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Tag: INRC 4w
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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;
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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).
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Harkrishan, Kunal duo takes lead after Day 1 at Rally Robusta: INRC Ro5
Kodagu, 18 Nov. 2023: Delhi driver Harkrishan Wadia, along with Himachal’s Kunal Kashyap did a splendid job to take the overall lead in the Round 5 of the Blueband Sports fmsci Indian National Rally Championship at the end of Day 1 at the Special Stages near here on Saturday. The Blueband Robusta Rally of Kodagu, organised by Robusta Adventure and Sports Academy, offered a tricky and tough terrain that saw 21 cars, of the 61 that started, fail to finish the course on Day 1.
Arka Motorsports’ Harkrishan (co-driver Kashyap), driving an INRC2 spec Volkswagen Polo 1.6 did a commendable job to finish the tough Anandpura and Polibetta competitive stages after Day 1. The duo also topped their INRC2 class. Talented Jahaan Singh Gill of Chandigarh with Bengaluru co-driver Suraj Keshav Prasad of Snap Racing came overall second and topped the INRC3 class after six Special Stages on Saturday. The Mangaluru-Bengaluru pair of Aroor Vikram RAo and co-driver AG Somayya of Chettinad Sporting were placed overall third with six more stages to go on Sunday.
“The day was full of adrenaline. The stages were fast and flowing but down to narrow and bumpy at places from time to time. I thank Arka Motorsport for giving us the perfect car even after the damages at Hyderabad rally. The strategy for Sunday is to do nothing different but follow up on today’s pace. keep the car on road and drive fast,” said Wadia after a tough day.
Vikram Rao and Sahil Khanna (co-driver Harish KN) are following Wadia in INRC2 class while Jahaan Singh Gill is also leading his INRC3 class with Daraious Shroff (co-driver Shahid Salman) and Sheshank Jamwal (Harish KN) trailing him in that order. Abin Rai and Aravind Dheerendra of Ammyfied Rallying were leading INRC4 class while Darshan Nachappa and co-driver Abhinav Ganapathy topped the Gypsy class on Day 1.
Provisional Results after Day 1:
Overall: 1. Harkrishan Wadia/ Kunal Kashyap (Arka Motorsports) (1min, 0min, 55.7seconds); 2. Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad (Snap Racing) (01:01:27.5); 3. Aroor Vikram Rao/ AG Somayya (Chettinad Sporting) (01:01:47.0).
INRC2: 1. Harkrishan Wadia/ Kunal Kashyap (Arka Motorsports) (1min, 0min, 55.7seconds); 2. Aroor Vikram Rao/ AG Somayya (Chettinad Sporting) (01:01:47.0); 3. Sahil Khanna/ Harish KN Gowda(Snap Racing) (01:02:41.8).
INRC3: 1. Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad (Snap Racing) (01:01:27.5); 2. Daraious Shroff/ Shahid Salman (Chettinad Sporting) (01:02:51.8); 3. Sheshank Jamwal/ Ashish Sharma (Arka Motorsports) (01:03:08.2);
INRC4: 1. Abhin Rai/ Aravind Dheerendra (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:04:52.4); 2. Vivek Ruthuparna/ Athreya Kousgi (Snap Racing) (01:05:34.7); 3. Prajwal HM/ Vinay SM (Pvt.) (1:12:19.2).
Gypsy: 1. Darshan Nachappa/ Abhinav Ganapathy (Ammyfied) (01:10:14.6); 2. Sanjay Agarwal/ Phalguna Raghavendra (pvt) (01:11:28.6); 3. Michu Ganapathy/ Venu Ramesh Kumar (Pvt.) (01:11:40.3).
Ladies: 1. Anushriya Gulati/ Sherwin Dalmeida (Dark Don Racing) (01:06:22.8); 2. Nikeetaa Takkale/ Raghuram Saminathan (Snap Racing) (01:06:52.9); 3. Shivani Parmar/ Arjun Dheerendra (Chettinad) (01:07:45.7).
Junior INRC: 1. Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad (Snap Racing) (01:01:27.5); 2. . Abhin Rai/ Aravind Dheerendra (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:04:52.4); 3. Vivek Ruthuparna/ Athreya Kousgi (Snap Racing) (01:05:34.7).
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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).
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Amittrajit Ghosh takes lead after two Stages; Gill in striking distance: INRC
Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh) June 14, 2023: Double INRC champion Amittrajit Ghosh and co-driver Ashwin Naik of Arka Motorsports took a narrow 7.2-second lead at the end of two stages on Day 1 of the Rally of Arunachal, the second round of the Blueband fmsci Indian National Rally Championship here on Wednesday.
Overnight rains made the hilly tarmac terrain challenging and the Special Stages started late. Keeping in view the safety aspects and lack of time, the final two Special Stages scheduled for the evening were cancelled. However, the short 4.1km Super Special Stage (SSS) will be held in the night for the benefit of the local spectators.
After the completion of two special stages, Kolkata’s Amittrajit Ghosh along with Mangaluru’s co-driver Ashwin Naik took the lead with consistent times in both the stages. However, first round winner of the South India Rally, Aroor Arjun Rao and co-driver Satish Rajagopal, who began with a blistering pace winning the first stage, played safe in the next stage, and were in third place after the finish of two Special Stages.
Arjuna Awardee and three-time Asia Pacific Winner, Gaurav Gill (Aniruddha Rangnekar) who skipped the first round to take part in APRC Asia Cup qualifier that were held together, overcame initial hiccups and clocked the fastest time in Special Stage 2 and stood overall second after two Special Stages. He lost about 20 seconds to the front runner Arjun, in Chimpu SS1, but is back in the game to mount a challenge as four special stages are slated for tomorrow in Ziro.
Suhem Kabir and co-driver Jeevarathinam of Ammyfied Rallying were leading the INRC2 class while Sheshank Jamwal (co-driver Aseem Sharma) of Arka Motorsports is in the top spot in INRC3 category. In the INRC4 class, the pair of Abhin Rai and Uday Kumar was heading the field with another Ammyfied Rallying pair topping the Gypsy Challenge after two stages is Samrat Yadav and Arvind Dheerendra.
Talented Jahan Singh Gill is leading the Junior INRC while International lady driver Anushriya Gulati posted a comfortable lead over Nikeetaa Takkale in the Ladies class.
Aditya Thakur (centre) and Virender Kashyap, the 2021 INRC overall champions praise the fast and flowing stages of Itanagar before the start of Super Special Stage on Wednesday. After the 4.10km Super special Stage tonight, the rally caravan will travel uphill to Ziro mountains on Thursday for four more Special Stages. The Prize Distribution will be held on June 16 at the Ziro resort.
Provisional Unaudited Results (Day 1): Overall and INRC:
1. Amittrajit Ghosh/ Ashwin Naik (Arka Motorsports) (18minutes, 59.6seconds); 2. Gaurav Gill/ Aniruddha Ragnekar (Privateer, Delhi/Pune) (19:06.8); 3. Aroor Arjun Rao/ Satish Rajagopal (Mandovi Racing) (19:07.8);
INRC2:
1.Suhem Kabir/ Jeevarathinam J (Ammyfied Rallying) (19:38.2); 2. Chetan Shivram/ E Shivaprakash (Snap Racing) (19:56.8); 3. Dr Bikku Babu/ Milen George (Chettinad Sporting) (20:04.2).
INRC3: 1. Sheshank Jamwal/ Aseem Sharma (Arka Motorsports) (19:43.0); 2. Jason Saldanha/ Thimmanna Uddapanda B (Dark Don Racing) (20:14.400); 3. Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad (SNAP Racing) (20:14.9).
INRC4: 1. Abhin Rai/ Uday Kumar (Ammyfied Rallying) (21:28.5); 2. Vivek Ruthuparna/ Sanjay Agarwal (SNAP Racing) (22:20.8); 3. Hage Chada/ Pramod Raman (pvt, Itanagar/Bengaluru) (23:10.2).
Gypsy Challenge: 1. Samrat Yadav/ Arvind Dheerendra (Ammyfied Rallying) (20:54.2); 2. Amanpreet Ahluwalia/ Amber Udasi (Pvt. Delhi/Chanigarh) (21:34.7); 3. Baljinder Singh Dhillon/ Goutham CP (Pvt. Delhi/Chikmagalur) (22:48.8).
Junior INRC: 1. Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshava Prasad (Snap Racing) (20:14.9); 2. Arvan Pratap Singh/ Arjun SSB (Ammyfied Rallying) (20:30.8); 3. Abhin Rai/ D Uday Kumar (Ammyfied Rallying) (21:28.5).
Women’s class: 1. Anushriya Gulati/ Arjun Dheerendra (Dark Don Racing) (21:32.5); 2. Nikeetaa Takkale/ Venu Ramesh Kumar (Ammyfied Rallying) (21:48.8); 3. Shivani Parmar/ Dr Vani Parmar (Chettinad Sporting) (22:00.6).
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Blueband INRC back to Ziro; Arunachal beckons top Indians drivers to North-East
Itanagar, (Arunachal Pradesh), 12 June 2023: Arjuna Awardee Gaurav Gill (co-driver Aniruddha Rangnekar) of JK Tyre, the winner of first round APRC, is raring to re-launch his domestic campaign while defending champion Karna Kadur will have a new but experienced co-driver in Kumar Ramaswamy as record numbers, including the cream of Indian talent, pour into Arunachal Pradesh for the second round of the Blueband fmsci Indian National Rally Championship at the picturesque hill station here from June 14 to 16. With rain forecast during the rally, the mountain roads will turn challenging for the drivers, making the event all the more spectacular.
Gaurav Gill, the 7-time National champion and the first and only Indian to have three Asia Pacific Rally Championship titles will spearhead the campaign after missing the first round INRC at the Blueband MMSC South India Rally 2023, where he took part only in APRC, and won it hands down putting his Subaru Impreza STi N14 on the pedastal after tricky and slushy two days. Reigning champion Karna Kadur, former champions Aditya Thakur, Rahul Kantharaj, Aroor Arjun Rao, Dean Mascarenhas and Amittrajit Ghosh will be the other six top guns in INRC, the premier class.
“Good to be back here. Two years we missed out on this rally. It is a very special rally for me. The Arunachal Government gives so much support here and we get the best roads which are super fast mountain roads. Looking at the weather it is a big game-changer as heavy rain is forecast which is to my liking. Yes, it will change a lot of set-up and tyre selection is crucial. I am well prepared and the JK Tyres offer me the best,” said Gill, who is gunning for his record 8th National INRC title in a Mahindra XUV300. Arunachal is the happy hunting ground for Gill, who won all the INRC rounds held here till now, two in Itanagar in 2020, and once in Ziro 2017, with Musa Sherif as navigator.
“I am feeling very positive after winning INRC Round 1. Arunachal being a tarmac rally, the set up of the car will be different and I am looking forward to see how my Baleno will perform in its 1st tarmac test. We have couple of night stages as well that makes it interesting. We have done testing and the feeling is good. Looking forward to a good event,” said Aroor Arjun Rao of Mandovi Racing, who broke the ice with winning the INRC section of the South India Rally, the first round this year.
The Rally of Arunachal returns to its tarmac home Ziro, two years after visiting Itanagar for the 2020 championship double-header. Ziro, the only tarmac rally in the Blueband Sports calendar, which made its INRC debut in 2017, and offers high speeds, high-altitude rallying, and technical challenges including night stage cold tyres. The Rally of Arunachal organised by the local Motorsports Club of Arunachal is sponsored by Arunachal Pradesh Tourism under the Department of Youth Affairs (and Sports) with MRF Tyres as Associate Sponsor. Promoted by Blueband Sports, the rights winners of the INRC, the rally also has Mahindra Thar Club, another local club lending a hand.
“We are proud to bring back the National rally to Arunachal as drivers and teams loved the Rally in Nagaland last year. North-East states offer well-maintained roads and with the support of Arunachal Pradesh Government and the police, we get closed tarmac high-way roads that offer high speeds,” said Premnath Kashi, the Chief Promoter and the man who brings the spectacular show to North East.
The roads are closed and manned by the State’s police machinery along with the Safety officer Shrikant GM, a former champion, who did yeoman job, the last time around. All ambulances and other safety measures are in place as per the Federations regulations and experienced Clerk of the Course Girija Shankar Joshy is conducting the event with the support of trained local Marshals who know every bit of route under the guidance of Lhakpa Tsering and Arindam Ghosh, two former rally drivers of repute who will be the Chairman of the Event and Chief Administrator, respectively.
After a day in the familiar Chimpu (16.05km, SS1 & SS3) and Hollongi (18.10km, SS2 & SS4) Special Stages (SS), that would be run twice in the forward direction on Wednesday, the 2.05-km Super Special Stage (SSS, SS5 & SS6) is run twice in the chilling night that is bound to offer a technically challenging cold tyres for the drivers to tackle.
Then the caravan moves uphill (from 320 metres above mean sea level to about 1680m) on Thursday morning on the winding roads to still cooler Ziro for final four Special Stages (SS). The two physical stages are Yazali (10.25km) and longer Yachuli Special Stage is 14.75 km. All the cars run both the Yazali (SS7 and SS9) and Yachuli (SS8 and SS10) in the forward direction, once in the afternoon and once in the night and the event ends at about 11pm in the hills to offer a thrilling extravaganza to the speed lovers. The rally has 122.4km of competitive timed distance and offers a total distance of 283km including 160.6km of transport section, where the drivers must follow normal road rules.
INRC2 will have 12 cars but INRC3 continues to be the popular category with 22 cars while the INRC4 saw the entry of five cars along with 5 Gypsy entries in the non-Championship Challenge event.
There will also be 8 lady drivers who are competing on equal footing with men and 8 below-26 year drivers in the Junior INRC category.
They include two all-woman entries of Pragathi Gowda and Trisha Alonkar and daughter-mom pair of Shivani and Dr Vani Parmar. Bengaluru’s Deeksha Balakrishna navigates for Aditya Kousgi. Nikeetaa Takkale and Anushriya Gulati have male navigators. Phoebe Dale Nongrum of Shillong will be the only lady driver from North East with a male co-driver in Shivamogga’s Dinesh S.
Top guns Gaurav Gill and Dean Mascarenhas of JK Tyre will be among the eight privateers (non-team entry) gunning with top outfit Arka Motorsports’ 12 cars tuned by N Leelakrishnan and Chettinad Sporting’s seven cars tuned by Thiyagarajan and Roshan. Newcomers Ammyfied Rallying, headed by Aeman Ahemad and Sagar, have fielded the highest number of 14 cars while SNAP headed by Sumit Punjabi has seven cars managed by Nitin Jacob.
Former champion Arjun Rao Aroor fresh from his victory (INRC) in the South India Rally in Chennai will be the lone crusader for Mandovi Racing while another top Road Racing team which entered rallying this season is Dark Don, that has two cars with talented international lady driver Anushriya Gulati and Jason Saldanha, who made his international debut podium this year in Indonesia.
The event offers prize money of over Rs.9.3 lakhs and trophies in eight different classes for drivers, co-drivers and teams. Best tuners in each class also get trophies.
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Prasaditya 46th K1000 Rally flagged off: INRC Round 3
Tumakuru (Karnataka), 2 Dec 2022: The Prasaditya 46th Karnataka-1000 rally, the third round of the Blueband FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship, was flagged off here today by former Minister S Shivanna to signal the start of the event which will be run near here over two days starting Saturday, Dec 3.
The Prasaditya K1000 rally, which has attracted 65 entries, is being organised by the Karnataka Motor Sports Club under the aegis of FMSCI, the governing body of motorsports in India and promoted by Blueband Sports.
Following a reconnaissance run this morning of the Special Stages, most of the competitors expressed happiness at the terrain which was variously described as fast, flowing and technical.
Championship leader, Bengaluru’s Karna Kadur (co-driver Nikhil Pai) of Arka Motorsports, said: “I am quite pleased with the Special Stages. The terrain is a good mix of fast, flowing corners, a few jumps and water splashes which should make for a good viewing for the spectators. We have prepared the car well and hope to finish strongly.”
Delhi-based seven times National champion and Arjuna Awardee Gaurav Gill (Musa Sherif), who is currently second in the championship, was impressed with the Special Stages. “I quite liked the stages. The organisers have put in a lot of hard work to prepare the route which I think will take rallying to the next level. The Stages are quite fast in some sections and also technical with blind corners and crests. The pace notes have to be spot-on and it will also test your driving skills. I won the 2021 event despite many setbacks and I hope I can win my eighth K-1000 title on Sunday,” he said.
Karna Kadur holds advantage with a handsome lead
The battle is all set to resume between championship leader Karna Kadur of Arka Motorsports on MRF Tyres and 7-time National champion Gaurav Gill, a private entry in yellow colours, supported by JK Tyres.
The popular Karnataka-1000 rally, the oldest rally in the in the country, which has attracted 65 entries is being organised by the Karnataka Motor Sports Club under the aegis of FMSCI, the governing body of motorsports in India and promoted by Blueband sports.
Karna Kadur and co-driver Nikhil Pai, who won the South India Rally, the first round of the season, lead the championship table with 72 points while strong contenders Gaurav Gill and co-driver Musa Sherif, who had a mechanical failure in first round came back strongly with a victory in the second round in Coimbatore have 44. While Gill will be gunning for his 8th K1000 victory, Kadur with a 28-point lead will be safe and cautious, looking to bag crucial points to protect his lead. With a total of 40 points on offer, the dark horse of the rally, will be defending champions from Himachal Pradesh, Aditya Thakur and Virender Kashyap, who are trailing third with 34 points.
Guttedar leads INRC2
Bengaluru pair of Ritesh Guttedar and co-driver Lokaranjan lead the INRC2 standings with 47 points followed by Thakur and Kashyap while another experienced duo Rahul Kantharaj and Vivek Bhat are in third.
Another Himachal pair Kuber Sharma and Kunal Kashyap lead the INRC3 table while Samrat Yadav and Chandrasekhar M leads the Gypsy class. The Junior INRC will see close competition between the top-two ladies teams. While Dr Shivani Pruthvi (Dr Deepthi) leads the table with 66points, Pragathi Gowda (Trisha Alonkar) is just a point behind with third-placed Arnav Pratap Singh (Arun SSB) on 40 points.
27 entries for INRC3
The top INRC class has six cars while there are nine entries in INRC2 category and ten in INRC4. The bulk of rally cars with 27 entries will feature in the popular INRC3 class. There are 13 entries in the Gypsy section for the Challenge Cup, which is a non-championship class.
“The iconic K-1000 rally is running continuously for close to five decades, except a couple of years, and has once again attracted the cream of talent from all over the country. KMSC has put in place all safety requirements and I wish all the drivers a happy rally,” said Gautham Shantappa, the President of KMSC, who is also the vice-president of FMSCI.
10 Special Stages of dirt tracks
The K-1000 rally will have 10 Special Stages. There will be four physical stages with an total special stage competitive distance of 119.11km. The 15.10-km long Hatyalu and Kondli (9.67km) will be run thrice on Saturday while the cars will take on Yallapura (6.87km) and Thirtharama (15.53km) on Sunday. Along with a liaison distance of close to 105 km, the total distance of the rally will be about 224km.
The final round of the INRC, the Rally of Nagaland is scheduled for Jan 12-14 subject to approval by FMSCI, as it is a new venue.
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Gaurav Gill takes early lead on Saturday ahead of Karna Kadur
Coimbatore, 30 July 2022: Speed maestro Gaurav Gill, along with experienced co-driver Musa Sherif, led the overall standings after Day 1, in the Rally of Coimbatore, the second round of the Blueband Sports fmsci Indian National Rally Championship 2022 for four wheelers, organised by Coimbatore Auto Sports Club, here on Saturday.
Championship leaders Karna Kadur and co-driver Nikhil Pai, who won the first round in April, also drove their MRF Tyres-shod Polo cautiously to place themselves in the second position to protect their advantage as table toppers. Mangaluru’s Aroor Arjun Rao, along with co-driver Sathish Rajagopal were overall third after the first two Special Stages on Saturday. Four more Special Stages will be run on Sunday. The 19.65-Km Black Thunder stage and 14.75-km Thunder World stage will be run twice each alternately at the familiar Kethanoor windmill farms.
Gill, the seven-time overall INRC champion, supported by JK Tyre, was hell bent on stopping the streak of mechanical failures that he suffered in the last few rallies. The Arjuna Awardee confessed that this was probably his slowest ever rally in his career. Nevertheless, the three-time APRC champion was still the quickest on the dirt tracks, posting the fastest time in both the runs on the 26.6-km Special Stage ‘SM Agro’ on Saturday. The Agro special stage was the longest in recent years in INRC, and Gill’s team did not take any chances with the performance of the car. “This car has never done such a distance in the rally. Non-stop driving at high speed for over 20 minutes will be too much for the car… The engines, drive shafts and gears are not designed for such heat. So the focus is to bring the car back home safely,” Gill told the reporters.
Brothers Chetan Shivram and Dilip Sharan, the 2019 overall champions, combine once again after a gap, to take the lead in their class, the INRC2, after Day 1 in the Rally of Coimbatore, the INRC Round 2 on Saturday. Photo by Srinivasa Krishnan Bengaluru’s Chetan Shivram, is back with his brother Dilip Sharan as co-driver. The duo who won the 2019 Overall title, are leading the INRC2 class in a Polo on Yokohoma tyres, ahead of defending champions Aditya Thakur and Virender Kashyap of Himachal Pradesh. The Chettinad Sporting duo supported by MRF, are just three seconds behind and kept themselves at a striking distance with four stages to be run on Sunday. Another strong contender Fabid Ahmer (Sanath G), the reigning INRC2 champ began well but suffered drive shaft issues. He had mechanical problems in Round 1 too.
Chandigarh teenager Jahaan Singh Gill along with Bengaluru co-driver Suraj Keshava Prasad are leading INRC3 while Bengaluru INRC4 defending champions Deepak Chandra (co-driver Mahesh Nandy) are ahead in the 2-car INRC4 field.
Women in Motorsports: Bengaluru pair Pragathi Gowda and Trisha Alonkar are leading among the ladies teams with a creditable overall 23rd among 53 cars that took the start on Saturday.
Provisional Classification after Day 1 /Saturday:
Overall: 1. Gaurav Gill, Delhi /Musa Sherif, Kasargod, INRC (Privateer/Mahindra XUV 300) 47 minutes, 22.000 seconds; 2. Karna Kadur/ Nikhil Pai, both Bengaluru, INRC (Arka Motorsports/VW Polo 1.0) 48:53.300; 3. Aroor Arjun Rao, Mangaluru / Sathish Rajagopal, Bengaluru, INRC (Mandovi Racing/ Maruti Baleno RS) 49:12.800; 4. Chetan Shivram/ Dilip Sharan, both Bengaluru, INRC2 (Pvt/ VW Polo 1.6) 49:20.200; 5. Aditya Thakur, Solan, / Virender Kahsyap, Shimla, INRC2 (Chettinad Sporting/ VW Polo1.6) 49:23.200; 6. Dean Mascarenhas, Mangaluru / Gagan Karumbaiah, Kodagu, INRC (Pvt/ Baleno) 49:40.600; 7. Aroor Vikram Rao, Mangaluru / Somayya AG, Kodagu, INRC2 (Snap Racing/ VW Polo 1.6) 49:48.500.
INRC: 1. Gaurav Gill/Musa Sherif, (Privateer/Mahindra XUV 300) 47 minutes, 22.000 seconds;2. Karna Kadur/ Nikhil Pai, (Arka Motorsports/VW Polo 1.0) 48:53.300; 3. Aroor Arjun Rao, / Sathish Rajagopal, (Mandovi Racing/ Maruti Baleno RS) 49:12.800;
INRC2: 1. Chetan Shivram/ Dilip Sharan, both Bengaluru, (Pvt/ VW Polo 1.6) 49:20.200; 2. Aditya Thakur, Solan/ Virender Kahsyap, Shimla (Chettinad Sporting/ VW Polo1.6) 49:23.200; 3. Aroor Vikram Rao / Somayya AG, Both Mangaluru (Snap Racing/ VW Polo 1.6) 49:48.500.
INRC3: 1. Jahaan Singh Gill, Chandigarh/ Suraj Keshava Prasad, Bengaluru (Pvt./ VW Polo 1.6) 50:06.800; 2. Syed Salman Ahmed, Mysore / BK Rishabh, Mangaluru (Pvt/ VW Polo 1.6) 50:31.100; 3. Kuber Sharma, Solan / Kunal Kashyap, Shimla (Pvt./ VW Polo 1.6) 50:33.700; 4.
INRC4: 1. Deepak Chandra, /Mahesh Nandi, Both Bengaluru, (Pvt/Honda City) 55:41.000; 2. Ninu Mohan, Trivandrum / Goutham CP, (Pvt/Honda City) Chikmagalur, 1:03:42.400; 3.
Non-Championship – fmsci Gypsy Challenge: 1. Himanshu Arora, New Delhi /Vikram Thakur, Chandigarh (Pvt) 52:55.100; 2. Samrat Yadav, Chandigarh/ Chandrashekar, Bengaluru, (Pvt) 53:13.000; 3. Dheeraj KV/ Pramod Raman, Both Bengaluru (Pvt).
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Rally of Coimbatore flagged off: Blueband Sports INRC Round 2
Coimbatore, 29 July 2022: The Rally of Coimbatore, the second round of the Blueband Sports fmsci Indian National Rally Championship 2022 (INRC) for four wheelers was flagged off here on Friday.
The second round organised by Coimbatore Auto Sports Club (CASC) has attracted 54 entries. INRC, one of the popular Nationals in the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (fmsci) calendar returns after a long break for Round 2. The first round was held in Chennai in April.
The delayed 2021 season, was completed in March 2021 with the MMSC South India Rally (SIR) which was run along with the APRC Asia event. Karna Kadur and co-driver Nikhil Pai, won their maiden APRC event. The MRF duo are leading the 2022 season Overall table.
Chennai, also hosted the first round of the Blueband INRC Round 1, a month later in April 2022, and after tough fight Arka Motorsports Karna Kadur, in MRF colours, overcame the challenge from Dean Mascarenhas and co-driver Gagan Karumbaiah to take the overall lead in the 2022 championship.
Arka Motorsports’ Karna Kadur (Nikhil Pai) will spearhead the MRF Tyres campaign in the top INRC class along with defending champion Aditya Thakur and co-driver Virender Kashyap, who moved up to INRC 2 this year. Both are leading their respective classes after Round 1. Thakur and Kashyap, the Chettinad Sporting duo, competed in the INRC-3 class in 2021 and won the Overall honours.
Gaurav Gill (Musa Sherif) being flagged off at Coimbatore on Friday. The JK Tyre team is led by Arjuna Awardee and seven-times INRC Champion, Gaurav Gill (co-driver Musa Sherif) in a Mahindra XUV 300. However, with Amittrajit Ghosh, moving abroad, and missing the Round 1, talented rallyist from Mangalore Dean Mascarenhas (co-driver Gagan Karumbaiah) gets an upgrade to the premier INRC class. He will be driving a rally-spec Baleno R2. Ghosh’s navigator and top rallyist Ashwin Naik, who also missed Round 1, will be calling notes for Rohan Pawar of Team Slideways Industries in a INRC2 Polo.
Others to watch out for in INRC are, former champion Chetan Shivram, who is back with his brother Dilip Sharan, with whom he won the title in 2019, and Mandovi Racing’s Arjun Rao and Sathish Rajagopal. Veteran navigator and former champion BS Sujith Kumar makes a comeback (INRC) and will be calling the pace notes for Monish in a VW Polo 1.2GT. Arka Motorsports’ Dhruva Chandrasekhar and PVS Murthy complete the six-car INRC class.
In INRC2 class, JK Tyre’s Fabid Ahmer and co-driver Sanath G, who lost by a whisker last year, will be fighting with defending champions Adity Thakur (Kashyap) once again. Aroor Vikram and AG Somayaa of Snap Racing along with Suhem Kabir (Coorg) and co-driver Jeevarathinam will be the other experienced drivers in INRC2.
Talented Jahaan Singh Gill, who lost in scrutiny after winning on the ground in Round 1, will be in JK colours in INRC3 class along with Kuber Sharma and co-driver Kunal Kashyap INRC-3 victory. The class will have also have strong representation from women in motorsports. Pragathi Gowda and co-driver Trisha Alonka, Davangere doctors Shivani Pruthvi and co-driver Deepti Pruthvi, along with Shivani Parmer and her mom Dr Vani Parmar will all vie for honours in INRC3 class. Another talented driver Anushriya Gulati of Formula Woman fame (DB motorsports) will have Arjun Dheerendra as co-driver. Athira Murali, another talented lady driver from Kerala, will be missing from the line-up for this round.
There will be only three Gypsy entries this time around. The Gypsy class in a non-championship support class.
Note. Feature image caption was corrected on 30July2022.
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FMSCI statement: Rally de Vizag, INRC 4w season
As expected, the Federation of Motors Sports Clubs of India (fmsci) released a Statement on the INRC 4w 2021 fiasco as the season failed to take off. However, it absolves itself and appears to have blamed only the Promoter for all the ills and the circumstances leaving the Drivers in the lurch. However, it has to be seen how much money would the Clubs receive to host the remaining three rounds.
It is also clear that the privateers, drivers and teams, will not get any compensation as expected and demanded by the Promoter. Only solace for the Factory team drivers, as JK Tyre is likely to compensate the 8 or 9 drivers who are in Yellow colours. With not many in the Red colours, virtually all the other 45 will have to fend for themselves.
