INDIA in F1

Tag: Indian National Rally Championship

  • Kelam coconut stage makes it tough for the drivers: A photo gallery

    Kelam coconut stage makes it tough for the drivers: A photo gallery

    As the Indian National Rally Championship enters its 37th year, the South India Rally provides the season opening thrills by adding another car-breaking stage Kelam, that provided colour to the images with coconut trees everywhere. The bright and beautuful gypsies had their day while many took it easy in the new stage that promises to be better next year.

    Here are some images from our celebrated motorsports photographers:

    Srinivasa Krishnan Insta: @srinivasakrishnan

    Adithya Thakur
    Anushriya Gulati. Photo by Srinivasa Krishnan
    Young turk Arjun Rajiv. Photo by Srinivasa Krishnan
    Defending champion Aroor Arjun Rao, who crashed out on Sunday. Photo by Srinivasa Krishnan
    Veteran evergreen driver Sanjay Agarwal thrills the sparce crowd with a brilliant jump. Photo by Srinivasa Krishnan

    Photos by Samuel Rajkumar, www.AceImages.in

    Pre-event favourite Karna Kadur and Musa Sherif packed off on Day 2 due to gear box issues. Photo by Samuel Rajkumar
    Maninder Singh Prince, had his moments before lady luck deserted him. Photo by Samuel Rajkumar
    Dean Mascarenhas, who led the field after Day 1 displaying some stunning speed was hit with mechanical issues on Day 2. Photo by Samuel Rajkumar
    The Monster! The car built by APRC legend Possum Bourne and driven by World champion in Production cars Karamjit Singh of Malaysia, who is currently mentoring Pragathi Gowda and Trisha Alonkar in their Subaru Impreza #23 at MIC on Friday. Photo by Samuel Rajkumar

    Photos by Karan Ravi, the young motorsports photographer:

    Arnav Pratap Singh and Rohit flying in the track stage on Saturday. Photo by Karan Ravi
    Arjun Rajiv, the youngest driver in the INRC kicks up dust at the MIC track stage. Photo by Karan Ravi
    Asia Pacific Rally Championship Asia Cup leg comes to India again. Photo by Karan Ravi
    Blueband Sports, the Promoters’ branding at the Track stage
    Starting point for the Track stage. Photo by Karan Ravi
    Aroor Vikram Rao. Photo by Karan Ravi
    Harkrishan Wadia, who won back to back rallies towards the end of 2023 is going great guns. Photo by Karan Ravi
    Clean and calm driving from the Polo Cup racing champ from Hyderabad. He could not resist jumping into the rally car after he drove the Zero car faster than the rest, at the sanghi stages last year… He is now gunning for a podium in his class INRC3. Photo by Karan Ravi
    Refuelling station all set for action on Day 2. Photo by Karan Ravi
    Baljinder Singh Dhillon and Goutham CP, the Delhi-Chikkamagaluru combo in a gypsy running for a podium finish. Photo by Karan Ravi
    With JK Tyre pulling out of full-time sponsorship of Rally cars, Maninder Singh Prince remains the lone warrior flying the yellow colours. Photo by Karan Ravi
  • Triumphant Harkrishan, Kunal clinch iconic K1000 Rally for second Overall win

    Triumphant Harkrishan, Kunal clinch iconic K1000 Rally for second Overall win

    Tumakuru, 23 Dec. 2023: Delhi’s Harkrishan Wadia and co-driver Kunal Kashyap turned their overnight lead into a memorable victory at the iconic Blueband K1000 Rally, and won the 2023 INRC2 title bagging full 40 points in the sixth and final round of the Blueband Sports fmsci Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) for four-wheelers, which concluded near Gubbi, here on Saturday.

    The Mangaluru-Bengaluru pair of Aroor Arjun Rao and co-driver Satish Rajagopal has already won the Blueband Indian National Rally Championship 2023 Overall title winning the first three rounds and took a 45-point unbeatable lead going into K1000. Wadia and Kashyap of Himachal, after their maiden win at the Blueband Robusta Rally of Kodagu last month, took their second straight Overall victory at K1000 to comfortably clinch the title in their class, the INRC2. “I am delighted with the back-to-back wins and the title is a bonus. I am grateful to my father and I thank all my team, especially Leela sir, Karna, Phil and all the boys. But for them, this would not have been possible,” said the 25-year Harkrishan, the 2020 Junior INRC champ and son of former rally star Anil Wadia.

    Harkrishan Wadia, left, and Kunal Kashyap, winners of the Blueband 47th K1000 Rally at Tumakuru on Saturday. An INDIAinF1 image

    Mangaluru’s Dean Mascarenhas along with co-driver Gagan Karumbaiah, who were lying in Overall third overnight, finished Overall second ahead of the Snap Racing pair, Younus Ilyas (co-driver Nitin Jacob). Behind Arka Motorsports’ Wadia (co-driver Kashyap), who was driving an INRC2 spec Volkswagen Polo 1.6, it was 2019 champion Chetan Shivram and co-driver E Shivprakash, who took the second place in the INRC2 class. Ritesh Guttedar and Chetan M finished third.

    In the INRC3 class, Jason Saldanha and co-driver Thimmanna Uddapanda, fresh from their exploits in this year’s Malaysian Rally Championship, emerged as winners of K1000 in this class. Jahaan Singh Gill and co-driver Suraj Keshav Prasad finished second, which was enough for them to clinch the INRC3 2023 championship. Daraius Shroff and Shahid Salman, who were in title contention till Hyderabad, lost the plot in the last two rounds. They finished third in their class today.

    Jahaan Singh, who won the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) Junior title last month in Indonesia, also won the Junior INRC title.

    Ammyfied Rallying pair Abhin Rai and co-driver Rohit Gowda won the K1000 on way to their maiden INRC4 title. Kothamangalam privateers Athul Thomas and Sajil V Saji came second and Praveen Dwarakanath and co-driver Kariyappa KB finished third.

    In the Gypsy class, Ammyfied Rallying made a clean sweep of the podium led by Samrat Yadav and Arvind Dheerendra. Darshan Nachappa and co-driver Abhinav Ganapathy were second and that was enough for them to clinch the 2023 FMSCI Gypsy Cup. Dr Akarsh Sunder and V Sekar, who finished third amassed more points but lost on “N minus one’ rule, where drivers can discard one round.

    Anushriya Gulati, who won the K1000 Rally, also clinched the Ladies Class championship for 2023.

    Of the 59 entries, only 30 cars finished. Six cars on Day 1 and 21 cars on Day 2 did not finish.

    Final Provisional Results:

    Overall: 1. Harkrishan Wadia/ Kunal Kashyap (Arka Motorsports) (01hr, 26min, 53.5seconds); 2. Dean Mascarenhas/ Gagan Karumbaiah (Pvt.) (01:27:57:2); 3. Younus Ilyas/ Nitin Jacob (Snap Racing) (01:28:06.1);

    INRC2: 1. Harkrishan Wadia/ Kunal Kashyap (Arka Motorsports) (01:26:53.5); 2. Chetan Shivram/ E Shivaprakash (Jo1 Rallying) (01:30:34.4); 3. Ritesh Guttedar M/ Suraj M (Pvt.) (01:32:27.5);

    INRC3: 1. Jason Saldanha/ Thimmanna Uddapanda (Dark Don Racing) (01:29:39.0); 2. Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad (Snap Racing) (01:29:49.6); 3. Daraius Shroff/ Shahid Salman (Chettinad Sporting) (01:30:02.0);

    INRC4: 1. Abhin Rai/ Rohit Gowda (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:36:25.2); 2. Athul Thomas /Sajil V Saji (Pvt.) (01:47:34.0); 3. Praveen Dwarakanath / Kariyappa KB (Pvt.) (01:51:05.2):

    Gypsy: 1. Samrat Yadav/ Arvind Dheerendra (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:40:02.9); 2. Darshan Nachappa/ Abhinav Ganapathy (Ammyfied) (01:43:29.6); 3. Dr Akarsh Sunder/ V Seker (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:44:03.3);

    Junior INRC: 1. Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad (Snap Racing) (01:29:49.6); 2. Arjun Rajiv/ Milen George (Ammyfied) (01:33:14.2); 3. Abhin Rai/ Rohit Gowda (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:34:45.2);

    Ladies Class: 1. Anushriya Gulati/ Sherwin Dalmeida (Dark Don Racing) (01:51:35.1);

    INRC Champions for 2023:

    Overall 2023 Rally champion: Aroor Arjun Rao/ Satish Rajagopal;

    INRC2: Harkrishan Wadia/ Kunal Kashyap (Arka Motorsports);

    INRC3: Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad (Snap Racing);

    INRC4: Abin Rai/ Rohit Gowda;

    Ladies Class: Anushriya Gulati;

    Junior INRC: Jahaan Singh Gill;

    Gypsy Cup: Darshan Nachappa/ Abhinav Ganapathy;

  • Harkrishan, Kunal duo leads Day 1 again at the iconic K1000 Rally: INRC

    Harkrishan, Kunal duo leads Day 1 again at the iconic K1000 Rally: INRC

    Tumakuru, 22 Dec. 2023: Delhi daredevil and Arjuna Awardee Gaurav Gill, began with a bang and clocked the fastest stage times in the first two special stages but it was his compatriot young gun Harkrishan Wadia, also from Delhi, who stole the limelight beating the best in the next two stages to emerge as the Overall leader at the end of Day 1 in the iconic Blueband K1000 Rally, the sixth and final round of the Blueband Sports fmsci Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) for four-wheelers, near Gubbi, on Friday. In the previous Kodagu Rally also, the duo took the lead on Day 1 and went on to win the Overall title the next day.

    The popular Blueband K1000 Rally, organised by Karnataka Motor Sports Club (KMSC), is the oldest running rally in India and threw more surprises as Wadia, along with Kunal Kashyap of Himachal Pradesh, fresh from their maiden Overall victory at the Kodagu Rally, dominated the proceedings with a late charge and the multiple-champion Gill, who won K1000 many times is trailing in the fifth position, about 84 seconds behind the leaders. Championship leaders Aroor Arjun Rao and Satish Rajagopal, continued to suffer hiccups, but the duo have already clinched their maiden INRC title, with a round to spare.

    Arka Motorsports’ Harkrishan Wadia (co-driver Kashyap), driving an INRC2 spec Volkswagen Polo 1.6 did a commendable job to finish the Leg 1 on top on Day 1 but they need to sustain the tempo for a flourish on the last day of the season tomorrow. The duo also topped their INRC2 class. Younus Ilyas and co-driver Nitin Jacob emerged Day 1 in second followed by Mangaluru’s speed merchant Dean Mascarenhas and Gagan Karumbaiah in third.

    In INRC2, former champions Philippos Matthai and co-driver PVS Murthy are following Wadia in second and 2019 champion Chetan Shivram is in third along with his navigator E Shivaprakash.

    Shivani Parmar (co-ddriver Arjun Dheerendra) leads the Ladies Class after Day 1 at the K1000 Rally near Gubbi on Friday. Due to Christmas, the K1000 Rally finishes on Saturday, instead of the traditional Sunday.

    In the INRC3 class, Jason Saldanha and co-driver Thimmanna Uddapanda, who did well in this year’s Malaysian Rally Championship, emerged as leaders with a late kick pushing behind Shashank Jamwal and Aseem Sharma to second. Talented Jahaan Singh Gill of Chandigarh along with Bengaluru co-driver Suraj Keshav Prasad of Snap Racing, who already clinched the Junior INRC title for 2023, is in third place. They are table leaders before going into K1000.

     “I have a comfortable margin of over 40 seconds, but I am not going to relax. We will carry the tempo and go for it on the final day of the season. It felt good in the last two stages and I want to keep up the momentum,” said the day’s leader, Harkishan Wadia, who came into prominence in the Asia Pacific Rally Star event at Chennai last year.

    Abhin Rai is leading INRC4 class along with co-driver Rohit Gowda, and the Ammyfied Rallying team is looking for a strong finish tomorrow. In the Gypsy Class, another Ammyfied team of Samrat Yadav and Arvind Dheerendra are in P1 looking to sustain the good run on Saturday.

    Provisional Results after Day 1:

    Overall: 1. Harkrishan Wadia/ Kunal Kashyap (Arka Motorsports) (00hrs, 58min, 26.2seconds); 2. Younus Ilyas/ Nitin Jacob (Pvt.) (00:59:11.7); 3. Dean Mascarenhas/ Gagan Karumbaiah (Pvt.) (00:59:14:4);

    INRC2: 1. Harkrishan Wadia/ Kunal Kashyap (Arka Motorsports) (00:58:26.2); 2. Philippos Matthai/ PV Srinivasa Murthy (Arka Motorsports) (00:59:27.2): 3. Chetan Shivram/ E Shivaprakash (Jo1 Rallying) (01:00:44.0);

    INRC3: 1. Jason Saldanha/ Thimmanna Uddapanda (Dark Don Racing) (01:00:09.7); 2. Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad (Snap Racing) (01:00:31.1); 3. Daraius Shroff/ Shahid Salman (Chettinad Sporting) (01:00:38.0).

    INRC4: 1. Abhin Rai/ Rohit Gowda (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:03:27.9); 2. Athul Thomas /Sajil V Saji (Pvt.) (01:10:39.5); 3. Praveen Dwarakanath / Kariyappa KB (Pvt.) (01:12:48.3):

    Gypsy: 1. Samrat Yadav/ Arvind Dheerendra (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:04;58.5); 2. Darshan Nachappa/ Abhinav Ganapathy (Ammyfied) (01:09:11.6); 3. Dr Akarsh Sunder/ V Seker (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:09:24.8);

    Ladies Class: 1. Shivani Parmar/ Arjun Dheerendra (Chettinadu Sporting) (01:03:43.0); 2. Nikeetaa Takkale/ Raghuram Saminathan (Snap Racing) (01:03:55.8); 3. Anushriya Gulati/ Sherwin Dalmeida (Dark Don Racing) (01:04:25.0).

    Junior INRC: 1. Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad (Snap Racing) (01:00:31.1); 2. Abhin Rai/ Rohit Gowda (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:03:27.9); 3. Arjun Rajiv/ Milen George (Ammyfied) (01:03:41.5).

  • KJ Jacob and Shanmuga triumph at Rally of Hyderabad; Big guns topple

    KJ Jacob and Shanmuga triumph at Rally of Hyderabad; Big guns topple

    Hyderabad, 29 October 2023: KJ Jacob and co-driver Shanmuga SN bagged their maiden big victory as they became the Overall winners of the Rally of Hyderabad, the fourth round of the Blueband Sports fmsci Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) 2023 at Sanghi Nagar, near Ramoji Film City, here on Sunday.

    Thrissur’s KJ Jacob, who made his debut in the INRC in 2015 at K1000 rally in Bengaluru, took his first Overall victory. Ably assisted by co-driver Shanmuga of Bengaluru, the duo driving an INRC2 spec Volkswagen Polo 1.6 punched above their weight. Hyderabad’s tough terrain and, the longest special stage among the current rally venues in, India, proved daunting as the top-three in both the INRC1 and INRC2 and many overnight leaders, fell by the way side in the final stage. Of the eight premier class cars, driven by top guns in the country, only Younus Ilyas finished the punishing course.

    Vishakh Balachandran and Anil Abbas and young turk Arjun Rajiv and Rohit Gowda, both driving the lower INRC3 spec Polo 1.6 cars finished Overall second and third. Jacob and Shanmugha also won the INRC2 class while Vishakh and Anil took the INRC3 victory.

    Vivek Ruthuparna and co-driver Athreya Kousgi won the INRC4 while talented Pragathi Gowda and Trisha Alonkar bagged the Ladies class. Baljinder Singh Dhillon and Goutham CP won the Gypsy class.

    Revised Provisional Results: Overall: 1. Jacob KJ, Thrissur /Shanmugh, Bengaluru, Team Arka Motorsports (1hour, 54minutes, 29.2seconds); 2. Vishakh Balachandran/ Anil Abbas (1:55:18.0); 3. Arjun Rajiv/ Rohit Gowda (1:55:28.7);

    INRC2: 1.Jacob KJ/ Shanmugha SN, (1:54:29.2); 2. Ritesh Guttedar / Suraj M (1:57:01.2); 3. Chetan Shivram/ Shiv Prakash (1:58:02.9).

    INRC3: 1. Vishakh Balachandran, Thrissur/ Anil Abbas, Ernakulam (1:55:18.0); 2. Arjun Raj:iv/ Rohit Gowda (1:55:28.7); 3. Jason Saldanha/ Thimmu Uddapanda (1:56:04.7).

    INRC4: 1. Vivek Ruthuparna, Chikkamagaluru/ Athreya Kousgi, Mumbai (2:11:07.5); 2. Safeekuddin/ Arun V (2:21.41.8);

    Ladies: 1.Pragathi Gowda/ Trisha Alonka (Both Bengaluru) (1:58.07.5); 2. Nikeetaa Takkale/ Raghuram Saminathan (2:11:45.3).

    Junior INRC: 1. Arjun Rajiv; 2. Jahaan Singh Gill; 3. Vivek Ruthuparna.

    Gypsy (non championship):1. Baljinder Singh Dhillon/ Goutham CP (2:16:23.5); 2. Sanjay Lal/ V Sekar (2:17:10.7); 3. Abhishek Gowda/ Dhiraj Manae (2:18:01.6).

  • Philippos Matthai wins INRC2, claims stunning overall 2nd; Third win for Aroor Arjun Rao

    Philippos Matthai wins INRC2, claims stunning overall 2nd; Third win for Aroor Arjun Rao

    Coimbatore, 30 July 2023: Philippos Matthai, the Delhi Daredevil from Team Speedsport, claimed a stunning victory in the INRC2 class and finished ahead of many higher-spec cars with an Overall second, even as Aroor Arjun Rao continued his winning spree in the top Overall class annexing the Rally of Coimbatore, the third round of the Blueband fmsci Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) 2023 for four-wheelers which concluded here at the Kethanur Windmill farms on Sunday.

    Hat-trick of INRC wins: Aroor Arjun Rao and Sathish Rajagopal en route to a big win in the Rally of Coimbatore at the Kethanur Windmill farms on Sunday. Photo by Rahul Reghu

    Team Mandovi Racing’s Aroor Arjun Rao with co-driver Satish Rajagopal put in a consistent performance to notch up his third Overall victory in as many rounds and retained his Championship lead while Philippos Matthai and co-driver PV Srinivasa Murthy in a Volkswagen Polo prepared by Leelakrishnan of Arka Motorsports powered to the top of the podium winning INRC2 and beat all the other top-spec INRC cars except that of Arjun Rao in the Overall standings. In the last round in Arunachal Pradesh, Philippos finished second in INRC2 and came Overall 5th after a forgettable first round in the South India Rally where he was forced to pullout within 2-km of the finish due to mechanical problems while leading second Overall.

    Pre-event favourites Arjun Awardee Gaurav Gill (Aniruddha Rangnekar) and defending champion Karna Kadur (Nikhil Pai) failed to finish the rally.

    “With a calculated strategy we garnered as many points as possible in the previous two rallies and our consistent and steady performance helped as we are back on the top in our class. I am very happy and with three more rallies to go, our target is to win the championship,” said the 39-year four-time National champion in different motorsports disciplines. The lawyer by education and car-builder and rally driver by passion, Philippos is remembered for driving the medical chase car at the F1 Grands Prix races held at Buddh International Circuit in 2012 and 2013.

    Philippos Matthai and PVS Murthy in the windmill section… Photo by Rahul Reghu

    Talented Chandigarh driver Jahaan Singh Gill along with Suraj Keshav Prasad won the INRC3 class ahead of Jason Saldanha of Mangaluru with co-driver Thimmu Uddapanda, who last week got on to the podium of RAAT the Rally of Thailand in their class.

    Aroor Arjun Rao, left, and Sathish Rajagopal, after sweeping all the three rounds, celebrate in Coimbatore on Sunday. Supplied photo

    Ruthuparna Vivek and co-driver Athreya Kousgi claimed INRC4 category beating Shirole Prakhyat and Bharath SM by a huge distance. Behind them the Chikkamagaluru paid of Prajwal HM and Vinay SM finished in third place.

    Dehradun’s Anushriya Gulati with a new co-driver in Sherwin Dalmeida of Managaluru won the Ladies class. Representing Dark Don Rallying, the duo had a huge lead over second-placed Nikeetaa Takkale (Venu Ramesh Kumar). Mumbai’s Shivani Parmar and Bengaluru”s Arjun Dheerendra of Chettinad Sporting finished third.

    Provisional Results:  Final Unaudited Classification:

    Overall: 1. Aroor Arjun Rao, Mangaluru / Satish Rajagopal, Bengaluru (Mandovi Racing) 1:53:48.4;

    2. Philippos Matthai, Delhi/ PVS Murthy, Bengaluru (Arka Motorsports) 1: 54:20.0;

    3. Amittrajit Ghosh, Kolkata/ Ashwin Naik, Mangaluru (Arka Motorsports) 1: 54: 31.1;

    INRC:

    1. Aroor Arjun Rao, Mangaluru / Satish Rajagopal, Bengaluru (Mandovi Racing) 1:53:48.4;

    2. Amittrajit Ghosh, Kolkata/ Ashwin Naik, Mangaluru (Arka Motorsports) 1: 54: 31.1.

    3. Rahul Kanthraj Vivek Y Bhatt (Both Bengaluru) (Arka Motorsports) 1: 55: 39.1;

    INRC2:

    1. Philippos Matthai, Delhi/ PVS Murthy, Bengaluru (Arka Motorsports) 1: 54:20.0;

    2. Fabid Ahmer/ Sanath G, both Palakkad (Chettinad Sporting)  1:54:37.7;

    3. Dr Bikku Babu / Milen George, Both Ernakulam, (Chettinad Sporting) 1:55.00.3;

    INRC3:

    1. Jahan Singh Gill, Chandigarh/ Suraj Keshav Prasad, Bengaluru (Snap Racing) 1:55:37.6;

    2. Jason Saldanha, Bengaluru/ Thimmu Uddapanda, Coorg(Dark Don Rallying) 1: 55:45.3;

    3. Daraious Shroff, Mumbai/ Shahid Salman, Bengaluru(Chettinad Sporting) 1:57:04.5.

    INRC4:

    1. Ruthuparna Vivek/ Athreya Kousgi, Privateers, both Chikkamagaluru 2: 03:10.5;

    2. Shirole H Prakhyat/ Bharath SM, Both Bengaluru, 2:06:32.6;

    3. Prajwal HM/ Vinay SM, pvt, both Chikkamagaluru, 2:12:40.6;

    Gypsy: 

    1. Darshan Nachappa/ Abhinav Ganapathy (Both Coorg) Ammyfied Rallying, 2:06:10.7;

    2. Abhishek Gowda, Chikkamagaluru/ Dheeraj Manae, Pvt, Bengaluru 2:07:29.6;

    3.Jayanth Somanathan/ R Rajashekar, Pvt,  2:12:16.0.

    Ladies class:

    1. Anushriya Gulati, Dehradun/ Sherwin Dalmeida, Mangaluru, (Dark Don Rallying) (1:49:14.2);

    2. Nikeetaa Takkale, Pune/ Venu Ramesh Kumar, Coimbatore (Ammyfied Rallying) (2:02:18.4);

    3. Shivani Parmar, Mumbai/ Arjun Dheerendra, Bengaluru (Chettinad Sporting) (2:22:47.0).

    Junior INRC:

    1. Jahan Singh Gill, Chandigarh/ Suraj Keshav Prasad, Bengaluru (Snap Racing) (1:55:37.6);

    2. Ajay Sankar, Kollam/ Nitharshan, Kollakurichi, pvt, (1:59:21.7);

    3. Nikeetaa Takkale, Pune/ Venu Ramesh Kumar, Coimbatore (Ammyfied) 2:02:18.4);

    (Note: Results corrected after release of Official results)

  • Gaurav Gill raring to go; Arjun Rao keen to keep the lead; 23 Ammyfied cars

    Gaurav Gill raring to go; Arjun Rao keen to keep the lead; 23 Ammyfied cars

    Coimbatore, 28 July 2023: Arjuna Awardee Gaurav Gill and co-driver Aniruddha Rangnekar are eager to bounce back while championship leader Aroor Arjun Rao and Satish Rajagopal are looking to looking for a decent finish to garner as many points as possible to keep their title fight alive as the third round of the Blueband fmsci Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) for four wheelers begins at the Kethanur Windmill farms here on Saturday.

    A total of 76 cars are in fray for the rally organised by Coimbatore Auto Sports Club, one of the oldest and founder clubs of fmsci, the Indian federatioin. Though this high number is not a National record, it is one of the events with highest number of competitors in fray. Of these, 23 cars are fielded by Ammyfied Rallying which is sponsored by businessman Vamcy Merla through his sports foundation.

    After the ceremonial start at the traditional Jenneys club on Friday evening, the drivers looked confident with the recce under their belt and Philippos Matthai who just managed to log in some important points in the slippery mountains of Itanagar is raring to go all out in the fast stages of Coimbatore in INRC2 class. The Arka Motorsports driver from Delhi in a rally-tuned Polo will have a fight in hand with Kerala drivers and former champions Dr ‘Speed’ Bikku Babu (Milen George) and advocate Fabid Ahmer (Sanath G).

    Jehan Singh Gill and co-driver Suraj Keshav Prasad, dominated with their raw speed last year but became victims to some errors by the tuners. This year Jehan Singh Gill is expected to showcase his talent to be in the frontrunners not only in INRC3, his class, but is capable of beating the higher-spec machines. Arnav Pratap Singh (Arjun SSB), Darious Shroff (Shahid Salman) and Vishak Balachandran (Anil Abbas) will be vying with each other to be on the top in INRC3 which has a huge number of 28 cars.

    The cars to watch out for in the INRC4 class are Abhin Rai and co-driver Uday Kumar, Ruthuparna Vivek and co-driver Athreya Kousgi, and Jagpreeth Singh Nirwan and Karanpreet Singh Mattu, who are leading the championship in that order.

    The Gypsy class, which is a non-championship Cup event, has attracted more numbers thanks to the generosity of Vamcy Merla.

    Both the Junior INRC and Ladies class will also have stiff competition with the season getting into the midway mark.

    The windmill stages are fast and have two physical stages namely the 8.4km SM Agro and 10.4km BBS which will be run thrice each on Saturday. On Sunday, the longer special stages of Black Thunder (18.2km) and Thunder World (14.99km) will be run twice in the same direction.

    The next round of the six-round calendar, K1000, is expected to be near Bengaluru in August.

  • Supported by Vamcy Merla, Ammyfied Rallying fields record 23 cars: INRC

    Supported by Vamcy Merla, Ammyfied Rallying fields record 23 cars: INRC

    Bengaluru, 28 July 2023: For the first time in the 35-year history of Indian National Rally Championship (INRC), a team has fielded a record number of 23 cars for a round of the INRC as official team entries. The huge number also made it a record 76 entries for the Rally of Coimbatore to be held at the Kethanur Windmill farms on Saturday and Sunday.

    Team Ammyfied Rallying, powered by Vamcy Merla Sports Foundation, has fielded a record-breaking number of 23 team entries for the Rally of Coimbatore, the third round of the Blueband fmsci Indian National Rally Championship 2023 which begins here on Friday. Apart from the team entries, VMSF is said to have supported another 15 privateers.

    “Ammyfied Rallying has a deep vision to promote rallying in India and has been supporting talented drivers from different parts of India. With ample support from VM Sports Foundation, we have created a platform for young talent to step into rallying,” said Aeman Ahmed, Team Principal.

    “I wish all the best to the biggest team, Ammyfied Rallying. Rallying is my passion and I am doing my bit to promote talented drivers so that they can realise their potential,” said Vamcy Merla of the Foundation.

    Ammyfied which has dominated the Gypsy Class so far in the first two rounds has also bagged many podium places in other classes. For this round, drivers were fielded in all the classes except in the top INRC class. Top drivers like Suhem Kabeer and co-driver Jeevarathinam, Maninder Singh Prince and Vinay Padmashali, Chetan Shivram and Shiv Prakash, Ritesh Rai and Lokranjan are in the INRC2 class while Aeman Ahmed and Sagar Mallappa, Himanshu Arora and Kunal Kashyap, Arnav Prathap Singh and Arjun SSB, Arjun Rajiv and Rohit Gowda, Jagbir Nirwan and Karanpreet Mattu, and Nikeetaa Takkale and Venu Ramesh Kumar are in the INRC3 class.

    The team will have another five care in INRC4 namely, Abhin Rai and D Uday Kumar, Prakhyat Shirole and Belli, Phoebe and Sawan, Renuka and Pramod, and Farhan and Arun. Ammyfied’s favourite class, the Gypsy Cup will see the championship leaders Samrat Yadav and Chandu lead eight cars. The other are Darshan Nachappa and Abhinav Ganapathy, Akarsh Sundar and Ravi Kumar Reddy, Gurinder Singh Sidhu and Manjunath GM, Baiju Stephen and Sachin Sharma, Sachin Singh and Prakash M, Madhusudhan V and Harsha, Kalyan MVV and Raghuram Saminathan.

    Vamcy Merla, who recently won the SUV class in a 4×4 event in Coorg, is expected to get behind the wheel of a Gypsy with Raghu as co-driver.

    “I have promoted several FMSCI events in the past too, including the 2019 edition of the Indian National Rally Championship. I have created this foundation to help India’s best rallyists follow their dreams without worrying about money,” said Vamcy Merla, Chairman of the Foundation.

    “The INRC has received a huge boost thanks to VMS Foundation’s enthusiasm and wholehearted support. Several drivers, who can’t afford the costs of competing in an event of this scale and magnitude and skip several rounds every year, are all here in Coimbatore,” J Prithiviraj, secretary of the Coimbatore Auto Sports Club, said. “We have a formidable field and every class is going to be thrilling and a close affair,” he added.

  • Visit www.INDIANmotorsports.in for all Indian National Rally Championship 2023 articles

    Visit www.INDIANmotorsports.in for all Indian National Rally Championship 2023 articles

    Here is a list of articles and reports that were published for the Blueband Sports fmsci Indian National Rally Championship 2023, starting with the Blueband Sports South India Rally (SIR) organised by the Madras Motor Sports Club (MMSC) at the Madras International Circuit (MIC) from March 17 to 19. The International rally returned to MIC after a year for the qualifying round of the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC), in the form of the second round of the Asia Rally Cup that was held concurrently with 18 cars taking part.

    Top drivers including Arjuna Awardee and rally legend from India, Gaurav Gill of JK Tyre fame along with Mana Pornsiricherd and Thanyaphat Meenil from Thailand were the star attractions of the APRC Asia leg. Gill was taking the services of experienced navigator Aniruddha Rangnekar for the first time. Defending INRC champion and winner of the last year’s Asia Cup Rally in India, Karna Kadur and co-driver Nikhil Pai led a field of stars, in the Indian Championship along with Amittrajit Ghosh, (with co-driver Ashwin Naik) who is returning from a break from England, and Dr Speed, the one and only Bikku Babu from Kerala, now settled in US, co-driven by Milen George Cherian, and aggressive driver Dean Mascarenhas (Gagan Karumbaiah) from Mangaluru, 2019 champs and brothers Chetan Shivram and Dilip Sharan, reigning champions in their classes, Maninder Singh Prince, Samrat Yadav and Rahul Kanthraj, were the others stalwarts of the INRC who took part in the 46th edition of SIR.

    Many talented youngsters like Jahaan Singh Gill, Arjun Rajiv, a graduate from karting also joined the fray along with six ladies led by FIA Rally Star cup champion from the Asia Pacific region Pragathi Gowda who had Trisha Alonkar as co-driver. Bengaluru-based Vizag driver Renuka Gajendra who paired with Dilip Sharan’s wife Angela James is the only other team which had both ladies in the car. Nikeetaa Takkale, the niece of Sanjay Takale, former APRC Production Cars champion, Shivani Parmar of Mumbai, co-driver Deeksha Balakrishna, were the other two ladies that represented ‘Women in Motorsports’.

    A total of 66 cars took part along with three cars which took part only in APRC Asia round. Fifteen of the cars took part in both APRC round and INRC to make it 63 cars in INRC, an attractive number of entries but it not a record as many INRC rounds have seen more number of entries in the earlier years.

    With sponsors JK Tyre pulling out in the last minute former champion in his class, Fabid Ahmer, opted out citing lack of time to put the things together. Other notable drivers missing were talented lady drivers Athira Murali (lack of sponsors), and Dr. Shivani Pruthvi (busy with post-graduate medical studies for MD).

    The list of articles published for INRC in this website can be read here: (Compilation in process)

    1. Gaurva Gill begins favourite; 18 in fray for FIA-APRC (Asia Rally Cup).
    2. Vamcy Merla to back FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship India round: Asia Rally Cup.
    3. Gaurav Gill tops Super Special Stage; Karna heads INRC; Pragathi stuns the field for 7th.
    4. Aroor Arjun Rao sparkles in rain, leads INRC; Gaurav Gill extends lead in APRC Asia Cup.
    5. Gaurav Gill wins FIA-APRC (Asia Rally Cup) round.
  • Karna Kadur-Nikhil Pai win K1000, clinch Indian National Rally title with a round to spare

    Karna Kadur-Nikhil Pai win K1000, clinch Indian National Rally title with a round to spare

    Tumakuru (Karnataka), 4 Dec 2022: All the hard work and years of patience paid rich dividends as Bengaluru rally stars Karna Kadur and co-driver Nikhil Vittal Pai claimed the Indian National Rally Championship, with a round to spare here on Sunday. This is the second National overall title for the talented duo, who won their maiden Nationals in 2016 in the top class.

    Kadur along with Nikhil Pai, one of the senior-most navigators in the country along with Musa Sherif, brought the second National title for Volkswagen Polo. Pai, who made his INRC debut aboard a two-wheeler in 1992, the victory is a justification for his meticulous work ethic, deep knowledge of the sport and the terrain that helps him to guide his driver, engineers in the car set-up and other technical aspects beyond his call of duty, the pace notes.

    On the other hand, the seven-time National champion Karna Kadur, who switched from Road Racing to Rally and delighted his fans with his exploits as a young driver of Red Rooster Racing took a mind-boggling tumble in Nashik in 2009 when he graduated to a powerful Mitsubishi Cedia. Undaunted, the champion in him went on to build a successful career, which missed a probable maiden National title in 2012 due to the controversial “Penalty” at the Coffee Day rally in Chikmagalur.

    Multiple National champions in the sub-categories, Karna and Nikhil bagged full 40 points with their overall INRC class victory, including full leg points, while their nearest rival Gaurav Gill (Musa Sherif), drew a blank in this round, remaining on 44 points. The Bengaluru duo garnered a total of 112, an unbeatable lead of 68 points, to clinch the National Overall title.

    Driving a Volkswagen Polo 1.0 Comfortline tuned by Leelakrishnan, the Arka Motorsports stalwarts clinched their maiden Overall Karnataka-1000 title by finishing first in the Prasaditya 46th Karnataka-1000 Rally, the third and penultimate round of the Blueband FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship at the Special Stage run near Gubbi, in Tumakuru taluk, despite suffering a heavy damage to their car after clipping a rock.

    Karna Kadur and long-time co-driver Nikhil Pai, after winning INRC Overall title.
    Photos by Anand Philar.

    Finishing second, over a minute behind Kadur was Mangaluru’s Aroor Arjun Rao (co-driver Satish Rajagopal, Bengaluru) of Mandovi Racing while Delhi’s Philippos Matthai (Harish Gowda, Bengaluru), who returned to rallying after a 13-year break, finished third Overall.

    Karna Kadur & Nikhil Pai in action on Sunday. Photo by Anand Philar

    Matthai also took the honours in INRC 3 category while Virajpet’s Suhem Kabeer (Jeeva Rathinam, Bengaluru) topped in the INRC 2 class. Further down the grid, Chikkamagaluru’s Aeman Ahmed (Sagar Mallappa, Bengaluru) of Ammyfied Racing won in the INRC 4 class with Delhi’s Arnav Singh Pratap (Arjun SSB, Bengaluru) of  SNAP Racing bagged the Junior INRC crown. Chandigarh’s Samrat Yadav (Chandrashekar M, Bengaluru) of Ammyfied Rallying emerged champion in the Gypsy Challenge, a non-championship category.

    The 34-year old Kadur, who enjoyed a comfortable lead after Leg-1 on Saturday, kept his wits about him after suffering some heavy damage to the sump guard in Sunday’s second Stage when he clipped a rock. His mechanics carried out the necessary repairs in 20 minutes flat during the service break which enabled Kadur to continue and finish the second loop without much ado.

    A six-time INRC winner himself, N Leelakrishnan, mentor and coach, gives an appreciative hug to his ward Karna Kadur, who brought the legend his 20th National title as “Tuner” in the Indian National Rally Championship. Photo by Anand Philar (FB)

    Reflecting on the weekend, Kadur said: “It (the win) still hasn’t sunk in, but I am very happy that we won our first K-1000 Rally. We had a fairly smooth run yesterday, but this morning, we had a scare when we clipped a rock in the second Stage.

    “The damage was pretty bad in the front because the sump guard got cut. I managed to come back to service and the boys did a tremendous job in carrying out the necessary repairs, including some cutting, chopping and welding, besides fabricating and fitting a new sump guard, all in 20 minutes flat. 

    “We checked into parc ferme with just 30 seconds to spare. All kudos to our team who did a tremendous job. Yes, a pretty emotional moment. My dad (late Prakash Kadur) never won a K-1000 Rally and so, I am first in the family.”

    Meanwhile, seven times National champion Gaurav Gill (Musa Sherif), who retired in Leg-1 with a drive-shaft issue on Saturday, suffered another setback after rejoining for Leg-2 today with a broken front right knuckle leading to his retirement in the day’s second Stage after being the fastest in the first.

    The last round of the INRC 2022 promoted by Blueband Sports is scheduled to be held at Meghalaya pending approval from FMSCI.

    Provisional final classification:

    Overall / INRC: 1. Karna Kadur /Nikhil Pai (Bengaluru, Arka Motorsports) (01hr,13mins, 56.5secs); 2. Aroor Arjun Rao (Mangaluru)/ Satish Rajagopal (Bengaluru, Mandovi Racing) (01:15:11.9); 3. Philippos Matthai (Delhi)/ Harish Gowda (Bengaluru, Arka Motorsports) (01:16:54.0).

    INRC-2: 1. Suhem Kabeer (Virajpet) / Jeeva Rathinam (Bengaluru, Pvt) (01:16:57.1); 2. Rahul Kanthraj / Vivek Y Bhatt (Bengaluru, Arka Motorsports) (01:17:28.5); 3. Harkrishan Wadia (Delhi) / Amber Udasi (Chandigarh, Arka Motorsports) (01:25.08).

    INRC-3: 1. Matthai  / Harish; 2. Maninder Singh Prince (Delhi) / Vinay Padmashali (Bengaluru, JK Rallying) (01:17:23.1); 3. Arnav Singh Pratap (Delhi) / Arjun SSB (Bengaluru, SNAP Racing) (01:19:51.7);

    INRC-4: 1. Aeman Ahmed (Chikkamagaluru) / Sagar Mallappa (Bengaluru, Ammyfied Racing) (01:28:11.4); 2. Rakshith Iyer (Mysuru) / Avinash CA (Bengaluru) (01:31:40.4); 3. Deepak Chandra / Raghuram CG (Bengaluru, DC Racing) (01:43.58.4).

    Junior INRC: 1. Arnav / Arjun; 2. Pragathi Gowda / Trisha Alonkar (Bengaluru, Arka Motorsports) (01:20:13.2); 3. Ajay Sankar (Kollam) / Rohit Gowda (Bengaluru) (01:21:24.1).

    Gypsy Challenge (Non-Championship): 1. Samrat Yadav (Chandigarh) / Chandrashekar M (Bengaluru, Ammyfied Rallying) (01:18:26.7); 2. Himanshu Arora (Delhi) / Vikram Thakur (Chandigarh, Ammyfied Rallying) (01:22:01.9); 3. Kariappa Mekerira (Kodagu) / Supreeth Sagar (Bengaluru, Ammyfied Rallying) (01:26:06.9).

    All Women (Open): 1. Pragathi Gowda / Trisha Alonkar; Shivani Pruthvi / Deepti Pruthvi (Davangere, Pvt) (01:24.16.6); 3. Nikeetaa Takkale (Pune) / Deeksha Balakrishna (Bengaluru, Snap Racing) (1:29:20.9).

  • Karna Kadur takes sizeable lead; Gaurav Gill retires: K1000

    Karna Kadur takes sizeable lead; Gaurav Gill retires: K1000

    Tumakuru (Karnataka), 3 Dec 2022: The Bengaluru pair, Karna Kadur and co-driver Nikhil V Pai of Arka Motorsports, stepped up to the challenging terrain to finish Leg-1 as the Overall leaders in the Prasaditya 46th Karnataka-1000 Rally, the third round of the Blueband FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) here on Saturday which also saw the retirement of previous edition’s winner, Gaurav Gill (Musa Sherif) due to mechanical issues.

    The day’s schedule was shortened to four Special Stages as against scheduled six following a delayed start due to a technical hitch. However, Kadur, the championship leader, kept his focus and came up with a well-paced drive to take a 47.4-second lead over Palakkad’s Fabid Ahmer (Sanath G) on completion of Leg-1 with Mangaluru’s Aroor Arjun Rao (Satish Rajagopal) of Mandovi Racing in third, trailing the leader by one minute. Four more Stages are scheduled to be run tomorrow (Sunday), the concluding day of the event.

    Ahmer, who missed the 2021 National championship narrowly, leads in the INRC 2 category while Maninder Singh Prince (Suraj Keshava Prasad) of JK Rallying is ahead in the INRC 3 category.

    Fabid Ahmer and co-driver Sanath G in action on Saturday. Photos: Anand Philar

    Leaders in the other classes were: Aeman Ahmed (Sagar M) of Ammyfied Rallying, in INRC 4; Arnav Pratap Singh (Arjun SSB) of SNAP Racing in JINRC and Samrat Yadav (Chandrashekar M) in Gypsy Challenge which is a non-championship category.

    As well as Kadur drove today, the expected clash with seven-times National champion Gill dissipated in the day’s very first Stage with the Delhi star pulling out due to an issue with the gearbox of his Mahindra XUV 300 barely two Kms in the first Stage. “We had put in some new parts, but in SS-1, we had to pack up due to some issue with the gearbox. I was looking forward to the event as the Stages were to my liking. We will restart tomorrow and I hope to score some leg points,” said a disappointed Gill.

    Kadur, aiming to win the National title this season, and who leads Gill by 44 points in the championship standings, said: “We stuck to our plan today which was to bring the car home. We pushed more in the second loop in the afternoon and made time on our morning run. I enjoyed the drive today. As for tomorrow, again, our aim will be to finish the event, exercise caution where required and push when we can. The car is still a work in progress and I am learning it all the time. Hopefully, we will have a good run tomorrow.”

    Maninder Singh Prince and Vinay Padmashali lead INRC3 after Day 1.

    The Prasaditya Karnataka-1000 rally is being organised by the Karnataka Motor Sports Club under the aegis of FMSCI, the governing body of motorsports in India and promoted by Blueband Sports.

    Of the 65 cars that took the start, 24 cars logged DNF and failed to finish on Day 1. Some of the cars will take the start again on Sunday for leg points.

    Provisional partial classification (After Leg-1): (After Day1)

    Overall / INRC: 1. Karna Kadur / Nikhil V Pai (Bengaluru, Arka Motorsports) (36mins, 03secs); 2. Fabid Ahmer / Sanath G (Palakkad) (36:50.4); 3. Aroor Arjun Rao (Mangaluru) / Satish Rajagopal (Bengaluru, Mandovi Racing) (37:04.7); 4. Suhem Kabeer (Virajpet)/ Jeeva Rathinam (Bengaluru) (37:09.300); 5. Aditya Thakur (Solan) / Virender Kashyap (Shimla, Chettinad Sporting) (37:21.7); 6. Jahaan Singh Gill (Chandigarh)/ Suraj Keshava Prasad (Bengaluru, SNAP Racing) (37:50.700); 7. Maninder Singh Prince (New Delhi) / Vinay Padmashali (Bengaluru, JK Rallying) (38:10.9); 8. Philippos Mathai (New Delhi) / Harish KN (Bengaluru, Arka Motorsports) (38:10.9); 9. Samrat Yadav (Chandigarh) / Chandrashekar M (Bengaluru) (38:54.300); 10. Arnav Pratap Singh (Delhi) / Arjun SSB (Bengaluru, SNAP Racing) (39:05.9); 11. Pragathi Gowda / Trisha Alonkar (Bengaluru, Arka Motorsports) (39:08.7);

    INRC 2: 1. Ahmer / Sanath; 2. Suhem Kabeer (Virajpet) / Jeeva Rathinam (Bengaluru) (37:09.3); 3. Aditya Thakur (Solan) / Virender Kashyap (Shimla, Chettinad Sporting) (37:21.7); 4. Jahaan Singh Gill (Chandigarh)/ Suraj Keshava Prasad (Bengaluru, SNAP Racing) (37:50.700).

    INRC 3: 1. Maninder Singh Prince (New Delhi) / Vinay Padmashali (Bengaluru, JK Rallying) (38:10.9); 2. Philippos Mathai (New Delhi) / Harish KN (Bengaluru, Arka Motorsports) (38:10.9); 3. Kuber Sharma (Solan) / Kunal Kashyap (Shimla) (38:18.1); 4. Arnav Singh Pratap (Delhi) /Arjun SSB (Bengaluru) (39:05.900).

    INRC 4: 1. Aeman Ahmed (Chikkamagluru) / Sagar M (Bengaluru, Ammyfied Rallying) (43:25.2); 2. Rakshith Iyer (Mysuru) / Avinash CA (Bengaluru) (43:45.6); 3. Jagbir Nirwan (Patiala) / Karanpreet Mattu (Kurukshetra) (47:43.2); 4. Ruthuparna Vivek (Chikkamagaluru) /Santosh Thomas (Hyderabad) (59:18.900).

    Junior INRC: 1. Arnav Pratap Singh (Delhi) / Arjun SSB (Bengaluru, SNAP Racing) (39:05.9); 2. Pragathi Gowda / Trisha Alonkar (Bengaluru, Arka Motorsports) (39:08.7); 3. Ajay Shankar (Kollam) / Rohit Gowda (Bengaluru) (40:47.8); 4. Shivani Pruthvi/ Deepti Pruthvi (Both Davangere) (41:21.900).

    Gypsy Challenge (Non-championship): 1. Samrat Yadav (Chandigarh) / Chandrashekar M (Bengaluru) (38:54.300); 2. Himanshu Arora (Delhi) / Vikram Thakur (Chandigarh, Ammyfield Rallying) (40:14.300); 3. Kariappa Mekerira (Kodagu) / Supreeth Sagar (Bengaluru, Ammyfied Rallying) (43:02.200); 4. Darshan Nachappa /Abhinav Ganapathy (Both Kodagu, Ammyfied Rallying) (43:14.300).

    Fabid Ahmer on Saturday. Photo courtesy Twitter @JKtyreracing