INDIA in F1

Category: Rally

  • Elfyn Evans of Toyota reclaims lead in the Monte Carlo WRC round

    Elfyn Evans of Toyota reclaims lead in the Monte Carlo WRC round

    Monte Carlo action Photo MSport Ford

    Gap (France), 25 Jan 2020: Today’s itinerary on Rallye Monte-Carlo contains the longest road distance but a comparatively short 75-kilometre competitive distance, featuring two identical loops of two stages split by the midday service in Gap  before the crews make their way down to Monaco in the evening. Because of the icy conditions, most drivers chose studded tyres to ensure maximum grip.

    Toyota’s Elfyn Evans, who led most of the action on Friday before losing the lead to his team mate Sébastien Ogier on the final stage yesterday, reclaimed the top position on the second stage this morning, thanks to a time that was 7.6 seconds faster than his closed rival.

    After extending slightly his overnight lead on the first stage this morning, Ogier dropped to second after the incredible run from Evans. The Frenchman is now 4.8 seconds off the lead with two stages to run this afternoon.

    Thierry Neuville won the opening stage of the day but couldn’t match the pace on the following tests. The Hyundai i20 Coupe driver ended Saturday morning in third place, 16.6sec behind the flying Welshman.

    Neuville’s team-mate Sébastien Loeb maintained a lonely fourth, now more than a minute and a half behind the leader. Loeb tried to save his tyres in the first part of the stage but said that he
    probably slowed down too much.

    He’s now coming under threat from M-Sport’s Esapekka Lappi, now within 35 seconds of the Frenchman, while Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä continued his solid progress in sixth overall on
    his World Rally Car debut.

    In seventh, more than six minutes behind, is the FIA WRC3 leader Eric Camilli with his privately-run R5 Citroën, going from strength to strength.

    Unlike yesterday, this morning’s action featured a classic Monte weather in the mountains around Gap, with black ice on the road causing hazardous road conditions for the competitors. One of the victims was Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta, who lost three minutes when he spun and hit a snow bank on SS9, dropping down to eight overall behind Camilli.

    Frenchman Nicolas Ciamin is ninth overall in another Citroën C3 R5, while Norway’s Mads Ostberg is 10th, leading FIA WRC 2 in an identical factory-entered car.

  • Elfyn Evans sets the pace in Monte Carlo; Ott Tanak, Martin Jarveoja safe after a heavy crash

    Elfyn Evans sets the pace in Monte Carlo; Ott Tanak, Martin Jarveoja safe after a heavy crash

    Elfyn Evans takes the lead on Friday in the Monte Carlo WRC round. An FIA image

    Gap (France), 24 Jan 2020: Elfyn Evans snatched the Rallye Monte-Carlo lead from Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville after dominating Friday morning’s loop of three stages around Gap, while reigning World Rally Champion Ott Tänak crashed out.

    Tänak’s crash was the biggest drama of this first full day of action, when the Estonian rolled his i20 Coupe WRC halfway through SS4 as he was challenging for a top three position. He and his co-driver Martin Järveoja got out of the car on their own following the incident and were taken to hospital for precautionary checks.

    Tänak’s team mate Neuville had led after yesterday’s opening pair of night stages but the Belgian was overhauled this morning by Toyota’s debutant Evans, who led by 8.9 seconds as the cars reached the midday service, having won all three Friday morning stages.

    The asphalt was generally dry and clean, with none of the snow seen on SS2 yesterday, although some crews were affected by rain during the final stage this morning.

    Neuville still managed to keep pace with Evans and finished Friday morning in second, while Sébastien Ogier is less than a second behind in third on his first rally with a Toyota. The local hero is ahead of another well-known Rallye Monte-Carlo master, Sébastien Loeb, who however is more than 30 seconds further back. Ogier promised that he had more in hand but was just concentrating on finding out more about his new Yaris WRC today.

    This makes two Toyotas and two Hyundais in the top four so far, while their closest challenger is Esapekka Lappi in fifth, driving M-Sport’s Ford Fiesta. Lappi recovered from the overheating issues that were affecting all the Fiestas yesterday but still didn’t feel so confident. His team mate Gus Greensmith was another retirement after going off the road on the first stage this morning.

    M-Sport’s third factory driver Teemu Suninen is still in the rally, albeit far down the order in 22nd position.

    In sixth and seventh overall are two young Toyota drivers, with 19-year-old Kalle Rovanperä leading the team’s Japanese protégé Takamoto Katsuta, who will complete a partial WRC learning programme this year.

    They are classified ahead of Eric Camilli, the FIA WRC3 leader – and fastest non World Rally Car – in eighth overall.

    He leads the R5 contingent ahead of FIA WRC2 leader Ole-Christian Veiby, officially representing Hyundai in ninth overall with the NG i20. Frenchman Nicolas Ciamin rounds out the top 10.

    This afternoon, the cars are tackling three more stages as a repeat of this morning, before returning to final service in Gap.

  • 3-time National champion driver, Chidanand Murthy is no more

    3-time National champion driver, Chidanand Murthy is no more

    File photo of Chidanand with the trophy in 2014. INDIAinF1 photo

    Bengaluru, 24 Jan 2020: Well-known motorsport personality and multiple-National champion driver in the Indian National (TSD) Rally Championship, Chidanand Murthy passed away here in the early hours of Friday. He is 43 and leaves behind wife and a daughter.

    A businessman, who spent most of his free time either organising or taking part in motorsport activities, Chidu, as he was popularly known, was a dynamic and jovial person with a friendly nature. He won the Indian National Rally Championship in the Time-Speed-Distance (TSD) format for three successive years with BS Sujith Kumar, the current chairman of the 2w Rally Commission. The duo won a hat-trick of National titles culminating in 2014 and had many other achievements as driver-navigator pair from Bengaluru. They last took part on behalf of Tata Motors Full Throttle team in the Pro-Stock class.

    “It is really shocking and sad news. I can’t believe that he is no more. My deepest condolences to his family at this hour of grief. Rest in peace, Chidu. You will be in our hearts forever,’’ said Sujit Kumar.

    Karnataka Motor Sports Club (KMSC) of which Chidu was part of, sent their condolence message. “We are deeply saddened by the loss of a champion. KMSC sends our heart-felt condolences to all the family members and freinds of Chidanand,” said Shivu Shivappa, president of KMSC and vice-president of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI).

     

  • Dakar rider Edwin Straver succumbs to his injuries

    Dakar rider Edwin Straver succumbs to his injuries

    Riyadh, 24 Jan 2020: The motorcycle rider Edwin Straver, who suffered a fall in pk 124 of the special of the 11th stage Shubaytah – Haradh on Thursday, January 16, 2020, has died as a result of these injuries, as reported by his family on Friday morning.

    Edwin was revived on the track by the medical team that came by helicopter and attended the pilot in a state of cardiac arrest. Transferred to the Riyadh hospital, he was treated by the center’s resuscitation team before being repatriated to the Netherlands last Wednesday.

    Former motocross rider, Edwin Straver – 48 years old – participated in his 3rd Dakar. He finished 30th in 2019, proclaiming himself winner of the Original by Motul category in which he enrolled again in 2020.

    The whole of the Dakar caravan presents its deepest condolences and its most sincere condolences to Edwin’s family, friends and relatives.

    File photo of Dakar rider Edwin Straver during Stage 10 in Saudi Arabia on Jan 10. May his soul rest in peace. DPPI image

  • Hyundai Motorsport crew Ott Tanak and Martin Jarveoja safe after a big crash

    Gap (France), 24 Jan 2020: Hyundai Motorsport crew Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja crashed during the fourth special stage of Rallye Monte-Carlo (SS4 Saint-Clément – Freissinières) on Friday morning.

    The Estonians, driving the #8 Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC, went off 9.2 kilometres into the 20.68km stage. The driver and co-driver were both able to exit the car on their own after the incident.

    Tänak and Järveoja have been taken to hospital for precautionary medical checks, as is standard procedure following a crash of this nature.

    Hyundai Motorsport will provide any further updates in its end-of-day rally report.

    The crash video here. (courtesy Tomi T Twitter @T_Tuominen )

     

  • Ashish Raorane completes Africa Eco Race against all odds

    Ashish Raorane completes Africa Eco Race against all odds

    Ashish Raorane after crossing the finish line on Sunday. Photo courtesy Ashish Raorane team

    Dakar, 20 Jan 2020: The daring adventure of 38-year old professional Indian rally-raid rider, Ashish Raorane, ended in a dream finish as he completed the tough Africa Eco Race on Sunday. After completing the ninth stage in 54th overall position, the Indian took the restart and managed to rejoin the last stage, the famous beach stage, as the Africa Eco race allows a restart.

    The non-factory rider is self-funded for almost all of the events he has taken part and is attempting the Africa Eco Race for the first time. The Pune-based marine engineer has caught the attention of Luminox last year by his rally-raid exploits and is supported for the rally by the Swiss watch brand. Ashish was greeted by his wife and a few others as he celebrated with the Indian flag at the finish line in Dakar. Ashish was supported by Nomadas Adventure Racing Team of Switzerland.

    The last stage offered a real driving treat but had no effect on the general classifications this year. There was, therefore, good humour and spirit on the finish line, situated at the edge of the Erg at the village of Teverit, around 30km from Nouakchott in Mauritania. For the record, there was no suspense in the motorcycle category, as the YAMAHA of Alessandro BOTTURI left two minutes behind the KTM of Pal Anders ULLEVALSETER and quickly caught the Norwegian. As a result, 1min 59sec was added to the Italian’s lead and BOTTURI therefore wins this 12th edition of the AFRICA ECO RACE by 3min 59sec from ULLEVALSETER.

    Coming back to the Indian’s rally, after doing a superb job in the first leg, Ashish caught up with the reality of his adventure with a bike that did not have enough capacity for fuel when compared to the advanced bikes, and paid the penalty after a navigation error in Stage 10. At the half-way mark, before the rest day Ashish rode to a stunning 17th Overall rank but the final week saw him nurture the fuel and reduce speeds. He was ranked 54th in the 9th stage before missing two stages as he ended taking almost 31 hours to reach the bivouac after he ran out of fuel. Ashish Raorane was classiefied 57th in bike category after the 12th and last stage, the Beach stage.

    Ashish Raorane explained his tryst with the Africa Eco Race, that ran over 6,500 km, with 12 stages across Morocco, the Western Sahara, Mauritania and Senegal. The rally concluded on Sunday, Jan 19. Four days before the start of the rally, Ashish was in hospital after being down with dengue. But the rider in him took over and he started the rally against all medical advice but did a splendid job finishing with aplomb.

    “It took me 31 hours to get back to the bivouac, and so I missed a couple of stages. The Africa Eco Race allows restarts and that’s a great thing. Of course I picked up a lot of penalties but at least I am not out of the race. So, eventually, I did get to the ride the famous Beach stage at the Lac Rose in Dakar and cross the finish line of the Africa Eco Race at P57,’’ said Ashish. The rally runs in the original route of Dakar when it was run in Africa.

    “To say that the past weeks have been a roller coaster both physically and emotionally would be an understatement. I was in the hospital, four days before the race, wondering if I could make it to the start line and against all medical advice decided to go give it a shot,’’ he continued.

    “Against all expectations, the race started out pretty well. Though, I was struggling physically after having spent 10 days in the hospital, going into the rest day, I had a good feeling on the bike,’’ he added. Ashish was ranked overall 17th before the rest day.

    Mauritania, is where it started unraveling for the Indian rider. The Indian and his team realised that the fuel consumption on the bike in the soft Mauritanian sand was pretty high and that the rally-modified Enduro bike did not have the required fuel autonomy unlike a full-fledged cross-country rally-raid bike. He was astride a KTM 450 EXC, a 4-stroke enduro off-road bike, which has its limitations during long-distance riding on terrain full of piste unlike a KTM 450 Rally Replica which will cost a whopping Rs.23 lakh or so.

    The first stage in Mauritania confirmed this weakness. From there on, Ashish did manage his speed admirably to save the fuel. “On Stage 8 of the race, I made a navigation mistake early on going the wrong way, which further reduced my fuel autonomy. The stage was tough and, I was struggling through the dunes. At km 175 of the stage, the bike was buried in the dune. I was out of water and food, clutch issues crept up and I did not have enough fuel to reach the refueling point. I had to make one of the most-difficult decisions to call the PC course. Little did I know at the time that I would be spending the night in the dunes all alone but that is another long story, for another day,’’ the brave rider concluded.

    Ashish Raorane with his wife at the finish lane of Africa Eco Race in Dakar on Sunday. Photo AER

  • Imran Pasha of TVS Racing wins National title in Class 4: INRC for 2-wheelers

    Imran Pasha of TVS Racing wins National title in Class 4: INRC for 2-wheelers

    File photo of Imran Pasha from a round in 2019.

    Imran Pasha who won the National title in the Super Sport 260 class in Bengaluru on Sunday. Photo by Keshava Murthy

    Bengaluru, 19 Jan 2020: Imran Pasha of TVS Racing astride an Apache RTR 200 hogged the limelight winning the honours in overall classification of the sixth and final round of the MRF Mogrip fmsci Indian National Rally Championship for two-wheelers held at Devanahalli, near here, on Sunday.

    The 2w-rally National Championship was organised by Karnataka Motor Sports Club (KMSC) and promoted by Godspeed Racing under the aegis of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (fmsci). With this win Imran Pasha is crowned National champion in Class 4 for Super Sport 260 bikes, even as his title rival, a privateer from Mangaluru, Adnan Ahmed, could finish only one stage and logged a DNF (did not finish).

    Another Bengaluru privateer Yuva Kumar was overall second followed by Sachin D, also of TVS Racing. Yuva Kumar, astride a Hero Impulse, also won Class 1. Ishan Chandra A of Mangaluru on a Hero Impulse clocked a commendable 56:25.5 to win Class 3 while another local lad Rakesh Kumar took Class 2.

    Top TVS rider and National champion Aishwarya Pissay won the ladies class with Ryhana Bee in second while Vijay Prasad of Bengaluru claimed the Star of Karnataka title, also finishing a creditable 5th overall with two compatriots Ansar Mohamed and Sanjay Somashekar finishing in that order.

    Imran Pasha with the Overall and Class 4 trophy on Sunday. Photo: AutoTrack

    Provisional final results (Round 6) (Privateer unless mentioned):

    Overall: 1. Imran Pasha (TVS Racing) 53min, 52.817seconds; 2. Yuva Kumar (privateer) 54:01.915; 3. Sachin D (TVS Racing) 54:25.149.

    Class 1: 1. Yuva Kumar (Pvt.) 54:01.915; 2. Nikhil B (Pvt.) 57:41.844; 3. Santhosh Kour (Pvt.) 1:15:44.990.

    Class 2: 1. Rakesh Kumar 1:00:01.575; 2. Ajin Abraham 1:01:55.919; 3. Azeeb Muhammed 1:03:35.736.

    Class 3: 1. Ishan Chandra A 56:25.520; 2. Pavan BK 58:40.028; 3. Francis PU 58:52.540.

    Class 4: 1. Imran Pasha (TVS Racing) 53:52:817; 2. Sachin D 54:25.149; 3. Samuel Jacob (TVS Racing) 59:18.346.

    Class 5: 1. T Vijay Kumar 1:05:23.335; 2. Uday Ganguli 1:13:45.510.

    Class 6: 1. Devaraj V 58:01.677; 2. Arun Joy M 1: 00:36.275; 3. Arvind Kumar Singh 1:14:11.931.

    Class 7: 1. Syed Asif Ali (TVS Racing) 1:01:41.731; 2. Pinkesh Thakkar 1:02:04.557; 3. Shamim Khan 1:02:26325.

    Class 8: 1. Aishwarya PM (TVS Racing) 1:06:06.791; Ryhana Bee A 1:08:15.208.

    Star of Karnataka: 1. Vinay Prasad 57:21.630; 2. Ansar Mohamed 58:19.685; 3. Sanjay Somashekar 59:05.447.

     

  • Final round of INRC for two-wheelers on Sunday

    Final round of INRC for two-wheelers on Sunday

    File photo of INRC action from a 2019 round. Photo courtesy KMSC release

    Bengaluru, 19 Jan 2020: Imran Pasha from TVS Racing and privateer Adnaan Ahmed from Mangaluru will be fighting for honours in the Upto 260cc class in the Rally de Bengaluru, the 6th and final round of the MRF Mogrip Indian National Rally Championship for 2-wheelers 2019, here on Sunday.

    Organised by Karnataka Motor Sports Club and promoted by Promoted by God Speed Racing, Pune, the event has attracted 46 riders, including two ladies, from across India. The INRC for 2-wheelers will be flagged off at the Tribal Adventure Café, situated near Kundana in Devanahalli on the outskirts of the city. Two stages of 8-km each will be run thrice in forward direction cumulating to 168 kms including Liaison distance.

    Aishwarya Pissay, also from TVS Racing, who has already sealed the championship, will have National Racing champion in the ladies class, Ryhana Bee to fight in the last rally of the season. Suhail Ahmed, who has also sealed the championship in the Bullet class, will have a final go in the last round.

    A total on nine classes will be part of the event. For the first time in Indian Motorsports, three 2-wheeler `Trauma Ambulances’ will be part of the medical team, popularly known as BEAST, which is provided by Apollo Spectra Hospitals, Brookefield, Bengaluru.

    Shivu Shivappa, President, KMSC and Vice-President FMSCI, said that all arrangements are made for running the rally in a safe manner. “Safety measures are in place with adequate ambulances and highly-professional medical team and we look forward for good performances and crowning of the National champions,’’ he concluded.

    KMSC file photo 2019 action during INRC for 2w

  • Indian rally-raid rider Ashish Raorane 17th overall after Stage 5: Africa Eco Race

    Indian rally-raid rider Ashish Raorane 17th overall after Stage 5: Africa Eco Race

    Ashish Raorane during Stage 4 on Friday. Photo courtesy Africa Eco Race

    Smara, 11 Jan 2020: The 38-year old professionial Indian rally-raid rider, Ashish Raorane finished 14th in the fifth stage to improve his overall ranking to 17th in the 12th edition of the annual Africa Eco Race on Saturday. The rally runs in the original route of Dakar when it was run in Africa. The Africa Eco Race runs over 6,500km, with 12 stages across Morocco, the Western Sahara, Mauritania and Senegal. Seven more stages are left in the rally which runs till Jan 19.

    It was a long stage of 474 km today. “The stage was super fast and I got lost about 40km before refuel. Had complicated bits thrown in and navigation was extremely tricky but fortunately spotted some vehicle dust which I could follow and recovered in time. Good day of racing, after 210 km of liaison, we are at the Dakhla beach for a well-deserved rest day,’’ said Ashish, the marine engineer from Pune.

    You can watch the video clip on Ashish’s Instagram here.

    Riding a KTM 450, he improved his ranking from Friday’s 23rd. He began with a 33rd after the first stage for an overall ranking of 33 but has been steadily improving his riding. After second stage, he managed to climb to 23rd and further improved two places after Stage 3. But a 27th place finish on Thursday saw him slide back to 23rd on Friday but today was a good day in office as he finished 14th improving his overall ranking to 17th

    Ashish took part in the Indian National Rally Championship in Nashik in 2015 and also made his debut in the Raid-De-Himalaya astride a Triumph Tiger 800. Later, he took part in the Desert Storm (Yamaha 250) in 2016 and 2017 and also participated in the Pan Africa Rally in 2018, before the FIM Baja Word Championship in 2019, where he finished an overall 12th following his 7th place finish in the concluding Hungarian Baja as a privateer astride a KTM 450. After the Eco race this year, Ashish dreams to take part in the Dakar, the mother of all Rallies. Last year, the rally-raid rider attracted attention with his good performances to get sponsored by Swiss watch brand Luminox.

    The Stage 5 drive towards the great Moroccan south was done at express speed on good tracks traced in the heart of rather monotonous desert landscapes. After an extremely vigilant run today, in terms of navigation with many parallel tracks, the participants conclude the first week of racing before tackling the now traditional well-deserved rest day, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean in Dakhla.

  • Lady rider Laia Sanz completes Stage 3 for an overall 27th rank: Dakar2020

    Lady rider Laia Sanz completes Stage 3 for an overall 27th rank: Dakar2020

    Laia Sanz during Stage 3 on Tuesday. A Gas Gas Rally Team image

    Neom (Saudi Arabia), 7 Jan 2020: Despite her heavy fall during yesterday’s stage two, added to a confusing finish to today’s stage, GasGas Factory Racing’s Laia Sanz has battled her way to the end of another challenging day of racing at the 2020 Dakar Rally finishing Stage 3 in 32nd position. Completing what was yet another difficult day aboard her GasGas RC 450F, one made notably harder for her due to extreme dust during much of the early part of the special, Laia nevertheless battled her way to the finish of the second leg of the super marathon stage. The Spaniard sits in a provisional 27th overall and as the event’s leading female competitor.

    • Hours spent riding in thick dust ensures another tough day for Laia
    • Laia completes stage three in 32nd position and sits 27th overall
    • Final stage three results taken from kilometre 389 due to GPS technical problems

    Laia Sanz: “I started today with pain in my leg, but it has been more painful to spend all day riding in dust. I could manage how my body was feeling, but with the dust you just can’t do anything. I almost had to stop sometimes it was so bad. When it is like this you cannot push at all, just try your best to be as safe as possible. It was especially frustrating during the beginning of the stage because the speeds were higher – I knew I was losing so much time. I felt good later on, when the stage became more technical and with more wind. Let’s see for tomorrow. I hope there will be less dust.”

    Stage three unquestionably proved to be tough for Laia, as it was for many competitors. Following her crash and subsequent drop down the overall leader board on day two, she started stage three as the 36th rider to enter the second leg of the super marathon stage. Expecting to be held back due to dust from other competitors, her fears were soon confirmed as she spent much of the stage forced to ride with extreme caution.

    With the super marathon stage now complete, day four of the 2020 Dakar Rally heads from Neom to Al Ula – a 672-kilometre stage that features a 453 km special with an expected equal mix of sand and gravel tracks.

    Provisional results: Dakar Rally 2020, stage 3

    1. Ricky Brabec (Honda) 3:29:31
      2. Jose Ignacio Cornejo (Honda) 3:35:27 +5:56
      3. Kevin Benavides (Honda) 3:36:53 +7:22
      32. Laia Sanz (GasGas) 4:03:10 +33:39Provisional standings: Dakar Rally 2020 (after stage 3)
      1. Ricky Brabec (Honda) 10:39:04
      2. Kevin Benavides (Honda) 10:43:47 +4:43
      3. Matthias Walkner (KTM) 10:45:06 +6:02
      27. Laia Sanz (GasGas) 12:09:30 +1:30:2.