INDIA in F1

Tag: Coffee Day Rally

  • Karna Kadur-Somonnita gift Coffee Day Rally win to Ghosh-Naik due to `penalty’

    Karna Kadur-Somonnita gift Coffee Day Rally win to Ghosh-Naik due to `penalty’

    By David Bodapati

    Chikmagalur, 24 Nov 2012: Rising star of Bangalore Karna Kadur (co-driver Somonnita Ghosh) rallied brilliantly to clock the best time but failed to win as the duo was penalized 40 seconds for a delayed start after the last service break to gift the Coffee Day Rally to Amittrajit Ghosh (Ashwin Naik) as the third leg of the Indian National Rally Championship concluded at the special stages in Birur near here. Karna-Somonnita finished second.

    With only the Nashik rally remaining, it may prove costly for Karna Kadur, as he lost a golden chance to be in the reckoning for his maiden National Championship. The prize distribution will be held at the ABC campus at 10.30 am on Sunday. There was an eerie silence at the team hotel, Planters Court, in the evening and the grapevine has it that the talented youngster suffered due to team orders. But it was all `hush-hush’ with no one willing to be quoted.

    Karna Kadur tops the Coffee Day Rally but loses win due a penalty. Photo by Anand Philar.

    The lone entry in the Indian Rally Championship for modified foreign cars, Zuhin A and seasoned Musa Sherif of Team Kajah Motorsports who thrilled the crowds yesterday in the Super Special Stage began well on Saturday setting a scorching pace in the University Stage to take a lead of over 40 seconds by SS3 but soon fell behind with a Turbo problem. They later retired in Special Stage 5 (SS5) with an electrical snap.

    In the INRC 2000cc class, Amittrajit Ghosh (Ashwin Naik) who were tied with Karna Kadur after three stages lost time in the next three but the penalty to Karna saw them clinch the issue. Vikram Devadasan and co-driver Somayya AG came third. Strong contenders Lohit Urs (co-driver Sujith Kumar) managed to run with a troublesome suspension and came fourth to keep themselves at a striking distance gaining some valuable championship points.

    Organised by Chikmagalur Motor Sports Club under the aegis of Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India, the popular rally is sponsored by Café Coffee Day, The Serai Resorts, Amber Valley School and Way2Wealth.

    In the 1600cc class, Raghunandan K and co-driver Suraj K came first on a day which saw many casualities. Byram Godrej (Prajwal Pai) came second followed by Suhem MK (Jeevarathinam) in third. Sirish Chandran (co-driver Nikhil Pai) slipped and went down into a ditch in SS5.

    In the JINRC class, overnight leaders Karan AM (Shanmugha) ran all the stages with controlled aggression to clinch the rally. Asad Khan and Zayne Asrar came second while Samrat Yadav (Tushar Marwaha) came third.

    Of the 43 cars that started the day, 15 cars failed to finish.

    Provisional unaudited results:

    Indian Rally Championship: 1. Zuhin A / Musa Sherif (Team Kazah Motorsports) 38 minutes 36.4 seconds (DNF – retired in SS5)

    Indian National Rally Championship: 2000cc N: 1. Amittrajit Ghosh /Ashwin Naik 1: 21: 59.5;  2. Karna Kadur/ Sommonita Ghosh 1: 22: 08.3; 3. Vikram Devadasan/ Somayya AG 1: 22: 40.9:

    1600cc: 1. Raghunandan B/ Suraj K 1: 27: 45.5; 2. Byram Godrej/ Prajval Pai 1:28:58.8; 3. 3.Suhem MK/

    Jeevaratinam K 1: 29:08.8; 

    Junior INRC: 1. Karan AM/ Shanmugha SN; 2. Asad Khan CA/ Zayne Asrar; 3. Samrat Yadav/ Tushar Marwaha. (Timings to be released)  

    Note: The article is updated from old archives.

  • 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

  • Gaurav Gill-Musa Sherif win Coffee Day Rally with ease

    Chikmagalur, 7 May 2007: Talented Gaurav Gill of Team MRF displayed his amazing driving skills to claim his second overall win, finishing the nine special stages of the Coffee Day Rally, the second round of the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) here on Sunday. Gill, along with co-driver Musa Sherif, was a whopping 1 minute 52 seconds, ahead of teammate Arjun Balu here.

    The 23-year-old from Delhi driver along with co-driver Musa Sherif, were leading overnight by 40 seconds over Lohit Urs and Jaidas Menon added another six seconds in Sunday’s opening stage. But alas, Urs toppled in the next stage and was out of reckoning for the top slot.

    Arjun Balu and co-driver Kumaraswamy failed to push Gill, who garnered a comfortable lead and came out an emphatic winner. This is his second first place finish in the MAI’s INRC in as many starts. Gill clocked 1: 41.02 for his special stages while Balu took 1:42.53.

    Thirty one cars started on the second day, of which 26 came into parc ferme at Amalgamated Bean Company Limited (ABC). While four cars had to pull out in the day’s second stage due to technical problems, Deepak Paul Chinappa crashed on the return journey of the transport stage, his car toppling after banging into a boulder. The car was wrecked, but Chinappa and co-driver Sri Karunya escaped without injury.

    Amitrajit Ghosh and co-driver Sourabh Choudhary won the 1400cc category while Arvind J and navigator SM Bharath clinched the Rally Star Cup. Suresh Rana had no trouble winning the Gypsy Cup along with co-driver Harpreet Bawa.

    Gill has virtually rendered the INRC into a one-horse race, such has been his domination in the opening two rounds, notwithstanding his impressive run last year. Completely at ease in the 2000cc Cedia he seems to be improving with every rally, in stark contrast to his teammates, struggling to come to terms with the more powerful cars and finishing nowhere near Gill’s timings.

    “I lost the brakes of the car in the day’s second stage and flipped over after hitting a tree stump. I had to then call some spectators to right the car and lost precious time,” said a disappointed Urs. Any hopes he had in finishing among the top five overall were then dashed when he had a flat tyre in the repeat of the same stage and had to use his spare, which cost him another 20 minutes. Urs finished way back down the list in 2: 07.30.

    Provisional unaudited results:

    Overall: 1. Gaurav Gill/Musa Sherif (Team MRF, 2000cc Cedia) (1hour, 41min, 2sec); 2. Arjun Balu/Kumar Ramaswamy (Team MRF, 2000cc Cedia) (1: 42.53); 3. Arjun Rao Aroor/Satish Kumar (Team MRF, 1600cc Baleno) (1:46.33); 4. Philippos Mathai/ Ashwin Naik (Team MRF, 1600cc Baleno) (1:49.09); 5. BS Pruthvi/ Sunil Shetty (Baleno) (1:50.33).

    1600cc: 1. Arjun Rao Aroor/ Satish Kumar (Team MRF, 1600cc Baleno) (1:46.33); 2. Philippos Mathai/ Ashwin Naik (Team MRF, 1600cc Baleno) (1: 49.09); 3. BS Pruthvi/ Sunil Shetty (Baleno) (1:50.33).

    1400cc: 1. Amitrajit Ghosh/ Sourabh Chaudhary (Esteem) (1:53.44); 2. S Sujay/ M Chandrasekhar (Esteem) (2:01.07); 3. G Raju Prasanth/ Samuel Sangeeth (Esteem) (2:10.11).

    Rally Star Cup: 1. Arvind J/ SM Bharath (Esteem) (1:54.23); 2. Mazdayar Vatcha/ Kaushik Shinde (Esteem) (1: 54.27); 3. Elias Paarel/ Madhu KC (1:55.01).

    Gypsy Cup (3 stages): 1. Suresh Rana/ Harpreet Bawa (1:57.33); 2. Kamaljit Virdi/ Manoj Kumar (2:17.05).