INDIA in F1

Tag: Dakshin Dare

  • TVS Racing’s Rajendra wins maiden Dakshin Dare crown

    TVS Racing’s Rajendra wins maiden Dakshin Dare crown

    Chitradurga (Karnataka), 17 Feb. 2022: TVS Racing factory rider Rajendra RE came out triumphant winning the Overall title in the Motorsport Inc 12th edition of the Dakshin Dare, a cross-country event under the aegis of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (fmsci), which concluded here on Wednesday night.

    The 35-year old warhorse, a multiple National champion, who began his rally-raid career winning the Group B class in thelonger version of the Dakshin Dare in 2017, won his maiden Overall title beating stiff competition astride a TVS Apache RTR 450FX and added one more trophy to the TVS Racing’s cabin. The Shivamogga-born rider who is also an Indian National Rally champion said: “I am very glad to win the Dakshin Dare title. Though it is a shortened version, the competition was high and I am happy that the organisers managed the event despite the pandemic. With the support from TVS Racing, I am looking forward to a fruitful 2022.”

    Rajendra receiving the winners trophy from Chief Guest at Chitradurga on Wendesday.

    The popular cross-country rally which was restricted to two-wheelers this year saw good response of over 36 bikes despite the pandemic and the tough terrain proved that only 23 finished the course. With many National champions fighting for honours in different classes, the four-day event saw the riders traverse a distance of over 300 km of competitive off-road sections starting from Bengaluru Triple-S, a spectator special, and two loops of Selective Sections (SS) about 100-km each, around Chitradurga on Tuesday and Wednesday. The first day saw the riders take the country-side roads on the picturesque foothills, amidst the windmills near Hiriyur, while the flowing flat-out stretches near Challakere saw the top guns touching speeds of 146-kmph on Day 2.

    Sarath Mohan of Asura Garage from Mallapuram came overall second astride a Husqvarna FE450 while another champion Yuva Kumar of Hero MotoSports had to be content with an overall third but he claimed the gold in his class, the Group B 166 to 260cc category. Rajendra also won the Group A upto 600cc class. Youngster Goutham topped the Group B upto 165 class while another veteran Aakash Aithal of Puttur won the Group B 261 to 400cc event.

    Winners all – Dakshin Dare 2w concludes in Chitradurga on 16 Feb. 2022. Photo: AutoTrack

    Hero MotoSports stalwart Sathyaraj bagged the Group D upto 260cc section while Suhail Ahmed of Bengaluru, a former multiple Supercross National champ, clinched the heavyweight Bullet class on a Himalayan. Pinkesh Thakkar, an expert motocross champion, now riding a TVS NTorq, conquered the Scooter Class. Sachin D is the one of the big names who crashed on Day 1.

    “Since we ran the Dare on public roads extra precaution was taken for Safety of the riders and all COVID protocols were in place. The riders enjoyed the flowing stages and I appreciate all the efforts of the Officials and the team who made sure that the event was a big success,” said Jaidas Menon, the Promoter. The Dakshin Dare for four-wheelers is being planned for August 2022.

    Final Audited Results:

    Overall: 1. Bike #1 Rajendra RE (TVS Racing, Bengaluru) (4 hours,19 minutes, 23.561 seconds); 2. #6 Sarath Mohan (Mallapuram), (4:30:51.777); 3. #37 Yuva Kumar (Hero MotoSports, Bengaluru) (4:35:36.889); 4. #10 Suhail Ahmed (Bengaluru) (4:44:49.415); 5. #11 Satyaraj (Hero MotoSports, Chennai) (4:45:30.605); 6. #29 Pavan BK (Bengaluru) (4:46:31.400); 7. #7 Sinan Francis (Kottayam) (4:46:50.773); 8. #5 Naresh VS (Bengaluru) (4:54:32.819); 9. #18 Aakash Aithal (Puttur, near Mangaluru) (4:55:12.360); 10. #4 Karthik (TVS Racing, Jaipur) (5:04:02.545).

    1. Group A upto 600cc: 1. Rajendra RE (TVS Racing, Bengaluru) (4:19:23.561); 2. Sarath Mohan, (4:30:51.777); 3. Sinan Francis (Kottayam) (4:46:50.773).

    2. Group B upto 165cc: 1. #2 Goutham (Bengaluru) (5:07:29.526); 2. #21 Jithu (Kottayam) (5:11:16.870); 3. #28 Manmeet Singh (Kolkata) (5:42:06.189).

    3. Group B 166 to 260cc: 1. Yuva Kumar (Hero MotoSports, Bengaluru) (4:35:36.889); 2. Karan Mohan (Bengaluru) (5:36:09.257); #25 Sachin D (Bengaluru) (TVS Racing) (DNF).

    4. Group B 261 to 400cc: 1. Aakash Aithal (Mangalore) (4:55:12.360); 2. #22 Uday Ganguli (Kolkota) (5:21:16.408); 3. #26 Dwarith Manna (Kolkata) (5:41:18.873).

    5. Group D: Upto 260cc: 1.  Satyaraj (Hero MotoSports, Bengaluru) (4:45:30.605); 2. Pavan BK (Bengaluru) (4:46:31.400); 3. Karthik (TVS Racing, Bengaluru) (5:04:02.545).

    6. Bullet Class: 1. Suhail Ahmed (Bengaluru) (4:44:49.415); 2. Naresh VS (Bengaluru) (4:54:32.819).

    7. Group B Scooter Class: 1. #15 Pinkesh Thakkar (Pune) (TVS Racing) (5:30:10.195).

  • Rare op for sponsors to identify with iconic Dakshin Dare which starts on Easter Day, April 4

    Rare op for sponsors to identify with iconic Dakshin Dare which starts on Easter Day, April 4

    Bengaluru, 21 March 2021: The iconic Dakshin Dare is back with a bang. Despite finding it difficult to bag the title sponsor, Motorsport Inc is making all efforts to make the event a grand spectacle for one more year. A novelty is being introduced this year by bringing in the concept of Navigation to the Indian riders. The 5-day 12th edition will begin on April 4 in Bengaluru and it also presents a rare opportunity for a title-sponsor to identify itself with the iconic brand.

    The man behind Motorsport Inc, the organisers of the event, Jaidas Menon said: “Dakshin Dare Rally will become the first-ever rally in India to introduce the concept of navigation to the Indian riders in association with Hero MotoSports. The intend to introduce the basics of navigation to all the riders expose them to this very important skill that is essential to succeed at the international rallies.”

    Coming back to Dakshin Dare, the only such event in the south, saw the last edition held in 2019 crown Gaurav Gill as the champion. The three-time Asia Pacific Rally Championship winner and Team Mahindra Adventure entry are yet to confirm their entries. The regular sponsor has shied away this year and with the dwindling number of entries one is tempted to approach Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) promoters Champions Yacht Club (CYC) which has done a good job of roping in many entries by providing free transportation of vehicles and sponsored teams besides waiver of entry fees, to replenish the Arunachal rounds of INRC last December with many goodies.

    When queried if they would be interested in supporting the iconic event in the absence of Maruti Suzuki, the regular sponsor, Vamsi Merla of CYC said: “Yes, Dakshin Dare has chalked out a name for itself as a historic event with popular support. Definitely we would be interested in supporting teams for the event as we usually do for INRC. I am in touch with the organisers and let us see how we can go about it.”

    The Dare begins with a Super Special at the Unite Off-road Park, near Gunjur, after the Ceremonial Start and the next day, participants will travel to Chitradurga and some special stages nearby. They will return to Bengaluru on March 8 where the Closing Ceremony and Prize Distribution (PD) is scheduled to be held at Fairfield Marriott, Rajajinagar at 6 pm.

    The four Categories will be T1 2wd, T2 4wd, for Modified Cross-country vehicles and T2 2wd and T2 4wd for Series Cross-country vehicles. There will be three classes in each category as follows: Class 1 over 1001cc Up to1400cc; Class 2 over 1401cc Up to 1850cc and Class 3 over 1851cc and above.

    The entry with late fee will be March 31 at 5pm. Admin checks, documentation and scrutiny will be held on March 3 at Unite Off-road Park.

    Navigation Bootcamp: “Hero MotoSports team will be conducting an exclusive bootcamp in Bengaluru on March 27 and 28 for anyone interested in learning the navigation basics. The bootcamp will be conducted by Jordi Grau, who is a part of the Hero MotoSports Team Rally and is a Navigation expert of international reputation. Many of our own stars like CS Santosh and other international top riders have trained with him in Spain,” a Hero statement said.

    “The bootcamp will cover some theory aspects of Navigation followed by a practical session where one can learn reading a roadbook and ride, using it under the guidance of the Hero MotoSports team.”

    “It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn navigation from the best in the business. So I would strongly recommend all of you to attend the same,” concluded Jaidas Menon, a former National Champion navigator in the Indian National Rally Championship for many years.

    Riders can register for the bootcamp here.

  • Gaurav Gill-Musa Sherif claim 3rd Dakshin Dare title

    Hubli, 2 August 2019: Team Mahindra Adventure’s ace driver Gaurav Gill returned to reclaim the Dakshin Dare title along with co-driver Musa Sherif, winning the gruelling rally for the third time here late on Thursday.

    Gill, conquered the special stages in the 4-day long route from Bangalore to Hubli in 04:51:49.001 hours. Overall, he covered a distance of close to 2,000 kms.

    The JK Tyre-sponsored rallyist holds the unique distinction of winning the country’s most prestigious cross-country rallying every time that he has entered into it.

    Gaurav, six-time INRC champion, proved his mettle once again as he came out on top in seven stages out of the nine special stages.

    Accompanied by his trusted co-driver Musa Sherif, he won all the three stages on the opening day, clocking a time of 45:45.053 minutes. He fell back on the second day, losing both the stages to his teammate Philippos Mathai (with co-driver PVS Murthy).

    Going into the third day, he was trailing by 00:47.261 seconds but that didn’t deter him. He roared back into the front by claiming the two stages of Day 3 to take a handy lead of 6:42.383 minutes.

    With such a huge lead, it was near to impossible for anyone to catch Gaurav on the final day. The three-time APRC champion lived up to his reputation on the final day too, clocking around a minute less than his closest competitor to sign off in style.

    “I am really excited to win the Dare once again. This is my third Dakshin Dare title and I am really very happy with this achievement. The stages were very challenging but I believe we had a very good car at our disposal and our tyres indeed helped us in maneuvering these treacherous stages. I would like to thank my tuners and mechanics for preparing such a fine car,” Gill said after his triumph.

  • Gill returns to conquer Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare again

    Gaurav Gill (2nd rom right) and Musa Sherif (right) pose along with bike rally winners at Goa on Saturday. A Motorsports Inc photo

    Goa, 8 Sept 2018: Six years after his first and triumphant foray into the desert, ace Indian rallyist and speed demon Gaurav Gill returned to conquer the Dakshin Dare once again, scorching the field in his inimitable style over five gruelling days as the Maruti Suzuki  sponsored rally concluded here on Saturday.

    With his trusted navigator Musa Sherif by his side, the six-time APRC champion won each of the five legs and most of the 15 Special Stages.

    In the bike category, Vishwas SD claimed the overall title, making the most of overnight leader and firm favourite Yuva Kumar’s misfortune in literally the last Special Stage, SS12, of the rally.

    Yuva, who was leading all the way from the start, saw his bike broke down with just 15 kilometres to go and by the time he could repair the damage, he lost 15 minutes and the crown.

    Gill’s teammate Philippos Matthai (with PVS Moorthy) claimed the overall second place in the car category while Maruti Suzuki’s Samrat Yadav (with Karan Aukta) held on to the third position.

    Gill and Musa crossed a significant milestone while racing away to their second victory in the Dakshin Dare, organised by Motorsport Inc; it was their 50th rally together and their 31st win to set a unique Indian record. Incredibly, they made the podium each of the 35 times they had completed a rally, missing out the remaining 15 times only due to DNFs.

    “Even after all these years, I retain the same enthusiasm for rallying. I am motivated enough to give 200 per cent each time I drive,” Gill said, while accepting the team championship trophy.

    “We had a very good team and a great strategy that helped us last five tough days,” he added.

    Gill took 06:57:44 to complete the five legs, winning with a handsome margin of over 15 minutes. On the last day, he went all out in the rally’s longest stage and clocked 01:15:50 minutes for the 70 kilometres.

    Team Maruti Suzuki were in the thick of all the action, with Sandeep Sharma and Suresh Rana grabbing the fourth and fifth places.

    The 2,000-kilometre rally began in Bangalore on September 2 and traversed through Karnataka and Maharashtra before finishing in Goa on Saturday night.

    Results: Cars

    1. Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sharif – 6hrs, 57min, 44sec;
    2. Phillippos Matthai / PVS Moorthy  7:12:00;
    3. Samrat Yadav / Karan Aukta  7:21:10.

    BIKES

    1. Vishwas S.D
    2. Vinay Prasad
    3. Yuva Kumar

    Car Open

    1. Pramod Vig / Prakash M
    2. Raghunandan / Sakthevel
    3. Santhosh / Naga

    SUV Open

    1. Vinay Kumar / Ravi Kumar

    Day Car – OE

    1. Srikanth / Raghuraman
    2. Nanditha Reddy / Sanjana Reddy

    Day SUV – OE

    1. Philip Baklin / David Sharon
    2. Deepak Sachdeva / Japjyot Singh

    Day Couple

    1. Captain Abhilasha Singh / Shailendra Singh
    2. Anil Abbas / Sini Anil
    3. Snighda Kemkar / Balachandra

    Day All Ladies

    1. Geetha Wadhwa / Pratibha
    2. Ashima Duggal / Amrita Shergil
    3. Usha Jain / Harshitha J Sonia