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  • Gill regains Speed INRC title

    By David Bodapati

    Chikmagalur, 21 Nov 2009: Speed demon Gaurav Gill and co-driver Musa Sherif of Team MRF clinched the Speed Indian National Rally Championship for the year 2009 winning the Coffee Day Rally of Chikmagalur, the fifth and final round of the Speed INRC which saw a Red sweep as Team MRF won the top three places here on Sunday.

    Excitement was at its feverish pitch as fancied Gaurav Gill kept his poise to pocket his second National championship title as the curtains came down on the Coffee Day Rally. With a comfortable lead in the first leg, Gill left his characteristic speed dashes and did not go all out. He displayed controlled aggression and was content to be second fastest today with the title in mind.  Though the official declaration is expected on Nov 28 on the pending protests, Gill is unlikely to be affected as he has an insurmountable 46 points.

    Twentyeight-year-old Gill, who won the National Title under the colours of MRF two years ago, did an encore and promptly thanked the support. “I am happy to have done the job but the prime reason has been the perfect tyres. Today my gearbox stuck in the final stage but I wriggled out without shifting the gears thanks to my lead.”

    Gaurav Gill, left, and Musa Sherif, who won the Coffee Day Rally to clinch the INRC title on Sunday. An INDIAinF1 image

    It turned out to be MRF’s day with Lohith Urs (co-driver Sikanth Gowda) and Arjun Rao Aroor (Satish Rajagopal) doing just about enough to take the second and third placings respectively. Lohith gave Gill a close run and in fact was fastest in all the stages but lost 3 minutes due to a penalty for early arrival. “I am happy that it turned out to be Gaurav’s day as he had been the most consistent here. In my view, the good show has been due to the experimentation in the vehicles and the solidity of the tyres even in slushy conditions,” said Lohith. Their job was made easy as Red Rooster Racing drivers Vikram Mathias and Amittrajit Ghosh did not finish.

    Girijashankar Joshy (Chandramouli M) won the 1600cc category with a time of 1 hr 42 min 26 seconds pushing Rahul Kanthraj (Vivek Bhat) and Joseph C Jos (Royce Kizhakoodan) to second and third places respectively but it was Sujay S who earned a leg point today and won the National title in this class with 50 points. Joseph Jos and Rahul Kanthraj finished second and third in the National championship.

    In the 1400 cc class, Vikram Devadasan (Nikhil Pai) won with a time of 1 hour 44 min, 57 seconds while Ahijeet N Pai (Satvik GA) finished second and Deepak Chinnappa (Chandrashekar) third. Vikram Devadasan won the National title with 54 points and Nikhil Pai, his Navigator won the Co-Drivers’ Championship. Francis K Jose (Manoj M) who finished fourth today bagged five points to take second place in the National championship. Dr Bikku Babu, who had 14 points before this rally, just managed to push Deepak Chinnappa (13) by one point. Deepak came third here to garner 7 points but the third place in the National Championship.

    Karna Kadur had the taste of a National title in the Rally Star Cup. The greenhorn said it has been a learning ground complementing the good work of his navigator Somonita Ghosh, sister of the young racing talent Amittrajit Ghosh. Kadur finished sixth in this rally to earn three valuable points and being the fastest today he added three more leg points which helped him to win the National title with 52 points ahead of Balram CG (Raghuram CG) who won the rally here but fell short by two points for the national title. Phalguna Urs finished third in this rally to ensure his third place in the INRC with 45 points. Karan AM (Somaiah AG) were second today.

    In the Maruti Gypsy class, the well endowed Kushwant Randhawa blamed it on the gears not holding its own losing the title eventually to Sandeep Sharma by just one point. Kushwant (49) enjoyed a narrow three point lead over Sandeep (46) before the start of this rally. Sandeep garnered all the 16 points here to take his tally to 62 while Kushwant could only get 12 and missed out with a total of 61 points.

    The Results (Provisional unaudited classification):

    Overall 2000cc N+: 1. Gaurav Gill/Musa Sherif (Team MRF) (1 hr, 36 min 16 secs); 2. Lohith V Urs/Srikanth Gowda (Team MRF) (1:37.21); 3. Arjun Rao Aroor/ Sathish Rajagopal (Team MRF) (1:37:55);

    1600 cc: 1. Girijashankar Joshy/Chandramouli M (1 hr, 42min 26 secs); 2. Rahul Kanthraj/Vivek Bhatt (1:43:41); 3. Joseph C Jos/Royce Kizhakoodan (Team DDL) (1:44:17);

    1400cc: 1. Vikram Devadasan/Nihkil Pai (1 hr, 44 min, 57 secs); 2. Abhijeet N Pai/Satvik G.A (1:45:10); 3. Deepak Chinnappa/ Chandrasekar M (1:47:37);

    Rally Star Cup: 1. Balram CG/Raghuram CG (1 hr, 48 min, 03 secs) 2. Karan AM/ Somaiah AG (1:48:59); 3. Phalguna Urs/ Anoop Kumar (1:49:20);

    Gypsy: 1. Sandeep Sharma/ Anmol Rampal (1 hr 47 min, 02 secs); 2. Kushwant Randhawa/ Ravindra MS (1:49:05); 3. Shafeeq Ur Rahman/ Ajith KP (1:52:27);

    ends

  • Vikram Mathias, PVS Murthy notch up a win in Nashik, after 3 DNFs

    Nashik, 1 Nov 2009: Reigning National champion Vikram Mathias, of Red Rooster Racing, finally found his wonted form after three rounds of retirements to notch up a thumping win along with navigator PV Srinivasa Murthy in the Rally of Nashik, the fourth round of the Indian National Rally Championship here on Sunday.

    The 34-year old from Karnataka clocked 1 hour, 23 minutes and 12 seconds to open his account and seasoned Arjun Balu with Mathias’ former navigator, Sujith Kumar BS as his co-driver, was 1min 50 seconds behind. But the Team MRF duo were able to take the second spot as teammates Lohitt Urs and co-driver Srikanth Gowda, who were running second, were forced to retire in between. Arjun Rao Aroor and co-driver Satish Rajagopal, also of Team MRF, came in third, way behind.

    In the 1600cc, it was DDL Sports team of Joseph C Jos and co-driver Royce Kizhakoodan who bagged their second win of the season and finished ahead of table toppers in the class Sujay Suresh and co-driver Varun Satyanarayan, who won the season opener in Kolkata. Jos and Kizhakoodan earlier won the K1000, the second round in Bangalore.

    Rahul Kanthraj and co-driver Vivek Bhatt, could only finish third and lost some crucial points as they were second in the Championship standings. Vikram Devadasen and co-driver Nikhil Pai also took a second win of the season in the 1400cc class. The 34-year old Devadasen had won the class in K1000 at Bangalore.

    Talented 21-year old debutant Karna Kadur along with co-driver Somonita Ghosh, of Red Rooster Racing, who were leading overnight, preserved their lead and won the Rally Star Cup while Sandeep Sharma and co-driver Anmol Rampal of Team Thunderbolt bagged the Gypsy Cup win.

    Final provisional results: Overall: 2000cc: 1. Vikram Mathias/ PVS Murthy (Red Rooster Racing, 1hour, 23mins, 12secs); 2. Arjun Balu/ Sujith Kumar BS (Team MRF, 1:25:02); 3. Arjun Rao Aroor/ Satish Rajagopal (Team MRF, 1:26:39).

    1600cc (Maruti Baleno): 1. Joseph C Jos/ Royce Kizhakoodan (DDL Sports, 1:30:19); 2. Sujay Suresh/ Varun Satyanarayan (1:31:11); 3. Rahul Kanthraj/ Vivek Bhatt (1:32:39).

    1400cc (MPFI Esteem): 1. Vikram Devadasen/ Nikhil Pai (1:30:43); 2. Byram Godrej/ Raymond Desouza (1:32:41); 3. Shailendar Hegde/ Sheraz Ahmed (1:34:25).

    Rally Star Cup (Carbureted Esteem): 1. Karna Kadur/ Somonita Ghosh (RRR, 1:32:05); 2. Balram CG/ Raghuram CG (1:37:30); 3. Phalguna Urs/ Anoop Kumar (1:37:30).

    Gypsy Cup: 1. Sandeep Sharma/ Anmol Rampal (Team Thunderbolt, 1:35:29); 2. Kushwant Randhawa/ Vinay Shekar (1:37:27); 3. Akash Agarwal/ Pradeep Mhasar (1:39:12).

  • Gaurav Gill-Musa Sherif win Speed Rally de Kolkata

    Gaurav Gill-Musa Sherif win Speed Rally de Kolkata

    By David Bodapati

    Kolkata, 20 Sept 2009: Speed demon Gaurav Gill and co-driver Musa Sherif of Team MRF displayed controlled aggression but still clocked the best time in the Spectator Special Stage which attracted a sizeable crowd to win the Speed Rally de Kolkata, the third round of the Speed-Indian National Rally Championship at Jadhavpur Stadium here on Sunday.

    Driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Cedia, Gill was quicker than his arch-rival Amittrajit Ghosh (co-driver Ashwin Naik) by four seconds over two laps of the 1.2-km long circuit to take the Overall honours and also the 2000cc N+ category.

    The 28-year old Gill was the quickest on all the three days to pick up 16 points to mark his presence in the National Championship stakes after two non-finishes in the previous two rounds at Coimbatore and Bangalore. Unless the pending protests change the points positions, Amittrajit Ghosh will trail Gill by a norrow margin in the INRC with three rounds to go.

    “It certainly feels great to finally win a rally after such a long time. At one point, I wasn’t sure how long my bad luck would continue, but now that I have finally a victory under my belt, you can say, I have turned the corner,” said a noticeably relieved Gill.

    Gaurav Gill, left, and Musa Sherif at the podium ceremony after winning the Raly de Kolkata on Sunday. An INDIAinF1 image by Kishen Nanjappa.

    In the other classes, the overnight positions remained much the same except in the Gypsy Cup where Anil Wadia (co-driver Prajwal Pai) of Team Thunderbolt moved up to second place from third, displacing Bobby Jose (co-driver Bobby Varghese) of Team DDL Sports.

    Patiala’s Khushwant Singh Radhawa (co-driver Vinay Sekhar) came up with a fine drive in the Super Special Stage today to confirm their victory in the Gypsy Cup after finishing second to Sandeep Sharma in the previous two rounds.

    Sujay S (co-driver Varun S) easily held on to their top position in the 1600cc class as did Francis K Jose (co-driver Manoj Mohan) of Team DDL Sports in the 1400cc category and Karna Kadur (co-driver Somonita Ghosh) in the Rally Star Cup.

    The results (provisional and unaudited):

    Overall: 1. Gaurav Gill/Musa Sherif (Team MRF, Cedia N+) (53mins, 26secs); 2. Amittrajit Ghosh/Ashwin Naik (Red Rooster Racing, Cedia N+) (54:45); 3. Sujay Suresh/Varun Satyanarayana (Maruti Baleno, 57:18).

    1600cc (Maruti Baleno): 1. Sujay/Varun; 2. Rahul Kanthraj/Vivek Bhatt (1:00:25); 3. Ranjith Gopinath/Dilieep Ramanujam (1:04:43).

    1400cc (MPFI Esteem): 1. Francis K Jose/Manoj Mohan (DDL Sports) (1:02:14) 2. Saurabh Choudhury/Shivaprakash E (1:03:01); 3. Asgar Ali SK/Debashish Ghosh (1:08:03).

    Rally Star Cup (Carbureted Esteem): 1. Karna Kadur/Somonnita Ghosh (1:00:37); 2. Phalguna Urs/Anoop Kumar (1:01:07); 3. Venkatapathy MR/Santosh K Selvaraj 3 (1:02:36).

    Gypsy Cup: 1. Khushwant Randhawa/Vinay Sekhar (1:03:51); 2. Anil Wadia/Prajwal Pai (Team Thunderbolt) (1:05:27); 3. Bobby Jose/Bobby Varghese (DDL Sports) (1:07:01).

  • Pramod Joshua wins MAK 2W-INRC Mysore Round

    By David Bodapati

    Mysore, 5 Sept 2009: Team TVS Racing once again cornered the glory as Pramod Joshua earned his second victory and along with Aravind KP made it 1-2 for TVS Racing for the second time at the MAK Rally of Mysore 2009, the second round of the MAK Indian National Rally Championship for two-wheelers at KR Nagar, near here, on Sunday.

    However, it was local teenager Abdul Waheed Tanveer, who stole the limelight spoiling a sweep by Team TVS Racing as he pushed Natraj behind to finish a creditable third.  “I really enjoyed my rally today. The stages were fast and the competition was tough. But riding here is fun,’’ quipped the Privateer from Mysore.

    Pramod Joshua, riding for Team TVS Racing, in the Group B (modified) 4 stroke 130 cc to 160 cc category, finished overall first to add to the win he achieved at the first round in Coimbatore last month. He now leads the championship table with 40 points ahead of teammate Arvind KP, who again ended up second, in the same category. Arvind, who overcame a tough challenge from a determined HK Pradeep clinched the second place. He retained his second place in the MAK INRC with 36 points. Defending champion HK Pradeep, also from Team TVS Racing, was in the second place after the first two stages, but toppled in the third Special Stage and damaged his bike. He lost close to three minutes to give way to Arvind and Natraj. Late in the day Natraj, who was leading by just two seconds after SS4, lost out to Abdul, the 18-year-old privateer from Mysore.

    The MAK INRC for Motorcycles, organized by Mysore Adventure Sports Club (MASC) under the aegis of Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India, the governing body for the country under the International Motorcycle Federation (FIM) attracted 37 entries in different classes. The event promoted by IMG Sports and Pro Sports Promotion ran over a distance of 156.2 kms with six Special Stages. Cauvery stage and Kapila stage, the two special stages were run three times each to make up a distance of a little over 62 kms.

    Provisional Unaudited Results:

    Overall and Group B 4 Stroke 130 to 160cc:  Pramod Joshua (TVS) 1; Arvind KP (TVS) 2; Abdul Waheed Tanveer (TVS) 3;

    Note: KP Aravind spelling changed in June 2017 to facilitate search

  • Stylish rally star Arjun Balu wins maiden K1000 with navigator Sujith Kumar

    By David Bodapati

    Bangalore, 23 Aug 2009: Team MRF painted the City Red sweeping the podium as Arjun Balu, the most stylish driver in the Indian rally scene, won his maiden IMG Sports K-1000 rally, the second leg of the SPEED Indian National Rally Championship at the Manyata Tech Park here on Sunday.

    “This win means a lot for me. Though it was tough for the last three days, I enjoyed every bit of it,’’ said the champion driver from Coimbatore driving the 200+ horsepower Mitsubishi Lancer Cedia machine.. The 34-year old Speed Master switched off and went on a safe mode but his racing line and the sliding turns showed his class in the Super Special Stage today when he gave a joy ride to the Indian cricket captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the brand ambassador of SPEED, the high-quality product of Bharat Petroleum.

    However, it was his teammate Gaurav Gill who stole the limelight with two blistering laps of the 2-km Super Special Stage providing seat-edged thrills and the adrenalin rush to over 5000-odd Sunday crowd. Taking an acute right before the hair-pin bend in front of the Grand Stand, Gaurav Gill, gave spectacular moments of speed and thrill with his sliding dash without letting off the gas and the crowd enjoyed every bit as he clocked a time of 2 min and 7 seconds, the best today. That also helped Gaurav Gill and co-driver Musa Sheriff to bag all the three stage points of Leg 2 pipping Arjun Balu and Sujith Kumar with a tie, which went in favour of Gill and Sheriff as they had fast times in more Special Stages on Day 2.

    Arjun Balu and co-driver Sujith Kumar with trophies after winning the K1000 rally, the second round of INRC 2009 in Bangalore on Sunday. An INDIAinF1 Photo

    Arjin Rao Aroor and Satish Rajagopal, also of MRF, completed the top-three in the the 2000cc N+ Category. The splashing at the water spot and the airbourne cars at the jump spot in front of the spectator gallery made the Super Special Stage spectacular for the spectators and the presence of Dhoni added excitement.

    Joseph C Jos and Royce Kizhakoodan of Team DDL Kochi who has won many autocross events has entered the rally championship this year and quickly adopted to the circuit. He won the 1600cc class where Sujay S and Varun S finished second and local pair Rahul Kantharaj and Vivek Bhatt came third.

     Local lad Vikram Devadasan, navigated by Nikhil Pai of Secunderabad, who showed his promise in the Rally Star Cup last year with good performances, won the the 1400cc class.  Jose Francis and Manoj M of DDL Sports, Kochi came second while Samarth Gowda and Bharathi SM finished third.

    In the Rally Star Cup, the entry class, Phalguna V Urs and Anup Kumar edged out Balram CG and Raghuram CG to the second place. Harikeshav Nambiar and Ashwin Nadig were third.

    Sandeep Sharma and Anmol Rampal of Team Thunderbolt brought their Gypsy to the podium while Kushwant Randhawa and co-driver Harminder Singh finished second ahead of local team Sanjay Agarwal and Chetan Shivaram.

    Provisional, unaudited results:

    Overall/2000cc: Arjun Balu/Sujith Kumar (Team MRF, Cedia N+) 1 ; Gaurav Gill/Moosa Sherif (Team MRF, Cedia N+) 2; Aroor Arjun Rao/Satish Rajagopal (Team MRF, Cedia N+) 3

    1600cc (Baleno): Joseph C/Royce 1; S Sujay/Varun 2;  Rahul Kantharaj and Vivek Bhat 3;

    1400cc (Esteem): Vikram Devadasen/Nikhil Pai 1; Jose Francis/ Manoj M 2; Samarth Gowda/Bharath SM 3.

    Rally Star Cup (Carbureted Esteem): Phalguna Urs/Anoop Kumar 1 ; Raghuram CG/Balram CG 2, Harikeshav Nambiar/Ashwin Nadig

    Gypsy class: Sandeep Sharma /Anmol Rajpal 1; Kushwant Randhawa /Harminder 2;

    Sanjay Agarwal/ Chetan Shivaram 3.

  • Ghosh, Naik win Rally of Coimbatore with 20-sec `Grace Time’

    Coimbatore, 28 June 2009: Amittrajit Ghosh and co-driver Ashwin Naik of Red Rooster Racing won the Rally of Coimbatore, the season opener of the IMG-PSP Speed Indian National Rally Championship at the Windmill farms of Kethanoor, near here on Sunday.

    The Kolkata-Mangalore duo were helped by a stewards’ decision late on Saturday night to push Saturday’s leaders Arjun Rao Aroor and co-driver Satish Rajagopal to second place. Ghosh gained 20 precious seconds as stewards upheld his request for `grace time’ as he lost a lot of time after the duo were boxed down by a slower car during the Special Stage 8 on Saturday.

    Now Rao and Rajagopal finished 14 seconds behind Ghosh. On Sunday morning, Ghosh steered his Cedia well and made up crucial time clocking an identical time in the final stage after he lost 19 seconds to Rao in the penultimate stage. The overnight lead of `grace time’ given to him, helped him clinch the issue.

    However, Team MRF protested the 20-second `grace time’ given to Ghosh and if the Stewards uphold the protest, then it is likely that Rao might yet be declared champion again. Delhi’s Sandeep Sharma and co-driver Arjun Chopra of Team Thunderbolt finished third in a Maruti Gypsy.

    Results (provisional): Overall: 1. Amittrajit Ghosh/ Ashwin Naik (Red Rooster Racing, Cedia N+) (2:10:45); 2. Arjun Aroor Rao/ Satish Rajagopal (Team MRF, Cedia N+) (2:10:58); Sandeep 3. Sharma/ Arjun Chopra (Team Thunderbolt, Maruti Gypsy) (2:16:12).

    2000cc Class (Cedia N+): Amittrajit Ghosh/ Ashwin Naik 1; Arjun Rao Aroor/ Satish Rajagopal; 2. Arjun Balu/Sujith Kumar (Team MRF) (2:18:08).

    1600cc (Maruti Baleno): 1. Vishal GA/ Robinson Rajkumar (2:21:58); 2. Sujay S/ Varun S (2:22:42); 3. Rahul Kantharaj/ Vivek Bhatt (2:26:48).

    1400cc (MPFI Esteem): 1. Bikku Babu/ Bonnie Thomas; 2. Amith Anand/ Prakash Rodrigues (2:20:23); 3. Francis Jose/ Manoj M (DDL Sports) (2:22:08),

    Rally Star Cup (Carbureted Esteem): 1. Karna Kadur/ Somonnita Ghosh; 2. Venkatapathy/ Santosh Kumar S; 3. CG Balaram/ CG Raghuram (2:18:17).

    Maruti Gypsy: 1. Sharma/ Chopra; 2. Khushwant Randhawa/ Harminder S Kaler (2:22:04); 3. Vijay Jose/ Pradeep Nagabhushan (2:36:16).

  • TK Vishwanath, Veer Patel share honours in Foreign Class: MRF Supercross

    Hyderabad, 31 May 2009: It was a challenging day at the MRF Supercross Championship 2009 for Team TVS Racing as its team riders fought it out in the heat and dust to finish on the podium. It might be recalled that Team TVS had been confronted with injuries to its top riders who as such did not participate in today’s leg of the Supercross Championship. The first moto of the Foreign Open Class began as a perfect starter for Team TVS with Aravind KP taking a huge initial lead followed Veer Patel in second place and by team mate T K Vishwanath, riding for Team TVS Racing for the first time in this year’s championship in third.

    It was in the beginning of lap 5 that the team’s fortunes changed when Aravind K P fell off his bike and was overtaken by Veer Patel of Team Pashankar Racing. In the next lap fortunes changed again as it was Veer Patel’s who crashed this time, catapulting Team TVS Racing’s T K Vishwanath into the lead for the first time. Vishwanath finished off the race taking the first place, with Veer Patel in second and Eeshan Lokhande in third place. Aravind K P could manage only fourth position.

    The second moto of the Foreign Class proved just as exciting as the first. It was a close fight between Veer Patel, Aravind K P and T K Vishwanath for a place on the podium. Veer Patel got the better of Aravind K P when he forced him to hold his bike in the air just that little bit longer than he could handle, resulting in Aravind crashing in the second moto as well, although he did well to comeback and finish in the third position. With this win, Veer Patel took top honours in round II of the MRF Supercross Championship 2009 with T K Vishwanath finishing second and Eeshan Lokhande edging ahead of Aravind KP to take third with a difference of just 4 points. Veer Patel was also adjudged the best rider of the day.

    It however was Team TVS Racing all the way in the other races that took place in the day.Team TVS Racing swept the Class 2 – Novice – Group “C” races with Vishal Bharguje, Sudeep Kotegar and P Nataraj taking first second and third places. Here too, it was a close fight for the second third and fourth slot, but Team TVS Racing came out victorious in the end. It was a clean sweep for Team TVS Racing once again in the Class 3 – Indian Experts- Group “B” with Aravind K P, Pramod Joshua and T K Vishwanath finishing first, second and third respectively.

    In the Class 6 – Intermediate Class – Group “A” it was Veer Patel of Pashankar Racing, who finished first, while privateer Jatin Jain from Nagpur and Goa’s Mohammed Kadar came in second and third. It was a spirited effort by the local boys, who fought a close race with Mohammed Jawed eventually emerging as winner. Fellow racers from the city, Gaurav Naidu and K Yashaswi took second and third place respectively.

    It was one, two and four for Team TVS Racing in the Class 5 – Indian Experts – Class C with Pramod Joshua and Sudeep Kotegar taking first and second place. Privateer Sunil Kumar from Bangalore came in third, after successfully keeping Team TVS Racing’s R Nataraj at bay.

  • HK Pradeep bags ‘Best Rider of the Day’ tag

    Goa, 24 May 2009: The 1st round was in Goa on 24th May 2009, TVS Racing participated in 5 Races riding TVS RTR 250FX, TVS Apache RTR. All the 5 races WON by TVS Racing riders. Our HK Pradeep in addition to winning the prestigious group ‘A’ was also adjudged ‘Best Rider Of the Day’.. Our Ace Rider CS Santhosh could not participate the GOA round due to injury just 2 days before race(during practice).

    However, HK Pradeep filled the gap and came out Victorious. The results and points tally is attached for those interested.

    The 2nd Round is on 31st May, Sunday at Hyderabad.. we hope to repeat our performance!

  • TVS host Apache Racing Experience at Palace grounds

    Bangalore, 13 March 2009: The first ever Apache Racing Experience (ARE), which was held at Palace Grounds, Bangalore attracted as many as sixty two participants. This exclusively by invitation event, for Apache RTR owners, attracted participation from across the country, including cities like New Delhi, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chennai and Cochin, not forgetting Bangalore. ARE participants were given hands on training on various techniques of racing by TVS Racings national champions Preetham Dev Moses, C S Santosh and others. They were also given tips on how to improve their riding skills. Participants were then allowed to test the enhanced professional racing machines of team TVS racing. The event was kick-started with a spectacular stunt performance by TVS dirt track racers, which thrilled participants and spectators alike, creating the perfect ambience.

    ARE has been conceptualised, to benefits customers while simultaneously acting as a platform to spot fresh racing talent. The event saw many young race buffs show-off their motorcycling skills under the watchful eyes of experts from TVS Racing. The Apache RTR series has been inspired by lessons learnt on the race track. Focused events such as ARE, where individual attention is given to each participant, help us to pass on this learning to our customers so that they can benefit by getting the maximum out of their Apache.The runaway success of this event has motivated us to make ARE a national event and we are in the process of drawing up a calendar for the same. said Arun Siddharth, Senior Manager – Marketing, TVS Motor Company.

    Out of the sixty two racing enthusiasts, it was nineteen year old Sudharshan from Orissa who caught the eye, displaying outstanding riding abilities. Team TVS even went on to offer him a chance to hone his talent with Team TVS Racing.

    Sudarshan demonstrated a high level of confidence with excellent riding skills and control. We immediately spotted talent that could be taken to much higher levels. To this end, we have made him an open offer to train as part of our racing team. It is truly encouraging to discover such excellent raw talent and riders with natural abilities said Arvind Pangaonkar, General Manager R&D Racing, TVS Motor Company.

    The top ten participants, who finished with the quickest timings, now have the opportunity to compete against each other after being instructed by Team TVS Racing, this time at the Sriperumbudur Race Track, in Chennai next month, for the RTR Riders Cup.

  • INRC 2w Hall of Fame

    INRC 2w Hall of Fame

    Bengaluru: The Indian National Two-wheeler championship was one of the top events which was popular drawing thousands of spectators and generated huge interest in the motoring community in yester years. However, there are no proper records about the history of the National Championship which began simultaneously with the Four-wheeler Championship in 1988 and National titles were given for rider and navigator. Over the years, the bike rallies saw the disappearance of navigators and only drivers were required to take part in the championship. This article is Work in Progress. As we compile the old records, we request riders or fans to chip in if you have any old paper clips or result sheets. Thank you!

    2020 – Promoter – God Speed Racing, Pune headed by Shyam Kothari

    Champions 2020 INRC2w

    Overall: Samuel Jacob;

    Ladies: Aishwarya Pissay;

    1. Puttur, Gravel, 28, 29 November 2020; Rally of Puttur

    2. Bengaluru, Gravel, 6, 7 December 2020; K 1000 2w Rally; Suhail Ahmed

    3. Coimbatore, 23, 24 Jan 2021; Rally of Coimbatore; Overall winner: Samuel Jacob (TVS Racing) Apache RTR; Class 4: SS260cc Group B.

    4. Hampi, Gravel, 30, 31 January 2021; MRF MoGrip Rally of Hampi, Utsav de Hampi, Overall winner: Samuel Jacob (TVS Racing); Apache RTR; Class 4: SS260cc Group B.

    2019 – Promoter – God Speed Racing, Pune headed by Shyam Kothari

    1.

    2. Rally of Pune, AutoTrack Video here

    INRC 2-W final Championship Table 2019

    Class 1: Superbike (Pro-Expert):

    1. Rajendra RE, TVS Racing, 100

    2. R Nataraj, TVS Racing, 51

    3. Nikhil Balakrishna, Privateer, 36

    Class 1A: Superbike (Expert):

    1. Jatain Jain, 101

    2. Badal S Doshi, 65

    3. Venu Ramesh Kumar, 33

    Class 2 – Super Sport 130:

    1. M Srikanth, 95

    2. Azeeb Mohammed, 86

    3. Santhosh Kour, 53

    Class 3: Super Sport 165:

    1. Ishan Chandra, 126

    2. Francis PV, 90

    3. Akshay Siddharamaaiyah, 53

    Class 4: Super Sport 260:

    1. Imran Pasha, TVS Racing, 118,

    2. Samuel Jacob, TVS Racing, 91

    3. Sachin D, TVS Racing, 90

    Class 5: Super Sport 400:

    1. Sudeep Kottary, 118

    2. Vikram K, 58,

    3. Shivan Wani, 48

    Class 6: Super Sport 550:

    1. Suhail Ahmed, 125

    2. Arun Joy, 66

    3. Devraj Venkatesh, 59

    Class 7: S0 to S3 Scooters upto 210cc (S0 to S3):

    1. Syed Asif Ali, TVS Racing, 143

    2. Shamim Khan, TVS Racing, 102

    3. Pinkesh Thakkar, TVS Racing, 93

    Class 8 – Ladies Class: Ladies Class (Open Indian Motorcycles):

    1. Aishwarya Pissay, TVS Racing, 150

    2. Ryhana Bee, 48

    3. Fazeela, 36.

    2018 –

    2017

    2016

    2015

    1.

    2.

    3.. INRC 2w Rally – Chikmagalur; Watch AutoTrack YouTube video here!

    2014

    2013

    2012

    2011

    2010

    2009

    2008

    2007

    2007

    2006

    2005

    2004

    2003

    2002

    2001

    2000

    1999

    1. Nashik, 5, 6 June 1999: NASA Challenge 1999; Overall winner: Rohitaaz Kumar (MRF)
    2. Bengaluru, 14, 15 August 1999; Gravel, 25th Karnataka 1000 K1000 rally 1999; Overall winner: Rohitaaz Kumar (MRF)

    1998