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Tag: FIM World Championship
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Aishwarya Pissay of Sherco TVS Rally team all set for FIM Bajas WC final round
Dubai, Nov. 28, 2024: TVS Racing’s star racer, Aishwarya Pissay, the only World Cup winner from India in motorsports is raring to go at the final round of the FIM Bajas World Cup here from Friday.
The Bengaluru champion who re-launched her international campaign at the Baja Spain Aragon, the third round and finished a creditable second, also took part in the gruelling 590-km of Hungarian Baja this year and kept her good standing on the table.
The Baja season will end with the medal ceremony for the winners of the FIM Bajas World Cup in the Moto, Quad, Women, Junior, veteran and Trail categories on Sunday. Twenty-nine bikes will line up on the start on the final weekend in the Dubai desert.
After a long break due to an injury, Aishwarya worked hard on rehabilitation and plunged into high-performance training abroad for about 45 days. The final round of the FIM Bajas World Cup is set to be an exhilarating showdown, with Aishwarya Pissay aiming to cement her place among the elite. Competing in the Women’s Category, she brings a wealth of experience and adaptability to varying terrains, which will be crucial in this climactic event. This round will feature gruelling stages that test navigation, endurance, and strategy, providing a platform for Aishwarya to showcase her growth and determination. With 29 riders set to participate in the race, she will be a part of Sherco TVS Rally Factory Team. The winner of 2019 World Cup Baja is all geared up for the final hurray and is eager to make the podium of the World Cup once again.
The multiple Indian National rally champion who became the first Indian woman to make her international debut at Baja Spain in 2018 at the age of 22, this will be Aishwarya’s third shot at the World Cup. The Indian rider supported by TVS Racing, co-sponsored by Scott, Ultrahuman, IIFL and Micro Labs, looks to turn tables astride a Sherco 450 SEF. She trained hard, setting up a short base in Dubai, to fine-tune her physical fitness and riding skills.
“Getting back into shape both mentally and physically, is of utmost importance. It was a high-performance training focussed on fitness and mental conditioning but also on identifying and fine-tuning my riding skills and learning the terrain and the art of navigation. Staying focussed and calm are some other interesting aspects that I learnt and enjoyed,” said Aishwarya, who continues to get support from Surana College, her alma mater.
“The training abroad has given me much confidence and now is the time to utilise these skills and continue learning. I will focus on the Baja for the next three days. Every incident has taught me lessons and made me stronger and I am ready to go,” said the 28-year-old, who bounced back after the life-threatening accident in 2018 to bag the World Cup.
On Thursday, The riders did the administrative and technical checks at Dubai Festival City Mall and then took part in the start ceremony. On Friday, a short 4.32km Prologue will determine the starting order for the first 195km special stage on Saturday.
On December 1, at the finish of the second stage, which will also run for 195km, the winners of the various categories will be crowned after a long season in Europe and the Middle East. Only the best six results will be counted towards the final standings from the eight Bajas.
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Stunning 3rd for Harith Noah in SS2 at FIM Baja Aragon
Teruel (Spain), 24 July 2022: Sherco TVS Factory Racing rider Harith Noah recorded a stunning top-3 in one of the stages in a field of 163 riders and successfully completed the cross-country rally in Overall fifth place, in Baja Spain Aragon, the fourth round of the FIM Bajas World Cup that concluded here on Sunday. In the FIM 450cc class for bikes, Noah was placed fourth.
Achieving a career-best third in SS2 in the FIM Bajas World Cup round, the rider from Kerala, put in excellent performance and missed the podium by a few minutes as he finished 5th overall. Astride a Sherco 450, the 29-year TVS Racing talent is taking part in the prestigious annual event that is now a round of both the FIA and FIM Bajas World Cup. Beginning the 6-km prologue cautiously trailing in 16th, Harith Noah switched up pace and moved up 13 places with a stunning ride in SS2 that launched him to P3. However, tough and dangerous terrain curtailed his further dash to the front as he had to be content with an 8th place in SS1 (02:45:56.0). “The track was a bit dangerous as the cars had passed already and that made many rocks pop out on to the track. Focus was to complete the stage safely,” said Noah, who attacked once again on the last Sector for which he preserved his best. Clocking 2:07:26.0 on the last day, he sealed the fourth place in the stage for an overall fifth.
He finished the last day’s ‘competitive special’ of 159 km between Banon and Teruel and moved up to a brilliantly in the Overall classification in Group 1 (Category 1) of the FIM Bajas World Cup for 450cc bikes. He clocked a total time of 8hours, 07minutes and 33.0seconds. With his Sherco teammates Lorenzao Santolino and Rui Goncalves finishing second and third, Noah made it three bikes in top-5 for the Sherco-TVS combo that missed the top-spot by just about 5 minutes.
Performing consistently on all three days, Harith Noah dished out high-standard riding to shoot into top-3 on Saturday, the Day 2. “For the first time I am back on the rally bike after the last Dakar. I felt so good to be back riding at an international event. The hard-pack tracks made it fun to slide around and I enjoyed it. It was a great experience and like always, I have learned a lot and hope to fine tune my skills from this rich experience,” said the Shoranur star. “It was a great feeling to be able to finish one of the stages with the front pack and the bike proved to be good,” the 29-year star told INDIAinF1 from Spain.
The gruelling race that traversed over 400 km in the Selective Sector on Saturday morning with another 200 plus km in the evening presented a technically tough route but Harith Noah who thrives on routes that offer difficult navigational challenges, took to his liking and posted a stunning 5:50:09.0.
The Kerala rider is the fastest Indian at the Dakar as he beat CS Santolsh’s record and joined KP Aravind, in the elite club of three from India, that finished Dakar successfully. Harith Noah will be back to his training for the 2023 Dakar next January.
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Aishwarya Pissay, only woman in FIM WC Baja Aragon
Teruel (Spain) 21 July 2022: Petronas TVS Factory Racing’s star Aishwarya Pissay, the only World Cup winner from India in motorsports, is all set to re-launch her international campaign with the Baja Aragon, the fourth round of the FIM Bajas World Cup to be held here from Friday.
Come July, the beautiful region of Aragón gets busy and Aishwarya Pissay, the Indian pride, is the only woman in the FIM field and being a World Cup Baja winner, adds to the competitive nature of the event as she arrived in Teruel on Tuesday. After her accident in Jordan Baja in March 2021, the talented rider, a product of TVS, worked hard on rehabilitation and bagged another National title in the last one year, before plunging into high-performance training abroad for about 90 days this year, under her acclaimed mentor Michael Metge and his team.
On Friday, more than 70 motorcycle and quad riders will take the start of the race, including 18 motorcycles and eight quads competing for points in the FIM Bajas World Cup. Pissay will be part of Team Sherco TVS which registered four riders. Lorenzo Santolino, who was third last year, Rui Gonçalves, Harith Noah and Aishwarya Pissay, the winner of 2019 World Cup Baja winner, make up the Sherco-TVS team.
For the 26-year old Bengaluru lass, a five-time Indian National rally champion, who became the first Indian woman to make her international debut at Baja Spain in 2018 at the age of 22 years, this will be her third Baja Aragon Spain. The Indian rider supported by Scott, Ultrahuman, IIFL and Micro Labs, looks to turn the tables astride a Sherco 450 Enduro, the same bike that she trained hard in France and Spain fine-tuning her physical fitness and riding skills. “It was a high-performance training not just focussing on physical fitness and mental conditioning but identifying and fine-tuning certain riding skills and consistently learning the terrain and the art of Road Book. Staying focussed and calm are some other interesting aspects that I enjoyed,” said Aishwarya, who continues to get support from Surana College, her alma mater.
“I have learnt a lot in the training sessions abroad under Metge and to be able to utilise these skills and continue learning is my goal. I am not looking at World Cup right now but my focus is on the Baja for the next three days. I will take it event by event,” said the 26-year old, who rose like a phoenix after the life-threatening accident at the same Baja on the last day in 2018. “Every incident has taught me lessons and made me stronger. Now I am well-prepared and ready for the event,” the confident TVS talent, said ahead of the grueling event.
Administrative and technical checks will take place in Teruel on Friday while the six-km Prologue will be run from 5pm (8.30 pm IST) in order to determine the starting order for the first selective section the next day.
On Saturday, July 23rd, riders will tackle two selective sections and a third on Sunday morning for a total of 435 competitive kilometres and 342km of liaison, the transport section.
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Aishwarya Pissay, Harith Noah set for FIM Baja Aragon
Teruel, 21 July 2022: Fastest rider at Dakar from India, Harith Noah and the only World Cup winner from Indian motorsports, Aishwarya Pissay, relaunch their international campaign after an year and are all set for the FIM Baja Spain Aragón, the fourth round of the FIM Bajas World Cup beginning here on Friday.
The 38th edition of Baja España Aragón Trofeo AVATEL will see two of the top Indian Cross-Country enduro riders in Harith Noah and Aishwarya Pissay. While Kerala’s Harith Noah is the fastest from India at the Dakar, Aishwarya Pissay is the only Indian to win a World Cup in motorsports, men or women. Noah became the third Indian to finish Dakar after CS Santosh and KP Arvind, both from Bengaluru.
Read the preview and archives of Aishwarya Pissay here.
Dakar star Harith Noah exploits can be found here.
Petronas TVS Racing’s Harith Noah will begin his 11th year with the factory team. He successfully completed his third Dakar becoming the only rider from India to fly the Tricolour at the the 44th Dakar Rally, the prestigious annual cross-country endurance rally-raid race which concluded in Jeddah on January 14 earlier this year. He also set the fastest stage time by a rider from India, 18th in Stage 11, beating his own record set in 2021 (20). He is the third rider from India to complete Dakar after CS Santosh and KP Aravind, both from Bengaluru.
On Friday, more than 70 motorcycle and quad riders will take the start of the race, including 18 motorcycles and eight quads competing for points in the FIM Bajas World Cup.
Team Sherco is registered with four riders who are aiming for the podium: Lorenzo Santolino 3rd las year, Rui Gonçalves, Harith Noah and Pissay Aishwarya, the only woman in the FIM field, make up the team.
David Casteu, sporting director of Team Sherco, also has a “Team Casteu” team manager’s cap on and is supporting four private riders with crucial assistance.
There are three riders aiming to take the top step of the podium in the Junior category: the young Pole Konrad Dabrowski, Neels Theric – whose father won one of the first editions of the Baja Spain Aragón – and Kevin Giroud, who rides a quad. Dabrowski (KTM Duust Rally) is currently leading the Junior category and holds second overall in the FIM Bajas World Cup with 50 points behind Emirati Mohammed Al-Balooshi.
In the Veteran category, seven riders will take the start: Klyver, Gaits, Howe, Grignac, Argoud, Lardon and Vingut.
Eight competitors will line up in the quad section and they include Alexandre Giroud, winner of the 2022 Dakar, the Spaniard Toni Vingut and the Saudi rider Abdulmajeed Al-Khulaifi.
Administrative and technical checks will take place in Teruel on Friday, July 22nd from 08.00hrs to 13.30hrs and the six-kilometre Prologue will be played out from 17.00hrs in order to determine the starting order for the first selective section the next day
On Saturday, July 23rd, riders will tackle two selective sections and a third on Sunday morning for a total of 435 competitive kilometres and 342km of liaison.
The 38th edition of the Baja España Aragón-Trofeo AVATEL will once again be a record-breaking event in its ninth consecutive year in Teruel. 165 crews will line up for the start in the car category of the rally that counts towards the FIA World Cup for Cross Country Bajas. Dakar winner Nasser Al-Attiyah, reigning champion of the Baja Aragón, will be one of the main favourites.
The Qatari will be joined by Yazeed Al-Rajhi in a Toyota Hilux, who is second overall in the World Cup behind Czech Miroslav Zapletal. A good result for the Saudi in Teruel would allow him to take the lead in the championship.
Other big names to start in this Baja España Aragón Trofeo AVATEL include
Dutchman Erik Van Loon and Argentinean Fernando Álvarez. Host country Spain will be represented by a huge contingent, spearheaded by Jesús Calleja, Félix Macías, José Antonio Ramos and Daniel Alonso. The latter two are the first two classified in the Spanish Cross-Country Rally Championship.
The 38th edition of the Baja España Aragón Trofeo AVATEL will see the first
participation of a WRC driver. Dani Sordo joins the populous field to take on yet another challenge in his sporting career. The Spaniard, who has announced hisretirement from the World Rally Championship at the end of the year, has decided totry his hand at cross-country rallies, with his current WRC co-driver, the Galician Cándido Carrera, on his side.Note: Courtesy FIM communications and Baja Aragon official site.
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Abu Dhabi’s Shaun Torrente on pole for Grand Prix of India; Team Amaravati’s Anderson 5th
Shaun Torrente of Sweden take pole position for the Grand Prix of India. Photo Tony Titus Amaravati (AP, India) 17 Nov 2018: Team Abu Dhabi’s Shaun Torrente produced a stunning final run in today’s top-six shootout to cap a thrilling BRM Official Qualifying session, setting the fastest time with a 44.54s lap around the five-pin 1.125km circuit on the Krishna River and will start tomorrow’s Grand Prix of India from pole position.
Norway’s Marit Stromoy produced her best qualifying session of the season and went second quickest for Emirates Racing with a 44.72s lap, Abu Dhabi’s Erik Stark sealing third spot with a time of 45.00s.
Torrente was made to work hard for his seventh career-pole and his third of the season, leaving it late into Q2 and sitting outside the top six before jumping to the top of the time sheets to progress into the shootout on his final lap as the clock timed out the 20 minute session, his Abu Dhabi teammates Thani Al Qemzi and Stark locking out the top three spots.
Victory Team’s Alex Carella was the big loser in the middle session after having his best lap time of 46.27s deleted for cutting the course, dropping him to eighth and elevating Stromoy to fourth, Victory’s Ahmed Al Hameli to fifth and handing a lifeline and shootout slot to Team Amaravati’s Jonas Andersson.
Andersson opened the shootout with a best lap of 45.22s which Al Hameli was unable to better, missing out by a mere one hundredths of a second.
Next out was Stromoy and targeting a first pole position since Portugal in 2011 and immediately posted the fastest time of the day with a staggering 44.72s lap to take the provisional pole. Stark followed and produced his best time on his first run but missed out by 0.26s with Al Thani’s time of 45.06s eventually putting him fourth.
Torrente was last out and the tension mounted as he pulled out of his first run and was suddenly under massive pressure to deliver the team its fourth pole of the season, but then produced a simply breath taking run to snatch pole position from Stromoy by 0.18s. “The whole day was a series of mistakes by me and then to get it done at the last second is great,” Torrente said. “In Q2 I changed to a bigger propeller which I thought I needed and I did. But with less than 30 seconds to go I was out. But I made a good solid lap and went P1. Then in Q3 having seen Marit’s time which was huge I pressed too hard and made a mistake so I aborted and just had to pull out a near perfect lap, which I did.”
It was another massively frustrating day for the CTIC Shenzhen China F1 duo who have been struggling with engine issues and ahead of a race that they really need to be running in the top three or four to keep any flickering title hopes alive, but now face a huge mountain to climb with Peter Morin qualifying in seventh and Philippe Chiappe in tenth behind Blaze Performance’s Francesco Cantando, the man who won in Mumbai in 2004.
Today’s result, with the Abu Dhabi trio starting one-three and four tomorrow, brings the likelihood of them all but closing out the title race a step closer as they bid for an unprecedented third successive Grand Prix podium lockout, the woman standing in their way is Marit Stromoy who is bidding for a second Grand Prix win.
BRM Official Qualifying – Top Six Shootout
1. 6 Shaun Torrente (usa/*uae) – 44.54s
2. 50 Marit Stromoy (nor) – 44.72s
3. 35 Erik Stark (swe/*uae) – 45.00
4. 5 Thani Al Qemzi (uae) – 45.06s
5. 14 Jonas Andersson (swe) – 45.22s
6. 3 Ahmed Al Hameli (uae) – 45.23s
(*denotes international racing super license)
For full classifications:
https://www.f1h2o.com/results/2018/grand-prix-of-india/f1h2o
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Mad Croc’s Mihaldinecz wins Race 1 in F4-S: Powerboat Racing World Championship
F4 S winner on Saturday. A F1H2O image Amaravati (AP, India) 17 Nov 2018: Veteran driver Rudi Mihaldinecz used all his experience to take victory in the first of this weekend’s two races in the F4-S Championship in Amaravati, the support race for the UIM F1H2O powerboat racing World Championship at Vijayawada on Saturday.
In a highly entertaining race Mad Croc BABA Racing’s Hungarian driver led the race from pole position, but a mistake on lap 4 allowed series debutant Jeff Jelf to take the lead for Team Amaravati which he held onto until lap 12 when yellow flag was raised to allow race marshals to remove the stationary Blaze Performance driver Max Stilz.
At the restart on lap 16 Mihaldinecz immediately jumped Jelf to retake the lead, going on to win the 20-lap race by 5.22s with Jelf in pursuit but coming up short.
The middle order produced a great scrap before and after the yellow, Stilz running in third from F1 Atlantic’s Sam Whittle until both were passed on lap 9 by Victory’s Ahmed Al Fahim.
The yellow flag bunched up the pack with Whittle making up a place after Al Fahim hooked and dropped to sixth, with Emirates Racing’s Tom Chaippe also taking advantage as well as getting the better of Abu Dhabi’s Mohamed Al Mehairbi to move up and take fourth.
For full classifications:
