INDIA in F1

Tag: FMSCI

  • Top Indian drivers to display skills at Indian National Autocross Finals

    Top Indian drivers to display skills at Indian National Autocross Finals

    Gautam Shantappa, Chief Safety Officer speaking to the media recently at a Press Conference in Vijayawada. Former National champion and veteran administrator of Coffee Day Rally fame Farooque Ahmed (right) and ace Indian rallyist Phalguna Urs (2nd from right) are also seen.

    Vijayawada, 10 Jan 2020: The cream of motorsport talent from across the country will showcase their talent in the Champions Yacht Club Indian National Autocross Championship Finals 2019 which will be held at Pavithra Sangamam, near Ibrahimpatnam, about 25km from here on the Vijayawada-Hyderabad highway, on Saturday. The 2019 National Championship is approved by the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India to spill over into 2020 and is being organised with the Technical Support of Motor Sports Club of Chikmagalur.

    The Nationals will be supported by the Race of Titans where all the top guns in the country are expected to vie for honours on Sunday. INRC champions Chetan Shivram, Dilip Sharan, Dean Mascarenhas, Younus Ilyas, Dhruv Chandrasekhar and Bikku Babu are expected to take part.

    The top-4 finalists in the nine classes held across the country in the five regional championships in 2019 will vie for the grand finals. “Champions Yacht Club has made unprecedented preparations providing competitors a slew of benefits including free entry fee, free transportation of cars and accommodation,’’ said Gautam Shantappa, one of the top F1 Marshals in the country and the Chief Safety Officer for the event.

    “It is the endeavour of the Champions Group to dig out Champions in every region and as such we are bringing a National-level prestigious championship for the first time to Vijayawada. All safety aspects are taken care of. Ambulances and fire vehicles will be in place. All are invited to attend the top-class event as many of the champions in the country will be taking part,’’ said Vamsi Merla, the head of Champion Yacht Club, the promoters of Indian National Rally Championship, who have also accepted to organise the INAC Finals this year.

    The Championship began with the West Zone qualifying round in Thane on the dirt tracks on October 18 and 19 with the North Zone round happening a day later on October 19 and 20 at Delhi on Tarmac surface. The South Zone was held at Bengaluru on gravel from Novemeber 8 to 10 while Mumbai conducted the second round of West Zone from Nov 29 to Dec 1 on tarmac and the Chandigarh North Zone was held on gravel on Dec 6 and 7. The Haldia Autocross 2019 was the East Zone Qualifier-1 and the proposed round in north-east was not held.

    Abhijit Pai of Motor Sports Club of Chikmagalur (MSCC) will be Clerk of the Course, the sporting director who will conduct the event looking after all the technical and sporting regulations while he will be assisted by an experienced MSCC team. Nishanth Bendict is the Secretary of the Meet and Samrud Pai will be coordinating the drivers as the Competitor Relations Officer. Dilip Kumar will be the event coordinator.

    The finals will start at 8am on Saturday while the scrutiny and documentation will be on Friday. The prize distribution is scheduled for 5pm on Sunday. A prize money of around Rs.2 lakhs will be on offer and the gates are open. However, the VIP tickets for Rs.2000 and Rs.5,000 (with lunch) can be purchased at bookmyshow.

    The following classes are open to vehicles manufactured in India:

    Group A – Stock

    Class 1 Stock : 2-wheel drive | up to 1650 cc

    Class 2 Stock : 2-wheel drive | above 1651 cc

    Group B – Modified

    Class 3 Stock : 2-wheel drive | upto 1400 cc

    Class 4 Open : 2-wheel drive | upto 1650 cc

    Class 5 Open : 2-wheel drive | above 1651 cc

    Group C – Unrestricted

    Class 6 Open : 2-wheel drive | upto 1650 cc

    Class 7: 2-wheel drive | above 1651 cc

    Group D – Unrestricted

    Class 8: 4-wheel drive cars/SUVs | Open

    Group E – Stock

    Class 9: Ladies Open

     

     

  • Chetan Shivaram-Dilip Sharan thwart pressure from Dr Bikku Babu-Milen to win K1000 Rally

    Chetan Shivaram-Dilip Sharan thwart pressure from Dr Bikku Babu-Milen to win K1000 Rally

    Chetan Shivram (left) and Dilip Sharan on the podium after winning the K1000 rally, the 4th Round of Champiojns Yacht Club INRC 2019 in Bengaluru on Sunday. INDIAinF1 photo

    Bengaluru, 24 Nov 2019: Gaurav Gill, Dean Mascarenhas, Karna Kadur, Fabid Ahmer… the top drivers, stalwarts, experienced veterans, talented seniors and upcoming youngsters…  many of them bit the dust. The unforgiving terrain of Khoday’s Special Stages saw that only 23 of the 50 cars finished the 44th edition of the K1000 rally, which was run entirely on a private property after many years, with special focus on spectator safety.

    In the SUV Challenge, Gagan Karumbaiah (co-driver Thimmu Uddapanda) of Team Champions took the first place to virtually seal the 2019 title.

    File photo of Chetan Shivram. @FB

    Coimbatore round winners, Chetan Shivaram and Dilip Sharan of Team Akshara won the fourth round of the Indian National Rally Championship after thwarting sustained pressure from Dr Bikku Babu and Milen George of Team Champions, and took the overall win by 12.7 seconds and also topped their class INRC3. The Doctor from Kerala had to be content with the overall second place but topped INRC2 and Team Mahindra Adventure’s second entry Amittrajit Ghosh and Ashwin Naik were overall third, a good three minutes and 27 seconds behind, but were rewarded for finishing the rally with the top prize in the top class, the INRC. Chetan Shivaram took the overall lead in the Championship replacing Fabid Ahmer, with one round remaining, the Popular Rally in Kerala.

    Mujeeb Rahman (left) and Goutham, INRC4 winners

    Motoring stalwart and speed demon Gaurav Gill and co-driver Musa Sherif, too, had a disappointing outing as he failed to take the start on Sunday and other pre-event favourites Dean Mascarenhas and Shruptha Padival (SS6), and Karna Kadur and Nikhil Pai (SS5) failed to finish the day along with championship leaders Fabid Ahmer and Sanath Gopalan (SS7).

    After the shock exit of Gaurav Gill, order seemed to have been restored, with another JK favourite Dean Mascarenhas winning SS5. But he promptly fell in the next stage, leaving the field for Championship leader Fabid Ahmer. But the MRF driver, who was nursing his car carefully, suffered a mechanical failure in SS7 and tumbled out. “What looked like a promising result ended up with broken tie-rod end! Had to stop in SS7 when running 3rd Overall and 2nd in INRC3. We will bounce back at our home rally in Kerala,” quipped Fabid Ahmer.

    “The top guns may not have fired today but we couldn’t have hoped for a more thrilling finish. It was good to see so many of the INRC 2 and 3 teams making a mark here, ahead of the known champions,” Hema Malini Nidamanuri, co-promoter of the INRC, said.

    SUV winners of K1000 on 24 Nov 2019. (INDIAinF1 publishes other class winners’ photos as they usually get buried in mainstream media. We encourage drivers to send their winning photos to INDIAinF1@gmail.com) Photo: Prabhu Kethanur
    Dr Bikku Babu and Melen George, winners of INRC2 at K1000 on Sunday. Photo: FB
    Chethan Shivaram in action at K1000. Photo by Prabhu Kethanoor
    Fabid Ahmer and Sanath G stall in Special Stage 7 due to tie-rod failure on Sunday. @Fabid on FB

     

     

    File photo of Team Akshara. Courtesy: FB @ChetanShivram

    Final Provisional Unaudited Results: 

    Overall: 1. Chetan Shivaram/ Dilip Sharan (Akshara Racing) (1hour, 47minutes, 37.200seconds); 2. Dr Bikku Babu/ Milen George (Team Champions) (1:47:49.900); 3. Amittrajit Ghosh/ Ashwin Naik (Team Mahindra Adventure) (1:51.04.300).

    INRC: 1. Amittrajit Ghosh/ Ashwin Naik (Team Mahindra Adventure) (1:51.04.300); 2. Phalguna Urs/ Chandramouli M (Sanp Racing) (1:53:00.500). (only two cars finished out of six)

    INRC2: 1. Dr Bikku Babu/ Milen George (Team Champions) (1:47:49.900); 2. Sahil Khanna/ Rajit Kadian (Snap Racing) (1:52:00.200); 3. Younus Ilyas/Harish Gowda (Race Concepts) (4:50:24.200).

    INRC3: 1. Chetan Shivaram/ Dilip Sharan (Akshara Racing) (1:47:37.200); 2. Jacob KJ/ Murthy PVS (Arka Motorsports) (1:53.35.600); 2. Pradeep Kumar/Ahammad Ansary (Pipe & Pipe) (2:19:58.000).

    INRC4: 1. Mujeeb Rahaman/ Gautham CP (Privateers) (1:55:17.900); 2. Shirole Prakhyat H/ Bharath SM (Pvt) (1:57:16.300); 3.Satish Peddineni/ Vinay Kumar PM (Team Champions) (2:33:19.500).

    FMSCI SUV Challenge: 1. Gagan Karumbaiah/ Thimmu Uddapanda (Team Champions) (2:47:46.800); 2. Thomas Kuncheria M/ Dwarakanath Sudarshan (Pvt.) (2:13:41.200); 3. Sanjay Agarwal/ Smitha N (Team Champions) (5:03:17.100).

    (Note: Results were revised after confirmation from official version at 6.15pm.)

  • Ryhana Bee, Ann Jennifer for Asia Cup Road Racing Round 2

    Ryhana Bee, Ann Jennifer for Asia Cup Road Racing Round 2

    Ryhana Bee, right, and Ann Jennifer pose with FIM Asia vice-president Sujith Kumar before their races on Saturday. Photo FB @BSSujith

    Chennai, 12 Oct 2019: Ryhana Bee, the new 165cc Ladies Class National Champion, rushed to the airport straight from the awards function after receiving the award on Friday night to reach in time for the Round 2 of the FIM Asia Cup Road Racing championship 2019 to be held in Thailand on Sunday.

    Ryhana will have Ann Jennifer as teammate as the top two Indian riders will represent India as team FMSCI at the Road Racing event again. Jennifer was the National Champion for the year 2018 in the same class.

    Both the Indian riders will be seen in action at the Thailand Circuit, Nakhonchaisri
    as the event runs from October 11 to 13. FIM Asia vice-president Sujith Kumar (in the photo) is also present at the event.

    “We have taken up a lot of activities and have also promoted Women In Motorsports events in India. For every event, we are now sending a woman entry and even in domestic events, safety aspects are being given prime importance. In the near future, we expect a lot of improvements for the riders and in terms of infrastruture,” felt Sujith Kumar BS.

    I wanna thank FIM Asia, FMSCI, FIM WomenIn MOtorsport, Sujith Kumar for giving us an opportunity to run at the Asia level,” said Ryhana Bee. She sent her special thanks to Suresh Franklin who supported her in Team India. “It is always proud to represent the country and carry the Indian Tricolour,” she concluded.

  • Achintya Mehrotra hogs limelight for India at AAGC Korea

    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.
  • Historic day at MMRT as Moto3-spec Honda NSF 250R bikes up the ante

    Historic day at MMRT as Moto3-spec Honda NSF 250R bikes up the ante

    Md Mikail, the fastest rider on the track, who qualified for pole position in the Moto3-spec Honda NSF 250R class in Chennai on Friday. Photo by Anand Philar

    Chennai, 5 July 2019: Madras Motor Race Track  saw another historic day in the Indian Motorsport as FIM Moto3-spec bikes made their debut in India. The second round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2019 was off to a roaring start at the MMRT here on Friday with the FIM Moto3-spec Honda NSF 250R bikes, participating in the Idemitsu Honda Talent Cup, raising the standard bar in a stunning fashion during the qualifying sessions.

    The top-five qualifiers in the NSF 250R were quicker than TVS Racing’s Deepak Ravikumar who took the pole position in the premium Pro-Stock 301-400cc class, with a best lap of one minute, 54.298secs. As against this, Chennai lad Md Mikail, only 14 years old, topped the NSF 250R qualifying clocking 01:48.889, with fifth placed Kavin Samaar Quintal posting a best of 01:53.111.

    Also grabbing pole positions in their respective categories were Mathan Kumar of Erula Racing in the Pro-Stock 201-300cc (01:59.786), Bengaluru’s Samuel Martin (02:11.964) in the Idemitsu Honda Talent Cup CBR 150 and Venkatesan from Chennai (02:10.859) in the TVS RTR 200 (Novice). Venkatesan (02:09.660) also took pole position in the Novice (Stock 165cc) class while Ann Jennifer of Sparks Racing topped in the Girls (02:12.289) category.

    Undoubtedly, the Honda NSF 250R bikes came under considerable scrutiny in their debut outing in India, and they exceeded expectations with all their eight riders, in the age-group of 12 to 18 years, putting in impressive performances.

    Not the least was Sarthak Shrikant Chavan, the 12-year old schoolboy from Pune who qualified eighth in the NSF 250R class, with a flying lap of 02:01.753. It was his maiden outing in track racing after having won a junior motocross event recently.

    While the timings from Free Practice dropped noticeably in the qualifying sessions, Mikail, who raced in Thailand recently along with Karthik Vasant Habib from Gadag, Karnataka, improved by nearly three seconds to take the pole position. Habib qualified second in 01:51.091, ahead of Chennai boys Varoon Sadasivam (01:52.435) and Geoffrey Emmanuel (01:52.801).

  • Honda to debut Moto3-spec NSF 250R in the MRF MMSC fmsci Bike Nationals

    Honda to debut Moto3-spec NSF 250R in the MRF MMSC fmsci Bike Nationals

    Action in the Bike Nationals at MMRT. File photo by Anand Philar

    Chennai, 4 July 2019: Expectations and excitement are on a high as the second round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2019 commence here at the MMRT on Friday with focus on one of country’s leading two-wheeler manufacturer Honda, who are set to introduce the FIM Moto3-spec NSF 250R.

    While the NSF 250R besides the CBR 150, which is part of the Idemitsu Honda Talent Cup, a one-make championship organised by the Madras Motor Sports Club is bound to create a buzz, the attention will be as much on the National Championship races, including the two premium Pro-Stock categories, the 301-400cc and the 165cc. Also in the mix are the two Novice classes, Girls and Stock 165cc, that have been as competitive as the other categories.

    Completing the card this weekend will be TVS Racing’s One-Make Championship in two categories, the Open (TVS Apache RTR 310), and Novice and Girls (TVS Apache RTR 200). Races in all these categories witnessed extremely close competition in the first round at Coimbatore last month and likely to be no different this weekend.

    As in the first round at Coimbatore last month, the number of entries has exceeded 150 with some 15 teams, a record for the National Championship in itself, supporting the riders. Both the Pro-Stock categories will be run on slick tyres provided by the title sponsors MRF Tyres.

    In a bid to fast-track their programme to identify and nurture talent that could break into the international arena, Honda have put an age-cap of 19 for the CBR 150 category while the NSF 250R bikes would be ridden by hand-picked riders who have undergone extensive training.

    TVS have also been on pace in their talent quest, especially in the Girls category where the riders, following a pan-India selection process, have been shortlisted from 33 entrants to 16 who make up the race grid.

    The weekend card has a total of 16 races spread over Saturday and Sunday with qualifying sessions scheduled for Friday.

  • Talented Dean Mascarenhas stops a marauding Gaurav Gill to win INRC opener

    Talented Dean Mascarenhas stops a marauding Gaurav Gill to win INRC opener

    Team Champions’ Dean Mascarenhas(L) & Shrupta Padival(R) after winning the South India Rally at MMRT on Sunday. A Team Champions image

    Irungattukottai (Sriperumbudur), 30 June 2019: Team Champions’ Dean Mascarenhas survived a late but spirited onslaught from three-time APRC winner and WRC2 driver Gaurav Gill to win the opening round of the Champions Yacht Club – FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship here on a nail-biting Sunday.

    Going into the third and final leg with a 10-second overall lead and a handy 1.41 minutes over Gill, Mascarenhas (Shruptha Padival) would have hoped for a pressure-free day in the office. But an errant car and a possessed Gill saw his lead being steadily wiped out from both ends, raising the specter of a sensational last-minute upset.

    However, Team Mahindra’s Gill (Musa Sherif) who finished second in the day’s first stage and won all remaining four, suffered a massive blow in the penultimate stage. Just as he was racing like the wind, a herd of cows came in his path, costing him anything between 7 to 10 seconds.

    Dean gets an affectionate hug from his mother after winning the INRC opening round at MMRT on Sunday. Photo by Anand Philar

    He was awarded 10 seconds by the Stewards for the unfortunate delay, catapulting him to the third position in the overall category. It was sufficient to win him the INRC category too but not good enough to dislodge Mascarenhas or Fabid Ahmer.

    Rahul Kanthraj (Vivek Bhatt), however, was edged out of the podium in the overall category by a mere one second.

     

    “We worked very hard to make up for the lackluster first two days,” Gill said. “We changed the tyres and the setup at every opportunity and it paid dividends until bad luck hit us,” he added.

    Gill’s JK Tyre partner Mascarenhas was, however, delighted with his breakthrough victory. “My car had lost one of the four cylinders on Saturday itself and it kept stalling, adding to the pressure. I, however, held my nerves and came through, making this one of my sweetest wins,” he said.

    The South India Rally, Round One of the INRC powered by MRF, turned out to be a thrill-a-minute blockbuster, with the 19-strong Team Champions stunning all and winning almost all the categories.

    Dean and Fabid Ahmer (Sanath G) made it a sensational 1-2 for the Shubhakar Rao-owned team, with Dean also taking the INRC 2 and Fabid the INRC 3. Vaibhav Marate (Arjun SSB) annexed the INRC 4.

    RESULTS

    INRC Overall

    1) Dean Mascarenhas & Shruptha Padival – 1:45.10.800 hr; 2) Fabid Ahmer & Sanath G – 1:45:24.400 hr; 3) Gaurav Gill & Musa Sherif – 1:45:27.800 hr

    INRC
    1) Gaurav Gill & Musa Sherif – 1:45:27.800 hr; 2) Phalguna URS & Srikanth Gowda – 1:48:04.500 hr

    INRC 2
    1) Dean Mascarenhas & Shruptha Padival – 1:45.10.800 hr; 2) Rahul Kanthraj & Vivek Bhatt – 1:45:28.600 hr; 3) Ritesh Guttedar.M & Lokaranjan H.J – 1:53:13.300 hr

     INRC 3
    1) Fabid Ahmer & Sanath G – 1:45:24.400 hr;  2) Arjun Rao & Shanmuga Sundaram – 1:46:40.200 hr; 3)  Daraius Shroff & Sheeraz Ahmed – 1:47:40.700 hr

    INRC 4
    1) Vaibhav Marate & Arjun SSB – 1:53:02.100 hr; 2) Rakshith Iyer & Chandrashekar – 1:54:30.700 hr; 3) Shirole Prakhyat. H & Bharath S.M – 1:59:19.700 hr

  • Younus Ilyas-Harish Gowda win Sprint de Bengaluru

    Chikkaballapura (near Bengaluru), 24 March 2019: Kerala’s Younus Ilyas survived a late attack from Bengaluru’s Dean Mascarenhas to win the INRC overall and INRC 2 categories in the Sprint de Bengaluru 2019, the non-championship event, a prelude to the FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) on Sunday.

    The two-day stage rally on dirt track was organised by Karnataka Motor Sports Club (KMSC) under the aegis of the new promoters of INRC, Champions Yacht Club.

    The Race Concepts driver, along with his navigator Harish Gowda, seemed to be in control after storming into a comfortable ten-second lead in the night stage on Saturday.

    But Mascarenhas, driving in the INRC 3 category, showed a glimpse of his speed and prowess on Sunday. Despite driving his stock car, he began day two with a bang, finishing just two seconds off Ilyas’ Cedia. He was equally brilliant in the next stage, clocking 4:58.30 which was just one second behind Ilyas.

    The two stages, at LG Tranquil, tested the drivers and cars thoroughly, with tarmac, gravel, loose soil, sharp climbs and steep falls marking the route.

    Mascarenhas then came into his own, winning the next two stages at the LG Champions County track handsomely. With only long straights and sharp curves and turns to conquer, he went all out and gained 9 and 8 seconds each to make up for his 10-second shortfall in the opening stage.

    Sadly for him, he was penalised six minutes for getting to the starting point on Saturday night late which proved to be too big a deficit to overcome. He slipped all the way to the bottom of the table.

    “It was just bad luck,” Mascarenhas said. “My car didn’t start so I got delayed. I am, however, very happy with the way I drove and I am looking forward to a good season,” he added.

    Ilyas expressed happiness at his performance and praised the stages. “It was a great outing, and I loved being out here. The stages were interesting and challenging at times. But I am really glad to have come out on top,” he said.

    Dhruva Chandrashekar, with his navigator Musa Sherif, quietly made his way up to take the second place in the INRC overall category. The duo clinched the INRC 3 category in the process.

    Provisional Unaudited Final Classification: INRC Overall: 1. Younus Ilyas / Harish KN; 2. Dhruva Chandrashekar / Musa Sherif; 3. Sanjay Agarwal / Smitha N

    INRC 1: Suhem Kabeer / J. Jeevarathinam; 2. Lokesh Gowda / D Uday Kumar

    INRC 2: 1. Younus Ilyas / Harish KN; 2. Ritesh Guttedar / Lokaranjan; 3. Lanusanen Pongener / Vinay Kmar PM

    INRC 3: 1. Dhruva Chandrashekar / Musa Sherif; 2. Chetan Shivram / Dilip Sharan; 3. Aroor Vikram Rao / Somayya AG

    FMSCI CUP / 4WD: 1. Sanjay Agarwal / Smitha N; 2. Avin Nanjappa / Darshan Nachappa; 3. Nikhil J / Arjun Dheerendra

    FMSCI CUP / 2WD: 1. Vaibhav Marathe / Arjun SSB; 2. Avinash DC / Kenith Harsha; 3. Adith KC / Venu Ramesh Kumar

    Ladies Class: 1. Shivani Pruthvi / Deepti Pruthvi; 2. Harshita Gowda / Vidya M

  • Younus Ilyas-Harish Gowda pair takes early lead in Sprint de Bengaluru; Dean-Kabir lead INRC3

    Younus Ilyas-Harish Gowda pair takes early lead in Sprint de Bengaluru; Dean-Kabir lead INRC3

    IGP Revanna flagging off a car at the ceremonial start of Sprint de Bengalore near Chikkaballapur on Saturday as Champions group Director Hemamalini looks on. An INDIAinF1 image

    Bengaluru, 23 March 2019: Kerala’s Younus Ilyas stormed into the early lead after the first stage of the Sprint de Bengaluru 2019, the curtain-raiser to the highly anticipated FMSC Indian National Rally Championship here on Saturday night.

     Aided by his navigator Harish Gowda from Bengaluru, Ilyas attacked the sharp turns and curves during the night stage with confidence and verve. He needed just 06:47.30 minutes to complete the 5.5 kilometres to the delight of a packed audience.

    Suhem Kabeer (and J Jeevarathnam) eased into the second position in the INRC 1 category, finishing just 10 seconds behind the leaders. They were quick in their Polo but missed out on a couple of turns that hurt them.

    The third place was taken by another INRC 1 entry, Lokesh Gowda (Uday Kumar) who took 7:03.10 minutes to complete their run.

    Younus and Harish naturally grabbed the lead in their own category too, the INRC 2 for a brilliant start to the season for the Race Concepts Motorsports Team.

    Ritesh Guttedar (Lokaranjan) took the second place while Lanusanen Pongener (Vinay Kumar) took the third place.

    Dean Mascarehnas, (Suhem Kabir) who finished a creditable fourth despite driving in his stock car, led his category, the INRC 3.

    The second stage will take place later in the night, followed by four day stages on Sunday.

    Models pose with the first car before the start of the Ceremonial Start at LG Champions Green County near Chikkaballapur on Saturday. An INDIAinF1 image

    Earlier in the evening, the event began with a bang, with all the 25 cars lining up for the ceremonial start. The state IGP K Revanna, Chairman of Champions Yacht Club Subhakar Rao and its Director Ms Hemamalini N flagged off the cars, cheered on by thousands of enthusiastic spectators.

    This was immediately followed by the shakedown, with the drivers giving the guests a taste of their skills and the route in their cars.

    Provisional Unaudited Results after Special Stage 1:

    INRC: 1 (INRC 2) Younus Ilyas | Harish K N (00:06:47.300); 2. (INRC 1) Suhem Kabeer | J. Jeevarathinam (00:06:57.600); 3. (INRC 1) Lokesh Gowda | D Uday Kumar (00:07:03.100)

    INRC 2: 1    Younus Ilyas; 2. Ritesh Guttedar; 3. Lanusanen Pongener

    INRC 3: 1    Dean Mascarenhas; 2. 2    Dhruva Chandrashekar; 3. 3    Chetan Shivram

  • Raghul rangasamy crowned `Upcoming Motorsports Person of the Year’: FMSCI awards

    Raghul rangasamy crowned `Upcoming Motorsports Person of the Year’: FMSCI awards

    Gautam Singhania (CMD Raymond Group), Raghul Rangasamy winner of the FMSCI Upcoming Motorsports Person of the Year Award, Jean Todt (president FIA), J. Prithiviraj President of FMSCI on Monday. An FMSCI image

    Mumbai, 25 Feb 2019: India’s top performers in the world of motorsports were felicitated during the 2018 FMSCI Annual Awards function here on Monday, with Chennai’s Raghul Rangasamy winning the coveted ‘Upcoming Motorsports Person Of The Year Award.

    The awards function once held at a make-shift venue under tents some years back, under the guidance of the late Bharat Raj now travels every year to five-star hotels, with pomp and show. Lakhs and lakhs of rupees, which ideally need to be spent on the sportspersons, riders and drivers, end up in corporate kitties. Many more lakhs are being paid as income tax to the government every year for lack of any innovative programmes by the FMSCI which can reduce such taxes in productive expenditure for the promotion of sport.

    Rangasamy, the 25-year-old racer had a spectacular year, completing a fine double by claiming the LGB Formula 4 title in the JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship and the FF 1600 category in the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Racing Championship to pocket the prestigious Raymond Gautam Singhania Trophy.

    The chief guest at the glittering function, the President of FIA (Le Federation Internationale de l’Automobile), Jean Todt, gave away the top prize as also a number of other important trophies in the presence of a galaxy of stars.

    Todt, famously known as the force behind Ferrari’s spectacular rise in Formula 1, expressed his delight at the way Indian motorsport has progressed and believed that the country was on its way to bigger things on the world stage. But sadly, the fact is that the Formula One continues to elude the country and there is no positive sign that it would return to India in the near future. The Indian Government and the Indian Olympic Association lay down rules where the sport needs to be democratically governed and represented by all States in its governing body to get the nod for recognition.

    The annual function, held under the stewardship of new FMSCI president J Prithiviraj, saw as many as 61 winners receiving the trophies. The former president of FMSCI (1981-82 & 1985-87), GR Karthikeyan, was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his valuable contribution to Indian motorsport.

    Basking in the progress made in the year gone by, and appreciating the efforts of all the stakeholders, promoters, sponsors and winners, Prithiviraj revealed that much more was in store.

    “We are entering the golden period of Indian motorsports. We have events in virtually all the disciplines possible and our boys and girls are competing and winning at the world level, like never before,” he said. “We are going to introduce many other exciting verticals very soon,” he added.

    The FMSCI handed out Special Awards to all those made the country proud at the international level too while making a special mention of multiple winner Gaurav Gill, for taking part in the World Rally Championship.

    Among others, Armaan Ebrahim (podium finish at the Lamborghini Trofeo series), Anindith Reddy Konda (podium at Lamborghini Trofeo Series), Amiitrajit Ghosh and Ashwin Naik (winners at ERC 2 Acropolis Rally) and Malswandawngliana (2nd in Asia Cup of Road Racing India round) received these awards.

    Leading female drivers of the country, including Mira Erda, Sneha Sharma and Shriya Lohia, were also bestowed with the  ‘Outstanding Women in Motorsport’ trophies.

    The FMSCI meanwhile underlined its new philosophy, ‘equal investment in competitor & training officials’, to take the sport to the next level.

     

    Lifetime achievement award: G R Karthikeyan; Upcoming Motorsport person of the year: Raghul Rangasamy

    JK Tyres FMSCI National Racing Championship

    Euro JK 18: Karthik Tharani; LGB Formula 4: Raghul Rangasamy; Champion Team (LGB Formula 4): Msport; Rookie Driver (LGB Formula 4): Sohil Shah

    MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Racing Championship

    MRF FF 1600: Raghul Rangasamy; FLGB 1300: Sohil Shah; Champion Team (FLGB 1300): Msport; Super Stock K Srinivas Teja; Champion Team (Super Stock ):Performance Racing; Indian Junior Touring Cars: AS Prabhu; Champion Team( Indian Junior Touring Cars):  Arka Motorsports; Indian Touring Cars: Ashish Ramaswamy; Champion Team (Indian Touring Cars): Arka Motorsports

    FMSCI Indian National Autocross Championship

    Driver Stock (2-wheel drive upto 1400 cc ):Sahil Khanna; Driver Stock( 2-wheel drive Over 1400 cc upto 1650 cc): Samrat Yadav; Driver Stock (2-wheel drive Over 1650 cc) Arjun Rao; Driver Open (2-wheel drive upto 1400 cc): Abhishek Mishra; Driver Open (2-wheel drive, over 1400 cc upto 1650 cc): Dean Mascarenhas;  Driver Open (2-wheel drive Over 1650 cc): Arjun Rao; Driver (Open, Unrestricted): Abhishek Mishra; Driver (Ladies):  Bani Yadav

    MMSC FMSCI Indian National Drag Racing Championship

    Driver Indian (Open Stock Body): Vivek Ramachander; Driver Indian (Open Altered Body): Jayant V; Driver Indian (Touring Cars): Kasha Sai; Driver (Unrestricted Class): Vivek Ramachander

    MRF FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship   

    Driver Overall INRC:  Gaurav Gill; Co-Driver Overall INRC: Musa Sherif; Team Overall: INRC Mahindra Adventure; Driver (INRC 1):  Gaurav Gill; Co-Driver (INRC 1): Musa Sherif; Team (INRC 1): Mahindra Adventure; Driver( INRC 2 ):Karna Kadur; Co-Driver( INRC 2 ): Nikhil V Pai; Team (INRC 2): Arka Motorsports; Driver (INRC 3): Aroor Vikram Rao; Co-Driver (INRC 3): Somayya A.G; (Team INRC 3):  Falkon Motorsports

    Meco Motor Sports FMSCI National Rotax Max Karting Championship

    Micro Max: Ishaan Madesh; Team (Micro Max ): Peregrine Racing; Junior Max Shahan Ali Mohsin; Team (Junior Max) Msport; Senior Max: Debarun Banerjee; Team (Senior Max): MSport

    MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship     

    Rider (Pro Stock 301-400 cc): Satyanarayana Raju; Team (Pro Stock 301-400 cc): Gusto Racing India; Manufacturer: (Pro Stock 301-400 cc KTM); Rider (Super Sport Indian upto 165 cc): Jagan Kumar; Team (Super Sport Indian upto 165 cc): TVS Racing; Manufacturer (Super Sport Indian upto 165 cc): TVS; Rider (Pro Stock upto 165 cc): Anish D Shetty; Team( Pro Stock upto 165 cc):  Honda Ten10 Racing; Manufacturer  (Pro Stock upto 165 cc): Honda; Rider (Stock upto 165 cc Girls): Ann Jenifer; Team (Stock upto 165 cc Girls ): Sparks Racing; Manufacturer (Stock upto 165 cc Girls): Yamaha; Rider (Stock upto 165 cc): Karthik Mateti; Team (Stock upto 165 cc): Sparks Racing; Manufacturer (Stock upto 165 cc): Yamaha

    MMSC FMSCI Indian National Drag Racing Championship                                               

    Rider (2 Stroke upto 130 cc):  Hussain Khan; Rider (2 Stroke 131 to 165cc): Hussain Khan; Rider (4 Stroke upto 165 cc): Aravind Ganesh; Rider (4 Stroke 166 to 225 cc): Harshil Thakur; Rider (4 Stroke 226 to 360 cc): Shankar Guru;  Rider(4 Stroke 361 to 550 cc): R Ashwin Kumar; Rider( 4 Stroke 851 to 1050 cc): Hemant Mudappa; Rider( 4 Stroke 1051 & above): Hemant Mudappa; Rider (4 Stroke Unrestricted): Hemant Mudappa; Team:  Mantra Racing

    MRF MOGRIP FMSCI National Supercross Championship

    Rider (Group A SX1 2 Stroke 250 cc & 4 Stroke 500 cc): Harith Noah; Rider (Group C 2/4 Stroke: 260 cc Novice) Imran Pasha; Rider( Group C  2/4 Stroke:260 cc Indian Expert):  Imran Pasha; Rider( Group C 2/4 Stroke 260 cc Expert): Jagdeesh Kumar; Rider (Group A SX2 2 Stroke 250 cc & 4 Stroke 500 cc): Saijith ES; Rider( Junior SX 1 2/4 Stroke 250 cc): Yuvraj Kondedeshmukh;  Rider  (Junior SX 2 2/4 Stroke 250 cc )Sarthak Chavan

    MRF MOGRIP FMSCI National Rally Championship

    Overall R Nataraj; Rider (Super Bike Pro Expert Group A Rider): R Nataraj;  Rider (Super Bike Expert Group A Rider): Jatin Jain; Rider (Super Sport 130 cc Group B Rider):  Rakesh Kumar V; Rider (Super Sport 165 cc Group B Rider ): Imran Pasha J; Rider (Super Sport 260 cc Group B Rider) Rajendra R.E.; Rider (Super Sport 400 cc Group B Rider ): Venu Ramesh Kumar; Rider( Super Sport 550 cc Group B Rider): Vinit Sharma; (Rider Scooters Group B Rider): Pinkesh Thakkar; Rider( Ladies Class): Aishwarya P.M.

    Outstanding Achievement In World Motorsport

    Abhilash PG: Winner APRC  2 Cup for Drivers;  Abdul Wahid: 2nd Overall in category of Rally of Morocco  , a FIM Cross Country World Championship Event; Armaan Ebrahim: Podium in Lamborgini Super Trofeo Asia; Anindith Reddy K: Podium in Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia; Amittrajit Ghosh:Podium ERC Acropolis Rally ERC 2 Driver; Ashwin Naik: Podium ERC Acropolis Rally ERC 2 Co-Driver; Jehan Daruvala: Several Podiums in FIA Euro F3 Championship; Karthik Matei: 2nd in Asia Cup of Road Racing (Indonesia Round); Musa Sherif: Winner APRC 2 Cup for Co-Drivers; Malsawndawngliana: 2nd in Asia Cup of Road Racing India Round.

    Outstanding Women in Motorsports 

    Mira Erda; Sneha Sharma; Shriya Lohia