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Anish Shetty clinches top honours on Day 2: MMSC Bike Racing Nationals
Chennai, 12 Dec 2020: Anish Damodar Shetty of Race Concepts, a fitness trainer from Bengaluru, pulled off a brilliant tactical win in the premier Pro-Stock 301-400cc class race in the first round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship at the MMRT in Irungattukottai, near here on Saturday.
Biding his time, Shetty, starting fifth on the grid, made a strong move in the second half of the six-lap race to finished ahead of a strong TVS Racing combination of multiple champion Jagan Kumar and defending champion Deepak Ravikumar who raced nursing an injured knee following a crash during practice session earlier in the week.
Equally impressive winner today was TVS Racing’s KY Ahamed who held off Eneos Honda Erula Racing riders Mathana Kumar and Rajiv Sethu, in the Pro-Stock 165cc category. Sethu, the Race-1 winner yesterday, could not capitalise on a pole-position start. Ahamed’s victory somewhat compensated for the absence of team-mate and multiple champion Jagan Kumar whose bike stalled on the out-lap before the race.
Elsewhere, local challenger Aravind Selvam (Rulexx Rockstar Racing) won a tight race in the Novice (Stock 165cc) class while Ann Jennifer (Sparks Racing), also from Chennai, and winner of yesterday’s Race-1, scored another dominant win for a grand double in the Girls (Stock 165cc) category. The race was reduced to three laps following a red flag stoppage due to a crash.
Bengaluru’s Abhishek Vasudev today roared to victory in both the Open category races of the TVS One-Make Championship organised by the MMSC for a fine treble following his win in Race-1 yesterday while Navneeth Kumar from Puducherry completed a double in the Novice class of the same championship.
Pune’s Sarthak Chavan, all of 14 years, became the youngest winner of the weekend when he streaked to victory in the Open (NSF 250R) class of the Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup.
The results (Provisional – all 6 laps unless mentioned):
National Championship:
Pro-Stock 301-400cc (Race-2): 1. Anish Damodara Shetty (Race Concepts) (11mins, 51.346); 2. Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) (11:54.613); 3. Deepak Ravikumar (TVS Racing) (11:54.705).
Pro-Stock 165cc (Race-2): 1. KY Ahamed (TVS Racing) (12:17.204); 2. S Mathana Kumar (Eneos Honda Erula Racing) (12:17.281); 3. Rajiv Sethu (Eneos Honda Erula Racing) (12:17.344).
Novice (Stock 165cc, Race-2): 1. Aravind Selvam (Rulexx Rockers Racing) (13:05.564); 2. Mohan Babu P (Pvt, Chennai) (13:05.743); 3. Seshadri S (Sparks Racing) (13:06.196).
Girls (Stock 165cc, Race-2, 3 laps): 1. Ann Jennifer (Sparks Racing) (06:40.064); 2. Lani Zena Fernandez (Gusto Racing) (06:48.619); 3. Rakshitha Dave (Gusto Racing) (07:02.282).
TVS One-Make Championship (Open, Race-2): 1. Abhishek Vasudev (Bengaluru) (11:50.689); 2. Anand R (Chennai) (11:52.682); 3. Vysakh Sobhan (Cherthala) (11:56.357). Race-3: 1. Abhishek Vasudev (11:51.663); 2. Anand R ((11:54.698); 3. Aditya Rao (Bengaluru) (11:56.604).
Novice (Race-2): 1. Navneeth Kumar (Puducherry) (13:23.998); Mohan Babu (Chennai) (13:27.416); 3. Alwin Sundar (Chennai) (13:27.961).
Girls (Race-1, 5 laps): 1. Jagruthi Kiran Penkar (Kalyan) (11:36.074); 2. Arpitha VM (Mangaluru) (11:36.085); 3. Jagathishree Kumaresan (Chennai) (11:41.206). Race-2 (5 laps): 1. Jagathishree (11:35.169); 2. Jagruthi Kiran Penkar (11:35.182); 3. Arpitha (11:35.630).
Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup: Open (NSF 250R, Race-1): 1. Sarthak Chavan (Pune) (11:13.344); 2. Kavin Quintal (Chennai) (11:13.696); 3. Varoon Sadasivam (Chennai) (11:20.728).
Novice (CBR 150, Race-1): 1. Shyam Sundar (Chennai) (13:40.109); 2. Prakash Kamat (Bokaro) (13:40.619); 3. Vivek Rohit Kapadia (Belgaum) (13:49.088).
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Honda racers bring airbags to Indian two-wheeler racing at MMRT
Chennai, 12 Dec 2020: History was made today at the MMRT when for the first time in Indian two-wheeler racing, protective air bags vests were worn by the riders during the first round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2020.
The 10 under-18 riders, participating in the Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup Open (NSF 250R) category, donned the airbag vest that inflates on impact, thus providing additional protection to the racers in the event of a fall.
The initiative is another big step forward by the Madras Motor Sports Club and Honda Racing to take motorsport to the next level.
Last year, Honda introduced the Moto3-spec NSF 260R bikes as part of the Talent Cup programme, replacing the Honda CBR250R category, and designed to nurture Indian talent.
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Max Verstappen takes his first pole in the last race of the season
Abu Dhabi, 12 Dec 2020: Max Verstappen scored his first pole position of 2020 and the third of his career with in qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with the Dutchman putting in a phenomenal final lap in Q3 to beat Mercedes Valtteri Bottas by 0.025s. Lewis Hamilton finished third ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris.
Bottas set the pace in the opening segment of qualifying, with the Finn setting an early benchmark of 1:35.699. Hamilton slotted into second place but his lap was swiftly deleted for violating track limits at Turn 20.
Verstappen, meanwhile, had a tricky start to the session when Williams released Nicholas Latifi into his path in the pit lane. The Dutchman was forced to lock-up and flat-spotted his tyres.
He went out and set a time but in the final minutes of the session he dropped to P10 and was forced to run again. He immediately vaulted to P2 behind Bottas with a lap of 1:35.993. Verstappen was eventually shuffled to P4 as Hamilton grabbed top spot in the final runs and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took third ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris. Racing Point’s Sergio Pérez was sixth and Alex Albon in the second Red Bull progressed in seventh place with a lap of 1:36.106.
At the other end of the timesheet, Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen was eliminated in 16th place after being beaten to P15 by team-mate Antonio Giovinazzi. The Italian eclipsed his Finnish team-mate by almost half a second to edge their private qualifying battle 9-8. Räikkönen was followed out of the session by Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, Williams’ George Russell, Haas’ Pietro Fittipaldi and Latifi.
In Q2 the Bulls and the Mercedes went out on medium tyres but Albonhad his opening lap deleted for a track limits infringement at Turn 21. He dropped to P13 on the timesheet in the closing stages and it meant that he needed a run on soft tyres to guarantee progress.
Verstappen, meanwhile, opened with a time of 1:36.236. That landed him P5 and he admitted dissatisfaction with the lap, saying the tyres had gone off in the final sector.
He went for another run, on mediums, and in the final moments he jumped to P3 behind Hamilton and Bottas with a lap of 1:35.641. Albonfollowed him across the line with a good lap of 1:35.654 to take P4.
Somewhat surprisingly Esteban Ocon and Daniel Ricciardo were eliminated in P10 and P11 respectively, with the Renault being edged out Q3 by the AlphaTauris of Daniil Kvyat and Pierre Gasly. Also eliminated at this stage of the session were 13th-placed Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari followed by Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi and Pérez. Facing a back-of-the-grid start due an engine change, Pérez failed to set a time in Q2.
In the final top-10 shootout, Verstappen signalled his intent with his opening run as he posted a lap of 1:35.519 to split with the Mercedes as Bottas took provisional pole.
When the final runs began Hamilton was the first out and after setting purple times he took P1 with a lap of 1:35.332. That looked impressive but then Bottas snuck past the benchmark by six hundredths of a seconds and it looked like Mercedes might be heading towards another front row lock-out.
Verstappen, though, had other ideas and with a perfectly constructed lap the Dutch ace found the time required to edge past Bottas to claim his and the team’s first pole position of the year.
Behind the top three, McLaren’s Norris took an impressive fourth place to edge Albonby seven hundredths of a second. Sixth place went to Carlos Sainz in the second McLaren with Kvyat an excellent seventh for AlphaTauri’s ahead of Racing Point’s Lance Stroll, Leclerc and Gasly.
2020 FIA Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Verstappen Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 1:35.246 6 209.923
2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:35.271 0.025 0.026 6 209.868
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:35.332 0.086 0.090 6 209.734
4 Lando Norris McLaren/Renault 1:35.497 0.251 0.264 6 209.372
5 Alexander Albon Red Bull/Honda 1:35.571 0.325 0.341 6 209.209
6 Carlos Sainz McLaren/Renault 1:35.815 0.569 0.597 6 208.677
7 Daniil Kvyat AlphaTauri/Honda 1:35.963 0.717 0.753 6 208.355
8 Lance Stroll Racing Point/Mercedes 1:36.046 0.800 0.840 6 208.175
9 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:36.065 0.819 0.860 6 208.134
10 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 1:36.242 0.996 1.046 6 207.751
11 Esteban Ocon Renault 1:36.359 0.893 0.935 6 207.499
12 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1:36.406 0.940 0.985 6 207.397
13 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:36.631 1.165 1.220 6 206.914
14 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:38.248 2.782 2.914 6 203.509
Sergio Pérez Racing Point/Mercedes 1
16 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:37.555 2.027 2.122 6 204.955
17 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:37.863 2.335 2.444 9 204.310
18 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 1:38.045 2.517 2.635 8 203.930
19 Pietro Fittipaldi Haas/Ferrari 1:38.173 2.645 2.769 9 203.664
20 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 1:38.443 2.915 3.051 7 203.106 -
Hamilton returns but Verstappen fastest on Friday: F1 final round
Abu Dhabi, 11 Dec 2020: Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen set the fastest lap of the opening practice for the final round of the 2020 FIA Formula One World Championship, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, as Lewis Hamilton finished fifth on the time-sheet as he returned to the cockpit for Mercedes following his recovery from COVID-19.
Hamilton completed his 10-day quarantine in Bahrain and after returning a number of negative tests was free to travel to Abu Dhabi following confirmation from the authorities that he could do so. Mercedes confirmed he returned a further negative test on arrival and thus he is eligible to compete this weekend.
However, despite the champion’s return, it was Verstappen who led the way in the daytime session at Yas Marina Circuit, with Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas second and last weekend’s first-time podium finisher Esteban Ocon of Renault third.
Bottas set early pace on soft compound Pirellis but when Verstappen eventually bolted on the red-banded compound after avoiding them early on he took top spot with around half an hour left in the session.
The Red Bull driver logged a best time of 1:37.378s to edge Bottas by just 0.034 seconds. Ocon who finished second at the Bahrain International Circuit last weekend continued his recent run of good form with a time 1.1 seconds off Verstappen’s time.
It was a less successful outing for the Frenchman’s team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, however. The Australian, who is making his final appearance for Renault before a switch to McLaren in 2021, suffered a fuel pressure problem early on and completed just four laps.
Second Red Bull driver Alex Albon took fourth place on the timesheet but he ended the session 1.169s behind team-mate Verstappen. The Thai driver also suffered a spin Turns 12/13 in an otherwise error-free session.
Hamilton took fifth spot with his best time coming on hard compound tyres. In all, he completed 20 laps on his return to duty for Mercedes.
Racing Point drivers Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez finished sixth and seventh respectively ahead of the AlphaTauri pair of Daniil Kvyat and Pierre Gasly, while Kimi Raikkonen completed the top 10 for Alfa Romeo.
Elsewhere, Mick Schumacher made his grand prix weekend debut with his 2021 team Haas. The FIA Formula 2 champion finished 18th with a best of 1:41.235, which put him almost 3 second clear of team-mate Pietro Fittipaldi who is again standing in for the injured Romain Grosjean this weekend.
2020 FIA Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Free Practice 1
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 1:37.378 26 205.327
2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:37.412 0.034 32 205.256
3 Esteban Ocon Renault 1:38.515 1.137 34 202.957
4 Alexander Albon Red Bull/Honda 1:38.547 1.169 25 202.892
5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:38.744 1.366 24 202.487
6 Lance Stroll Racing Point/Mercedes 1:38.831 1.453 25 202.308
7 Sergio Pérez Racing Point/Mercedes 1:38.956 1.578 25 202.053
8 Daniil Kvyat AlphaTauri/Honda 1:39.150 1.772 27 201.658
9 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 1:39.160 1.782 30 201.637
10 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:39.199 1.821 22 201.558
11 Carlos Sainz McLaren/Renault 1:39.330 1.952 27 201.292
12 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:39.344 1.966 25 201.264
13 Lando Norris McLaren/Renault 1:39.352 1.974 28 201.248
14 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:39.670 2.292 19 200.605
15 Robert Kubica Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:39.905 2.527 19 200.134
16 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 1:40.446 3.068 24 199.056
17 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 1:41.063 3.685 27 197.840
18 Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 1:41.235 3.857 23 197.504
19 Pietro Fittipaldi Haas/Ferrari 1:44.069 6.691 24 192.126
20 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 3 -
KY Ahamed beats mentor Jagan Kumar in TVS 1-2 in Pro-Stock 301-140cc
Chennai, 11 Dec 2020: KY Ahamed led an emphatic 1-2 finish for TVS Racing as he vanquished his mentor and multiple champion Jagan Kumar to win the premier Pro-Stock 301-400cc race in the first round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship at the Madras Motor Race Track at Irrungattukottai, near here, on Friday.
Later the Madras Motor Sport Club promoted Bike Racing Nationals, saw international Rajiv Sethu bring some cheer to Honda camp with a commanding win from pole position in the Pro-Stock 165cc class race, ahead of Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) and Mathana Kumar, the other Eneos Honda Erula Racing rider.
Other winners in the National Championship races of the day were the 22-year old Bengalurean Ullas Santrupt (RACR Castrol Power Racing) in the Novice (Stock 165cc) class and local lass Ann Jennifer of Sparks Racing, who took the honours with ease in the Stock 165cc race for girls.
Ann Jennifer Meanwhile, another Bengalurean, Abshikesh Vasudev chalked up a fluent win in the TVS One Make Championship (Open) and Navneeth Kumar from Puducherry topped in the Novice category of the same championship,
In the Pro-Stock 301-400cc race, Ahamed and pole-sitter Jagan fought a thrilling battle with the latter initially in the lead before his team-mate upped his pace to move into the front midway through the six-lap race. Thereafter, the duo opened up a sizeable lead over the rest of the pack for a 1-2 finish for TVS Racing. Completing the podium was Hyderabad’s Karthik Mateti (Gusto Racing).
The Pro-Stock 165cc race saw Sethu taking a sizeable lead at the start. Behind him, Jagan, Mathana Kumar and Senthil Kumar, the other Eneos Honda Erula Racing rider were involved in a close fight for podium spots. Jagan finally pulled off a brilliant move over Mathana at the last corner of the last lap to finished second.
Ullas Santrupt- Photos: Anand Philar Earlier, starting fifth on the 40-bike Novice race grid, Santrupt clawed his way through the field and eventually forged ahead to win from fellow-Bengalurean Nithin S (Sparks Racing) and privateer Mohan Babu (Chennai) with less than a second separating the trio. The final outcome was in suspense until the last couple of laps with the front-runners dicing hard for positions until Santrupt moved ahead and hung on to his slender lead.
The results (Provisional – all 6 laps unless mentioned):
National Championship:
Pro-Stock 301-400cc (Race-1): 1. KY Ahamed (TVS Racing) (11mins, 47.347secs); 2. Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) (11:48.059); 3. Karthik Mateti (Gusto Racing) (11:51.430).
Pro-Stock 165cc (Race-1): 1. Rajiv Sethu (Eneos Honda Erula Racing) (12:08.653); 2. Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) (12:13.410); 3. S Mathana Kumar (Eneos Honda Erula Racing) (12:13.445).
Novice (Stock 165cc, Race-1): 1. Ullas Santrupt (RACR Castrol Power Racing) (13:06.057); 2. Nithin S (Sparks Racing) (13:06.281); 3. Mohan Babu (Pvt, Chennai) (13:06.512).
Girls (Stock 165cc, Race-1, 5 laps): 1. Ann Jennifer (Sparks Racing) (10:58.872); 2. Lani Zena Fernandez (Gusto Racing) (11:14.395); 3. Alisha Abdullah (Sparks Racing) (11:14.456).
TVS One-Make Championship (Open, Race-1): 1. Abhishek Vasudev (Bengaluru) (11:48.941); 2. Karthik Mateti (Hyderabad) (11:54.768); 3. Anand R (Chennai) (11:54.954). Novice: 1. Navneeth Kumar (Puducherry) (13:20.647); 2. Sudheer Sudhakumar (Delhi) (13:24.196); 3. Teja TVR (Hyderabad) (13:24.218).
About Madras Motor Sports Club
Since its humble beginnings in 1953, the Madras Motor Sports Club has grown in stature as the hub of motorsport activity in India. Having moved from Sholavaram to its present location in Sriperumbudur in 1979, MMSC has kept pace with changing times by upgrading facilities. At a cost of about Rs 20 Crore, the MMSC built a pit complex comprising 20 garages, VIP hospitality suites and a viewing gallery, on the eastern side, apart from a second Paddock on the western side with its own short circuit. The Control Room too was upgraded with state-of-the-art hardware while the track itself was improved to meet the exacting FIA standards for Grade-2 certification. The facilities are also extensively used by various vehicle manufacturers for testing their products, displays and corporate days.
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Hamilton returns after negative Covid test
The FIA, Formula 1 and Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team can today confirm that Lewis Hamilton has returned a number of negative COVID-19 tests. He has completed his ten day quarantine in Bahrain and was free to leave the country according to the Bahraini health authority regulations. Lewis has now arrived in Abu Dhabi following confirmation from the authorities that he could do so and after quarantining has now received a further negative test result.
The FIA COVID-19 protocols remain clear and have not changed. A negative pre-test result is necessary to be given access to the Formula 1 Paddock as set out in Appendix S to the International Sporting Code and another negative test result no more than 24 hours following arrival is required. Lewis, having now tested negative in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi will be granted access to the Paddock.
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MMSC set to host India’s biggest bike racing weekend
Chennai, 9 Dec 2020: Big grids, a massive card of 29 races and over 200 entries mark the first round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2020 which gets underway at the MMRT, here on Friday, behind closed doors, and in what is the biggest domestic racing weekend in India.
Due to the pandemic and consequent restrictions, the 2020 two-wheeler racing championship has been packed into two back-to-back weekends (Dec 11-13 and Dec 18-20) with competitions in 10 categories.
The National Championship comprises two Pro-Stock classes – the premier 301-400cc and 165cc – besides two Stock 165cc categories – Novice, which will have a grid of 40 riders, and Girls.
Also in the mix are two One-Make Championships organised by the MMSC – the Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup (CBR 150cc and NSF 250R) and TVS One-Make Championship (RTR 310 Open, Novice, Girls and Media).
MMSC have left no stone unturned in ensuring that not only all Covid-19 safety protocols are followed, but also to deal with the challenges posed by the unpredictable weather by providing grooved tyres also for the Pro-Stock categories.
Having endured a 15-month break since the 2019 season, the racers are chafing at the bit with all of country’s top riders lining up as also India’s leading bike manufacturers, Honda, TVS, Yamaha and KTM.
MMSC president Ajit Thomas said: “We are just bowled over by the response from the riders, especially the first-timers. Two-wheeler championship has always produced exciting and close races, and we expect much the same in the two rounds that we are organising this month. Due to the pandemic, lockdown and restrictions, the racing season was put on hold until last month when we squeezed in two rounds of races to complete the four-wheeler championship. Over the next two weekends, the safety protocols would be very much in place despite easing of restrictions and the events will be held behind closed doors.”
About Madras Motor Sports Club
Since its humble beginnings in 1953, the Madras Motor Sports Club has grown in stature as the hub of motorsport activity in India. Having moved from Sholavaram to its present location in Sriperumbudur in 1979, MMSC has kept pace with changing times by upgrading facilities. At a cost of about Rs 20 Crore, the MMSC built a pit complex comprising 20 garages, VIP hospitality suites and a viewing gallery, on the eastern side, apart from a second Paddock on the western side with its own short circuit. The Control Room too was upgraded with state-of-the-art hardware while the track itself was improved to meet the exacting FIA standards for Grade-2 certification. The facilities are also extensively used by various vehicle manufacturers for testing their products, displays and corporate days.
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JK Tyre Racing Nationals at Kari Speedweay
Coimbatore, 9 Dec 2020: The Kari Motor Speedway in Chettipalayam in Coimbatore will hear the familiar roar of Formula cars as the much-awaited 23rd JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship (JKNRC) gets under way here on Friday.
The organisers have put in place stringent protocols, matching international standards, to ensure that the back to back rounds are held with the safety, comfort and convenience of all the teams, drivers, their support staff, officials and media in mind. “We have studied and followed every precaution prescribed by the world as well as national governing bodies to make sure that the championship is conducted smoothly,” Sanjay Sharma, Head-Motorsport, JK Tyre said. “In these unprecedented times we are delighted that we could host such an important event in the FMSCI calendar,” he added.JKNRC this season will witness two categories – The National championship class on JK Formula LGB 4, an Indian manufactured single seater racing car weighing 450 kg with 1.3 litre engine and JK Tyre Novice Cup for rookie drivers on a similar looking formula 1300s but with different chassis design and suspension geometry. The former has attracted 26 of the country’s best drivers while the latter has more than 20.
There will be 12 races over three days, with each day witnessing four races (including two qualifying rounds on Day 1) that will test not only the speed but also the fitness and endurance of the drivers coupled with technical package put together by the teams.
As in the past, an all-women’s team from Ahura racing will also be in fray adding to flowing of adrenaline on the track.
The top racers of the country, including Vishnu Prasad, Raghul Rangasamy and Mira Erda (MSport), Ashwin Datta and T.S. Diljith (Dark Don Racing), and Chirag Ghorpade (Momentum Motorsport) to name a few will be in fray, battling for the honours.
The pomp and gaiety that comes as a package with every JK Tyre Racing Championship will however be missing this time around in adherence of safety regulations.
Among the key steps taken to battle COVID-19, the organisers will have clear dos and don’ts s right from the main entry gate to all the way up to the track. The pits too have been extended considerably to ensure social distancing.
Local officials will be helping with bulk of the work to avoid too many visitors from other cities and states.
The documentation and scrutiny will be on Thursday, followed by a compulsory drivers’ briefing towards the end of the day.
Friday will witness official practice sessions, qualifying rounds and two races in each category followed by four races on Saturday and Sunday.
For the sake of race lovers, who have always thronged the circuit in large numbers, the event will be streamed live on Sunday so that they don’t miss the action. Viewers can watch the races on:
www.jktyremotorsport.com/live
Facebook.com/jktyremotorsport
Youtube.com/jktyremotorsportAbout JK Tyre Motorsport:
JK Tyre has been closely associated with the world of motorsports for almost three decades back. The company laid down a long term plan to popularise and promote the sport in the country. Its first target was to change the notion that this was a sport for the elite. So it packaged and redesigned it in a spectator-friendly way, drawing the
masses to the sport.The company then endeavored to spot, nurture and sharpen the drivers to turn them into world champions. With this goal in mind, we conceptualized the JK Tyre National Racing Champion in 1997. Our efforts started paying dividends in just a few years’ time, with the likes of Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandok going all the way to the F1 rung, the highest level of single-seat racing in the world. Since then, a number of stars emerged, including Armaan Ebrahim, the Maini brothers (Kush and Arjun), Anindith Reddy Konda, amongst many others.
Before all this, JK Tyre had a successful stint in rallying too, conquering the scene in the early 90s. At the same time, gradually, we moved on to various disciplines, including cross-country rallying and off-roading, leaving a mark in each of them with their unique and innovative ways. JK Tyre Motorsports is also very proud of the role it has played in bringing women into motorsports in a big way. Apart from encouraging them to get into the sport through karting as kids, we also gave them opportunities in various national championships. Last year was particularly rewarding for us as an All-Women Racing team was introduced for the first time in the LGB 4 category. In addition, the company also undertook various other initiatives to encourage them to try motorsports, even if for fun to begin with.
To supplement JK Tyre’s entry into the two-wheeler market, the JKNRC hosted the Suzuki Gixxer Cup and the Red Bull Road to Rookies Cup categories and saw enthusiastic participation from across the country. Today, the company is synonymous with motorsports, and even more so with racing, creating a lot of goodwill for
the brand. Right from budding racers to accomplished drivers in the country, everybody owes their rise and
success to JK Tyre. -
Will his first victory in last season, change the fortunes for Sergio Perez, ex-Force India star?
Sergio Perez recorded a career first victory- in what could be his last ever season in Formula 1- amidst a nightmare race for Mercedes as Renault’s Esteban Ocon achieved his first podium of the career in P2 and Lance Stroll took P3 for the second time in 2020.
London, 7 Dec 2020: Sergio Perez took advantage of Mercedes’ mishaps to win the Sakhir Grand Prix, after being last on lap 1, ahead of Esteban Ocon and teammate Lance Stroll.
For once all the three on the podium, are those who have done service to the Indian outfit, Sahara Force India, before the team went into `Administration’ and later, became BWT Racing Point midway through 2018 season in late July. Till then Mercedes were in contract to supply engines and were in the 10-year relationship that has grown to allow Mercedes’ junior driver Esteban Ocon to take a driver seat as an understudy to Perez, who has been with Force India for five years till then.
The double podium helping Racing Point, formerly Force India, leap to P3 in the Constructor’s Championship. McLaren’s Carlos Sainz finished in P4 and teammate Lando Norris in P10, as they lost out P3 to their pink rivals in the constructor’s championship. Daniel Ricciardo finished P5 in the other Renault, ahead of the sole Red Bull of Alex Albon. Daniil Kvyat finished a respectable P7 in his AlphaTauri ahead of Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas in P8 as he had a forgettable race after a shambolic 27s pitstop. Lewis Hamilton tested positive for Covid-19, thus, he was replaced by Williams’ George Russell for the weekend- who is also part of the Mercedes driver program. Russell impressed in qualifying as he secured P2 and led 2/3rd of the race before a pitstop in which he was fitted with wrong tyres and a puncture cost him a certain debut win. Ultimately, he finished in P9.
Three former Force India drivers celebrating on podium, representing other teams, two still with the same pink colours of BWT of Racing Point. Photo by BWT Racing Point Pierre Gasly just missed out on points, finishing in P11 ahead of the outgoing Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel. Alfa Romeo duo of Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Raikkonen finished in P13 and P14 respectively. Haas’ Kevin Magnussen finished in P15 as his new teammate, Pietro Fittipaldi finished in P17- subbing in for the injured Romain Grosjean. Williams’ new driver Jack Aitken finished in P16 as his teammate Nicholas Latifi DNF’d. Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc DNF’d on lap 1 after a kerfuffle in turn 4.
At the start, new boy Russell leapt ahead of Bottas and took the lead. Meanwhile, behind Leclerc dive bombed Verstappen but misjudged, locked up and made contact with Perez. The Ferrari was damaged and retired immediately while Perez spun, pitted and fell to the back of the grid. Meanwhile, Verstappen tried to avoid the spinning Perez but to no avail ran out of space as his car went into the barrier. Safety car was deployed.
At the safety car restart on lap 8, Russell bolted away putting distance between himself and Bottas. Perez was at the back of the grid but by lap 15 he had made his way up to P11. Russell ahead had the race in control as he maintained a 2sec gap over Bottas.
Kvyat was the first one to pull the trigger and pitted for hard tyres on lap 27 in an attempt to undercut Ricciardo, which was successful. McLaren’s Sainz pitted on lap 28 to protect from the Russian’s undercut while Ricciardo pitted on lap 29, losing a place to Kvyat. By halfway point, lap 44, Perez was once again running in P3 while the two Mercedes out front were yet to pit.
As Russell was leading, he pitted first for hard tyres on lap 45. 4 laps later Bottas pit, slotting into P2 now the gap between him and Russell hovering around 5 sec. On lap 62, a second safety car was called out as Aitken went off in the final corner and swiped his front wing, which had to be cleared off the track.
Mercedes with their advantage, pitted and double stacked the two cars. As Russell went off and Bottas came in, there was confusion in the Mercedes pit box and seemingly after 27s Bottas was sent out on the same set of tyres. Meanwhile, Russell had to pit again as he was fitted with one of Bottas’ tyre. This meant that Bottas dropped to P5 and Russell to P6, promoting Perez in the lead.
As the safety car pulled in, Russell used his pace and tyre advantage to get past Bottas, Stroll and Ocon. It looked like the victory was still on the cards for him. But it was not to be as he was informed, he had a slow puncture and therefore, had to pit and fell to P15.
Ultimately, Perez cruised to victory as the only consolation for Russell was that he got his first Formula 1 career points. It was an impressive display by the young Englishman who has been touted as the successor to statistically greatest driver Hamilton at Mercedes in the future. Perez has time and again shown why he deserves a seat in F1, with one such display again on Sunday. Only time will tell if he can make it to the grid for 2021.
Mercedes maintained their dominance on such a short track- only 2.2miles- by locking out the front row and having the pace to win. Their pit stop mistake and an unfortunate puncture cost them the win. Russell more than stepped to the challenge and undoubtedly beat Bottas when it mattered, showing why he deserves to be in the Mercedes seat. Hamilton is on the path to recovery from Covid, but if he is not available for the Abu Dhabi GP, Russell will step in and have another opportunity to fight at the front.
Red Bull had a bad weekend as Verstappen crashed out of the race and Albon could not capitalise on the misfortunes of the Mercedes. They have another headache of deciding the fate of the second Red Bull seat. Albon did achieve a podium in last week’s Bahrain GP, but Perez pulled a win and capitalised on other people’s mistake when it mattered. Surely a headache for Christian Horner and Helmut Marko eh?
Racing Point showed great pace over the weekend and crucially they were the fastest in the speed traps. The straight-line speed enabling the drivers to overtake and achieve a double podium finish, and potentially P3 in the constructor’s championship. Renault and Ocon capitalised on the mistakes of front runners too. Their car worked well in low drag set up. Even though they struggled in qualifying, their straight-line speed helped them to stay ahead of their orange rivals McLaren and Ocon to achieve a podium. McLaren performed poorly compared to Racing Point and Renault. With a P4 and P10 they slipped back to 4th in the constructor’s championship, 10-points behind Racing Point and 12-points ahead of Renault.
Full BWT Racing Point team cheers as Sergio Perez takes his maiden win with the team and his own on Sunday in Shakir in the penultimate F1 round. A BWT RP photo AlphaTauri did not have the race pace to challenge for higher points at the Sakhir GP as Gasly finished out of points and Kvyat managed a P7. Ferrari had a pointless race weekend as Leclerc crashed out and Vettel finished out of the points. This track layout yet again exposing their power disadvantage. It was the same with Ferrari-customer cars of Alfa Romeo and Haas as they too finished outside the points. Haas also announced that 2020 F2 Champion Mick Schumacher and F2 driver Nikita Mazepin will drive for them in 2021. Williams had the pace to challenge the likes of Haas especially in the hands of Nicholas Latifi. But to no avail he DNF’d and Aitken’s incident meant that he finished second to last.
Saturday Qualifying results were:
P1: Valtteri Bottas- 77 (Mercedes) P2: George Russell- 63 (Mercedes) P3 Max Verstappen- 33 (Red Bull) P4: Charles Leclerc- 16 (Ferrari) P5: Sergio Perez- 11 (Racing Point) P6: Daniil Kvyat- 26 (AlphaTauri) P7: Daniel Ricciardo- 3 (Renault) P8: Carlos Sainz- 55 (McLaren) P9: Pierre Gasly- 10 (AlphaTauri) P10: Lance Stroll- 18 (Racing Point) P11: Esteban Ocon- 31 (Renault) P12: Alex Albon- 23 (Red Bull) P13: Sebastian Vettel- 5 (Ferrari) P14: Antonio Giovinazzi- 99 (Alfa Romeo) P15: Lando Norris- 4 (McLaren) P16: Kevin Magnussen- 20 (Haas) P17: Nicholas Latifi- 6 (Williams) P18: Jack Aitken- 89 (Williams) P19: Kimi Raikkonen- 7 (Alfa Romeo) P20: Pietro Fittipaldi- 51 (Haas) -
Suhail Ahmed hogs limelight; DNF for Rajendra again: 2w K1000
By David Bodapati
Bengaluru, 6 Dec 2020: Privateer with no sponsor, Suhail Ahmed, astride a KTM 450EXC, stunned the top guns with another good performance to take the overall lead in the championship while defending champion Rajendra RE logged another DNF in the second round of the MRF Mogrip fmsci Indian National Rally Championship for bikes where TVS Racing continued its domination in the other Group B classes in the K-1000 rally here on Sunday.
Organised by Karnataka Motor Sports Club (KMSC), one of the oldest active members of Federation of Motors Sports Clubs of India (fmsci), its flagship K1000 rally is promoted by God Speed Racing of Pune, the COVID19 guidelines were followed and medical partner MEDISPRO sanitised the bikes and provided safety guidance including masks and sanitisers.
“Overall experience was great and I enjoyed this round especially with my riding and the bike on these fast and tricky stages. The Tribal Special Stage was a bit technical with a jump after a huge elevation dip and bend and some tight corners while the first physical stage, Kaadu suited me as it was fast with flowing corners. I am buoyed now and looking forward to the Coimbatore round to increase my lead,” said the Bengaluru rider, astride a KTM 450 EXC.
Rajendra, who lost the opening round in Puttur, suffered an engine failure in SS3 after taking the initial lead in the first two Special Stages and his teammate Nataraj, who could only finish overall 8th won the Group A Superbike Pro-Expert class, which has only two bikes. “It was a bad day again. My engine gave up after I was 2km into SS 3 but I am looking forward to bouncing back as we still have 100 points to fight for in four rounds,” said the defending champion who is on a hat-trick of titles if he claims the championship this year too. The Shimoga rider who spearheads the TVS Racing campaign on an Apache RTR 200 clocked the second-fastest stage time for both Tribal SS (8: 58.722) and Kaadu SS (7:47.160). Through the six stages in the day no one beat his times except Suhail who clocked 8:55.906 in SS1 and went on to perform better and better. He rode the same stage in 8:46.078 (SS3) and 8:42.714 (SS5) as they were run alternately. For the Kaadu Stage, he clocked 7min 46.341sec in the first run (SS2) and dipped it to 7:41.902 in SS4, the second run and eased off in the final SS6 timing 7:51.851 for a comfortable victory as he becomes K1000 Overall Champion, a credit many riders crave for and joins the Hall of Fame with the likes of multiple-champion and legends like Jagat Nanjappa and CK Chinnappa. Suhail Ahmed is the defending champion in Class 6 for SuperSport 55cc.
Arun T, who won the Class 3, in action, on Sunday – K1000 2w INRC Suhail, the fastest rider of the day apart from Overall honours, also bagged his class Group A Superbike Expert class. TVS Racing redeemed their pride bagging three of the eight classes in Group B with Baja World Cupper Aishwarya Pissay and Syed Asif Ali continuing their domination in the Ladies class and Scooter class respectively. Sachin D, another professional rider with TVS Racing, delivered another well-deserved win in SuperSport 260cc class.
Varun Kumar A who won Class 2 in K1000, the Round 2 of INRC for 2w at Tribal Adventure Cafef on Sunday. Photo by David Bodapati But it was Star of Karnataka rider Stephen Roy, the unsung hero on Sunday, as he beat many a stalwart taking 10th overall. Varun Kumar, Arun T, Sajeesh Reghunathan and Naresh VS were the winners in other Group B classes.
Naresh VS, known as Bruce Lee, among the fraternity, astride the solid-looking Himalayan also clocked cautious times in the first two stages on the first run and then switched up gears to deliver knock-out speeds before relaxing for a facile win with almost a two-minute lead, which may translate into more than 2km lead. “I am on a high and the feeling is definitely great for two reasons: I am participating after a gap of a year in any event, rally or race. Secondly, in my 10-year riding career, I am riding the Bullet Himalayan for the first time. And finishing first in both the rounds makes me very happy and leading the INRC championship in this class with an overall 11th position is a bonus. I am working hard to continue the same pace and look forward to clocking better times in the rounds to come,” quipped Naresh, the Lee, who is on a Himalyan high, after two wins.
Of the 70 entries received, 68 bikes started the rally and 3 were disqualified while 13 failed to finish the 48.48 km Special Stage distance which included two Stages that were run thrice each.
Naresh VS aka Bruce Lee winning Class 6 in the INRC Round 2, K1000 on Sunday. A David photo Provisional Final Results (Round 2 – 6 Special Stages)
(Privateer if team is not mentioned; Karnataka if State not mentioned)
Overall: 1. Suhail Ahmed (Bengaluru) (Privateer) (KTM 450EXC) (49 minutes, 44.598 seconds); 2. Sachin D (Bengaluru) (TVS Racing) (Apache RTR 200 4v(49:51.536); 3. Samuel Shajan Jacob (Mangalore) (TVS Racing) (Apache RTR 200 4v) (51:12.785).
Group A:
Class 1: Superbike Pro-Expert: 1. Nataraj R (Kanakapura, Bengaluru) (TVS Racing) (Apache RTR200) (52:50.844); 2. Rajendra RE (Shimoga)(TVS Racing) (Apache RTR200) (DNF in SS3);
Class 1A: Superbike Expert: 1. Suhail Ahmed (Bengaluru) (Privateer) (KTM 450EXC) (49:44.598); 2. Sharath Mohan (Malappuram, Kerala) (Suzuki RMX 450Z) (52:01.686); 3. Asad Khan (Chikkamagalur) (Suzuki RMX 450Z) (52:21.017).
Group B:
Class 2: Super Sport upto 130cc: 1. Varun Kumar A (Bengaluru) (Yamaha YBX) (58:50.342); 2. Nithesh G Poojary (Mangalore) (Honda CBF Stunner) (1:00:21.715); 3. Rakesh Kumar V (Bengaluru) (Yamaha YBX) (01:01:06.161).
Class 3: Super Sport 165cc: 1. Arun T (Hassan) (Hero Impulse) (54:48.775); 2. Francis PV (Chikkamagaluru) (Hero Impulse) (55:29.837); 3. Ahmed Abrar (Mysuru) (Hero) (56:01.513).
Class 4: Super Sport 260cc: 1.Sachin D (Bengaluru) (TVS Racing) (Apache RTR 200 4v) (49:51.536); 2. Samuel Shajan Jacob (Mangaluru) (TVS Racing) (Apache RTR 200 4v) (51:12.785); 3. Yuva Kumar (Bengaluru) (Hero MotoSports) (Hero Xpulse) (52:22.727)
Class 5: Super Sport 400cc: 1. Sajeesh Reghunathan (Bengaluru) (KTM Duke) (56:52.044); 2. Harish S (Bengaluru) (KTM Duke 390) (58:08.696); 3. Karthikeyan D (Coimbatore, TN) (KTM Duke 390) (1:02:16.020).
Class 6: Super Sport 550cc: 1. Naresh VS (Bengaluru) (Himalayan) (54:30.919); 2. Sharath Kumar (Bengaluru) (Bullet) (56:29.533); 3. Arun Joy M (Ernakulam, Kerala) (Himalayan) (57:26.009).
Class 7: S0 to S3 Scooter 210cc: 1. Syed Asif Ali (Bhopal, MP) (TVS Racing) (NTorq125) (57:43.255); 2. Karthik N (Bengaluru) (Privateer) (Bike: TVS) (57:57.044); 3. Shamin Islam Khan (Nashik, Maharashtra) (TVS Racing) (NTorq125) (58:21.325).
Class 8: Ladies Class: 1. Aishwarya Pissay M (Bengaluru) (TVS Racing) (Apache RTR 200 4v) (59:20.729); 2. Tanika Shanbag (Satara, Maharashtra) (Hero Impulse) (1:00:12.227); 3. A Ryhana Bee (Chennai) (Hero Impulse) (1:09:23.693).
Star of Kanataka: 1. Stephen Roy (??) (Hero Xpulse 200) (54:21.090); 2. Dhanush P (Kodagu, Karnataka) (Hero Xpulse) (59:23.719); 3. Syed Thowhid (??) (Hero Xpulse) (1:03:53.947).
(Editor’s note: Revised results and report edited on 8Dec2020. Riders who want to the contact INDIAinF1 can reach us through WhatsApp on 98455 69496 for editing factual errors. Thanks)
