Your basket is currently empty!
Tag: Blueband Sports
-
INRC all set to thrill the spectators in Itanagar
Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh), June 13, 2023: The Rally of Arunachal, organised by the Motorsports Club of Arunachal, under the aegis of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (fmsci)*, the second round of the Blueband FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship will begin with the first leg at Hollongi and Chimpu stages on Wednesday June 14, before it moves up into the mountains of Ziro for Thursday’s final leg. The Ceremonial flag off was held on Tuesday evening.
This prestigious event is hugely supported by the Directorate of Youth Affairs, Government of Arunachal, with a huge financial and technical support to promote tourism in the North Eastern hill State. Headed by Lhakpa Tsering, President of the Motorsports Club of Arunachal, who will also be the Chairman of the event, the Rally offers a technically daunting terrain and with rains expected, the challenge both for the drivers and the teams increases making it unpredictable. Being a Tarmac rally already offers substantial change in the preparations and car set-up and the travel distance to North East and the transportation of cars, is a huge burden on the drivers. However, the thrills and scenic beauty and the support from the organisers and Promoters should ease the situation.
Karna Kadur and co-driver Kumar Ramaswamy being flagged off at the Ceremonial inauguration on in Itanagar on Tuesday. Karna will be missing his regular navigator, Nikhil Pai, a professional sound engineer, who is in Durban for a big show. Photo MRF In the pre-event press conference, Tsering said, “We are proud to hold the 5th Rally of Arunachal INRC in Arunachal Pradesh. Arunachal is already established as a driving destination of the Northeast because of events like this. This championship is bound to go a long way in boosting adventure tourism in the state.” Itanagar had hosted two back to back rounds to begin the a very successful 2020 INRC Championship that was delayed to due to COVID19. It was first time in the history of INRC that any venue hosted two rallies within a span of eight days. Later, the INRC 2020 was rounded off with a 3-round year at Coimbatore with Gaurav Gill (Musa Sherif) adding another title to his chequered career. The event also saw a Digital Steward and was held for the first time on week-days. Arunachal Pradesh made its debut as a venue into the INRC calendar for the first time in 2017, which also saw Gaurav Gill and Musa Sherif clinch the victory. Thus, Gill and Sherif have won the Overall top class, in all the rallies held in Arunachal so far. This year, both the stages held in 2020 December will be repeated on Day 1, June 14, before the caravan moves to greater heights to Ziro. Thanks to the government support, the State Police are deployed and the Highways closed for the Special Stages and the rally is run in no-man’s land.
The stages are very fast and the rule says that the average speeds cannot exceed 110 KMPH, which means that the drivers could touch top speeds of 180kmph (while maintaining over 100kmph average speeds), like what Gaurav Gill, the King of Speed, did in the previous Itanagar round. In fact, this reporter was a witness when Gill and Musa, stopped about a 100 metres from the finish for about 11 seconds. The speed maestro skillfully exploited a brief pause, before the flying finish to stay within the rule. He was streets ahead and could afford halting on a Special Stage and he did win to keep a clean record of winning all the INRC events in Arunachal. Just after that Amittrajit Ghosh (Ashwin Naik) came speeding down and as he crossed the line with a burning hot wheel that flew away from the car into the wilderness, they made it safely to the finish. And Ghosh ran to collect the tyre and resumed to service. Fortunately, it flew into the no-man’s and and there were no casualties. That was all in 2020.
Amittrajit Ghosh recovers a wheel within a few seconds after his front right flew away into the wilderness of the night stage Hollingi F1 SS2 on Wednesday 17Dec2020, even as Ashwin Naik (in the car) reports timesheets. Exclusive File Photo by David Bodapati “We have installed a few artificial chicanes to reduce the speeds at the tarmac roads are very fast. It will help the drivers ease out and makes it more safer,” said Shrikanth Gowda, the Safety Officer, who too was present in 2020 with the same role.
The Rally of Arunachal 2023 attracted a massive field of 51 entries, thanks to Ammyfied Rallying which fielded 14 cars with the support Vamsi Merla Sports Foundation. It is the highest seen in the North East, and will offer an adrenaline-fueled experience . The ceremonial start at the Legislative Assembly Complex in Itanagar was held at 4:30 p.m.
The thrilling event is set to showcase the skill and determination of rally drivers across multiple categories, with seven cars in INRC, 12 in INRC2, 22 in INRC3 and five each in INRC4 and Gypsy Class, a non championship class. Eight of the drivers are also eligible for Junior INRC which is for drivers below 26 years as of Jan 1, 2023. Only 6 of the eight lady drivers and co-drivers will be eligible for Women’s Class honours, which is also a non-championship event. Deeksha Balakrishna, a talented co-driver, misses out as she is navigating for a male driver.
Promoter Premnath K. of Blueband Sports said: “It is truly encouraging to witness the overwhelming response the INRC has received this year, with a record number of entries representing the absolute cream of rallying talent from all corners of our nation. We are committed to making the INRC bigger, better, and more captivating for competitors and the audience. With a series of six rounds scheduled across India, alongside various other initiatives, we aim to elevate the stature and allure of the INRC.”
The three-day event will take place on June 14, with the Special Stages run on the highway from Hollongi to Chimpu and back, near Itanagar. The adrenaline-fueled action will kick off at 11 a.m. and continue until 8 p.m., offering spectators an unforgettable experience. As dusk falls, the excitement will intensify with a thrilling night Spectator Special Stage inside the city, starting at 8:00 p.m. and concluding at 11:30 p.m., taking participants from Zero Point to the “C” sector.
The Rally of Arunachal 2023 boasts an impressive lineup of renowned drivers who are set to unleash their skills on the challenging terrain. Leading the pack is the Arjuna Awardee Gaurav Gill (Aniruddha Rangnekar) and reigning national champion from Bengaluru Karna Kadur, who will have a new navigator in Kumar Ramaswamy. The first Round South India Rally INRC segment winner, the formidable Arjun Rao Aroor, and Satish Rajagopal of Mandovi Racing will look to extend their lead. Former champions Amittrajit Ghosh and Ashwin Naik, 2021 champions Aditya Thakur and Virender Kashyap, multiple champions in various sub-classes and reigning champions of INRC2, Rahul Kanthraj and Vivek have moved up to the top INRC class, will join talented Dean Mascarenhas and co-driver Gagan Karumbaiah, in the top INRC category. “What a lovely stage, just flat out… The corners are tricky but we will make it,” said Nikeetaa Takkale after the Recce, with experienced Venu Ramesh Kumar, her navigator, watching in admiration, in an insta reel.
Maninder Singh Prince, the INRC3 champion of 2022 has also moved up to INRC2 class while Pragathi Gowda and Trisha Alonkar the Junior INRC champions are in INRC3 and Pragathi will be competing in both INRC3 and Junior INRC.
The defending Overall team champions Arka Motorsports headed by N Leelakrishnan has fielded 12 cars, including Karna Kadur while Chettinad Sporting and Snap Racing have 7 cars each. Aroor Arjun Rao continues to spearhead Mandovi challenge while two talented drivers Jason Saldanha (Thimmu Uddapanda) and Anushriya Gulati (Arjun Dheerendra) are in fray representing Dark Don Racing.
For the benefit of followers, real-time results will be available on live.chronopulse.com. The podium ceremony will be held at Ziro on June 16 at 11:30 a.m. The third round Rally of Coimbatore, will be hosted by Coimbatore Automotive Sports Club, form July 28 to 30.
2022 Indian National Champions in INRC
Blueband Sports fmsci Indian National Rally Championship 4W 2022
1. INRC Driver Overall champion: Karna Kadur, Bengaluru;
2. INRC Co-Driver Overall Champion: Nikhil Vittal Pai; Bengaluru.
3. INRC Overall Champion Team: Arka Motorsports, Coimbatore;
4. INRC2 champion Driver: Rahul Kantharaj, Bengaluru;
5. INRC2 champion Co-Driver: Vivek Y Bhatt, Bengaluru;
6. INRC2 Champion Team: Snap Racing, Delhi;
7. INRC3 champion Driver: Maninder Singh Prince, Delhi;
8. INRC3 champion Co-Driver: Arjun SSB, Bengaluru;
9. INRC3 Champion Team: Snap Racing, Delhi;
10. Junior INRC champion driver: Pragathi Gowda, Bengaluru.
-
Blueband INRC back to Ziro; Arunachal beckons top Indians drivers to North-East
Itanagar, (Arunachal Pradesh), 12 June 2023: Arjuna Awardee Gaurav Gill (co-driver Aniruddha Rangnekar) of JK Tyre, the winner of first round APRC, is raring to re-launch his domestic campaign while defending champion Karna Kadur will have a new but experienced co-driver in Kumar Ramaswamy as record numbers, including the cream of Indian talent, pour into Arunachal Pradesh for the second round of the Blueband fmsci Indian National Rally Championship at the picturesque hill station here from June 14 to 16. With rain forecast during the rally, the mountain roads will turn challenging for the drivers, making the event all the more spectacular.
Gaurav Gill, the 7-time National champion and the first and only Indian to have three Asia Pacific Rally Championship titles will spearhead the campaign after missing the first round INRC at the Blueband MMSC South India Rally 2023, where he took part only in APRC, and won it hands down putting his Subaru Impreza STi N14 on the pedastal after tricky and slushy two days. Reigning champion Karna Kadur, former champions Aditya Thakur, Rahul Kantharaj, Aroor Arjun Rao, Dean Mascarenhas and Amittrajit Ghosh will be the other six top guns in INRC, the premier class.
“Good to be back here. Two years we missed out on this rally. It is a very special rally for me. The Arunachal Government gives so much support here and we get the best roads which are super fast mountain roads. Looking at the weather it is a big game-changer as heavy rain is forecast which is to my liking. Yes, it will change a lot of set-up and tyre selection is crucial. I am well prepared and the JK Tyres offer me the best,” said Gill, who is gunning for his record 8th National INRC title in a Mahindra XUV300. Arunachal is the happy hunting ground for Gill, who won all the INRC rounds held here till now, two in Itanagar in 2020, and once in Ziro 2017, with Musa Sherif as navigator.
“I am feeling very positive after winning INRC Round 1. Arunachal being a tarmac rally, the set up of the car will be different and I am looking forward to see how my Baleno will perform in its 1st tarmac test. We have couple of night stages as well that makes it interesting. We have done testing and the feeling is good. Looking forward to a good event,” said Aroor Arjun Rao of Mandovi Racing, who broke the ice with winning the INRC section of the South India Rally, the first round this year.
The Rally of Arunachal returns to its tarmac home Ziro, two years after visiting Itanagar for the 2020 championship double-header. Ziro, the only tarmac rally in the Blueband Sports calendar, which made its INRC debut in 2017, and offers high speeds, high-altitude rallying, and technical challenges including night stage cold tyres. The Rally of Arunachal organised by the local Motorsports Club of Arunachal is sponsored by Arunachal Pradesh Tourism under the Department of Youth Affairs (and Sports) with MRF Tyres as Associate Sponsor. Promoted by Blueband Sports, the rights winners of the INRC, the rally also has Mahindra Thar Club, another local club lending a hand.
“We are proud to bring back the National rally to Arunachal as drivers and teams loved the Rally in Nagaland last year. North-East states offer well-maintained roads and with the support of Arunachal Pradesh Government and the police, we get closed tarmac high-way roads that offer high speeds,” said Premnath Kashi, the Chief Promoter and the man who brings the spectacular show to North East.
The roads are closed and manned by the State’s police machinery along with the Safety officer Shrikant GM, a former champion, who did yeoman job, the last time around. All ambulances and other safety measures are in place as per the Federations regulations and experienced Clerk of the Course Girija Shankar Joshy is conducting the event with the support of trained local Marshals who know every bit of route under the guidance of Lhakpa Tsering and Arindam Ghosh, two former rally drivers of repute who will be the Chairman of the Event and Chief Administrator, respectively.
After a day in the familiar Chimpu (16.05km, SS1 & SS3) and Hollongi (18.10km, SS2 & SS4) Special Stages (SS), that would be run twice in the forward direction on Wednesday, the 2.05-km Super Special Stage (SSS, SS5 & SS6) is run twice in the chilling night that is bound to offer a technically challenging cold tyres for the drivers to tackle.
Then the caravan moves uphill (from 320 metres above mean sea level to about 1680m) on Thursday morning on the winding roads to still cooler Ziro for final four Special Stages (SS). The two physical stages are Yazali (10.25km) and longer Yachuli Special Stage is 14.75 km. All the cars run both the Yazali (SS7 and SS9) and Yachuli (SS8 and SS10) in the forward direction, once in the afternoon and once in the night and the event ends at about 11pm in the hills to offer a thrilling extravaganza to the speed lovers. The rally has 122.4km of competitive timed distance and offers a total distance of 283km including 160.6km of transport section, where the drivers must follow normal road rules.
INRC2 will have 12 cars but INRC3 continues to be the popular category with 22 cars while the INRC4 saw the entry of five cars along with 5 Gypsy entries in the non-Championship Challenge event.
There will also be 8 lady drivers who are competing on equal footing with men and 8 below-26 year drivers in the Junior INRC category.
They include two all-woman entries of Pragathi Gowda and Trisha Alonkar and daughter-mom pair of Shivani and Dr Vani Parmar. Bengaluru’s Deeksha Balakrishna navigates for Aditya Kousgi. Nikeetaa Takkale and Anushriya Gulati have male navigators. Phoebe Dale Nongrum of Shillong will be the only lady driver from North East with a male co-driver in Shivamogga’s Dinesh S.
Top guns Gaurav Gill and Dean Mascarenhas of JK Tyre will be among the eight privateers (non-team entry) gunning with top outfit Arka Motorsports’ 12 cars tuned by N Leelakrishnan and Chettinad Sporting’s seven cars tuned by Thiyagarajan and Roshan. Newcomers Ammyfied Rallying, headed by Aeman Ahemad and Sagar, have fielded the highest number of 14 cars while SNAP headed by Sumit Punjabi has seven cars managed by Nitin Jacob.
Former champion Arjun Rao Aroor fresh from his victory (INRC) in the South India Rally in Chennai will be the lone crusader for Mandovi Racing while another top Road Racing team which entered rallying this season is Dark Don, that has two cars with talented international lady driver Anushriya Gulati and Jason Saldanha, who made his international debut podium this year in Indonesia.
The event offers prize money of over Rs.9.3 lakhs and trophies in eight different classes for drivers, co-drivers and teams. Best tuners in each class also get trophies.
-
Karna Kadur-Nikhil Pai win K1000, clinch Indian National Rally title with a round to spare
Tumakuru (Karnataka), 4 Dec 2022: All the hard work and years of patience paid rich dividends as Bengaluru rally stars Karna Kadur and co-driver Nikhil Vittal Pai claimed the Indian National Rally Championship, with a round to spare here on Sunday. This is the second National overall title for the talented duo, who won their maiden Nationals in 2016 in the top class.
Kadur along with Nikhil Pai, one of the senior-most navigators in the country along with Musa Sherif, brought the second National title for Volkswagen Polo. Pai, who made his INRC debut aboard a two-wheeler in 1992, the victory is a justification for his meticulous work ethic, deep knowledge of the sport and the terrain that helps him to guide his driver, engineers in the car set-up and other technical aspects beyond his call of duty, the pace notes.
On the other hand, the seven-time National champion Karna Kadur, who switched from Road Racing to Rally and delighted his fans with his exploits as a young driver of Red Rooster Racing took a mind-boggling tumble in Nashik in 2009 when he graduated to a powerful Mitsubishi Cedia. Undaunted, the champion in him went on to build a successful career, which missed a probable maiden National title in 2012 due to the controversial “Penalty” at the Coffee Day rally in Chikmagalur.
Multiple National champions in the sub-categories, Karna and Nikhil bagged full 40 points with their overall INRC class victory, including full leg points, while their nearest rival Gaurav Gill (Musa Sherif), drew a blank in this round, remaining on 44 points. The Bengaluru duo garnered a total of 112, an unbeatable lead of 68 points, to clinch the National Overall title.
Driving a Volkswagen Polo 1.0 Comfortline tuned by Leelakrishnan, the Arka Motorsports stalwarts clinched their maiden Overall Karnataka-1000 title by finishing first in the Prasaditya 46th Karnataka-1000 Rally, the third and penultimate round of the Blueband FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship at the Special Stage run near Gubbi, in Tumakuru taluk, despite suffering a heavy damage to their car after clipping a rock.
Karna Kadur and long-time co-driver Nikhil Pai, after winning INRC Overall title.
Photos by Anand Philar.Finishing second, over a minute behind Kadur was Mangaluru’s Aroor Arjun Rao (co-driver Satish Rajagopal, Bengaluru) of Mandovi Racing while Delhi’s Philippos Matthai (Harish Gowda, Bengaluru), who returned to rallying after a 13-year break, finished third Overall.
Karna Kadur & Nikhil Pai in action on Sunday. Photo by Anand Philar Matthai also took the honours in INRC 3 category while Virajpet’s Suhem Kabeer (Jeeva Rathinam, Bengaluru) topped in the INRC 2 class. Further down the grid, Chikkamagaluru’s Aeman Ahmed (Sagar Mallappa, Bengaluru) of Ammyfied Racing won in the INRC 4 class with Delhi’s Arnav Singh Pratap (Arjun SSB, Bengaluru) of SNAP Racing bagged the Junior INRC crown. Chandigarh’s Samrat Yadav (Chandrashekar M, Bengaluru) of Ammyfied Rallying emerged champion in the Gypsy Challenge, a non-championship category.
The 34-year old Kadur, who enjoyed a comfortable lead after Leg-1 on Saturday, kept his wits about him after suffering some heavy damage to the sump guard in Sunday’s second Stage when he clipped a rock. His mechanics carried out the necessary repairs in 20 minutes flat during the service break which enabled Kadur to continue and finish the second loop without much ado.
A six-time INRC winner himself, N Leelakrishnan, mentor and coach, gives an appreciative hug to his ward Karna Kadur, who brought the legend his 20th National title as “Tuner” in the Indian National Rally Championship. Photo by Anand Philar (FB) Reflecting on the weekend, Kadur said: “It (the win) still hasn’t sunk in, but I am very happy that we won our first K-1000 Rally. We had a fairly smooth run yesterday, but this morning, we had a scare when we clipped a rock in the second Stage.
“The damage was pretty bad in the front because the sump guard got cut. I managed to come back to service and the boys did a tremendous job in carrying out the necessary repairs, including some cutting, chopping and welding, besides fabricating and fitting a new sump guard, all in 20 minutes flat.
“We checked into parc ferme with just 30 seconds to spare. All kudos to our team who did a tremendous job. Yes, a pretty emotional moment. My dad (late Prakash Kadur) never won a K-1000 Rally and so, I am first in the family.”
Meanwhile, seven times National champion Gaurav Gill (Musa Sherif), who retired in Leg-1 with a drive-shaft issue on Saturday, suffered another setback after rejoining for Leg-2 today with a broken front right knuckle leading to his retirement in the day’s second Stage after being the fastest in the first.
The last round of the INRC 2022 promoted by Blueband Sports is scheduled to be held at Meghalaya pending approval from FMSCI.
Provisional final classification:
Overall / INRC: 1. Karna Kadur /Nikhil Pai (Bengaluru, Arka Motorsports) (01hr,13mins, 56.5secs); 2. Aroor Arjun Rao (Mangaluru)/ Satish Rajagopal (Bengaluru, Mandovi Racing) (01:15:11.9); 3. Philippos Matthai (Delhi)/ Harish Gowda (Bengaluru, Arka Motorsports) (01:16:54.0).
INRC-2: 1. Suhem Kabeer (Virajpet) / Jeeva Rathinam (Bengaluru, Pvt) (01:16:57.1); 2. Rahul Kanthraj / Vivek Y Bhatt (Bengaluru, Arka Motorsports) (01:17:28.5); 3. Harkrishan Wadia (Delhi) / Amber Udasi (Chandigarh, Arka Motorsports) (01:25.08).
INRC-3: 1. Matthai / Harish; 2. Maninder Singh Prince (Delhi) / Vinay Padmashali (Bengaluru, JK Rallying) (01:17:23.1); 3. Arnav Singh Pratap (Delhi) / Arjun SSB (Bengaluru, SNAP Racing) (01:19:51.7);
INRC-4: 1. Aeman Ahmed (Chikkamagaluru) / Sagar Mallappa (Bengaluru, Ammyfied Racing) (01:28:11.4); 2. Rakshith Iyer (Mysuru) / Avinash CA (Bengaluru) (01:31:40.4); 3. Deepak Chandra / Raghuram CG (Bengaluru, DC Racing) (01:43.58.4).
Junior INRC: 1. Arnav / Arjun; 2. Pragathi Gowda / Trisha Alonkar (Bengaluru, Arka Motorsports) (01:20:13.2); 3. Ajay Sankar (Kollam) / Rohit Gowda (Bengaluru) (01:21:24.1).
Gypsy Challenge (Non-Championship): 1. Samrat Yadav (Chandigarh) / Chandrashekar M (Bengaluru, Ammyfied Rallying) (01:18:26.7); 2. Himanshu Arora (Delhi) / Vikram Thakur (Chandigarh, Ammyfied Rallying) (01:22:01.9); 3. Kariappa Mekerira (Kodagu) / Supreeth Sagar (Bengaluru, Ammyfied Rallying) (01:26:06.9).
All Women (Open): 1. Pragathi Gowda / Trisha Alonkar; Shivani Pruthvi / Deepti Pruthvi (Davangere, Pvt) (01:24.16.6); 3. Nikeetaa Takkale (Pune) / Deeksha Balakrishna (Bengaluru, Snap Racing) (1:29:20.9).
-
Karna Kadur takes sizeable lead; Gaurav Gill retires: K1000
Tumakuru (Karnataka), 3 Dec 2022: The Bengaluru pair, Karna Kadur and co-driver Nikhil V Pai of Arka Motorsports, stepped up to the challenging terrain to finish Leg-1 as the Overall leaders in the Prasaditya 46th Karnataka-1000 Rally, the third round of the Blueband FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) here on Saturday which also saw the retirement of previous edition’s winner, Gaurav Gill (Musa Sherif) due to mechanical issues.
The day’s schedule was shortened to four Special Stages as against scheduled six following a delayed start due to a technical hitch. However, Kadur, the championship leader, kept his focus and came up with a well-paced drive to take a 47.4-second lead over Palakkad’s Fabid Ahmer (Sanath G) on completion of Leg-1 with Mangaluru’s Aroor Arjun Rao (Satish Rajagopal) of Mandovi Racing in third, trailing the leader by one minute. Four more Stages are scheduled to be run tomorrow (Sunday), the concluding day of the event.
Ahmer, who missed the 2021 National championship narrowly, leads in the INRC 2 category while Maninder Singh Prince (Suraj Keshava Prasad) of JK Rallying is ahead in the INRC 3 category.
Fabid Ahmer and co-driver Sanath G in action on Saturday. Photos: Anand Philar Leaders in the other classes were: Aeman Ahmed (Sagar M) of Ammyfied Rallying, in INRC 4; Arnav Pratap Singh (Arjun SSB) of SNAP Racing in JINRC and Samrat Yadav (Chandrashekar M) in Gypsy Challenge which is a non-championship category.
As well as Kadur drove today, the expected clash with seven-times National champion Gill dissipated in the day’s very first Stage with the Delhi star pulling out due to an issue with the gearbox of his Mahindra XUV 300 barely two Kms in the first Stage. “We had put in some new parts, but in SS-1, we had to pack up due to some issue with the gearbox. I was looking forward to the event as the Stages were to my liking. We will restart tomorrow and I hope to score some leg points,” said a disappointed Gill.
Kadur, aiming to win the National title this season, and who leads Gill by 44 points in the championship standings, said: “We stuck to our plan today which was to bring the car home. We pushed more in the second loop in the afternoon and made time on our morning run. I enjoyed the drive today. As for tomorrow, again, our aim will be to finish the event, exercise caution where required and push when we can. The car is still a work in progress and I am learning it all the time. Hopefully, we will have a good run tomorrow.”
Maninder Singh Prince and Vinay Padmashali lead INRC3 after Day 1. The Prasaditya Karnataka-1000 rally is being organised by the Karnataka Motor Sports Club under the aegis of FMSCI, the governing body of motorsports in India and promoted by Blueband Sports.
Of the 65 cars that took the start, 24 cars logged DNF and failed to finish on Day 1. Some of the cars will take the start again on Sunday for leg points.
Provisional partial classification (After Leg-1): (After Day1)
Overall / INRC: 1. Karna Kadur / Nikhil V Pai (Bengaluru, Arka Motorsports) (36mins, 03secs); 2. Fabid Ahmer / Sanath G (Palakkad) (36:50.4); 3. Aroor Arjun Rao (Mangaluru) / Satish Rajagopal (Bengaluru, Mandovi Racing) (37:04.7); 4. Suhem Kabeer (Virajpet)/ Jeeva Rathinam (Bengaluru) (37:09.300); 5. Aditya Thakur (Solan) / Virender Kashyap (Shimla, Chettinad Sporting) (37:21.7); 6. Jahaan Singh Gill (Chandigarh)/ Suraj Keshava Prasad (Bengaluru, SNAP Racing) (37:50.700); 7. Maninder Singh Prince (New Delhi) / Vinay Padmashali (Bengaluru, JK Rallying) (38:10.9); 8. Philippos Mathai (New Delhi) / Harish KN (Bengaluru, Arka Motorsports) (38:10.9); 9. Samrat Yadav (Chandigarh) / Chandrashekar M (Bengaluru) (38:54.300); 10. Arnav Pratap Singh (Delhi) / Arjun SSB (Bengaluru, SNAP Racing) (39:05.9); 11. Pragathi Gowda / Trisha Alonkar (Bengaluru, Arka Motorsports) (39:08.7);
INRC 2: 1. Ahmer / Sanath; 2. Suhem Kabeer (Virajpet) / Jeeva Rathinam (Bengaluru) (37:09.3); 3. Aditya Thakur (Solan) / Virender Kashyap (Shimla, Chettinad Sporting) (37:21.7); 4. Jahaan Singh Gill (Chandigarh)/ Suraj Keshava Prasad (Bengaluru, SNAP Racing) (37:50.700).
INRC 3: 1. Maninder Singh Prince (New Delhi) / Vinay Padmashali (Bengaluru, JK Rallying) (38:10.9); 2. Philippos Mathai (New Delhi) / Harish KN (Bengaluru, Arka Motorsports) (38:10.9); 3. Kuber Sharma (Solan) / Kunal Kashyap (Shimla) (38:18.1); 4. Arnav Singh Pratap (Delhi) /Arjun SSB (Bengaluru) (39:05.900).
INRC 4: 1. Aeman Ahmed (Chikkamagluru) / Sagar M (Bengaluru, Ammyfied Rallying) (43:25.2); 2. Rakshith Iyer (Mysuru) / Avinash CA (Bengaluru) (43:45.6); 3. Jagbir Nirwan (Patiala) / Karanpreet Mattu (Kurukshetra) (47:43.2); 4. Ruthuparna Vivek (Chikkamagaluru) /Santosh Thomas (Hyderabad) (59:18.900).
Junior INRC: 1. Arnav Pratap Singh (Delhi) / Arjun SSB (Bengaluru, SNAP Racing) (39:05.9); 2. Pragathi Gowda / Trisha Alonkar (Bengaluru, Arka Motorsports) (39:08.7); 3. Ajay Shankar (Kollam) / Rohit Gowda (Bengaluru) (40:47.8); 4. Shivani Pruthvi/ Deepti Pruthvi (Both Davangere) (41:21.900).
Gypsy Challenge (Non-championship): 1. Samrat Yadav (Chandigarh) / Chandrashekar M (Bengaluru) (38:54.300); 2. Himanshu Arora (Delhi) / Vikram Thakur (Chandigarh, Ammyfield Rallying) (40:14.300); 3. Kariappa Mekerira (Kodagu) / Supreeth Sagar (Bengaluru, Ammyfied Rallying) (43:02.200); 4. Darshan Nachappa /Abhinav Ganapathy (Both Kodagu, Ammyfied Rallying) (43:14.300).
Fabid Ahmer on Saturday. Photo courtesy Twitter @JKtyreracing -
Gaurav Gill takes early lead on Saturday ahead of Karna Kadur
Coimbatore, 30 July 2022: Speed maestro Gaurav Gill, along with experienced co-driver Musa Sherif, led the overall standings after Day 1, in the Rally of Coimbatore, the second round of the Blueband Sports fmsci Indian National Rally Championship 2022 for four wheelers, organised by Coimbatore Auto Sports Club, here on Saturday.
Championship leaders Karna Kadur and co-driver Nikhil Pai, who won the first round in April, also drove their MRF Tyres-shod Polo cautiously to place themselves in the second position to protect their advantage as table toppers. Mangaluru’s Aroor Arjun Rao, along with co-driver Sathish Rajagopal were overall third after the first two Special Stages on Saturday. Four more Special Stages will be run on Sunday. The 19.65-Km Black Thunder stage and 14.75-km Thunder World stage will be run twice each alternately at the familiar Kethanoor windmill farms.
Gill, the seven-time overall INRC champion, supported by JK Tyre, was hell bent on stopping the streak of mechanical failures that he suffered in the last few rallies. The Arjuna Awardee confessed that this was probably his slowest ever rally in his career. Nevertheless, the three-time APRC champion was still the quickest on the dirt tracks, posting the fastest time in both the runs on the 26.6-km Special Stage ‘SM Agro’ on Saturday. The Agro special stage was the longest in recent years in INRC, and Gill’s team did not take any chances with the performance of the car. “This car has never done such a distance in the rally. Non-stop driving at high speed for over 20 minutes will be too much for the car… The engines, drive shafts and gears are not designed for such heat. So the focus is to bring the car back home safely,” Gill told the reporters.
Brothers Chetan Shivram and Dilip Sharan, the 2019 overall champions, combine once again after a gap, to take the lead in their class, the INRC2, after Day 1 in the Rally of Coimbatore, the INRC Round 2 on Saturday. Photo by Srinivasa Krishnan Bengaluru’s Chetan Shivram, is back with his brother Dilip Sharan as co-driver. The duo who won the 2019 Overall title, are leading the INRC2 class in a Polo on Yokohoma tyres, ahead of defending champions Aditya Thakur and Virender Kashyap of Himachal Pradesh. The Chettinad Sporting duo supported by MRF, are just three seconds behind and kept themselves at a striking distance with four stages to be run on Sunday. Another strong contender Fabid Ahmer (Sanath G), the reigning INRC2 champ began well but suffered drive shaft issues. He had mechanical problems in Round 1 too.
Chandigarh teenager Jahaan Singh Gill along with Bengaluru co-driver Suraj Keshava Prasad are leading INRC3 while Bengaluru INRC4 defending champions Deepak Chandra (co-driver Mahesh Nandy) are ahead in the 2-car INRC4 field.
Women in Motorsports: Bengaluru pair Pragathi Gowda and Trisha Alonkar are leading among the ladies teams with a creditable overall 23rd among 53 cars that took the start on Saturday.
Provisional Classification after Day 1 /Saturday:
Overall: 1. Gaurav Gill, Delhi /Musa Sherif, Kasargod, INRC (Privateer/Mahindra XUV 300) 47 minutes, 22.000 seconds; 2. Karna Kadur/ Nikhil Pai, both Bengaluru, INRC (Arka Motorsports/VW Polo 1.0) 48:53.300; 3. Aroor Arjun Rao, Mangaluru / Sathish Rajagopal, Bengaluru, INRC (Mandovi Racing/ Maruti Baleno RS) 49:12.800; 4. Chetan Shivram/ Dilip Sharan, both Bengaluru, INRC2 (Pvt/ VW Polo 1.6) 49:20.200; 5. Aditya Thakur, Solan, / Virender Kahsyap, Shimla, INRC2 (Chettinad Sporting/ VW Polo1.6) 49:23.200; 6. Dean Mascarenhas, Mangaluru / Gagan Karumbaiah, Kodagu, INRC (Pvt/ Baleno) 49:40.600; 7. Aroor Vikram Rao, Mangaluru / Somayya AG, Kodagu, INRC2 (Snap Racing/ VW Polo 1.6) 49:48.500.
INRC: 1. Gaurav Gill/Musa Sherif, (Privateer/Mahindra XUV 300) 47 minutes, 22.000 seconds;2. Karna Kadur/ Nikhil Pai, (Arka Motorsports/VW Polo 1.0) 48:53.300; 3. Aroor Arjun Rao, / Sathish Rajagopal, (Mandovi Racing/ Maruti Baleno RS) 49:12.800;
INRC2: 1. Chetan Shivram/ Dilip Sharan, both Bengaluru, (Pvt/ VW Polo 1.6) 49:20.200; 2. Aditya Thakur, Solan/ Virender Kahsyap, Shimla (Chettinad Sporting/ VW Polo1.6) 49:23.200; 3. Aroor Vikram Rao / Somayya AG, Both Mangaluru (Snap Racing/ VW Polo 1.6) 49:48.500.
INRC3: 1. Jahaan Singh Gill, Chandigarh/ Suraj Keshava Prasad, Bengaluru (Pvt./ VW Polo 1.6) 50:06.800; 2. Syed Salman Ahmed, Mysore / BK Rishabh, Mangaluru (Pvt/ VW Polo 1.6) 50:31.100; 3. Kuber Sharma, Solan / Kunal Kashyap, Shimla (Pvt./ VW Polo 1.6) 50:33.700; 4.
INRC4: 1. Deepak Chandra, /Mahesh Nandi, Both Bengaluru, (Pvt/Honda City) 55:41.000; 2. Ninu Mohan, Trivandrum / Goutham CP, (Pvt/Honda City) Chikmagalur, 1:03:42.400; 3.
Non-Championship – fmsci Gypsy Challenge: 1. Himanshu Arora, New Delhi /Vikram Thakur, Chandigarh (Pvt) 52:55.100; 2. Samrat Yadav, Chandigarh/ Chandrashekar, Bengaluru, (Pvt) 53:13.000; 3. Dheeraj KV/ Pramod Raman, Both Bengaluru (Pvt).
