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Samuel Jacob clinches Overall National Title; Aishwarya retains National Ladies title: INRC 2w

Hampi (Karnataka), 31 Jan 2021: Samuel Sajan Jacob clinched the National Championship title while defending champion Aishwarya Pissay sealed the Ladies class once again in style with a huge margin in the fourth and final round of the God Speed Racing MRF MoGrip Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) for two-wheelers 2020 organised by Motorsports Academy of Vijayanagar under the aegis of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) here on Sunday.

TVS Racing’s RE Rajendra won the Super Bike Pro-Expert Class while Samuel Jacob continued his winning run in the Super Sport 260cc Group B class to clinch the Championship in his class.

TVS Racing also continued their domination in the Ladies Class with Aishwarya Pissay consolidating her position with another facile win but the Hosur company lost their grip in the scooter field which was won by a TVS rider Karthik N but a privateer displaced the established order taking the second place. Ninganna M Handral from Bengaluru, astride a TVS N Torq was streets ahead of Pinkesh Thakkar of TVS Racing. TVS Racing has been sweeping this class for some time now.

Asad Khan who won the Super Bike Expert Class Group A in the Hampi round on Sunday.

The Bullet class was dominated by Himalayans again with three Bengaluru riders sweeping the podium. Privateer Sharath Kumar finished ahead of SD Vishwas and Abhijeet Sarkar even as Naresh was disqualified.

Provisional Results:

Class 1: Super Bike Pro-Expert Group A: 1. #2 Rajendra RE, Hosur (TVS Racing – Apache RTR) (1hour, 9min, 53.686seconds); 2. #1 Nataraj R, Bengaluru (TVS Racing – Apache RTR) (1:11:26.388); 3. #47 Nikhil B, Kodagu (Privateer – Yamaha WR) (1:14:27.967).4. #3; Vinay Prasad, Bengaluru, Hero Xpulse (DNF). 4 Riders took part in this class.

Class 1A: Super Bike Expert Group A: 1. #4 Asad Khan, Chickmagaluru (Pvt – Suzuki RMX 450) (1:13:29.709); 2. #5 Sarath Mohan, Mallapuram (Pvt – Suzuki RMX 450) (1:15:49.166); 3. #7 Amarenda Sathe, Pune (Pvt – TVS Apache) (1:27:37.014).

Class 2: Super Sport 130cc, Group B: 1. #8 Varun Kumar A, Bengaluru (Pvt – Yamaha YBX) (1:23:03.313); 2. #9 Syed Kalaam, Bengaluru (Pvt – Yamaha YBX) (1:31:36.279); Only two of the four riders finished.

Class 3: Super Sport165cc Group B: 1. #17 PV Francis, Chickmagalur (Pvt – Hero Impulse) (1:17:31.427); 2. #18 Shoeb Mohamed Khan, Mysuru (Pvt – Hero Impulse) (1:18:54.571); 3. #10 Abrar Ahmed, Mysuru (Pvt – Hero Impulse) (1:19:33.674). 5 of 7 riders finished the class.

Class 4: Super Sport 260cc Group B: 1. #19 Samuel Jacob, Hosur (TVS Racing – Apache RTR) (1:11:01.565); 2. #21 J Imran Pasha, Mysuru (TVS Racing – Apache RTR) (1:11:15.009); 3. #22 Yuva Kumar, Bengaluru (Pvt – Hero Xpulse) (1:14:59.028). 8 of 9 riders finished the class.

Class 5: Super Sport 400cc Group B: 1. #29 Sajeesh Reghunathan, Bengaluru (Pvt – KTM Duke 390) (1:23:31.810); 2. #30 Harish S, Bengaluru (Pvt – KTM Duke 390) (1:23:32.588 – Including 1:00 penalty); Only 2 of 4 riders in the class finished.

Class 6: Super Sport 550cc Group B: 1. #34 Sarath Kumar S, Bengaluru (Pvt – Himalayan) (1:18:28.232); 2. #31 Vishwas SD, Bengaluru (Pvt- Himalayan) (1:19:20.126); 3. #35 Abhijeet Sarkar, Bengaluru (Pvt – Himalayan) (1:33:11.197). 3 out of 4 riders finished, 4th rider Naresh VS Disqualified (Dsq).

Class 7: So S3 Scooter 210 Group B: 1. #39 Karthik N, Hosur (TVS Racing -TVS N Torq) (1:22:15.338); 2. #38 Ninganna M Handral, Bengaluru (Pvt -TVS N Torq) (1:23:39.334); 3. #36 Pinkesh Thakkar (TVS Racing -TVS N Torq) (1:30:21.819). 3 out of 5 riders finished. One DNF, one DSQ.

Class 8: Ladies Class: Group B: 1. #41 Aishwarya Pissay, Bengaluru (TVS Racing – Apache RTR) (1:20:30.772); 2. #43 Tanika Shanbhag, Satara (Pvt – Hero Xpulse) (1:23:03.591); 3. #42 Ryhana Bee, Chennai (Pvt – TVS Apache) (1:25:06.192). All 3 riders finished.

Non championship Class: Star of Karnataka: 1. #52 Stephen Roy RA, Kushalanagar (Pvt – Hero Impulse) (1:17:39.868); 2. #49 MD Ansar, Bengaluru (Pvt – Hero Impulse) (1:21:49.531); 3. #45 Akshay Raje Urs, Mysuru (Pvt – Hero Xpulse) (1:22:23.201). 6 of 7 riders finished. One DNF.

Overall Points table at the end of fourth and final round in Hampi

MRF MoGrip Indian National Rally Championship for 2w (INRC) 2020

#	Name	Position	Final Points
1	SAMUEL SAJAN JACOB	1	83
2	IMRAN PASHA J	2	48
3	RAJENDRA R E	3	43
4	ASAD KHAN	4	38
5	SACHIN D	5	36
6	YUVA KUMAR	6	34
7	NATARAJ R	7	31
8	SUHAIL AHMED	8	29
9	SARATH MOHAN	9	20
10	SANJAY SOMASHEKAR	10	17
11	NIKHIL B	11	8
12	NARESH V S	12	6
13	SINAN FRANCIS	13	2
14	RAKESH N	13	2
15	TRINESH V	13	2
16	ARMUGAM SATHYARAJ	13	2
17	SUDEEP KOTTARY	14	1
18	STEPHEN ROY	15	1
19	FRANCIS P V	16	1

Note: As received from God Speed Racing, prooters of MRF MoGrip INRC 2w 2020

February 1, 2021

Gaurav Gill joins exclusive club in INRC Hall of Fame! Musa Sherif, first navigator to do 293 rallies

Bengaluru, 1 Feb 2021: Following are the Statistics of the Indian National Rally Championship after the end of the third round of the four-round INRC 2020 calendar which is pushed to 2021 due to the COVID pandemic.

Gaurav Gill and Musa Sherif have been together for 63 Rallies out of which they finished 39 Rallies, notching up 38 podiums and 36 victories. Gill was behind the wheel of a Mitsubishi Cedia for his first three titles while the last four came through the bulky Mahindra XUV.

Musa Sherif becomes the leading co-driver with the highest number of rallies, finishing his 293rd rally in the third round at Coimbatore, consecutively calling the notes for 29 years. He has navigated for 47 drivers in that period. These 293 rallies include over 150 rallies in INRC.

INRC Titles from 1988 – 2020

Driver’s Championship winners – After INRC got the National Championship status in 1988

	Driver’s Name	Number of titles	Years won	Remarks
1	Gaurav Singh Gill	Seven (7)	2007, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2020
2	V Naren Kumar	Seven (7)	1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2010
3	N Leelakrishnan	Six (6)	1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1998, 2001
4	Hari Singh	Four (4)	1994, 1995, 1996, 1997,
5	Farad Bhatheena	Two (2)	1988, 1989
6	Vikram Mathias	Two (2)	2004, 2008,
7	Amittrajit Ghosh	Two (2)	2012, 2013,
8	Lohit Urs	One (1)	2015,
9	Karna Kadur	One (1)	2016,
10	Chethan Shivram	One (1)	2019,

Co-Drivers’ Championship winners

	Driver’s Name	Number of titles	Years won	Remarks
1	Musa Sherif	Seven (7)	2007, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2020
2	D Ram Kumar	Six (6)	2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2010
3	Gurinder Singh Mann	Four (4)	1994, 1995, 1996, 1997,
4	N Mahendran	Three (3)	1991, 1992, 1993,
5	Farooq Ahmed	Three (3)	1998, 1999, 2001,
6	Raj Bagri	Two (2)	1988, 1989,
7	Ashwin Naik	Two (2)	2012, 2013,
8	CV Jayakumar	One (1)	1990,
9	Sujith Kumar BS	One (1)	2004,
10	PVS Murhty	One (1)	2008,
11	Shrikanth GM	One (1)	2015,
12	Nikhil Pai	One (1)	2016,
13	Dilip Sharan	One (1)	2019

Drivers, Co-Drivers and Teams that won the National Championship from 1988

	Year	Driver & Co-Driver	Team	Car	Tuner
1	1988	Farad Bathena/ Raj Bagri	Team MRF	Maruti Gypsy Group II (A)	Mohinder Lalwni
2	1989	Farad Bathena/ Raj Bagri	Team MRF	Maruti Gypsy Group II (A)	J Anand
3	1990	N Leelakrishnan/ CV Jaykumar	Team MRF	Maruti Gypsy Group II (A)	N Leelakrishnan
4	1991	N Leelakrishnan/ N Mahendran	Team MRF	Maruti Gypsy Group II (A)	N Leelakrishnan
5	1992	N Leelakrishnan/ N Mahendran	Team MRF	Maruti Gypsy Group II (A)	N Leelakrishnan
6	1993	N Leelakrishnan/ N Mahendran	Team MRF	Maruti Gypsy Group II (A)	N Leelakrishnan
7	1994	Hari Singh/ Gurinder Singh Mann	JK Tyre Rally Team	Maruti Gypsy Group A-1-A	S Karivardhan
8	1995	Hari Singh/ Gurinder Singh Mann	JK Tyre Rally Team	Maruti Gypsy Group A-1-A	S Karivardhan
9	1996	Hari Singh/ Gurinder Singh Mann	JK Tyre Rally Team	Maruti Esteem Group A-1-A	PNR Satish
10	1997	Hari Singh/ Gurinder Singh Mann	JK Tyre Rally Team	Maruti Esteem Group A-1-A	WSRF
11	1998	N Leelakrishnan/ Farooq Ahmed	Team MRF	Maruti Esteem Group A-1-A	N Leelakrishnan
12	1999	VR Naren Kumar/ Farooq Ahmed	Team MRF	Maruti Esteem Group A	N Leelakrishnan
13	2000	VR Naren Kumar/ D Ram Kumar	Team MRF	Maruti Baleno Group A	N Leelakrishnan
14	2001	N Leelakrishnan/ Farooq Ahmed	Team MRF	Honda City Group A	N Leelakrishnan
15	2002	VR Naren Kumar/ D Ram Kumar	Team MRF	Honda City Group A	N Leelakrishnan
16	2003	VR Naren Kumar/ D Ram KUmar	Team MRF	Honda City Group A	N Leelakrishnan
17	2004	Vikram Mathias/ Sujith Kumar BS	Team MRF	Honda City Group A	N Leelakrishnan
18	2005	VR Naren Kumar/ D Ram Kumar	JK Rally Team	Maruti Baleno Group N	N Leelakrishnan
19	2006	VR Naren Kumar/ D Ram Kumar	JK Rally Team	Maruti Baleno Group N	N Leelakrishnan
20	2007	Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif	Team MRF	Mitsubishi Cedia Group N	J Anand
21	2008	Vikram Mathias/ PVS Murthy	Red Rooster Racing	Mitsubishi Cedia Group N+	N Leelakrishnan
22	2009	Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif	Team MRF	Mitsubishi Cedia Group N+	J Anand
23	2010	VR Naren Kumar/ D Ram Kumar	Red Rooster Racing	Mitsubishi Cedia Group N+	N Leelakrishnan
24	2011	Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif	MRF	Mitsubishi Cedia Group N+	J Anand
25	2012	Amittrajit Ghosh/ Ashwin Naik	RRPM	Mitsubishi Cedia Group N	B Rajan
26	2013	Amittrajit Ghosh/ Ashwin Naik	RRPM	Mitsubishi Cedia Group N	B Rajan
27	2014	Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif	Mahindra Adventure	Mahindra XUV 500	N Leelakrishnan
28	2015	Lohitt V Urs/ Shrikanth Gowda	MRU Motorsport	Mitsubishi Cedia Evo8	Mohamed Rafiq Udaya
29	2016	Karna Kadur/ Nikhil V Pai	Team Yokohama India	Volkswagen Polo Group N	N Leelakrishnan
30	2017	Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif	Mahindra Adventure	Mahindra XUV 500	N Leelakrishnan
31	2018	Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif	Mahindra Adventure	Mahindra XUV 500	N Leelakrishnan
32	2019	Chetan Shivram/ Dilip Sharan	Team Akshara Racing	Volkswagen Polo	Fazil Khan, FRK
33	2020	Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif	JK Tyre Racing team	Mahindra XUV 300	N Leelakrishnan
34	2021

February 1, 2021

Gaurav Gill wins record 7th INRC title; equals Naren Kumar’s feat; surpasses Leela’s

By David Bodapati

Coimbatore, 31 Jan 2021: Gaurav Gill and experienced navigator Musa Sherif, clinched their 7th National title in the Rally of Coimbatore, the third and penultimate round of the Champions Yacht Club fmsci Indian National Rally Championship 2020 (INRC), with a round to spare here on Sunday.

Gill equalled the record of Naren Kumar’s seven National titles and surpassed Narayanaswamy Leelakrishnan (6), his current tuner. Incidentally, Gill also won three FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship titles and he has also taken part in the World Rally Championship in WRC2 class.

Gill garnered 116 points from three rounds and with only K-1000 with a maximum of 39 points on offer, left in the calendar, Gill has sealed the championship with a round to spare. Here in Coimbatore, Gill’s XUV 300 turbo suffered from electrical issues and he struggled to do even 100 Kmph.

Yet, Gill won five of the six stages and despite having electrical issues from the very beginning that hampered his speed, he brought home his limping car to get him the latest National title that put him on a pinnacle.

Dr Speed Bikku Babu takes a right-hander in SS5 on Sunday. Babu finished 2nd overall and first in his class in the Round 3 of the Indian National Rally Championship.

Gaurav Gill, left and Musa Sherif, who won the seventh National title together

“Yes, the stages were very narrow and rough terrain which made it highly technical. This year the stage distance was increased and now it is one of the longest (over 19 Kms) stages in Indian rallies, so the route became very tough. But I like it because, it is always nice to win the Stages which are tough and demanding. I did suffer initial hiccups but as the saying goes, it is nice to conquer things when the going gets tough,” quipped Gill.

The Arjuna Awardee and Delhi-based driver, who is nick-named the King of Indian Motorsports, is truly a force to reckon with, and had he progressed to the WRC earlier than he did, in his peak, India and FMSCI would now have boasted of a World Champion.

But all is not lost as Gill still dreams of WRC, and the champion in him is eager to produce big results. For now, he will be taking part in the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) again with the first round of 2021 season in Chennai from 26 to 28 March. It will be run simultaneously for Asia Cup and South India Rally as the 2021 INRC Round, provided the calendar is approved by FMSCI for INRC.

Meanwhile, two entrants from Kerala, “Dr Speed” Bikku Babu, who is maturing like old wine, won in the INRC 2 class and “Mr Clean” Fabid Ahmer topped the INRC 3 category, to make up for a bad outing in Itanagar. Ahmer managed to recoup, fight and get back with his clean-and-steady driving to lead the championship once again by eight points in INRC3.

Dean Mascarenhas, who retired with a gear box failure, still leads the championship in INRC2 with one round to go. The A seeded driver, Babu, and B seeded Ahmer, are not the only drivers from the stable of Chettinad Sporting, as the Goa-Coorg combination of Vaibhav Marathe, a product of Champions Group, won INRC 4 class, along with co-driver Suhan M Kabir. The duo clinched the issue after some hiccups in Round 1 at Itanagar. The Champions Yacht Club Director in Goa, Marathe, is leading the championship table in his class with a podium in Round 2 and a win here.

Dr Speed Bikku Babu, left, and Bonny Thomas, INRC Overall second and INRC2 winners in the Rally of Coimbatore on Sunday. Photo by David Bodapati

The Team which hogged limelight on the day was Chettinad Sporting, led by Thyagarajan and Roshan, the men behind the cars’ performance. The team won three out of four Championship classes and had one more podium to boost as a bonus. It was in 2014 in Nashik that the team had swept all the classes but one, and today is a great day for a team which started its journey with South India Rally in 1996 and went on to field two cars for the rally in Coorg in 2007, where Chettinad Sporting had a good presence with their blue colour dominating the car livery. And today, after 25 years, they came out with flying colours with three wins. “Three cheers to all the mechanics, the drivers, co-drivers and the men who believed in them who made the journey possible… For us, drivers and co-drivers are always the heroes and all praise should go to them,” said Thyagarajan.

Gill, too, has played no less a role, as both Bikku Babu and FabidAhmer were part of his Rally School and learnt the tricks of the trade to blossom and perform to their potential. Chettinad Sporting provieds technical support to Gill’s academy in the Kethanur windmill farms near Coimbatore.

Meanwhile, defending champion Chethan Shivram with a new navigator in Shahid Salman, in his Volkswagon Polo 1.6 bereft of the usual LSD, still managed to finish fourth overall and second in his class which is a big achievement. But the luck that deserted with Dilip Sharan, who is now navigating for Rakesh Shukla in an Esteem, may have dampened the spirit, but the champ in Shivram continues to fight for honours with K-1000 still on the radar. Chetan and his brother Dilip had won the 2019 championship with FRK led by Fazal Khan tuning the car, for Team Akshara Racing, as they got into the exclusive club of 10 Overall INRC winners in 32 years.

Vaibhav Marathe and Suhan Kabir bring Yokohama their first class win in ten years with their last title coming in 2010 for Red Rooster Racing. Photo by David Bodapati

Harikrishna Wadi and co-driver Chirag Thakur put their Honda City on top in the Junior INRC category and 11th overall, while Pragathi Gowda, driving with a new navigator in her third rally, in Trisha Jagannath, came second in their VW Polo. Mysore lad Rakshith Iyer and co-driver Chandrasekhar were third in Junior class in an Esteem.

Sanjay Razdan and navigator Karan Aukta won the Gypsy Challenge with veteran Sanjay Agarwal and co-driver Smitha Prasad taking second and the pair of Divyanshu Vyas and VenuRemesh Kumar third.

In the Ladies Class, 27-year debutante Athira Murali of Kottayam won the Round 3 in an INRC4 Esteem along with co-driver George Varghese, despite losing a lot of time due to a slower car ahead which had technical issues. Another lady driver from the north, Amandeep Kaur, who is also making her debut in the INRC, came second, with ever-smiling navigator Mohit Malik in a Baleno ahead of mother-daughter pair of doctors in Dr Shivani Pruthvi and Dr Deepthi Pruthvi, from Davangere in Karnataka, who finished on the podium, despite some issues with the car, in this class.

Of the 59 cars that took the start on Day 1, only 33 cars completed the rally and 26 failed to finish. The fourth and last round of the delayed 2020 INRC 2020, K-1000, is scheduled to be run by Karnataka Motor Sports Club (KMSC) from 12 to 14 February, 2021.

Unaudited Provisional Results: (Round 3 after Sunday’s six Special Stages):

Overall: 1. Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif (Mahindra Adventure3 00) (1hour, 27min, 56.700seconds); 2. Dr Speed – Bikku Babu/ Bonnie Thoma (VW Polo) (1:29:21.100); 3. Fabid Ahmer/ Eldo Chacko (JK Tyre) (VW Polo) (01:29:57.200); 4. Chetan Shivram /Shahid Salman (VW Polo) (01:31.05.500); 5. Aditya Thakur/ Virendra Keshyap (VW Polo) (1:31:36.700); 6. Ritesh Guttedar M/ Lokaranjan HJ (VW Polo) (01:31:43.600); 7. Sahil Khanna /Vidit Jain (Snap Racing) (VW Polo) (01:32:54.200); 8. Maninder Singh Prince/ Vinay Padmashali (JK Tyre – VW Polo) (1:32:57.400); 9. Phillippos Mathai/ Kumar Ramasamy (Mahindra XUV 500) (1:33:18.600); 10. Mohammed Kasim/ Sanath G (VW Polo) (1:33:45.300).

INRC2:1. Dr Speed – Bikku Babu/ Bonnie Thomas (1:29:21.100); 2. Chetan Shivram /Shahid Salman (01:31.05.500); 3. Ritesh Guttedar M/ Lokaranjan HJ (01:31:43.600); 4. Sahil Khanna /Vidit Jain (Snap Racing) (01:32:54.200); 5. Rahul Kantharaj/ Vivek Bhatt (01:54:07.500); 6. Suhem Kabir/ Jeevarathinam (2:12:24.600); 7. Lakshay Veer Dabas/ Sagar Mallappa (Snap Racing/ VW Polo) (2:13:27.500); All in VW Polo.

INRC3: 1. Fabid Ahmer /Eldo Chacko (JK Tyre) (VW Polo) (01:29:57.200); 2. Aditya Thakur/ Virendra Keshyap (VW Polo) (1:31:36.700); 3. Maninder Singh Prince/ Vinay Padmashali (VW Polo) (1:32:57.400); 4.Mohammed Kasim/ Sanath G (VW Polo) (01:33:45.300); 5. Harkrishnan Wadia /Chirag Thakur (Honda City) (01:34:42.300); 6. Pragathi Gowda/ Trisha Jagannath (Team Vasundhara/ VW Polo) (1:37:08.200); 7. Ashad Pasha/ Deeksha Balakrishna (VW Polo) (01:37:18.300).

INRC 4: 1. Vaibhav Marathe/ Suhan MK (Honda City) (01:36:51.700); 2. Yeswanth Padale/ Bharth SM (Honda City) (1:40:34.300); 3. Pradeep Ravi/ Arvind Dheerendra (Maruti Suzuki Esteem) (01:42:13.200); 4.Sumesh M/ Anil Abbas (Maruti Suzuki Esteem) (01:46:31.700); 5. Athira Murali/ George Varghese (1:52:10.400); 6. Amandeep Kaur/ Mohit Mallik (Maruti Suzuki Baleno) (01:14:18.300); 7. Rakesh Shukla / Dilip Sharan (Maruti Suzuki Esteem) (01:53:01.300).

Junior INRC: 1. #28; Harikrishna Wadi/ Chirag Thakur (JK Tyre -Honda City) (1:34:42.300); 2. #38; Rakshit Iyer/ M Chandrashekar (Maruti Suzuki Esteem) (2:04:07.800); 3. #36; Shivani Pruthvi/ Deepthi Pruthvi (JK Tyre Mitsubishi Cedia) (2:15:15.200); Only 4 cars of the 6 eligible for Junior INRC finished.

Non-Championship class

Gypsy Challenge: 1. Sanjay Razdan/ Karan Aukta (01:40:40.200); 2. Sanjay Agarwal/ Smitha Prasad (01:42:44.700); 3. Divyanshu Vyas/ Venu Remesh;Kumar (01:44:03.900);4. Mohd. Kaif Khan/ Arjun Dheerendra (01:44:30.900); 5. Dheeraj KV/ Pramod Raman (01:45:31.700); 6. Daksh Gill/ Mrinmoy Saha (1:57:58.600);

(Only 6 of the 12 Gypsies finished).

Ladies Class: 1. #47 Athira Murali/ George Varghese (Esteem); 2. #46 Amandeep Kaur/ Mohit Malik (Baleno); 3. #36 Shivani Pruthvi/ Deepthi Pruthvi (Mitsubishi Cedia).

eom/david/31jan2021

February 1, 2021
Athira Murali, makes INRC debut

Coimbatore, 31 Jan 2021: Athira Murali, 27, made her debut in INRC at Coimbatore in INRC4 category here at the third round of the Indian National Rally Championship for cars 2020 season. The Kerala girl from Kottayam, exhibited rich driving skills to clock good timings and beat many male counterparts at the Windmill farms of Kethanoor in January 2021.

Inspired and supported by her father, VN Muraleedharan, she fell in love with cars and took up the sport at a late stage but made an impressive debut and looks forward to continue her passion. She rented a rally-prepared car funded by her family and unless a sponsor comes forward, the promising talent may fade away before it blossoms. But with right support and hardwork, and if her energies are channelised properly she has all the talent to go places.

She not only won the Ladies class, but finished fifth in INRC4 category which had 12 entries. Navigated by experienced and disciplined George Varghese, the 4×4 lady driver managed to beat another debutant in Ladies class Amandeep Kaur and Madhi Elangovan, and experienced drivers in higher classes including Pragathi Gowda and Shivani Pruthvi. She was also faster than six other male drivers despite losing much time in SS1 due to a slower car of Madhi, ahead which had suffered technical issues and stalled in SS3 midway through the stage.

Though entered as privateer, Athira is from Team R Sports, her tuner is Raja Padmanabhan from Palakkad, who did his best to support her. She is also a URF and India book of Records holder and a journalist with Kaumudy, with her popular weekly show aired on Tuesday at 8pm prime time in Malayalam. A popular Vblogger in Malayalam, she commands a following of close to 70,000 and her Auto Vlogg reaches to more than 1.5 lakh audience on YouTube channel @AthiraMurali.

January 31, 2021
Gaurav Gill powers his limping Mahindra to top spot after Leg 1: INRC Round 3

Kethanur (near Coimbatore), 30 Jan 2021: King of Indian motorsports, Gaurav Gill and co-driver Musa Sherif, powered their limping Mahindra XUV 300, to clock the fastest timing of the day, finishing ahead of the pack to lead the Day 1 of the Rally of Coimbatore, the third round of the Champion Yacht Club fmsci Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) for four wheelers here at the Kethanur windmill farms on Saturday.

The Arjuna Awardee and three-time APRC champion, Gill with Sherif, who is taking part in his 293rd rally, had trouble even before they started the Special Stages, as they faced electrical issues and the car failed to gain speed. They did continue despite the `misfiring’ and still clocked better timings than the others in three of the four stages.

“I was definitely off the pace, by some four minutes. Not sure what the problem is, but hopefully, it would be sorted out tonight. The misfiring started in the very first corner of the first Stage. So much so, I couldn’t even do 100 Kmph! It was frustrating in the sense that I would like to deliver good results to my sponsors and the team. Anyway, tomorrow, I hope to be on the kind of pace I want to,” said Gill at the end of the day.

Meanwhile, other top-guns Karna Kadur (co-driver Nikhil Pai), Amittrajit Ghosh (co-driver Ashwin Naik) and Dean Mascarenhas (co-driver Shruptha Padiwal), had a bad day. Kadur, running with a new engine, encountered “teething problems” through the day and lost time, but will be eyeing leg points on the morrow.Ghosh had his share of problems and had stopped while Mascarenhas dropped out due to gearbox issues.

Gaurav Gill, left, and Musa Sherif, who is on his 293rd rally after reccee on Friday.

Dr “Speed” Bikku Babu, once again was in his elements and finished the day second overall with another talented Kerala youngster Fabid Ahmer, along with new co-driver Eldo Chacko, overall third at the end of the day after four Special Stages. Two more stages will be run on Sunday.

While Dr Bikku Babu is leading the INRC 2 class from Chetan Shivram, who is now with a new co-driver Shahid Salman and running on stock engine. Sahil Khanna, navigated by Vidit Jain, is in third place. In INRC 3, Arjun Rao (co-driver Shanmuga Sundaram) is trailing Fabid Amer by just 22 seconds. Adiya Thakur (co-driver Virendra Kashyap) is in third.

In INRC 4, the Goa-Kodagu combination of Vaibhav Marathe and Suhan MK are ahead of Yeswanth Padale and Bharath SM, and Rounak Singh and Amit Waghchaure.

Other casuality on Saturday was Rahul Kantharaj (co-driver Vivek Bhatt), who had a puncture and lost precious time.

Provisional Unaudited Results: (Results are given till 7 places, were available, to facilitate drivers and co-drivers to count their leg points)

Overall: 1. Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif (Mahindra Adventure3 00) (58:41.800); 2. Dr Speed – Bikku Babu/ Bonnie Thoma (VW Polo) (1:00:01.300); 3. Fabid Ahmer/ Eldo Chacko (JK Tyre) (VW Polo) (01:00:08.300); 4. Arjun Rao/ Shanmuga Sundaram (VW Polo) (1: 00:30.800); 5. Aditya Thakur/ Virendra Keshyap (VW Polo) (1:01:04.500); 6. Chetan Shivram /Shahid Salman (VW Polo) (01:01.13.100); 7. Sahil Khanna /Vidit Jain (Snap Racing) (VW Polo) (01:01:33.100); 8. Ritesh Guttedar M/ Lokaranjan HJ (VW Polo) (01:01:37.400);

Note: Phillippo Mathai/ Kumar Ramasamy (Mahindra XUV 500- MRF Tyres) 01:02:47.600 get six leg points for 2nd in INRC class; However, INRC is not a separate class.

INRC2:1. Dr Speed – Bikku Babu/ Bonnie Thomas (1:00:01.300); 2. Chetan Shivram /Shahid Salman (01:01.13.100); 3. Sahil Khanna /Vidit Jain (Snap Racing) (01:01:33.100); 4. Ritesh Guttedar M/ Lokaranjan HJ (01:01:37.400); 5. Dhruva Chandrasekhar/ PVS Murthy (01:04:11.700); 6. BC Roopesh/ Ragavendra Phalguna (01:13:10.400); 7. Rahul Kantharaj/ Vivek Bhatt (01:23:29.700). All in VW Polo.

INRC3: 1. Fabid Ahmer /Eldo Chacko (JK Tyre) (VW Polo) (01:00:08.300); 2. Arjun Rao/ Shanmuga Sundaram (VW Polo) (1: 00:30.800); 3. Aditya Thakur/ Virendra Keshyap (VW Polo) (1:01:04.500); 4. Maninder Singh Prince/ Vinay Padmashali (VW Polo) (01:02:36.400); 5.Mohammed Kasim/ Sanath G (VW Polo) (01:02:39.900); 6. Harkrishnan Wadia /Chirag Thakur (Honda City) (01:03:17.400); 7. Daraius Shroff/ Nitin Jacob (VW Polo) (01:03:22.900).

INRC 4: 1. Vaibhav Marathe/ Suhan MK (Honda City) (01:04:15.300); 2. YeswanthPadale/ Bharth SM (Honda City) (1:07:27.500); 3. Rounaq Singh/ Amit Waghchoure (Maruti Baleno) (01:08:41.900); 4. Pradeep Ravi/ Arvind Dheerendra (Maruti Suzuki Esteem) (01:09:13.400); 5.Sumesh M/ Anil Abbas (Maruti Suzuki Esteem) (01:11:54.700); 6. Amandeep Kaur/ Mohit Mallik (Maruti Suzuki Baleno) (01:14:18.300); 7. Rakesh Shukla / Dileep Sharan (Maruti Suzuki Esteem) (01:15:51.700).

Junior INRC: 1. Pragathi Gowda/ Trisha Jagannath (01:05.10.300); 2. Rohit Iyer/ M Manjunath (01:21:32.200); (Only 2 Junior INRC cars finished the four stages today)

Non-Championship class: Gypsy Challenge: 1. Sanjay Razdan/ Karan Aukta (01:07:17.700); 2. Abhishek Gowda/ Dheeraj Maney (01:08:34.100); 3. Sanjay Agarwal/ Smitha Prasad (01:08:39.000); 4. Divyanshu Vyas/ Venu Remesh;Kumar (01:08:48.600); 5. Mohd. Kaif Khan/ Arjun Dheerendra (01:10:20.600): 6. Dheeraj KV/ Pramod Raman (01:10:49.600); 7. Shyam Gopinath/ Ashwin Gururaj (01:1103.500).

Leg points as follows: 1^st Place: 7 points; 2^nd Place: 6 points, 3^rd Place: 5 points; 4^th Place: 4 points; 5^th Place: 3 points; 6^th Place: 2 points; 7^th Place: 1 point.

Pragathi Gowda, left, who won the Junior INRC in Itanagar first round with Deeksha (not in pic) has a new navigator, a childhood friend and schoolmate Trisha Jagannathan, after the Reccee on Friday.

(15of the 59 cars that took the start, failed to finish all the four Special Stages, but many of them will be rejoining on Sunday in the Super Rally format to earn Leg Points).

January 30, 2021
Mumbai Falcons podium on debut; Jehan third, Kush bumped out

Mumbai Falcons earn F3 Asia podium, on debut with Jehan Daruvala finishhing 3rd while Kush Maini had a forgettable race as he was bumped into in the very first lap in the Asia F3 championship in Dubai.

Jehan started 4th and had to take evasive action at the start after being cut off by a driver ahead. He then had to defend during the 1st lap, but recovered and soon overtook another driver.

With a car right on his tail, Jehan could not make up further places. He eventually finished 3rd to earn Mumbai Falcons their first maiden F3 podium on debut.

Kush Maini had a forgettable race. He was hit by another car on lap 1. He had to pit to change a tyre, which put him right at the back of the field. He clocked the 2nd fastest lap of the race and will therefore start 2nd in Race 2, tomorrow.

January 30, 2021
Rally of Coimbatore begins with Ceremonial flag-off

Coimbatore, 29 Jan 2021: The Rally of Coimbatore, the third round of the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) 2020 began with the ceremonial ceremony here on Friday with the City Police Commissioner flagging of the first two cars and a select few.

The 2020 season began with two back-to-back rounds in Itanagal, Rally of Arunachal Pradesh, which drew praise for their superb handling as far as the safety and running of the event is concerned. The COVID19 pandemic forced the promoters Champions Yacht Club and different organising clubs with no choice but to push the calendar to December and the last two rounds to January and February. Rumours were floating a couple of days back that the Rally of Coimbatore would be put-off or cancelled. As such the flag-off came as a big relief both to the participants and to the other motorsports fraternity and stakeholders.

The participants had to undergo the formalities of documentation on Thursday which went on late into the evening and some say it was close to 8pm. INDIAinF1 always tries to remind the officials and other organising leaders and FMSCI stewards that sportspersons are supreme for any sport to survive. Officials who do not respect the participating drivers or co-drivers are make their job difficult by asking mundane things is a `BIG no!’ Coimbatore Auto Sports Club has good reputation over the years as the best organising club as far as rallies of INRC are concerned. However, an official who is not from the club is said to have delayed things. We request the Promoters to look into it and make sure that the drivers do not suffer.

Ther Promoters have earned a tag as `Driver Frieindly’, though there were some hiccups, the drivers and co-drivers are having a ball. At least some who could not dream of sponsors. The ladies teams have increases and sponsors were roped in, ladies participation has increased to seven and we also see an official from FMSCI who is from “Women in Motorsport”, an FIA concept which augurs well for the sport and for women power.

Promoters have also subsidised the transport for cars, and Vamsi Merla, of CYC, has personally called many drivers from North and drivers like Bani Yadav, a doctorate in Motorsports and Khyati Modi, a Gymkhana driver were given a chance and promoted to take part in Itanagar rounds.

As such anything negative to the drivers hurt the sentiment and negates the good work done till now as Drivers and Co-drivers are the heart of the sport and should be treated as such.

It should me noted that the Federation and organisers crib that there is no media coverage. But there was no Media room and the Press Conference as per Supplementary Regulations was not held. If we do not follow simple things, and expect media coverage, it is not likely to happen.

January 29, 2021
Coimbatore all set for 4w INRC Round 3 at Wind-mill farms

Coimbatore, 28 Jan 2021: Gaurav Gill the King of Indian Motorsports and his trusted navigator Musa Sherif, who won both the back-to-back rounds in Arunachal Pradesh will start as favourites in the Rally of Coimbatore, the third round of the Champions Yacht Club fmsci Indian National Rally Championship for 4-wheelers 2020 at the Kethanoor wind-mill farms on Saturday and Sunday.

Organised by Coimbatore Auto Sports Club (CASC) and promoted by Champions Yacht Club, the premier rally event under the aegis of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs in India (fmsci) attracted a huge number of 61 entries in top four classes. The top-INRC contenders A-seeded Gaurav Gill- Musa Sherif, will be spearhead their challenge in the Mahindra XUV 300, while Karna Kadur and Nikhil Pai will be behind the wheel of a Volkswagen Polo 1.6 INRC NA. Amittrajit Ghosh and Ashwin Naik will be in the other Mahindra XUV300 to completed the three INRC entries.

The top INRC class will also see talented Younus Ilyas and Harish KN, in a Race Concepts prepared Mitsubishi Cedia while the INRC Round 3, will see the return of Philippos Matthai with veteran stalwart Kumar Ramaswamy, making a comeback, after he last called the notes, for a one off rally for both Akbar Ebrahim. They will be driving a Mahindra XUV500.

Dean Mascarenhas, along with co-driver Shruptha Padival, also in a VW Polo 1.6 INRC2 and will have Dr Speed, Bikku Babu (co-driver Bonny Thomas) and defending champion driver Chetan Shivaram with a new navigator in Sahid Salman, also in a VW Polo 1.6. All three are A-seeded drivers and will be fighting for honours in INRC2 and Overall categories.

The INRC3 category is filled with talented youngsters, led by steady driver Fabid Ahmer (co-driver Eldo K Chacko, who will face stiff competition from youngsters like Aditya Thakur (co-drier Virender Kashyap), and Round 1 winners Maninder Singh Prince and Vinay Padmashali. Besides Arjun Rao and Shanmuga SN too can be a black horse on their day. All are on VW Polos.

The Green car of Mujeeb Rehman and co-driver Goutham CP will now be with the Yellows as the INRC4 winner in Itanagar was roped in immediately after his win by the JK Tyre team. Lanusanen Pongener, the Round 1 winner will have a new navigator in Rohit N and the first INRC round winner from Nagaland can spring a surprise on his day. The other favourites are Mysore brothers Rakshit Iyer (co-drier M Chandrasekhar) and Rohit Iyer along with navigator Manjunath (Times Manju).

It will be interesting to see the mother-daughter couple come back after missing the first two rounds. Shivani, who just graduated as a Doctor, will be joined by navigator mom, Dr Deepthi Pruthvi. The other talented lady driver Pragathi Gowda who won the Junior INRC, will not have her debut partner, Deekshita as her navigator. Trisha Jagannath will make the calls for Pragathi, while Deekshita Balakrishna will be navigating for Chikmagalur drier Asad Pasha, all three in a Polo in INRC3. The other lady driver Khyati Mody with co-driver Mahesh Nandi will be in a Honda City in INRC4. Co-driver Smitha Prasad will be the other lady co-driver navigating for Sanjay Aggarwal in a Gypsy.

The rally has two physical stages, 19.25km of Black Thunder and 14.25km of Thunder World. Both the stages will be run twice on Saturday and once on Sunday for a total Special Stage distance of 100.5km and along with a liaison distance of 35.94km, will make up the 136.44km rally route.

Zayn Khan, who missed the first two rounds, and became the first Virtual Steward in the history of INRC will be back as the Chief Steward with D Ramkumar and R Mahendran as the other stewards, with the former doubling up as FMSCI observer. Both Ramkumar and Mahendran are stars of yester years with Mahendran winning the first INRC round in 1988 along with L Gopalakrishnan. Ramkumar was a key winning partner for many years to champion Naren Kumar.

S Ramesh Kumar will be the Technical Delegate while Shyam Kumar, will be the Safety Officer. In Itanagar, Shyam performed the roles of Steward, Observer and Safety Delegate for both the rounds. J Prithviraj will be the Clerk of the Course.

K1000 will the fourth and final round, to be held near Bengaluru from Feb 12 to 14 in a truncated INRC Calendar of 2020 which was hit by COVID pandemic.

January 29, 2021
MRF Mogrip 2w rally to kick off Utsav de Hampi

Hampi (Near Hospet, Karnataka), 28 Jan 2021: Leading riders from TVS Racing, Samuel Jacob, Nataraj and Aishwarya Pissay are all set to provide the thrills and challenge the rivals as Utsav de Hampi, a grand festival of multiple motorsports event kick starts with Rally de Hampi, the fourth round of the MRF Mogrip fmsci Indian National Rally Championship for 2-wheelers here on Friday. Three more events, a 4×4 off road, the four-wheeler INRC contender round and Autocross de Hampi, will also be held during the festival.

To announce the event, the organisers Motorsports Academy of Vijaynagar, the new district which is carved out of Bellary, and Promoter God Speed held a Press Conference at Hospet on Thursday. Seven-time National Motocross champion Shyam Kothari, the brain behind God Speed Racing, FIM World Cup Baja winner and leading star in the Ladies class Aishwarya Pissay, Clerk of the Course Girija Shankar .Joshy, and rally legend of yesteryears both on bikes and cars, CK Chinnappa along with hosts Darshan, Santosh and Rohit Gowda were present.

The championship is in its final stages after three rounds of exciting stuff beginning with Puttur, Bengaluru and the third round recently in Coimbatore. The rally offers two physical stages, Jambu and Sagar, run thrice and twice respectively on Sunday. Jambu is 11.4km while Sagar is 13.8km for a total Stage distance of 61.8km and along with a transport section of 84.35km, the total rally distance for all the five stages and transport together is 146.15km.

Samuel Jacob who won the overall honours ahead of Nataraj in the third round in Coimbatore is leading Cclass 4, the Super Sport 260cc Group B while Nataraj, also from TVS Racing, is in the top Super Bike Pro Expert Group A. J Imran Pash, also from TVS Racing, came overall second in Coimbatore and is in the same class as Jacob. Aishwarya Pissay, also from the stables of TVS, is leading the championship in the Ladies class.

On Friday, Parth Jindal of JSW group, Dy CM Laxman Savadi, Ministers Sriramulu, Anand Singh, MP Tejesvi Surya, CT Ravi, Suresh Babu along with Vijayendra and Siddharth Singh are expected to grace the inauguration on Friday evening.

The following classes will be held in nine classes:

Class 1: Super Bike-Pro Expert (Group “A” Single class irrespective of engine capacity);

Class 1-A: Super Bike (Expert) Group “A”

Class 2: Super Sport 130 Group “B”;

Class 3: Super Sport 165 Group “B”;

Class 4: Super Sport 260 Group“B”;

Class 5: Super Sport 400 Group“B”;

Class 6: Super Sport 550 Group“B”;

Class 7: Group “B” (S0 to S3 Scooters up to 210CC);

Class 8: Group “B” Ladies Class.

Non Championship class: Star of Karnataka

January 29, 2021

FIA Junior WRC returns to 5-round season for 2021

The 2021 FIA Junior WRC Championship will be contested across five FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) rounds in a bid to find the next star of the WRC.

A field of Ecoboost-powered Fiesta Rally4s, all exclusively equipped with Pirelli tyres and powered by Wolf Lubricants will do battle on a mixture of surface types and conditions for the biggest prize package in rallying.

This year’s championship will also celebrate FIA Junior WRC’s incredible 20-year history, which goes back to the days of a fresh-faced Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena guiding their Super 1600 car to championship glory. In the two decades that followed, FIA Junior WRC drivers went on to amass a so-far combined total of 16 WRC Championships, 172 WRC event victories and 415 podiums.

Those drivers looking to add their names to the history books with the likes of Loeb will no-doubt face many challenges throughout the five-round championship that will see them lean on every inch of their driving talent. The fight for the 2021 crown will be tightened further with the final championship classification counting each crew’s four best classification results and all stage win points. Double classification points return in 2021 for the final round of the season, only available to drivers who previously entered at least three FIA Junior WRC rounds in 2021, providing an unpredictable and exciting championship battle.

Round 1: Croatia 22 – 25 April
Rally Croatia is a brand-new all-asphalt addition to the WRC which will serve as the curtain raiser for this year’s five-round championship to the delight of Croatia’s passionate rally fanbase. Although a new feature on the WRC calendar, the Croatian event has international pedigree having previously been a part of the FIA European Rally Championship for many years until 2013. The service park will be based in Croatia’s capital city, Zagreb, with the characteristically slippery asphalt stages snaking their way through Karlovac County, Zagreb County and Krapina-Zagorje County. It’s likely that all of 2021’s Junior WRC crews will have limited road-knowledge on the opening round, meaning the critical task of writing and reading of new notes should only add to the drama of 2021’s championship fight.

Round 2: Portugal 20 – 23 May
In stark contrast to the opening round, Rally Portugal is the first gravel event on the FIA WRC calendar and has previously featured on the FIA Junior WRC calendar. Junior WRC’s most recent visit to Portugal was in 2018, leaving nothing on the table when it came to drama through various thrills and spills on the iconic Portuguese stages.

Round 3: Estonia 15 – 18 July
Rally Estonia made its WRC debut in 2020, with Junior WRC witnessing an epic battle between local heroes and talents from further afield on the fast and challenging Estonian roads. Rally Estonia will be a very different gravel round to Portugal, testing crews further by calling upon a completely different skillset to master Estonia’s sweeping corners and jumps. The 2020 edition of Rally Estonia was a hit with drivers and teams, featuring an almighty battle for stage win points as Martins Sesks became Latvia’s first ever Junior WRC event winner.

Round 4: Belgium August
The championship heads to the tricky asphalt roads of Ypres, Belgium, for the penultimate round of the 2021 season in August. The event is a classic with tight competition along its ditch-lined roads, where drivers risk cuts at their own peril, and it is expected to provide a tantalising battle as the championship fight heats up. Crews with three strong classification scores on the board will head to Ypres knowing they can afford to drop a poor classification score and therefore cherry pick stages to push for stage win points on in a bid to help their championship.

Round 5: Spain 14 – 17 October
The championship finale is planned to play out at Rally Spain, with 2021 marking the rally’s 30^th anniversary as a WRC event, the event is steeped in history and is regarded as one of the toughest asphalt challenges in the FIA WRC. Double classification points will mean a wide open and unpredictable title fight going down to the wire ensuring every contender will push for every classification and stage point available. With the pressure piled on the championship protagonists, Rally Spain will no doubt be a nail-biter thanks to its racetrack-like surface and extra-wide roads giving opportunity to maximise commitment through every corner. The high speeds also mean increased jeopardy though, with high-speed mistakes usually arriving at a huge and most likely championship-ending cost.

Maciej Woda, FIA Junior WRC Team Director, said: “It’s great to see the 2021 FIA Junior Championship taking shape with a good mix of events on this year’s calendar. I think all five rounds will require a different set of skills to master which is very important for the championship to rigorously test all of our drivers and find out who really has got the talent. No two rounds are the same which is an exciting prospect and should really shake things up for the championship.

“We’ve worked very hard with the FIA and WRC Promoter to ensure the calendar is spaced out evenly enough to help crews prepare for each event and also leave a reasonable gap from the final round of the 2020 championship. Normally the Junior WRC Championship concludes in September or October and it allows the championship and crews a healthy amount of time to prepare and confirm plans for the following season. From speaking with all interested crews and the late conclusion of the 2020 season we made sure to provide interested crews the time needed to put their 2021 programme and plans together.”

January 28, 2021