autocross event and it was an instant addiction,” said Lokesh, who took to the sport, like a duck to water.
“From there-on I followed my passion, participated in local autocross events and started competing with professional riders,” he added. Soon his talent was noticed and his dedication yielded results with the stalwarts at Yamaha spotting him. He was selected as a Factory Rider for Team Yamaha India in 2002.
“I toured all over the country, racing for Team Yamaha for the next three years winning multiple events and motorsports became a way of life,” Lokesh quipped. He went on to win the MRF National Motocross Championship in 2003 and retained with equal vigour in 2004 to become a National champion twice in quick succession but unfortunately, he faced a jolt… out of the blue with Yamaha pulling out of racing in India.
He continued rallying as a privateer in the 2-wheeler category for a few more years making that much more effort without the support that factory-backing brings both financially and otherwise but a major on-track crash, at the INRC Chikmagalur event saw him fracture his right elbow and he also damaged his right shoulder in 2009.
Lokesh Gowda in his hey days. A file photo of Lokesh taking a jump during one of the INRC events.
It was the first year when IMG Sports and PSP together began to bring some professionalism into the sport bringing in much-needed facilities for the drivers and riders. The accident brought to focus the need to bring in more safety measures but unfortunately, Lokesh has decided to rest his bike.
But they say passion never dies. And soon Lokesh was back on the track, but this time he switched to cars. “In 2011, I moved into 4-wheeler dirt racing because it offered much comfortable driving in comparison to 2W rallying due to my arm injury as I felt, I could race without causing more damage to my shoulder or elbow,” the champion revealed.
Starting with Indian National Autocross Champion in 2012 he finished as the first runner-up in the championship and moved into Indian National Rally Championship in 2013 as a co-driver.
In 2014, he participated in the popular home event of K1000 in Bangalore as a driver and followed it with the Coffee Day Rally where he finished 2nd. In the following years, he continued participating in several Dirt events, Autocross events, Quarter-Mile drags along with INRC and won many of them.
But when queried why he maintained a low profile, he said: “Unfortunately, in India, a motorsport rallyist’s passion takes a backseat when it comes to nurturing dreams. The lack of attention to the sport, the ‘Zero’ funding, athletes receive from the government and the lack of sponsors are big obstacles for any participant to go forward. “Each one of us in the sport is deeply into self-budgeting our expenses. Many of us spend from our personal savings to continue the sport and keep up our passions alive and we run dry pretty soon. The same happened to me and so I had to stop rallying again after 2015. Getting a sponsor was a task in itself,” he quipped with a tinge of disappointment writ large on his face.
But his face lit up as soon as we started to talk about the present scenario. “Thanks to Team Champions, who came forward bringing in immense support. They provided the funding and importantly rekindled our interest imposing confidence in me. Their interest towards the betterment of rally drivers and motorsports in the country made me rethink and I joined the Team in 2018,” he said. He did not forget to thank Subhakar Rao, the team owner and promoter Mrs.Hemamalini Nidamanur of Champions Yacht Club. “Vamcy Merla has been a great support and he also helped us to get additional support from the JK Tyre,” he added talking about how drivers were helped to rope-in corporate sponsorship, though partially.
“The second round of INRC at Coimbatore has been great and rewarding considering the unsuccessful run I had at Chennai. Thanks to JK Tyres for their great support and sponsoring at the Rally of Coimbatore, I finished first in the SUV category. I am looking forward to next round in Jodhpur and winning this year’s championship title,” he concluded.
The Round 3 of the Champions Yacht Club fmsci INRC for four-wheelers will take place in Jodhpur, Rajasthan from September 20 to 22.
Aishwarya Pissay receiving the World Cup on Sunday. Photos courtesy FIM
Bengaluru, 11 August 2019: Aishwarya Pissay, the 23-year old from Bengaluru, created history by annexing the FIM Bajas World Cup in the Women’s category after the fourth and final round of the championship, at Varpalota (Hungary), on Sunday. She became the first Indian ever to win a World title in Motorsport. Aishwarya also finished second in the FIM Junior category on the conclusion of the four-round Championship.
Aishwarya, who won the first round in Dubai and was placed third (Portugal), fifth (Spain) and fourth (Hungary) in the subsequent outings, finished with a tally of 65 points, just four ahead of Portugal’s Rita Vieira in the final Overall standings for Women. She was placed second in the Junior category with 46 points, behind championship winner Tomas de Gavardo (60) of Chile.
The TVS Racing’s Bengaluru rider, emerged victorious in the four-round cross country rally based on the total points, with her victory in the first round in Dubai standing her in good stead. In the fourth round in Hungary, the second-placed Vieira Rita, could only finish third for 15 points and thus Aishwarya who finished fourth managed to keep her lead and won the World Cup Baja in the women’s category gaining 13 points for her 4th. Romero Font Rosa won the Hungarian round in this class and Garcia Alvarez Sara finished second.
After 805km, including 588km on competitive selective sections around Várpalota and Lake Balaton, the Hungarian Baja rounded off the 2019 FIM Cross-Country Bajas World Cup. For the record, Adam Tomicek (Husqvarna) claimed his maiden motorcycle victory, the Pole finishing ahead of Stefan Svitko (KTM) and Maciej Giemza (Husqvarna), while Juraj Varja (Yamaha) took the laurels in the quad category from Aleksandr Maksimov (Yamaha).
The 23-year-old Aishwarya is sponsored by TVS, Sidvin, Mountain Dew, Scott Motorsports India, K&N, Cult Sport and BigRock Dirt Park. Before the start of the final round she was leading the women’s category by seven points, after having won in Dubai, finished third in Portugal and fifth in Spain.
A proud moment for Team TVS Sherco’s Aishwarya Pissay from India as she stands on the top step of the podium at FIM Bajas Women’s World Cup on Sunday. An FIM image
An ecstatic Aishwarya, said after the podium ceremonies: “It’s absolutely overwhelming. I am out of words. After what happened last year, my first international season, when I crashed in Spain Baja and suffered career-threatening injuries, to come out and win the championship, is a great feeling.
“It was a tough phase of my life, but I believed in myself and was determined to get back on the bike which I did after nearly six months. So, winning the World Cup is huge for me and I will look to better my performance having gained this experience. I also hope I will be able to get more sponsors on board and eventually realise my dream of participating in and finishing the Dakar Rally (considered World’s most difficult cross-country race). In any case, I will pursue that dream no matter what.”
Reflecting on her Hungarian Baja performance, Aishwarya said: “Without a doubt, the Hungarian Baja was one of my best races though I didn’t win. It wasn’t an easy race. Given the nature of the terrain, it was more of endurance than just pace. I was riding a smaller bike (250cc) as against the 450cc bikes other girls were on. So, there was always a difference of 20-25 minutes between me and the other riders.
Aishwary’a medals!
“Also, I was wrongly given a road penalty for early check-in which wasn’t my fault. All these factors added to my time. On the positive side, I was happy that I was closing the gap between me and other riders in front of me. I was able to get within seven minutes of Rita (Vieira) and that gave me the confidence. However, it was more about finishing the race and I was focussed on that.”
Aishwarya is scheduled to return to Bengaluru in the early hours of Wednesday, August 14, via Qatar.
The Hungarian Baja comprised of five Special Stages totalling 588.26 km besides 205.66 of Liaison section. The competitors were flagged-off late on Thursday for SS-1 (7.18 Kms) near to this former mining town.
Miss Pissay has topped many events in India in the women’s category which included Raid De Himalaya 2017, Dakshin Dare for two years in 2016 and 2017. She also won the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) in 2017 and 2018 but before that her focus was on racing and she won the TVS Apache Ladies One Make Championship 2017 and then the top honours in the MRF MMSC Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2017, when the women’s category was recognised as a national event by FMSCI, the Indian federation for the sport.
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
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.
Bengaluru, 9 August 2019: India’s Aishwarya Pissay will be seeking to win the FIM Bajas World Cup as she begins her campaign in the Hungarian Baja, the fourth and final round of the championship, at Varpalota (Hungary), on Saturday.
Bengaluru-based 23-year old Aishwarya, sponsored by TVS, Sidvin, Mountain Dew, Scott Motorsports India, K&N, Cult Sport and BigRock Dirt Park, is leading the women’s category by seven points, after having won in Dubai, finished third in Portugal and fifth in Spain.
Looking ahead to the event, Aishwarya said: “Going into the Hungarian Baja, I am hopeful of performing better than in the previous round since the World Cup is at stake. It will not be easy as I have to negotiate nearly 590 Kms of Special Stages, but I am up to the challenge. After the last round in Spain, I stayed back to train. So, I have done pretty much all I can in terms of preparations. My focus here would be on performing well and the results will follow.”
After four rounds of the FIM World Cup, Aishwarya has 52 points, followed by Portugal’s Rita Vieira (45) and Spaniard Sara Garcia Alvarez (36). The trio, along with two other women riders, will be going head-to-head in what promises to be an exciting battle.
The Hungarian Baja comprises five Special Stages totalling 588.26 Kms besides 205.66 of Liaison section. The competitors will be flagged-off late tonight for SS-1 (7.18 Kms) near to this former mining town before heading out to complete the remainder of the course over the weekend.
Miss Pissay has topped many events in India in the women’s category which included Raid De Himalaya 2017, Dakshin Dare for two years in 2016 and 2017. She also won the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) in 2017 and 2018 but before that her focus was on racing and she won the TVS Apache Ladies One Make Championship 2017 before bagging the MRF MMSC Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2017, when the women’s category was recognised as a national event by FMSCI, the Indian federation for the sport.
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.
Toyota driver Ott Tänak, co-driven by Martin Järveoja, has won Rally Finland for the second consecutive year, extending his lead in the drivers’ championship to 22 points over Sébastien Ogier. In total, the Estonian won six of the 23 stages, including the Power Stage, to claim the victory with a 25.6 second margin over Citroën’s Esapekka Lappi.
Tänak hit the front on Saturday, with Lappi also moving into the runner-up spot. The Finn was challenged by his compatriot and former rally leader Jari-Matti Latvala, whose Toyota topped the time sheets on Friday night and briefly on Saturday morning, before suffering a left-rear puncture – his second in two days – on the Kakaristo stage.
Lappi was able to take a morale-boosting second place, his first podium after Sweden. Latvala finished 7.6 seconds behind after an up and down weekend, having won eight stages – more than anyone else on the rally – and claiming his first podium since Australia last year.
In fourth, Andreas Mikkelsen was the top finisher for Hyundai, which continues to lead the manufacturers’ championship ahead of Toyota. Although Mikkelsen was satisfied with the development on the i20 Coupé WRC, the team maintains its unwanted record of never finishing on the podium in Finland.
The Norwegian came out on top in after a close battle with six-time champion Ogier, who was unwell throughout Saturday. The Frenchman closed to within one second of the Norwegian on Sunday, but Mikkelsen responded with the fastest time on the penultimate stage (Laukaa 2) to head Ogier by 2.7s.
Championship contender Thierry Neuville inherited sixth place after team mate Craig Breen moved aside for him on Sunday morning. Neuville struggled with pace from the start, but managed to gradually improv his car’s set-up throughout the rally.
For Breen, it was a dream debut for his first WRC attendance of 2019. The Irishman set a couple of second-fastest stage times on the opening day and spent most of the rally locked in a tight battle with Mikkelsen, Ogier and Neuville, before he was asked to check in early in SS22 to Neuville’s benefit.
Behind him, M-Sport Ford driver Teemu Suninen finished with a disappointing eighth place on his home event.
The top FIA WRC 2 Pro finisher was Finland’s youngster Kalle Rovanperä in ninth overall with the Škoda Fabia R5 Evo – his fourth consecutive win in the category. Russia’s Nikolay Gryazin however took his very first FIA WRC 2 win, while Sweden’s Tom Kristensson claimed a dominant win in the FIA Junior WRC category, having led from the start.
2019 Rally Finland – Final Results:
1. Ott Tänak (EST) / Martin Järveoja (EST)
Toyota Yaris WRC
2hr 30min 40.3sec
2. Esapekka Lappi (FIN) / Janne Ferm (FIN)
Citroën C3 WRC
2hr 31min 5.9sec
3. Jari-Matti Latvala (FIN) / Mikka Anttila
Toyota Yaris WRC
2hr 31min 13.5sec
4. Andreas Mikkelsen (NOR) / Anders Jaeger-Amland (NOR)
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.
Jyvaskyla (Finland), 31 July 2019: The FIA World Rally Championship resumes after a six-week break with Rally Finland (August 1-4), round nine of the 2019 season and one of rallying’s most demanding events.
Part of the WRC schedule since the inaugural season in 1973, the event was formerly known as the ‘1000 Lakes Rally’ and is famed for its fast and smooth gravel roads, which test both the bravery of the drivers and the performance of their machines. Co-drivers also play a crucial role on the rally, as accurate pace-notes are vital for the crew to carry maximum speed on the stages lined with numerous jumps and crests.
With six events to go, the fight for the drivers’ championship remains intense. Ott Tänak, who took an impressive win in Finland 12 months ago, is at the top of the 2019 standings since the last event in Sardinia. But the Toyota driver only holds a very slim margin over his closest rivals: Sébastien Ogier (Citroën) is just four points behind him with Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville only three points further back.
Elfyn Evans, currently fourth in the overall classification, will miss Finland while he recovers from a back injury sustained in the recent Rally Estonia – a round of the European Rally Trophy’s Baltic series which took place mid-July. His place among the top-class contenders will be taken by WRC 2 Pro regular Gus Greensmith, who will get a second outing in the Ford Fiesta WRC, following an encouraging debut in Portugal. Also joining the M-Sport line-up as an additional third entry for Finland is Hayden Paddon. The New Zealander is making his first WRC appearance this season, just like Craig Breen, who makes his debut for the Hyundai team alongside Neuville and Andreas Mikkelsen.
A native of the rally’s host city Jyväskylä, Finland’s young gun Kalle Rovanperä will be out to add to his FIA WRC2 Pro championship lead on his home event. Škoda Motorsport enters an all-Finnish line-up with Eerik Pietarinen driving a second Fabia R5 Evo. M-Sport meanwhile gives a WRC debut to its new Ford Fiesta R5 with the Frenchman Eric Camilli at the wheel.
Camilli’s fellow compatriot Pierre-Louis Loubet heads the FIA WRC 2 entry after back-to-back wins in Portugal and Sardinia, and upgrades to the latest-specification Škoda for Finland. The Corsican will face tough competition with the fast young Finns Jari Huttunen and Emil Lindholm, Russia’s Nikolay Gryazin, as well as Japan’s Takamoto Katsuta.
Rally Finland is the fourth round of five in the FIA Junior World Rally Championship, with Spaniard Jan Solans leading the standings. Debutant Sami Pajari will be one of the youngsters to watch as the latest product of the Flying Finn Future Star initiative.
THE 2019 ROUTE
This year’s Rally Finland route features only small changes to the 2018 itinerary. The traditional mixed-surface Harju test kicks off the action in Jyväskylä on Thursday evening, before a total of 10 stages on Friday, held mostly to the west. Saturday features a return of the Leustu stage – last run in 2014 – in a marathon day that totals 132.98 kilometers. Two passes of the Laukaa and Ruuhimäki tests provide an exciting finale on Sunday.
Aragon (Spain), 30 July 2019: India’s Aishwarya Pissay of Team Sherco TVS finished fifth in the FIM women’s category and 24th Overall in the FIM bike category of the Baja Espana Aragon, the penultimate round of the FIM Bajas World Cup, here on Sunday.
Bengaluru-based Aishwarya, sponsored by TVS, Sidvin, Mountain Dew, Scott Motorsports India, K&N, Cult Sport and BigRock Dirt Park, picked up 11 points after completing the 827-km course. It helped her maintain the top position on the women’s World Cup leaderboard.
Going into the final round in Hungary scheduled for Aug 10-11, the 24-year old enjoys a seven-point lead over Portugal’s Rita Vieira (45 points) with Spaniard Sara Garcia Alvarez (36) in the third spot. Aishwarya is also placed second in the Junior category, trailing Chilean Tomas de Gavardo by 19 points.
Aishwarya Pissay in action at Baja Aragon on Sunday. A TVS Racing image
“Baja Aragon was the scene of my big crash last year that put me out of action for over six months. So, I was determined to shrug off those bitter memories and complete the course, which I did. It was a very technical course and I lost a lot of time in the process. I definitely need to train more in order to get faster in the technical sections. But I’m happy with my progress from last year and crossing finish line on a strong note.
Aishwarya’s file photo: Twitter @MissPissay
“More importantly, I managed to maintain my lead in the World Cup standings. To prepare for the last round in Hungary, I am staying back in Spain for training so that I can perform better and win the World Cup,” said Aishwarya.
The first stage began on Friday at 10.30 am for bikes. On Saturday, another two special stages with a total distance of more than 500 kilometers were run as the bikes started early at 6.30 am before the cars took off at 7 am.
The total distance of the timed stages was just over 500 kilometers, as the best drivers and riders in the different categories joined the long list of winners in the golden book of Baja Espana Aragon.
The Bengaluru rider, who turned 24 last fortnight (Aug 14) started her international career in 2018 at the same event and became a professional rally-raid rider as she gave up road racing. Her debut at the first major event last year saw her injure herself critically at the same event but she bounced back with a strong mind and undertook serious training for over four months before the event. She has been practicing for over 5 hours a day including her physical fitness and mental strength and had taken part in Dubai International Baja and Portugal Baja this year.
She has topped many events in India in the women’s category which included Raid De Himalaya 2017, Dakshin Dare for two years in 2016 and 2017. She also won the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) in 2017 and 2018 but before that her focus was on racing and she won the TVS Apache Ladies One Make Championship 2017 before bagging the MRF MMSC Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2017, when the women’s category was recognised as a national event by FMSCI, the Indian federation for the sport.
