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Tag: featured
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Achintya Mehrotra hogs limelight for India at AAGC Korea
Bengaluru, 24 Sept 2019: Ace Indian driver Achintya Mehrotra brought laurels to the country winning a podium place in the second round of the Asia Auto Gymkhana Championship hosted at the InjeSpeedium Circuit in South Korea that concluded on the first Sunday of September.
Achintya file photo at India AAGC 2018 The Delhi-based driver won the bronze in the Solo Knockout competition after qualifying third and also helped Team India to finish fourth in the team events which saw 9 teams take part including the two teams fielded by the host. Team India was represented by Achintya Mehrotra, Sahil Khanna and woman driver Khyati Mody. The other top teams included Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore and Philippines and all the teams used the official car Kia K3 GT, a 1.6 Turbo GDI, pumping 204 HP with a 275 NM torque and a 7-Speed DCT.
On August 30, the first day of the event started off with the scrutiny and usual administration checks and issuing the driver ID cards while the Driver Briefing was on Aug 31 at the InjeSpeedium Classic Car Museum auditorium. The competitors also got the start order and the competition track patterns.
There were a total of 4 track patterns:
- Pattern A – Solo Qualifying
- Pattern B – Solo Knockout
- Pattern C – Double Qualifying & Knockouts
- Pattern D – Team Knockouts
The event used twin tracks. Solo qualifying had the drivers drive on both lanes (A & B). The best of both times decided the qualifying order.
This year saw the most competitive battle with the top 5 drivers within 0.1s. Achintya Mehrotra from Team India qualified in 3rd place with Sahil Khanna in 14th place &KhyatiMody in 22nd place out of 27 drivers from all the 9 teams. The cumulative of qualifying times of the 3 drivers served as the overall qualifying time for teams. Thus Team India qualified overall 2nd out of 8 countries.
Achintya Mehrotra in action in Korea 2019 The next session was the Double qualifying wherein two drivers go behind each other. The time starts when the first driver cuts the beam at the start while the time stops when the driver behind cuts the beam at finish. The drivers change positions at the last corner just before the finish. Team India qualified in last position owing to a wrong penalty being given by the marshal. In the double knockouts, India went head to head against Philippines to which they lost.
The final day of the event – 1st September started off with the Solo Knockouts. Sahil Khanna was lined up against Taiwan’s driver to whom he lost owing to course deviation &so did KhyatiMody who was lined up against the Singapore driver Jeremy Low.
Meanwhile, Achintya Mehrotra beat the Philippines driver to advance into the next round of knockouts. The next round of solo knockouts had Achintya lined up against Korea’s lady driver whom he won against as the Korean driver got a 2 min course deviation penalty.
The next knockout was up against driver of Team Thailand who was unlucky against Team India driver Achintya.
Finally, Achintya was lined up against Team Taiwan driver who proved to be faster than him. Eventually, Achintya came 3rd for Team India in the solo knockouts.
Solo podium for Achintya Mehrotra in Individual events. India won 4th place in team event. The final session was the Team event wherein driver 1, driver 2; driver 3 of Team A goes head to head with driver 1, driver 2 ; driver 3 of Team B. On every win, each team is awarded with 2 points. The first team to get 4 points advances to the next round of knockouts.
India was lined up against Singapore whom they beat in all the 3 rounds and advanced into the top 4 shootout. The next team was Team Thailand who beat us by 4 points to 2 points.
Our final race of the day was against Team Taiwan for the 3rd place position in the Team round. However, that also didn’t as planned & Team India had to settle for 4th Place.
Final results : –
Solo Qualifying – Achintya Mehrotra (P3)
Solo Knockouts – Achintya Mehrotra (P3)
Team Result – Team India (P4)
Indian team gets overall fourth and a podium as the first four get on to the podium in Asian Gymkhana events. -
Advait Deodhar still in contention for top-3 finish after Hockenheim round
Advait Deodhar, right, at Hockenheim ring on Sunday. An INDIAinF1 image Hockenheim, 23 Sept. 2019: Indian racing driver Advait Deodhar is still in contention for top-3 finish in the 2019 Euro Nascar Championship despite his race-weekend ending on unexpected lines here at the Hockenheim ring for the penultimate round on Sunday.
In Race 1, Advait bent his steering arm after an unavoidable crash in front of him as too was forced to collide with another two cars and ended up 10th. In Race 2, he bagan 10th but could onoy manage a P7.
In Race 1, after a fantastic start, Advait was caught in an accident at the exit of the first corner; with no way to avoid the crash that took place in front of him. Then, he collided with Vittorio Ghirelli’s and Andre Castro’s cars. It was a bit of bad luck, but then he was lucky enough to have been able to continue albeit with a bent steering arm. After dropping down to 22nd, the Indian managed to fight his way back up and finished a commendable 10th despite the bent steering arm.
Earlier, with a quick lap in the early bit of qualifying he made it into Superpole (top 12 shootout, similar to Q3 in F1) but beyond that he only managed to qualify 7th. After looking at the data, he is quite convinced that he could have put in a lap that was much better and possibly qualified in the top 4, but alas that did not happen.
In Race 2, starting 10th, Advait was focussed to finish in the top 5. “The car felt good in the warm up that morning and we definitely had the pace. However, 2 safety cars and an intense battle with Championship contender Nicholas Risitano kept me at a steady P7,” he quipped.
“It could have definitely been a better weekend, but I’m glad to have been able to limit the damage to my Championship standing and still be in contention for P3 in the season, with an outside chance for P1 or P2,” he concluded.
The final round in Zolder is October 6 and Advait is making all efforts to finish the 2019 European Nascar Championship in top-3.
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Sebastian Vettel wins Singapore GP as Ferrari scores 1-2; Max Verstappen takes third
Sebastian Vettel after taking the Singapore GP win on Sunday. An FIA image Singapore, 22 Sept 2019: Sebastian Vettel scored his first Formula 1 victory in over a year, pitting ahead of race-leading Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc to vault to the front and eventually claim his 53rdcareer race win at the Singapore Grand Prix.
The seeds of Vettel’s fifth win at the Marina Bay Street Circuit were sown at the end of the first stint. Rather than race leader Leclerc first, Ferrari opted to bring third-placed Vettel in for hard tyres on lap 19 and with the undercut working, the German was able to leapfrog both second-placed Lewis Hamilton and Leclerc during a round of stops that saw Mercedes leave Hamilton on track until lap 26.
With the race lead his, Vettel then successfully navigated three safety car periods to take his first win since last year’s Belgian Grand Prix.
At the race start the top six got away in grid order with pole sitter Leclerc of leading from Hamilton, Vettel and fourth-placed Max Verstappen. Valtteri Bottas was fifth in the second Mercedes, with Red Bull’s Alex Albon in sixth.
Behind them Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg clashed with McLaren’s Carlos Sainz and they both dropped to the rear of the field. That allowed Lando Norris in the second McLaren to slip through to seventh place ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi, Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and Toro Rosso’s 10th-placed Pierre Gasly.
The first stint then became a game of tyre management as the leaders preserved their starting softs in order to go deep enough into the race to clear the midfield should they pit.
Vettel was the first to make the move, with the German pitting on lap 19,m along with Verstappen. Leclerc was next in but after his stop he emerged behind team-mate Vettel, much to his dismay.
At the front, Hamilton now led the race. Despite admitting that his tyres were “not great’ the Briton stayed out until lap 26. And when he rejoined he did so behind Max.
The race was now led by Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi with Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly in P2 ahead of Ricciardo, all of whom needed to stop. Vettel soon made his way past all three and on lap 30 he assumed the lead of the race. Leclerc and Verstappen followed suit and as the order settled Vettel led his team-mate by six seconds, with Verstappen three seconds further back in third place. Hamilton was now fourth.
The race was neutralised on lap 35 when Haas’ Romain Grosjean made a mess of an ambitious overtake of Williams’ George Russell into Turn 8 and ended up pitching the young Briton into the wall.
The SC left the track at the end of lap 40 and when racing resumed, Vettel held his lead ahead of an unchanged top 10. The green flags lasted just three laps, however. On lap 44, Sergio Pérez was told to stop his car and the Racing Point driver pulled over at the side of the track, leading to a second Safety Car deployment.
The SC stayed on track until the end of lap 47 and when the action resumed it was again a clean re-start but within three laps the pace car was back on track as Kvyat collided with Räikkönen in Turn 1 and both arrowed off into the run-off area.
This time the cautionary period was shorter and on lap 51 the race got going once more. Vettel again controlled the re-start well and over the final 10 laps slowly began to edge away from his team-mate to eventually take his 53rdcareer victory and his first win since Belgium last year ahead of Leclerc. And Verstappen. Hamilton was left with fourth place ahead of Bottas, and Albon took P6 for the second race in a row.
Behind the Thai driver Norris was seventh for McLaren ahead of Gasly. Ninth place was taken by Hulkenberg and the final point on offer went to Alfa Romeo’s Giovinazzi.
2019 FIA Formula One Singapore Grand Prix – Race
1 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 2.641
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 3.821
4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 4.608
5 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 6.119
6 Alex Albon Red Bull Racing 11.663
7 Lando Norris McLaren 14.769
8 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 15.547
9 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 16.718
10 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing 17.855
11 Romain Grosjean Haas 35.436
12 Carlos Sainz McLaren 35.974
13 Lance Stroll Racing Point 36.419
14 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 37.660
15 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 38.178
16 Robert Kubica Williams 47.024
17 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:26.522
Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo Racing
Sergio Perez Racing Point
George Russell Williams -
Operation domination: Marquez reigns MotorLand ahead of Dovizioso and Miller
Marc Marquez celebrates after winning the Aragon MotoGP by a mile. A MotoGP image Aragon, 22 Sept 2019: Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) has looked unstoppable for much of the weekend at MotorLand Aragon, and that was no different come race day. In his 200th Grand Prix, the reigning Champion couldn’t be caught, escaping the pack early and managing the gap to give himself a 98-point lead heading into Thailand. In other words, Championship point…
That was despite an impressive comeback from Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team), with the Italian starting tenth and made to work for it as he made his way through the pack to come home second. Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) completed the podium, the Australian playing his cards to perfection for a late lunge on Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) in the fight for third.
It was Marquez who got the holeshot from pole, Plan A executed to perfection as a lightning start saw the number 93 beat Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) into Turn 1, with Miller getting a good launch from P4 on the grid to take P3. Viñales slipped to P4 with Quartararo giving chase to Marquez on the opening lap, but by the time they crossed the line, the reigning Champion was a second down the road.
Meanwhile, there was drama early on for the fast-starting Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar), the Spaniard overcooking a move at Turn 12 and barrelling into Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT). The latter crashed out, with Rins dropping to P17 as up the road, Marquez was powering clear. Miller was now the man leading the chase but the gap was quickly up to 1.8 seconds by Lap 4, with the race rapidly becoming a battle for the remaining podium places.
In that fight, Miller was holding off the Yamahas of Viñales and Quartararo, but it wasn’t too long until Viñales got the better of the Frenchman and then immediately started to reel in Miller’s half-second advantage. He passed the Australian on Lap 8 as the riders inside the top seven bunched up, with Dovizioso up behind Quartararo and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) holding off Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) in sixth and seventh.
Lap 9 saw Dovi pounce on Quartararo’s Yamaha and the Italian locked his radar onto the back of fellow GP19 rider Miller, with Viñales the man up next. Soon after, Dovi made his move on Miller at Turn 1, but the Pramac rider wasn’t going to cave in easy as and the duo then started to haul in Viñales. The three were split by just a second heading into the last handful of laps and as Viñales started to fade, he was under increasing pressure.
Three to go and Viñales was still holding onto P2, but Dovizioso used the Ducati power to grab P2 down the back straight, leaving Miller to try and pounce on the Yamaha next. The Australian waited until Turn 1 on the last lap, just about getting it stopped and keeping it together for the rest of the lap for an impressive third podium of the season. Dovi had second wrapped up and coming onto the back straight for the final time, there was nothing more Viñales could do.
And so Marquez crossed the line for his fourth straight win at MotorLand on his 200th Grand Prix start to extend his lead to 98 points. Dovizioso’s recovery from P10 was completed in an ever-intelligent ride to second, with Miller impressing to complete the podium and take top Independent Team rider honours.
Viñales was left disappointed with fourth but it was a valiant effort nonetheless, with Quartararo coming home just behind the Spaniard to complete the top five and take another good haul of points after a mature ride on the limit. Crutchlow produced a solid showing to finish P6 for the third time in four races, the British rider just edging out Aleix Espargaro. The sterling effort from the Aprilia rider secured his best result of the season, and the best for the Noale factory so far in 2019.
Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) was in the battle for the top five in the early stages before the nine-time World Champion dropped back to P8, with Rins fighting back to P9 after his opening lap incident and a subsequent Long Lap penalty. LCR Honda Idemitsu’s Takaaki Nakagami won an intense battle for the top 10 which saw him take on Andrea Iannone (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini), Ducati Team’s Danilo Petrucci, Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) and Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar), with the group all finishing within two seconds of each other in that order. Tito Rabat (Reale Avinita Racing) took the final point in P15.
Now, it’s time for the flyaways. First up is the PTT Thailand Grand Prix and it’s almost all Marquez’ to lose. 98 points ahead, he just has to outscore Dovizioso by two points and leave for Japan with an advantage of 100 or more. Will he wrap it up? Find out in two weeks.
Marc Marquez: “It was the perfect weekend, we did an amazing job all weekend, from the beginning we started in a good way to understand how it was, we raced the setup we started with in FP1, something for the first time all year. But apart from this, the strategy of the race was clever, I was clear about my strategy and I pushed a lot in the first three laps then tried to manage the distance I’m happy, because it was a good 25 points but this guy here never gives up! He’s still pushing, but in Thailand we have the first match point and I’ll do my best.”
Race Results: MotoGP
1 – Marc Marquez (SPA – Honda) 41’57.221
2 – Andrea Dovizioso (ITA – Ducati) +4.836
3 – Jack Miller* (AUS – Ducati) +5.430*Independent Team rider
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Marc Marquez takes Aragon pole
Aragon, 21 Sept 2019: Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) showed no signs of letting go of his stranglehold on the Gran Premio Michelin de Aragon on Saturday afternoon, with the reigning Champion taking his 61st premier class pole position in 122 races – taking him back to an incredible 50% ratio. It’s his fifth pole at MotorLand, although Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) kept pulses racing until right at the end of the session as he set three red sectors in a row, only losing out in the final part of the lap. He’ll start second, with Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) completing the front row.
The promised – or threatened, depending on perspective – rain came down on Saturday morning, but it didn’t stay around too long. It was enough to put paid to anyone’s chance of improving their lap time in FP3 however, with the likes of Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) therefore sure of a trip to Q1. And in Q1 it was a surprise to see the Suzuki man knocked out, with Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) taking to the top and joined in Q2 by an impressive Andrea Iannone (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini).
With Q2 underway – featuring two Aprilias for the first time in MotoGP™ – the fastest laptime cycled through a few different names before Marquez’ second lap shot him to the top, deposing Quartararo, who had deposed Viñales.
On their second runs, Viñales struck back against Quartararo but the gap to Marquez remained over four tenths…made even worse as the number 93 crossed the line only just behind Viñales’ Yamaha and improved his time even further. It seemed like all was said and done in the fight for pole after that show of pace, but Quartararo had other ideas.
On his final flying lap, the rookie was over a tenth in the red after the first split. Were we about to witness one of the upsets of the season? After the second split, the 20-year-old’s advantage was hovering around a tenth and at the third, there was nothing to choose between Quartararo and Marquez. With only the final sector to go – one that’s been tougher for the Yamaha – could ‘El Diablo’ keep those few thousandths? In the end, he couldn’t, with Marquez secure on pole – but Quartararo will line up second after taking an awesome eighth front row start of his rookie season, edging ahead of Viñales to make it two Yamahas joining the Repsol Honda on the front row.
Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) took P4 and heads up Row 2 as the highest-placed Ducati rider, with Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) putting in a blinder to take P5 and Aprilia’s best qualifying since Japan 2017. Nine-time World Champion Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) managed to launch himself from the lower echelons on his final run, with the ‘Doctor’ taking P6 as he completes the second row.
Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) spearheads Row 3, the British rider leading Q1 pacesetter Morbidelli and Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar), with the Suzuki-riding rookie out-qualifying teammate Rins for the second time this year despite a crash in FP4.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) completes the top ten after a tougher day at the office, with Andrea Iannone battling through the pain barrier after his crash at Misano to take P11.
Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), meanwhile, crashed in FP4 and suffered a fractured left wrist, meaning the number 44 will sadly miss the rest of his home Grand Prix. That will move Rins up to P12, with Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Castrol) and Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team) just behind.
Can anyone beat Marquez in Aragon? Some of the men with the best pace start close to the reigning Champion on Sunday. Tune in for the MotoGP™ race at the slightly earlier time of 13:00 (GMT +2) to find out…
Qualifying results:1 – Marc Marquez (SPA – Honda) 1’47.009
2 – Fabio Quartararo* (FRA – Yamaha) +0.327
3 – Maverick Viñales (SPA – Yamaha) +0.463*Independent Team rider -
Charles Leclerc puts his Ferrari on pole
Leclerc takes Singapore pole on Saturday. An FIA image Singapore, 21 Sept 2019: Charles Leclerc claimed his third pole position in a row and the fifth of his career with a superb final Q3 lap of the Marina Bay Street Circuit to beat championship leader Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes by two tenths of a second, with Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel a further tenth of a second behind in third.
Leclerc led the way after the opening runs of Q1 with a time of 1:38.014 while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen slotted into P2 with a time of 1:38.540 that put him ahead of the Mercedes cars of Valtteri Bottas and Hamilton, who opted to complete their opening runs on medium tyres. Vettel went for a second lap, however, and lap of 1:38.374 was good enough for second place.
The top three then opted to remain in pit lane for the final runs. Mercedes, however, chose to send its drivers out on softs and Bottas took first place in the session with a lap of 1:37.317, 0.248s ahead of Hamilton, with Leclerc finishing third ahead of Vettel and Verstappen.
Eliminated at the end of the first session were Daniil Kvyat of Toro Rosso in P16 followed by Racing Point’s Lance Stroll, Haas’ Romain Grosjean and the Williams cars of George Russell and Robert Kubica.
In the first runs of Q2 Leclerc was again to the fore, with the Monegasque driver becoming the first man to dip below 1m37s with a lap of 1:36.930 that he then improved to 1:36.650. Vettel took second place, seven hundredths of a second behind his team-mate. Hamilton was third for Mercedes after a second run that yielded an improved time of 1:36.933. That left Verstappen in fourth place thanks to his first-run time of 1:37.089.
Bottas made it through to the final segmen in fifth, the Finn finishing ahead of Lando Norris who put in an impressive lap of 1:37.572 to bump Red Bull’s Alex Albon to sixth place. The Thai driver finished ahead of Carlos Sainz in the second McLaren and the Renaults of Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg.
Eliminated at the end of the second segment were 11th-placed Sergio Pérez of Racing Point, Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi, Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly, the second Alfa of Kimi Räikkönen and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen.
In Q3 Vettel drew first blood with the German took top spot with a time of 1:36.437. That put him over three tenths ahead of Leclerc who set a time slower than his Q2 best and Verstappen who logged a lap of 1:36.817. The Mercedes drivers were fourth and fifth and Alex poste a time of 1:37.964 to take P6, slightly slower than his Q2 time.
However, Vettel couldn’t hold onto P1. Mistakes in the first sector saw him back out of his last lap and that allowed Leclerc to grab his fifth career pole position ahead of Hamilton.
Vettel kept hold of third place on the grid aheads of Verstappen. The Dutchman did make a small imporovement on his final lap, of three thousandths of a seconds, but it was not enough to get near the second Ferrari. Bottas again finished fifth but Albon got to within three tenths of the Finn after improving by half a second on his final run.
The Thai racer will thus start at the back of row three ahead of McLaren’s Carlos Sainz, the Renaults of Daniel Ricciardo and Hulkenberg and the second McLaren of Lando Norris.
2019 FIA Formula One Singapore Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:36.217
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:36.408 0.191
3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:36.437 0.220
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1:36.813 0.596
5 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:37.146 0.929
6 Alex Albon Red Bull Racing 1:37.411 1.194
7 Carlos Sainz McLaren 1:37.818 1.601
8 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1:38.095 1.878
9 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:38.264 2.047
10 Lando Norris McLaren 1:38.329 2.112
11 Sergio Perez Racing Point 1:38.620 2.403
12 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing 1:38.697 2.480
13 Pierre Gasly Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:38.699 2.482
14 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo Racing 1:38.858 2.641
15 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:39.650 3.433
16 Daniil Kvyat Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:39.957 3.740
17 Lance Stroll Racing Point 1:39.979 3.762
18 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:40.277 4.060
19 George Russell Williams 1:40.867 4.650
20 Robert Kubica Williams 1:41.186 4.969. -
3 dead in Jodhpur accident during INRC first stage
Jodhpur, 21 Sept 2019: A pall of gloom descended on the rally camp at the Maxperience Rally 2019 here as the tragic incident which took three lives, left the Rally Fraternity in a state of shock and disbelief. After the accident that happened in the first few minutes of the start here, the rally was stopped, and later the organisers cancelled the Jodhpur Rally.
Gaurav Gill’s car is said to be involved in the accident while negotiating a blind corner and the `bike appeared from nowhere,’’ a spectator said.
Though a section of the media has put out the names of the deceased, the police are yet to identify and confirm them. Police are yet to file the FIR and find attorneys for traffic accident injuries cases to help the injured victims. The organisers and promoters are fully cooperating with the policy inquiry and are in touch with the top police authorities of the district. You can also get help from Matthew Norris – helping oil field accident victims, in any of the accident or injury cases.
“The rally had to be brought to an abrupt end after one of the cars hit a motorcycle carrying three people. The motorcycle had forcibly entered into the barricaded area, breaking past the security barrier while the stage was still green. The driver was moving at high speed and could not even see the motorbike as it emerged at a sharp turn,” Arvind Balan, the local organiser of the rally said. The attorneys for traffic accident injuries cases can help with the legalities of injury cases.
It is learnt that the three deceased were not wearing helmets and were on the track and argued with the stage marshals who stopped them from entering the stage which is green and ready for the first car. “Everything happened within less than a minute. It was a literally a blind spot. He (Gaurav) tried to stop the car, however, as there was a sharp turn the situation became unavoidable and he was blinded. Despite being warned, the biker forcefully entered the track,” the organizers said.
The driver of the motorcycle and the two pillion riders, said to be his wife and son, reportedly died on the spot. None of them were wearing helmets.
“We feel very sad for the deceased people and express our condolences to their family members. We had all the safety measures at place and also had the necessary permission from the authorities,” Vamsi Merla, the promoter, added.“It was an unfortunate incident that took place despite all the safety measures being in place,” J Prithiviraj, president of FMSCI, who is also the COC of the event, said. “We extend our deepest condolences to the bereaved family. The entire motorsports fraternity stands with them in this hour of grief,” he added. -
Gaurav Gill excited about the fast and flowing stages: INRC Jodhpur Rally
Gaurav Gill explaining the stages at Jodhpur on Friday. Photo by David Bodapati Jodhpur, 20 Sept. 2019: Fresh from the WRC2 campaign, speed maestro Gaurav Gill of JK Racing, looked excited and confident after the recce here on Friday. The reigning champion took a liking to the fast and flowing stages of Rally Jodhpur, the Maxperience Rally 2019, which serves as Round 3 of the Champions Yacht Club fmsci Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) powered by MRF here on Friday.
In the orange colours of Mahindra Adventure in an SUV 300 on JK Tyres, Gill, who just returned from Rally Turkey, said that the stages were very fast. “The stages are perhaps the fastest I ever saw in an INRC event in the past few years. I am really excited and looking forward to tomorrow’s run. We have good upgrades to the car and am confident of a good result,” he said.
During Mahindra Adventure testing on Thursday Gaurav Gill took a huge jump on the route which will be part of the INRC stages. Mahindra Adventure photo: G Harinath Both in Chennai and Coimbatore, he dominated the proceedings before he was let down by the car. Gill, along with his co-driver Musa Sherif, is currently fifth on the championship standing with 22 points and will be eager to move up quickly.
Another driver who took a liking to the fast stages, is Fabid Ahmer of Team Champions. The youngster from Palakkad, with co-driver Sanath Gopalan, is currently leading the championship table after two rounds with 49 points. “The stages are very quick and the stretches are fast with free-flowing corners. They are a driver’s delight and we are looking for another good outing,” Fabid said.
Dean Mascarenhas talking to media after the road show in Jodhpur on Friday. Photo David Bodapati Seven points behind him is another youngster from Mangaluru. Dean Mascarenhas, also from the Team Champions, with co-driver Shruptha Padival, is supported by JK Racing. They won the opening round and showed his class in Round 2 as well, jumping 32 places to finish 10th overall and second in his INRC 2 category. He 42 points from two rounds. With three more rallies after Jodhpur, the battle is still
However, it won’t be easy for both of them as Younus Ilyas will be breathing fiercely down their neck. The Race Concepts driver from Kochi, along with his navigator Harish Gowda, was in stellar form in the last round and finished second overall missing the top podium by just 04.600 seconds. He however won his INRC 2 category. He is placed fourth in the INRC overall category with 31 points.
Arka Motorsports Karna Kadur along with Nikhil Pai, Chetan Shivram, with brother & co-driver Dilip Sharan, will also be in the mix and will look to maintain to gain some valuable points.
The Akshara Racing driver Shivram, surprised everyone in the last round by winning the overall title as well as his own INRC 3 category.
Shivram showed great opportunism as he made the most of the top contenders’ misfortune.
He surged ahead on Day 1 itself and drove smartly the next day to avoid all the pitfalls that lurked in the stages, just off Coimbatore.
Fabid Ahmer, the current overall leader, in Jodhpur on Friday. Fabid Ahmer along with Sanath G of Team Champions has been the stand-out performer of the season so far and will start as the dark horse once again. While the big names have been fighting it out to stay in the hunt, Fabid slowly clawed him way up the table to lead the championship with 49 points. He is also leading the INRC 3 category with 69 points.
Suhem Kabeer along with Jeeva Rathnam is another driver to watch out for in Round 3 of the INRC. Even though he is placed 7th overall, the position does not exactly tell the tale. He was in the hunt for a podium in the last round and was hot on the heels of the eventual winner Chetan Shivram. But, bad luck struck him mid-way into the final where he got stuck in the slush which saw him lose six minutes to slip out of contention.
Vaibhav Marate has been unbeaten in the INRC 4 category winning both the rounds. He is on top of the charts with 79 points and will hope to extend his lead in Jodhpur.
The Rally of Jodhpur, to be run on gravel, will cover about 300 kms over the two days, including 125 kms of Special Stages. As many as 51 teams will be seen in action in what promises to be a fast and furious affair.
The rally not only provides the drivers a great opportunity to prove their mettle but will also offer fans a great opportunity to catch the stars live in action in their mean machines.
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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).
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MotorLand Aragon awaits, with Marquez in the driving seat – and the crosshairs
File photo of Marquez by MotoGP Aragon, 18 Sept 2019: After the raucous seaside of the Riviera di Rimini, it’s now time to head for the unique backdrop of MotorLand Aragon. The technically challenging track is an oasis of speed nestled in the stunning scenery of the area, an outpost of racing excellence in a region where competition has serious history – and more of it is made year on year. This season, Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) arrives with an aptly numbered 93-point lead, but the last three races have more than shown that the reigning Champion doesn’t always get his own way…so how will it play out on home turf?
Maquez’ speed at the circuit is something to seriously respect. The number 93 has won four times in the premier class at MotorLand, including the last three in a row, and has four pole positions to undoubtedly make him the man to beat at the track. Can he do it again this season to extend his lead even further? If he can, there’s a chance he’ll tee himself up with a chance to win the title in Thailand…
It’s never an easy ask though – even when the track has a corner named after you. Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) seems a good bet as someone who will be aiming to derail Marquez’ assault on Aragon, and coming from two podiums in a row he’s on good form. He’s never won at MotorLand in the premier class, but there’s no time like the present to start creating some momentum. His teammate Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) will also be aiming for the podium, and plenty of eyes will once again be on Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT).
The rookie had a stunning race in Misano, taking the reigning Champion to the wire and putting up a fight on the last lap. In the end it was another podium and not a maiden win, but it’s the closest the fast Frenchman has come to the top step so far – and in some serious style. Can he do it again this weekend? If he does it, Rookie of the Year will start to look less like a probability and more like a formality.
Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar), meanwhile, is looking for a comeback. The number 42 hails from mere kilometers away from MotorLand to make it a true home venue for the Suzuki rider. After defeating Marquez with his stunning move at Silverstone, Rins faltered at Misano and crashed out – so motivation will be higher than ever. He also slipped to fourth in the standings with the mistake on the Riviera di Rimini, so Aragon is a chance to get back into that top three and stake his claim on another podium at least.
The man who moved above Rins at Misano was Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team) who, despite a tougher few rounds of late, has kept raking in the points to put himself back behind teammate Andrea Dovizioso in the standings. Misano was also tougher weekend than many expected for the Borgo Panigale factory though, so can they bounce back at MotorLand? Traditionally a tougher track for Ducati than some, a good few eyes will be on the two Italians in red and Dovizioso will be aiming to repeat his impressive performance from last year.
In the fight for top Independent Team rider, it’s also close, although Quartararo’s Misano masterpiece put him back above Jack Miller (Pramac Racing), and gave him some breathing space ahead of Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) for now. Is another twist coming in Round 14? Crutchlow certainly will want to score big and bounce back from a crash on the Riviera di Rimini and Miller made good progress forward on Sunday in San Marino.
Making life increasingly difficult for the riders who started the season bothering the top five, top eight and top ten is Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), however. A stunning performance from the Spaniard in qualifying at Misano gave KTM their second front row of the season, and the number 44 brought it home in seventh at the flag, battling the likes of Rins and the Ducatis. Espargaro has impressed more than a few times this season, and home turf at Aragon will see him pushing to do the same. And there’s news on the other side of the KTM garage: after announcing in the summer that Johann Zarco would be parting ways with the Austrian factory for 2020, the switch has come early and it’s test rider Mika Kallio who takes over for the remaining races of this season. How will Kallio fare in a full-time seat? And can KTM profit even more from Finn’s feedback as they continue their huge development push?
At Aprilia, meanwhile, it’s also home turf for Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) and he’s been on the podium at the track before – his only rostrum in the premier class. Teammate Andrea Iannone was forced to sit Misano out after hurting his shoulder and could find it tougher going, although Noale factory test rider Bradley Smith will be out on track too, with the goal for all good points.
Misano is unique and MotorLand the same – in a completely different way. Can Marquez extend his lead in the final race before the flyaways? Or will the likes of Viñales, Quartararo, and Rins fight back? The outpost of speed fires up for MotoGP™ on Friday 20th September, with the premier class race at the slightly earlier time of 13:00 (GMT +2) on Sunday 22nd.
Championship standings1 – Marc Marquez (SPA – Honda) – 275
2 – Andrea Dovizioso (ITA – Ducati) – 182
3 – Danilo Petrucci (ITA – Ducati) – 151
4 – Alex Rins (SPA – Suzuki) – 149
5 – Maverick Viñales (SPA – Yamaha) – 134
