INDIA in F1

Tag: Dean Mascarenhas

  • Prasaditya 46th K1000 Rally flagged off: INRC Round 3

    Prasaditya 46th K1000 Rally flagged off: INRC Round 3

    Tumakuru (Karnataka), 2 Dec 2022: The Prasaditya 46th Karnataka-1000 rally, the third round of the Blueband FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship, was flagged off here today by former Minister S Shivanna to signal the start of the event which will be run near here over two days starting Saturday, Dec 3.

    The Prasaditya K1000 rally, which has attracted 65 entries, 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.

    Following a reconnaissance run this morning of the Special Stages, most of the competitors expressed happiness at the terrain which was variously described as fast, flowing and technical.

    Championship leader, Bengaluru’s Karna Kadur (co-driver Nikhil Pai) of Arka Motorsports, said: “I am quite pleased with the Special Stages. The terrain is a good mix of fast, flowing corners, a few jumps and water splashes which should make for a good viewing for the spectators. We have prepared the car well and hope to finish strongly.”

    Delhi-based seven times National champion and Arjuna Awardee Gaurav Gill (Musa Sherif), who is currently second in the championship, was impressed with the Special Stages. “I quite liked the stages. The organisers have put in a lot of hard work to prepare the route which I think will take rallying to the next level. The Stages are quite fast in some sections and also technical with blind corners and crests. The pace notes have to be spot-on and it will also test your driving skills. I won the 2021 event despite many setbacks and I hope I can win my eighth K-1000 title on Sunday,” he said.

    Karna Kadur holds advantage with a handsome lead

    The battle is all set to resume between championship leader Karna Kadur of Arka Motorsports on MRF Tyres and 7-time National champion Gaurav Gill, a private entry in yellow colours, supported by JK Tyres.

    The popular Karnataka-1000 rally, the oldest rally in the in the country, which has attracted 65 entries 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.

    Karna Kadur and co-driver Nikhil Pai, who won the South India Rally, the first round of the season, lead the championship table with 72 points while strong contenders Gaurav Gill and co-driver Musa Sherif, who had a mechanical failure in first round came back strongly with a victory in the second round in Coimbatore have 44. While Gill will be gunning for his 8th K1000 victory, Kadur with a 28-point lead will be safe and cautious, looking to bag crucial points to protect his lead. With a total of 40 points on offer, the dark horse of the rally, will be defending champions from Himachal Pradesh, Aditya Thakur and Virender Kashyap, who are trailing third with 34 points.

    Guttedar leads INRC2

    Bengaluru pair of Ritesh Guttedar and co-driver Lokaranjan lead the INRC2 standings with 47 points followed by Thakur and Kashyap while another experienced duo Rahul Kantharaj and Vivek Bhat are in third.

    Another Himachal pair Kuber Sharma and Kunal Kashyap lead the INRC3 table while Samrat Yadav and Chandrasekhar M leads the Gypsy class. The Junior INRC will see close competition between the top-two ladies teams. While Dr Shivani Pruthvi (Dr Deepthi) leads the table with 66points, Pragathi Gowda (Trisha Alonkar) is just a point behind with third-placed Arnav Pratap Singh (Arun SSB) on 40 points.

    27 entries for INRC3

    The top INRC class has six cars while there are nine entries in INRC2 category and ten in INRC4. The bulk of rally cars with 27 entries will feature in the popular INRC3 class. There are 13 entries in the Gypsy section for the Challenge Cup, which is a non-championship class.

    “The iconic K-1000 rally is running continuously for close to five decades, except a couple of years, and has once again attracted the cream of talent from all over the country. KMSC has put in place all safety requirements and I wish all the drivers a happy rally,” said Gautham Shantappa, the President of KMSC, who is also the vice-president of FMSCI.

    10 Special Stages of dirt tracks

    The K-1000 rally will have 10 Special Stages. There will be four physical stages with an total special stage competitive distance of 119.11km. The 15.10-km long Hatyalu and Kondli (9.67km) will be run thrice on Saturday while the cars will take on Yallapura (6.87km) and Thirtharama (15.53km) on Sunday. Along with a liaison distance of close to 105 km, the total distance of the rally will be about 224km.

    The final round of the INRC, the Rally of Nagaland is scheduled for Jan 12-14 subject to approval by FMSCI, as it is a new venue.

  • Gaurav Gill leads after Day 1; Dean, Aditya top their classes

    Gaurav Gill leads after Day 1; Dean, Aditya top their classes

    Bengaluru, 12 March 2022: Speed maestro Gaurav Gill and co-driver Musa Sherif of Kasargod overcame mechanical problems to take a sizeable lead in the K1000 Rally, the second round of the FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship 2021 organised by Karnataka Motor Sports Club (KMSC) with MRF as associate sponsors, at Gubbi in Tumkur District, about 100 km from here. The Rally concludes on Sunday with a repeat of the four Special Stages that were run today. The fourth stage uphill section was rendered unsafe today for the second run and with many cars failing to pass the treacherous stretch the Rally was stopped twice and finally many cars were given scratch times.

    Despite suffering a turbo problem which led to a noticeable drop in pace, Delhi-based Gill enjoys a comfortable position with a 29-second lead followed by Karna Kadur along co-driver Nikhil Pai, who displayed consistent pace through the day until his Volkswagen Polo suffered a gearbox issue that could impact his performance tomorrow. Third Overall is Kollam’s Younus Ilyas with co-driver Anirudha Ranganekar of Pune who is making a comeback after 8 years. The Race Concepts team are about10 seconds behind Kadur.

    Leading the INRC-2 category is Mangaluru’s Dean Mascarenhas (Gagan Karumbaiah, Virajpet) who paced himself well for a 13-second advantage over Palakkad’s Fabid Ahmer (Sanath G) with Virajpet’s Suhem Kabeer (Jeeva Rathinam, Bengaluru) in third.

    Winner of the first round in Coimbatore, Aditya Thakur (Virender Kashyap) from Himachal is placed seventh Overall, but first in INRC-3 category where he has established a healthy lead over another Himachal pairing of Kuber Sharma and Karan Aukta. In third place is Chandigarh’s Sanampreet Sekhon (Suhan Kabeer, Kodagu).

    Early in the day, seven times National champion Gill set a hot pace and at the end of the first loop of the two Stages, had opened a comfortable lead. But in the second run, his Mahindra XUV 300 developed a turbo problem that cost him some precious time as the focus shifted to nursing the vehicle to the finish.

    “The day began well. I got into a rhythm and the pace was good as we opened up a good lead. But unfortunately, there was a small issue with the turbo gasket that led to a leak in the turbo boost. So basically, it meant we were running on two cylinders, but I decided to push anyway. In SS-3, we lost a lot of time, but in SS-4, which was very technical, I didn’t lose too much time to Younus. Anyway, we are still safe and have a lead. Tomorrow, it will be safe and fast,” said Gill.

    The SS-4 was twice interrupted after a few cars blocked the route due to crashes and mechanical failures.  

    Leg-1 Classification (Provisional):

    Overall / INRC: 1. Gaurav Gill (Delhi) / Musa Sherif (Kasargod) (48mins, 58.200secs); 2. Karna Kadur / Nikhil Pai (both Bengaluru, Arka Motorsports) (49:27.700); 3. Younus Ilyas (Kollam) / Anirudha Ranganekar (Pune) (Race Concepts) (49:37.000).

    INRC-2: 1. Dean Mascarenhas (Mangaluru) / Gagan Karumbaiah (Virajpet) (51:23.000); 2. Fabid Ahmer / Sanath G (both Palakkad) (51:36.300); 3. Suhem Kabeer (Virajpet) / Jeeva Rathinam (Bengaluru) (52:27.800).

    INRC-3: 1. Aditya Thakur / Virender Kashyap (both Himachal) (Chettinad Sporting) (52:26.300); 2. Kuber Sharma / Karan Aukta (both Himachal) (54:04.800); 3. Sanampreet Sekhon (Chandigarh) / Suhan Kabeer (Kodagu) (54:49.600).

    INRC-4: 1. Mujeeb Rahman (Kasargod) / Ravinder Kumar (Bengaluru) (56:48.960); 2. Vaibhav Marathe (Goa) / Harsha Vardhana SN (Bengaluru) (58:05.400); 3. Shivani Parmar / Vani Parmar (both Mumbai) (1hr:01:19.200).

    FMSCI Gypsy Challenge: 1. Samrat Yadav (Chandigarh) / M Chandrashekar (Bengaluru) (54:06.800); 2. Rupender Sheoran (Gurugram) / Mohit Malik (Faridabad) (58:28.600); 3. Abhishek Gowda (Chikkamgalauru) / Dheeraj Manae (Bengaluru) (58:45.700).

  • Facile victory for Gill; Mujeeb redeems last-minute loss; Dean, Aditya win: INRC Ro2

    Facile victory for Gill; Mujeeb redeems last-minute loss; Dean, Aditya win: INRC Ro2

    By Samikshan Dutta

    Itanagar, 20 Dec 2020: Celebrated Indian rallyist Gaurav Gill continued his winning streak, claiming Rally of Arunachal, Round 2 of the Champions Yacht Club -FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship 2020 here on Sunday.

    The JK Tyre driver with Musa Sherif started off from where he left and after recording a stellar victory in Round 1 at the same time place two days back posted a total time of 42:15.00 minutes to win the rally and finish the Arunachal leg with a grand double.

    Driving in a XUV300, the three-times APRC champion looked in top form and dominated the rally right from the word go. He opened up a considerable gap of around 1:51 minutes in the first two night stages on Saturday evening, held onto his lead throughout and mixed aggression with caution perfectly to win all the six special stages including four night stages to consolidate his position at the top of the leaderboard.

    His teammate Amitrajit Ghosh along with co-driver Ashwin Naik clinched the second place after posting a total time of 43.48.1 minutes. Amitrajit driving in XUV300, who has been battling car issues for more than a year now, was impeccable behind the wheels and drove with great precision for his first podium finish of the season. 

    “First of all, it feels good to be rallying again more than anything.


    Defending champion Chetan Shivram (&Rupesh Kholay) of Yokohama Tyres who had a DNF in the last round, started the round with a stock engine car and despite driving a vehicle with different specs did well to finish the overall 13th to take valuable leg points and hope for a turnaround in fortunes in the remaining rounds.

    Karna Kadur of MRF Tyre also continued his good run and after finishing runner-up in the opening round claimed the third place. Along with Nikhil V Pai, Karna was constantly pushing Amitrajit but eventually had to contend with third place with a total time of 44:57.3 minutes. His place on the podium also secured his second position on the points table. 

    In the INRC 2 category, it was Dean Mascarenhas (& Shruptha Padival who took the top honours by completing the six special stages with a total time of 45:38.6 minutes followed by Snap Racing’s Sahil Khanna (&Vidit Jain) who took 47.42.0 minutes,

     to finish the rally. Rahul Kanthraj (along with co-driver Vivek Y Bhat) ended up in third place with an overall time of  47:48.8 minutes.

    Aditya Thakur (&Virendra Kashyap) of Team Nutulapati won the top place in INRC 3, after clocking a total time 47.24.5 minutes followed by Fabid Ajmer (&Eldo Chacko) who took 47:30.8 minutes to finish the rally. Last round’s INRC 3 winner, Maninder Singh Prince and his navigator Vinay Padmasali made it to the third place on the podium with a total time of 48:06.4 minutes.

    Mujeeb Rahman (& Goutham CP) won the top prize in the INRC 4 category with 50.42.300 minutes, while last year’s winner Vaibhav Marathe & his co-driver Suhan.M.K, driving for Yokohama Tyres won the second place with a total time of 51:28.500 minutes. Rohith Iyer (&M.Manjunath) took the third podium after registering a time of 54:21.600 minutes.
    In the Junior INRC category, Harikrishna Wadia (& Chirag Thakur) claimed the top position for their performance of 48:28.21 minutes, followed by Team Yokohama’s Arjun (& Shanmuga S N) who took 48:58.9 minutes to complete their campaign. Pragathi Gowda and her co-driver Deeksha Balakrishna of Team Vasundhara impressed yet again as they finished in third place with a total time of 49:37.7 minutes.

    Provisional Unaudited final classification:

    Overall: 1. Gaurav Gill /Musa Sherif (42 minutes, 15.000 seconds); 2. Amittrajjit Ghosh/Ashwin Naik (43:48.100); 3. Karna Kadur/Nikhil Pai (44: 57.300);

    INRC2: 1. Dean Mascarenhas/ Shruptha Padival (45:38.600); 2. Sahil Khanna /Vidit Jain (47:42.000); 3. Rahul Kantharaj/ Vivek Bhat (47:45.800);

    INRC3: 1. Aditya Thakur/ Virender Kashyap (47:21.500); 2. Fabid Ahmer/ Eldo Chacko (47:30.800); 3. Maninder Singh Prince/ Vinay Padmashali (48:06.400);

    INRC4: 1. Mujeeb Rehman/ Goutham CP (50:42.300); 2. Vaibhav Marathe/ Suhan MK (51:28.800); 3. Rohith Iyer/ GM Manjunath (54:21.600).

  • Fabid leads #INRC table with Dean in tow but all eyes will be on speed maestro Gaurav Gill

    Fabid leads #INRC table with Dean in tow but all eyes will be on speed maestro Gaurav Gill

    Fabid Ahmer kicks up the dust but manouvres the corner in a smooth manner in the Avisa stage of the South India rally in this June photo by Srinivasa Krishnan

    Jodhpur, 19 Sept. 2019: Fresh from his WRC2 campaign in Rally Turkey, JK Racing’s Gaurav Gill will be looking to go all-out for the elusive win this season as he spearheads a strong 51-car Jodhpur Rally, termed as Maxperience 2019, the third round of the Champion Yacht Club promoted Indian National Rally Championship from September 20 to 22.

    Organised by Madcap Adventure Xperiences in association with Coimbatore Auto Sports Club under the aegis of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (fmsci), the event will witness two days of intense Stage Rallying which returns to the city after a gap of nine years. The action will be spread over 126.5 kms of Special Stage distance and along with 258.6 kms of liaison will make it a total distance of 385.22 kms.

    Gaurav Gill file photo by JK Racing

    Piloting the Mahindra XUV 300, along with experienced Musa Sherif as navigator, the champion rally driver, who became the first athlete from motorsports to receive Arjuna Award recently, is raring to go in the orange colours of Team Mahindra Adventure here. Deeply focussed to post a victory and log some valuable points with three more rounds remaining in Bengaluru, Kuttikanum, and Chikkamagaluru, the speed maestro is capable of turning the tables for his 7th INRC title. But the battle is not going to be easy despite 117 points on offer from the three remaining rallies as Team Mahindra is struggling to set-up the optimum car for him, run now on JK Tyres. However, Gill’s teammate, Ghosh, will continue on MRF tyres.

    Fabid Ahmer poses with his car during one of his rallies in the 2019 campaign.

    But for now, `Mr Clean & Consistent’, Fabid Ahmer and co-driver Sanat Gopalan, who have shown tremendous application and grit with some smooth driving are rewarded with the overall first in the leaderboard after three rounds with 49 points. The Team Champions youngsters from Palakkad in their No#11 Volkswagen Polo are competing in both the INRC3 and Junior INRC classes. But they are keen to continue their good run and keep the lead in the overall category with another good showing in Jodhpur.

    Dean’s file photo by Anand Philar

    Close on their heels will be Dean Mascarenhas who is second in the standings with 42 points and Chetan Shivaram (40). Younus Ilyas has 31 points with Gill, way behind at fifth place, wtih just 22.

    Amittrajit Ghosh and Ashwin Naik will be the other Mahindra team entry in the top class and will have #3 Karna Kadur and Nikhil Pai of Arka Motorsports in a Polo along with the other 2 INRC competitors of Snap Racing, Phalguna Urs and Srikanth Gowda, and Girija Shankar Joshy and co-driver Chandramouli M, both also in rally-prepared Volkswagen Polos.

    The other teams to watch in the INRC2 class will be Younus Iyas and Harish Gowda of Race Concepts in a Mitsubishi Cedia and Rahul Kantharaj and Vivek Bhatt of Arka Motorsports. These two teams are expected to face a tough fight from Team Champions’ team Dean Mascarenhas and co-driver Shrupta Padival, and Vikram Rao Aroor and Somayya AG, also from Team Champions both behind the wheel of a Volkswagen Polo.

    The daughter-mother duo of Shivani Pruthvi and Deepti, in the #26 Mitsubishi Cedia is the only all-woman team and will vie for honours in INRC3 and Junior INRC class.

    Two physical stages of Camel Hump consisting of 13.45km and Roller Coaster covering 13.70km will be run thrice on Saturday for a total of 121.45km of Special Stage distance on Day 1. On Sunday, four more stages will be run. The two stages of 9.35km Drift Run and 13.2km Precision Drive will be run twice each for a Stage distance of 45.1km on Sunday, the Day 2.

    There are 15 teams which are supported by Team Champions vying for honours in every class. “Champions Yacht Club believes in producing champions so we are supporting many teams. That is our mission as we step in to run the INRC,” said Shubakara Rao of Champions Group. “We are now providing an ideal platform to many talented drivers who always suffered because of lack of sponsorship and we also intend to promote them at international competitions on world-class routes,” said Vamsi Merla of Champions Yacht Club.

    He also informed that the competitors with valid FMSCI Competition License have been insured for Rs.5 lakh personal accident & Rs. 5 lakh towards medical expenses. Even 100 Officials come under a cover Rs.25 lakh for personal accidents and Rs. 1 lakh for medical expenses.

    The Ceremonial Flag-off from Hotel Lariya Resort near the Jaisalmer bye-pass will be at 5 pm on Friday after the Drivers’ Briefing and Press Conference. The prize distribution and podium ceremony on Sunday will be at 5 pm also at the same venue, which is also the Rally Head Quarters 2 (hq2).

     

  • Chetan Shivaram-Dilip Sharan take early lead; Gill suffers mechanical failure; Dean loses time

    Chetan Shivaram-Dilip Sharan take early lead; Gill suffers mechanical failure; Dean loses time

    Chetan Shivaram (left) and Dilip Sharan who took the lead after Day 1. An INDIAinF1 image

    Coimbatore, 10 August 2019: On a day full of surprises, INRC 3’s Chetan Shivram of Akshara Racing jumped into the early lead in the Rally of Coimbatore, Round 2 of the Champions Yacht Club FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship, here on Saturday. The overnight rains made the terrain at the Kethanur Windmill farms in Palladam very slushy and only 33 cars of the 58 that started finished the day.

    Chetan and his brother co-driver Dilip Sharan were most comfortable in the treacherous terrain, marked by slushy conditions and loose sand, posting a total time of 1:05:32.900 hours to complete Day 1’s five stages to be ahead of a record field.

    Suhem Kabeer (with Jeevarathinam) and Younus Ilyas (Harish Gowda) were hot on the tail of the leader, taking the second and third positions by the end of the day. The two JK Tyre drivers, both INRC 2 contenders, were in their elements, with Suhem showing consistency in all the stages while Younus won the last two stages to climb into the top three.

    Hot favourite Gaurav Gill (Musa Sherif) of Mahindra Adventure gets stuck in the INRC on Day 1, Saturday at Coimbatore. An INDIAinF1 image by Prabhu Kethanur

    Hot favourite Mahindra Adventure’s Gaurav Gill (Musa Sherif) began on a positive note, scoring the fastest times in the first three stages before he picked up a puncture in SS 4 and had to eventually pull out with a malfunction.

    Even Karna Kadur and Nikhil Pai of Arka Motorsports and comeback boy Vikram Mathias, along with co-driver Sujith Kumar of Race Concepts had a rough day, falling out of contention after the third stage. Round 1 winner Dean Mascarenhas managed to finish but a very poor second stage that got his car stuck in slush hurt him badly, sliding him to the 20th position.

    Rahul Kantharaj and co-driver Vivek Bhatt negotiate slushy terrain on Saturday. Photo: Venu Ramesh Kumar

    “After continuous rainfall last night, it suddenly became sunny in the morning leading to the surface becoming really hard. There were stones all over the stages which made it difficult. I am obviously not happy with my current scenario but would say that I would take it as a learning experience and I will bounce back strong,” Gaurav said after the end of Day 1.

    Interestingly, none of the 6 INRC entries managed to finish on the first day.

    Right behind Suhem and Younus in the INRC 2 category was Ritesh Guttedar (& Lokaranjan H.J) of Team Champions, who is well-placed in the overall category too, finishing fourth.

    Results (After Day 1)

    INRC Overall : 1. Chetan Shivram & Dilip Sharan (1hr, 5min 32.900sec); 2.Suhem Kabeer & Jeevarathinam (1:05:33:300); 3.Younus Ilyas & Harish Gowda (1:05:45.600).
    INRC 2: 1. Suhem Kabeer & Jeeva Rathinam (1:05:33:300); 2. Younus Ilyas & Harish Gowda (1:05:45.600); 3.Ritesh Guttedar & M Lokarajan (1:05:51.400).

    INRC 3: 1. Chetan Shivram & Dilip Sharan (1:05:32.900); 2. Fabid Ahmer & Sanath G (1:06:19.400); 3. Arjun Rao & Shanmuga Sundaram (1:06:43.600).

    INRC 4: 1. Suraj Thomas & Sob George (1:07:51.800); 2. Vaibhav Marate & Arjun SSB (1:07:55.400); 3. Manoj Mohanan & Francis Sachin (1:09:00:600).

  • Ghosh, Naik win Rally of Arunachal Pradesh as Gill pulls out with mechanical problems

    Ghosh, Naik win Rally of Arunachal Pradesh as Gill pulls out with mechanical problems

    Winners of INRC Round 3 (Rally of Arunachal) overall – Amittrajit Ghosh (Left) and his co-driver Ashwin Naik (in Itanagar’s Police Parade ground (Chimpu) today.

    Itanagar, 4 November 2018: On a day of upsets, Team Mahindra Adventure’s Amittrajit Ghosh (co-driver Ashwin Naik) showed great tactical acumen to win the Rally of Arunachal, Round 3 of the MRF FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship 2018, here on Sunday. Ghosh, who exhibited amazing fightback on Day 1 to rise from ninth to third, enjoyed a much-needed slice of luck as overnight leader Gaurav Gill (Musa Sherif) pulled out of the competition as his car broke down in the sixth stage.

    Ghosh tackled the day’s three stages cautiously, finishing second in SS5, third in SS6 and again second in SS7 for a cumulative top timing of 00:57:33.6. It was 5.9 seconds faster than INRC 2’s Phalguna Urs and Srikanth Gowda giving them the victory. The Snap Racing pair, who were hot on Gill’s tail all of Saturday, didn’t have a fruitful second day, managing only two fourth-place and one fifth-place finish in the stages.

    Amittrajit Ghosh in action

    Phalguna’s drive was still good enough to earn his team the INRC 2 win. Former champion Karna Kadur (PVS Murthy) made a valiant charge, taking the second place in SS6 and even winning SS7, but that could only fetch him the runner’s up trophy. Kadur’s Arka Motorsports team-mate Rahul Kanthraj (Vivek Y Bhatt) dropped one position to settle for the third place.

    The INRC 3 too saw a change in the overnight pecking order, with leaders Suhem Kabeer (Jeevarathinam) of Team Champions slipping out of reckoning in the day’s first stage itself after a crash. It allowed his team-mate and defending champion Dean Mascarenhas (Shruptha Padival) to claim the title. Aroor Vikram Rao (Somayya AG) and local outfit Phurpa Tsering (Chow Tiktha) took the other two places on the podium.

    “We started the Rally of Arunachal on an ominous note, taking the ninth place due to a technical issue. But I and Ashwin kept pushing until we managed to bounce back to the pole,” a victorious Amittrajit said.

    “Today too, we suffered as we had changed the tyres for wet conditions but the track dried up by the time we hit it. But we drove steadily to win the title, which became easier after Gaurav pulled out with a mechanical failure. We are now looking forward to the next two rounds, even though we know that Gaurav will be back in his elements and will put up a tough fight,” he added.

    The results:

    INRC Overall: 1. Amittrajit Ghosh / Ashwin Naik (Team Mahindra Adventure; 00:57:33.6); 2. Phalguna Urs / Srikanth Gowda (Snap Racing; 00:57:39.5); 3. Dean Mascarenhas / Shruptha Padival (Team Champions; 00:57:57.7).

    INRC 1: Ghosh / Naik; 2. Lokesh Gowda / Venu Ramesh Kumar (Team Champions) (01:07:20.8).

    INRC 2: 1. Phalguna Urs / Srikanth Gowda (Snap Racing; 00:57:39.5); 2. Karna Kadur / PVS Murthy (Arka Motorsports; 00:58:37.0); 3. Rahul Kanthraj / Vivek Y Bhatt (Arka Motorsports; 00:58:55.2).

    INRC 3: 1. Dean Mascarenhas / Shruptha Padival (Team Champions; 00:57:57.7); 2. Aroor Vikram Rao / Somayya AG (Falkon Motorsports; 01:05:17.0); 3. Phurpa Tsering / Chow Tiktha (Phurpa Tsering; 01:14:57.9).

    FMSCI 2WD CUP: 1. Adith KC / Arjun SSB (Team Champions; 01:01:20.0); 2. Rakshith Iyer / Sagar Mallappa (Pvt; 01:10:54.4).

  • K1000 preview: KMSC all-set to conduct 43rd edition; INRC final round on Sunday

    K1000 preview: KMSC all-set to conduct 43rd edition; INRC final round on Sunday

    K1000 KMSC logo. Courtesy KMSC facebook account

    Standings courtesy promoters RRPM, Kolkota (twitter)

    David Bodapati

    Bengaluru, 20 Jan 2018: King of Indian Motorsports, Gaurav Gill of Team Mahindra Adventure and his co-driver Musa Sherif will once again be the favourites to win the Indian National Rally championship final leg, the popular K1000 (Karnataka 1000) which began its 43rd edition with the recce on Saturday morning at a terrain about 70kms from here.

    The K1000 rally, a regular part of the Indian National Rally Championship is being organised by Karnataka Motor Sports Club (KMSC) one of the oldest active clubs in India. Except for a year or two, K1000 was continuously held for over forty years. It is also a founder member of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (fmsci). The INRC is being promoted by Kolkota-based Ramakrishna Race Performance Managment (RRPM) headed by a veteran rally ace, who was on of the winners of K1000 in its early years. Along with Amittrajit Ghosh, they are the only father-son who have taken part in INRC rallies.

    The number of entries for the popular K1000 this year is a luke-warm 28 which is one of the lowest in the recent years.

    Fresh from their victory in the fifth round at Arunachal Pradesh, the top duo who are leading the INRC class will be followed by young gun Dean Mascarenhas and Shruptha Padival of Mangalore and another seeded pair of Amittrajit Ghosh and Ashwin Naik, who finished in that order in the overall standings of Rally of Arunachal. However, Dean and Shruptha are leading their class INRC3.

    Experienced stalwarts Rahul Kantharaj and Vivek Bhat who won the INRC2 class will be gunning for a closing bang to win the championship but their job will not be easy with stiff competition coming from the likes of Younus Ilyas and Karna Kadur. The strong pair of talented Kadur and Nikhil Pai had an unfortunate DNF (did not finish) in Arunachal Pradesh, but the youngster will also be a strong favourite to win his class INRC2 besides the leading pair. Kadur slipped on the table standings after that DNF.

    In the INRC overall rankings for the season, Delhi’s Gaurav Gill is leading with 75 points with Dean Mascarenhas on 63 in second and Rahul Kantharaj on 47. Karna Kadur is only four points behind at 43 while Amittrajit Ghosh slipped to 5th place with 40 points. Musa Sherif and Shruptha Padival lead the co-driver rankings with 85 and 63 points respectively. Mahindra Adventure tops with 125 points in the team championship with ARKA motorsports in second place at 90.

    In the INRC2, Rahul Kantharaj (79), Younus Ilyas (58) and Karna Kadur (50) are leading the table in the Drivers’ championship with Vivek Bhat topping the co-drivers’ with 79 points over Harish KN (58) and Nikhil V Pai (50) in that order. ARKA is leading team standings in this class over Snap Racing.

    In the INRC3, Dean Mascarenhas with a century is leading the Driver’s Championship and has already clinched the title in the class but is found wanting in terms of sponsors to show his talent on a better platform. Darius N Shroff, Punyabrata Barma are on 51 and 46 respectively to fight for second and third positions. Likewise, Dean’s navigator Shruptha won the co-drivers title in this class. Nitin Jacob and Mrinmoy Saha will fight for the second position.

    Chettinad Sporting had won the team title in this class beating the only other team entry Snap Racing. They garnered 117 points.

    Stage Distance

    The total distance of the Rally will be 97.26 km. The Special Stage distance will be 69.15 km while the liaison distance will be 28.11km. The two stages Alpha and Beta will be run thrice. Alpha is 14.95 km long while Beta covers a distance of only 8.10km. The first car starts at Alpha 1 at 9 am on Sunday. The one-day rally will not have a spectator-friendly Super Special Stage this year.

    “It has been another exciting season of Indian rallying. I want to thank MRF Tyres, Mahindra Adventure, CARTAir, Isuzu, Arunachal Tourism, York, Arya and Century Club for their support” Arindam Ghosh, RRPM’s Director, the promoters of the MRF FMSCI INRC, said on the eve of the rally. “Gill has dominated despite missing out on one round. He has won the other three rounds but he must bring it to the finish here to win the championship”, he added.

    Supplementary Regulations on INRCindia site

    The MRF 43rd K1000 Rally is round 6 of the MRF FMSCI INDIAN NATIONAL RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP (INRC) 2017 will run in compliance with the International Sporting Code of the FIA (and its appendices), the General Prescriptions of The Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI), the relevant Regulations concerning IRC championship or cup, the Supplementary Regulations and bulletins issued by the FMSCI can be found at www.inrcindia.com,

    The Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) is the ASN of FIA in India. This rally is inscribed on the FIA Calendar under Asia Zone. Asia Zone competitors may take part in this rally and accrue points.

    There will be two Mahindra XUVs in fray with Gill and Ghosh behind the wheels of the Team Mahindra Adventure factory team. There will be six Mitsubishi Cedias competing for the honours in different classes but all of them will be privateers. The Kodagu team of Gagan Karumbaiah and co-driver Amrith Thimmaiah will be the lone entry in the fmsci 4w Cup in a Maruti Gypsy.

    eom/David Bodapati