INDIA in F1

Tag: INRC

  • INRC 2w Hall of Fame

    INRC 2w Hall of Fame

    Bengaluru: The Indian National Two-wheeler championship was one of the top events which was popular drawing thousands of spectators and generated huge interest in the motoring community in yester years. However, there are no proper records about the history of the National Championship which began simultaneously with the Four-wheeler Championship in 1988 and National titles were given for rider and navigator. Over the years, the bike rallies saw the disappearance of navigators and only drivers were required to take part in the championship. This article is Work in Progress. As we compile the old records, we request riders or fans to chip in if you have any old paper clips or result sheets. Thank you!

    2020 – Promoter – God Speed Racing, Pune headed by Shyam Kothari

    Champions 2020 INRC2w

    Overall: Samuel Jacob;

    Ladies: Aishwarya Pissay;

    1. Puttur, Gravel, 28, 29 November 2020; Rally of Puttur

    2. Bengaluru, Gravel, 6, 7 December 2020; K 1000 2w Rally; Suhail Ahmed

    3. Coimbatore, 23, 24 Jan 2021; Rally of Coimbatore; Overall winner: Samuel Jacob (TVS Racing) Apache RTR; Class 4: SS260cc Group B.

    4. Hampi, Gravel, 30, 31 January 2021; MRF MoGrip Rally of Hampi, Utsav de Hampi, Overall winner: Samuel Jacob (TVS Racing); Apache RTR; Class 4: SS260cc Group B.

    2019 – Promoter – God Speed Racing, Pune headed by Shyam Kothari

    1.

    2. Rally of Pune, AutoTrack Video here

    INRC 2-W final Championship Table 2019

    Class 1: Superbike (Pro-Expert):

    1. Rajendra RE, TVS Racing, 100

    2. R Nataraj, TVS Racing, 51

    3. Nikhil Balakrishna, Privateer, 36

    Class 1A: Superbike (Expert):

    1. Jatain Jain, 101

    2. Badal S Doshi, 65

    3. Venu Ramesh Kumar, 33

    Class 2 – Super Sport 130:

    1. M Srikanth, 95

    2. Azeeb Mohammed, 86

    3. Santhosh Kour, 53

    Class 3: Super Sport 165:

    1. Ishan Chandra, 126

    2. Francis PV, 90

    3. Akshay Siddharamaaiyah, 53

    Class 4: Super Sport 260:

    1. Imran Pasha, TVS Racing, 118,

    2. Samuel Jacob, TVS Racing, 91

    3. Sachin D, TVS Racing, 90

    Class 5: Super Sport 400:

    1. Sudeep Kottary, 118

    2. Vikram K, 58,

    3. Shivan Wani, 48

    Class 6: Super Sport 550:

    1. Suhail Ahmed, 125

    2. Arun Joy, 66

    3. Devraj Venkatesh, 59

    Class 7: S0 to S3 Scooters upto 210cc (S0 to S3):

    1. Syed Asif Ali, TVS Racing, 143

    2. Shamim Khan, TVS Racing, 102

    3. Pinkesh Thakkar, TVS Racing, 93

    Class 8 – Ladies Class: Ladies Class (Open Indian Motorcycles):

    1. Aishwarya Pissay, TVS Racing, 150

    2. Ryhana Bee, 48

    3. Fazeela, 36.

    2018 –

    2017

    2016

    2015

    1.

    2.

    3.. INRC 2w Rally – Chikmagalur; Watch AutoTrack YouTube video here!

    2014

    2013

    2012

    2011

    2010

    2009

    2008

    2007

    2007

    2006

    2005

    2004

    2003

    2002

    2001

    2000

    1999

    1. Nashik, 5, 6 June 1999: NASA Challenge 1999; Overall winner: Rohitaaz Kumar (MRF)
    2. Bengaluru, 14, 15 August 1999; Gravel, 25th Karnataka 1000 K1000 rally 1999; Overall winner: Rohitaaz Kumar (MRF)

    1998

  • Vikram Mathias, PVS Murthy win Nashik Rally to clinch National Championship

    Nashik, 21 Dec 2008: The 2004 National champion Vikram Mathias won the Overall winner’s trophy and also clinched the Indian National Rally Championship for a second time, albeit with a different navigator, as he won the IMG’s Rally of Maharashtra, the final round of INRC 2008, here on Sunday.  and thus also sealing the overall champiopnship title for 2008.

    Calling the pace notes and silently contributing to the success is co-driver PV Srinivasa Murthy, who toiled along with the popular driver to bag his maiden National Championship. Vikram Mathias won his maiden National Rally Championship four years back in 2004 with the popular navigator BS Sujith Kumar sharing the honours as co-driver.

    The Red Rooster driver won by a huge margin of 8 minutes, 26seconds from Vikram Devadasan, a Rally Star Cup (RSC) competitor, who finished a commendable second overall in the rally, after both the 1600 class challengers, Girijashankar Joshy and Sanket Shanbhag suffered technical issues. Vikram’s teammater, novice Amittrajit Ghosh, also went out of the reckoning early on Day 2 on the first stage of the day when he hit a rock, destroying his suspension.

    Ramesh and Sanket Shanbaug stood fourth and Girijashankar Joshi of Winspeed stood fifth in the overall category.

    In the Gypsy Cup category, Sandeep Sharma was the winner followed by Suresh Rana and Chettinad Sporting’s Sanjay Agarwal on the podium in that order.

    In Rally Star Cup category, Chettinad Sproting’s Vikram Devadasen got the top position followed by Shailendar Hegde in second and Godrej Byram in third.

    In 1400 CC category, Saurabh Chaudhary claimed the winner’s trophy while JM Manju stood second and S Sujay claimed the third spot.

    In the 1600 CC category, Winspeed’s Sanket Shanbaug lifted the winner’s trophy and his teammate Girijashankar Joshy claimed the second spot.

    The winners were given trophies and mementoes at the hands of Superintendent of Police Nikhil Gupta and other dignitaries in a glittering ceremony at Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan, the headquarters of Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) here. The rally was organized by Western India Sports Association (WISA).

    Provisional Unaudited Results:

    Overall: 1. Vikram Matthias Mitsubishi Cedia (REd Rooster Racing) (1hour, 26min, 21sec); 2. Vikram Devadasan Maruti Esteem (RSC) (1:34:47); 3. Shailendar Hegde (Maruti Esteem RSC) (1: 35:03);

    Group N 1600 class: 1. Sanket Shanbhag (Maruti Baleno) (1:36:22); 2. Girijashankar Joshy (Maruti Baleno) (1:36:28);

    Group N 1400 class: JM Manju (Maruti Esteem) (1:40:31); 2. Sourabh Chaudhry (Maruti Esteem) (1:43:34); 3. S Sujay (Maruti Esteem) (1:45:38;

    Rally Star Cup (RSC): 1. Vikram Devadasan (Maruti Esteem) (RSC) 1:34:47); 2. Shailendar Hegde (Maruti Esteem) (RSC) (1:35:03); 3. Byram Godrej (Maruti Esteem) (RSC) (1:37:35).

    Gypsy Cup: 1. Sandeep Sharma (1:41:10) 2. Suresh Rana (1:42:15); 3. Sanjay Agarwal (1:45:08);

  • Vikram Mathias, PVS Murthy crowned INRC Champions

    Coorg, 30 Nov 2008: Karnataka duo Vikram Mathias and co-driver PV Srinivasa Murthy of Red Rooster Racing team won the overall title and were crowned the champions of the Indian National Racing Championship (INRC) for 2008 with a round to spare here on Sunday. Thus, Vikram Mathias bagged his second National title. He won the crown for the first time in 2004 with Sujith Kumar BS as his co-driver. It was the maiden title for Murthy.

    Rally de Coorg, the fifth and penultimate round of the INRC took off for the second leg on Sunday with the 20 competitors starting from Gandhi Maidan at 7 am to show case their talent and driving skills in the three stages which were run in reverse direction today.

    Vikram Mathias and PVS Murthy took the overall honours with steady performance and were trailed by another Karnataka pair Girijashankar Joshy and co-driver Prajval Pai, of Team Winspeed, who notched up an impressive overall second beside winning their class, the 1600cc.

    Sujay and co-driver SM Bharath won the 1400cc class beating Hyderabad’s Mazdayar Vatcha and co-driver Vinayak Nanada to take the second place in the 1400cc class.

    Local star Den Thimmaiah, the brother of international hockey star Len Aiyappa, had Ravindra as his co-driver and the duo performed admirably to claim Overall fourth place and in the process also won the Rally Star Cup (RSC). 

    Shafeeque and co-driver George Varghese also overtook the overnight second-placed teams of Raghuram CG and co-driver Balram CG and third-placed team of Byram Godrej and navigator Anjay Kapadia to clinch the second position in the RSC Class.


    Experienced pair of Sanjay Agarwal and co-driver Elias Paarel notched up a facile win in their class to win the Gypsy Cup while J Aravind and co-driver Varun came second.

    Provisional Results after Day 2:

    Overall: 1. Vikram Mathias/ PVS Murthy (Red Rooster Racing) (1hour, 41min, 41sec); 2. Girijashanker Joshy/ Prajval Pai (Team Winspeed) (1:48:10); 3. S Sujay/ SM Bharth (1:51:03); 4. Den Thimmaiah/ Ravindra (1:51:39); 5. Mazdayar Vatcha/ Vinayak Nanda (1:52:06).

    1600cc class: 1. Girijashanker Joshy /Prajval Pai (1:48:10).

    1400cc class: 1. S Sujay/ SM Bharath (1:51:03); 2. Mazdayar Vatcha/ Vinayak Nandalike  (1:52:06); 3. JM Manju/ Jeevarathinam (1:59:30).

    Rally Star Cup: 1. Den Thimmaiah/ Ravindra (1:51:39); 2. Shafeeq-ur-Rehman/ Geroge Varghese (1:53:09); 3. Raghuram CG/ Balram CG (1:53:40).

    Gypsy Class: 1. Sanjay Agarwal/ Elias Paarel (1:59:11); 2. J Aravin/ Varun (2:00:38); 3.
    Venkatesh/ Lakshmikant (2:5:17).

    ends

  • Vikram Mathias-Murthy begin season with a win

    Mysore, 15 June 2008: Team Red Rooster’s two 2000cc N+ Cedia cars with Vikram Mathias and co-driver PVS Murthy and Amittrajit Ghosh and co-driver Ashwin Naik behind the wheels finished a commanding 1-2 position in the Sidvin Rally of Karnataka 2008, the first round of the MAI Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) on here Sunday.

    The 32-year-old former National Champion, Vikram, and the racing and rallying champion 22-year old Amittrajit Ghosh, drove the final day with many a problem but held on to the overnight lead and finished on top.

    “Just the very first stage of the day was run, we noticed that the fuel railing had come off and the fuel was leaking. It was a bit scary, whether the fuel will hold until two more stages. So we ‘crawled’ through the second stage and in the third stage tied the rail up and drove hard and finished the first run. Once we sorted out the problem in Service, we were back to our regular place and won the rally with ease,” said a beaming Vikram Mathias at the post-event Winners Press Conference.” The american civil rights movements was a long legal battle and struggle which reminds us of our strong legal system that can help anybody that feels that something unfair has happened against them.

    From Left: PVS Murthy & Vikram Mathias (winners) and Amittrajit Ghosh and Ashwin Naik (Overall 2nd) after the rally. Photo by George Francis

    “We are happy that we were able finish 1-2 but it would have been better if the Reds were there, for the competition would have been higher,” he added.

    Amittrajit, who is drivinmg a 2000 N+ class for the first time, thanked Vikram, Leelakrishnan, and Naren Kumar for all the training and tips that he received from them. Team owner of Red Rooster Racing, Dinesh Reddy said:  “We certainly are happy with the results. It would have been better if we had more competition. Our boys have been training and practicing well and the cars were definitely well prepared.”

    When queried why they are in the sport, Dinesh said: “It is basically the passion. But we are eventually looking at producing a National Champion and give the sport and the drivers in India what they really deserve.”  The very unfortunate exit of the day was Team Winspeed Sanket and co-driver Ramesh Shanbag, who went off the route as they slid into a canal, hardly 7 kilometers before the finish of the stages. They were running third overall and first in the 1600cc class.

    The Rally Star Cup (RSC) Class, saw Shailendra Hegde and navigator Sheraz Ahmed finish first and third overall. The duo who came into the lead after a results correction late yesterday night, drove a clean rally to win the RSC Class. “It was the J Anand suspension that made the difference,” said Shailendra, “I have driven the earlier rallys on Konies and have found the suspension not suitable to our terrain. The J Anand suspensions definitely put us ahead of the 1400cc cars also, and so we were able to finish third overall. J Anand Suspensions, are suspensions manufactured by ace tuner J Anand, and named after him. Vikram Devadasen and Raymond finished second and Byram Godrej and co-driver Anjay Kapadia finished third in RSC.

    The 1600cc class had a winner in Arjun Surya and navigator Ravi Venkatesh, who were in their debut rally. “We are obviously thrilled with our win. But we knew that Ramesh and Sanket had a 4-minute lead, and there was no way we could catch him. We just wanted to finish our debut rally and we are happy that we have won it on debut,” they said.

    The 1400cc class was won by Samarth KV and co-driver Praakhyat Shirole, who also led after the results were finalised late yesterday night. “We had a very clean run. Absolutely no problem with the cars, and enjoyed every moment of it,” they said. JM Manju and co-driver Jeevarathinam finished second, followed by S.Sujay and SM Bharath.

    The Gypsy class was won by veteran Rally driver Sanjay Agarwal and co-driver Shiva Prakash. Consolidating on their overnight lead, the Bangalore duo won the class with élan. “I was driving a gypsy after 13 years, and I enjoyed every bit of the rally. It was simply awesome,” said Sanjay, who is known as ‘Tiger in rally circles. “I have sat with him both in a 1400cc car and in a Gypsy now and I think that he is a much better Gypsy driver,” opined Shiva. “We expected the North Indian Rally drivers Sandeep Sharma and Suresh Rana and Sunny Sidhu to be here. Then the competition would have been more fun,” he commented.

    The third and final day of the Sidvin Rally of Karnataka 2008, flagged off at 7 am from the Golden Landmark Resorts on Sunday morning, and did the three special stages in the Malavalli area, 50 km from Mysore, twice in the  reverse direction. All 34 cars started the day and 25 finished the rally in full. Most of the 9 drop-outs suffered mechanical problems, except for the Shanbags who went into the canal. The rally ended around 2 pm having completed 111 kms of competing Special Stage distance, and 308 kms of traversing Transport distance, to total 419 kms of the Sidvin Rally of Karnataka 2008. This was followed by the Champagne showering ceremony at 3.30 pm and the post-event winners Press Conference at 4.15 pm. A glittering prize distribution function awaited at 7 pm that would bring the rally to a close.

    The Prosports-run event, had Sidvin Core Tech as the title sponsor, Golden Landmark Hotels as the hospitality partner and co-sponsor, SLN Properties and Mitsubishi distributors, Hindustan Motors Limited as associate sponsors. Sanjeevini, the NGO, who handles highway accidents with their ambulances, helped out with their trauma ambulances.

    Provisional Unaudited Results:

    Overall: 1. Vikram Mathias / PVS Murthy (Team Red Rooster Racing) (1hour 33min, 5sec); 2. Amittrajit Ghosh /Ashwin Naik (Team Red Rooster Racing) (1:38:36); 3. Shailendra Hedge / Sheraz Ahmed (1::44:19).

    2000 N+ Class: 1. Vikram Mathias /PVS Murthy (Team Red Rooster Racing) (1::33:05);
    2. Amittrajit Ghosh /Ashwin Naik (Team Red Rooster Racing) (1::38:36).

    1600cc class; 1. Arjun Surya /Ravi Venkatesh (1::47:33);

    1400cc class: 1. Samarth KV /Prakhyat Shirole (1::44:55); 2. JM Manju /Jeevarathinam (1::47:19); 3. S Sujay and S M Bharath (1::48:36).

    Rally Star Cup: 1. Shailendra Hedge /Sheraz Ahmed (1::44:19); 2. Vikram Devadasen /Raymond (1:45:41); 3. Byram Godrej /Anjay Kapadia (1::46:51).

    Gypsy Class: 1. Sanjay Agarwal /Shiva Prakash (1::50:30); 2. Dhiraj Doipode /Pramod Raman (2::00:51).

  • Lohith Urs-Jaidas Menon win Rally of Maharashtra; Gill-Musa clinch INRC title

    Pune, 1 Dec 2007: With an overnight lead of 1 minute, 52 seconds, nothing short of a complete breakdown could have prevented Lohit Urs and co-driver Jaidas Menon from driving to their first overall win the MAI’s Indian National Rally Championship 2007. It ultimately proved to be smooth sailing for the jovial driver from Mysore as he increased his overnight lead to 2 minutes, 15 seconds over the second-placed Amitrajit Ghosh to take overall honours in the WISA Rally of Maharashtra, sponsored by MRF and the Pandit Group, which concluded in Pune on Sunday.

    Urs’ victory helped him leapfrog into third position in the points tally for the overall National championship, which had already been decided in Team MRF’s Gaurav Gill’s favour before this last round. Another Team MRF driver, Arjun Rao Aroor, who finished third overall in this round, is second in the points tally for the National Championship. Gill tallied 48 points, followed by Aroor (26), with Urs tied with Amitrajit Ghosh on 24.

    Aroor, who held a comfortable lead in the 1600cc category, and Amitrajit Ghosh, leader in the 1400cc category, secured the National championships in their respective categories with their leading performances here. Aroor has tallied 50 points, followed by Rahul Kanthraj (21) and Philipos Mathai (14). Kanthraj and co-driver Vivek Bhatt finished third in the 1600cc category here, behind the son-father duo of Sanket Shanbhag and Ramesh Shanbhag. Ghosh, a comfortable winner in the 1400c category, also emerged the National champion with 56 points, a huge lead over the second-placed Prithvi Dominic (25).

    The close battles for the National Championship in the Rally Star Cup and the Gypsy Cup were decided in the favour of Mazdayar Vatcha and Suresh Rana after their victories here over Abhijeet Pai and Surendra Babu respectively. Vatcha and Pai were tied on 27 points before the final round, but Vatcha who held an overnight lead of 48 seconds over Pai, managed to keep his nose ahead till the end. Pai finished third in the rally Star Cup behind Byram Godrej, his show earning him the second spot in the RSC points table for the National Championship.

    The need for extra speed proved disastrous for Chetan Shivram and co-driver Roopesh Kholay, who crashed out on the second day, one of the two cars to not finish the day’s proceedings, the other being driven by Ashutosh Shetty and co-driver Anup.

    The podium finish was held at the service park at Kurund, near Shirur and was accompanied by a Maharashtrian cultural show, which also had special guests in the form of State Finance Minister, Shri Jayant Patil and State Forest Minister, Shri. Babanrao Pachpute.

    Provisional Unofficial results:

    Overall: 1. Lohit Urs/Jaidas Menon (Fiesta, Team MRF) (1 hour, 11 mins, 39 secs); 2. Amitrajit Ghosh/ Sourabh Choudhary (Esteem) (1: 13.54); 3. Arjun Rao Aroor/Satish Kumar (Baleno, Team MRF) (1:15.53); 4. Prithvi Dominic/Jeevarathinam (Esteem) (1:17.02); 5. Sanket Shanbhag/Ramesh Shanbhag (Baleno) 1:17.13.

    1600 cc: 1. Arjun Rao Aroor/Satish Kumar (Baleno, Team MRF) (1:15.53); 2. Sanket Shanbhag/Ramesh Shanbhag (Baleno) (1: 17.13); 3. Rahul Kanthraj/Vivek Bhatt (Baleno) (1:23.09).

    1400cc: 1. Amitrajit Ghosh/ Sourabh Choudhary (Esteem) (1:13.54); 2. Prithvi Dominic/ Jeevarathinam (Esteem) (1:17.02); 3. S Sujay/ Chandrasekhar M (Esteem) (1: 19.43).

    Rally Star Cup: 1. Mazdayar Vatcha/Madhu K. C (Esteem) (1:20.25); 2. Byram Godrej/ Anjay Kapadia (Esteem) (1:20.49); 3. Abhijeet Pai/ Prajal Pai (Esteem) (1: 20.52).

    Gypsy Cup: 1. Suresh Rana/ HS Bawa (1:23.37); 2. Surendra Babu/ Vinay Shaker (1:23.30); 3. Kamaljit Virdi/ Manoj Kumar (1:31.47).

  • Gaurav Gill-Musa Sherif win Coffee Day Rally with ease

    Chikmagalur, 7 May 2007: Talented Gaurav Gill of Team MRF displayed his amazing driving skills to claim his second overall win, finishing the nine special stages of the Coffee Day Rally, the second round of the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) here on Sunday. Gill, along with co-driver Musa Sherif, was a whopping 1 minute 52 seconds, ahead of teammate Arjun Balu here.

    The 23-year-old from Delhi driver along with co-driver Musa Sherif, were leading overnight by 40 seconds over Lohit Urs and Jaidas Menon added another six seconds in Sunday’s opening stage. But alas, Urs toppled in the next stage and was out of reckoning for the top slot.

    Arjun Balu and co-driver Kumaraswamy failed to push Gill, who garnered a comfortable lead and came out an emphatic winner. This is his second first place finish in the MAI’s INRC in as many starts. Gill clocked 1: 41.02 for his special stages while Balu took 1:42.53.

    Thirty one cars started on the second day, of which 26 came into parc ferme at Amalgamated Bean Company Limited (ABC). While four cars had to pull out in the day’s second stage due to technical problems, Deepak Paul Chinappa crashed on the return journey of the transport stage, his car toppling after banging into a boulder. The car was wrecked, but Chinappa and co-driver Sri Karunya escaped without injury.

    Amitrajit Ghosh and co-driver Sourabh Choudhary won the 1400cc category while Arvind J and navigator SM Bharath clinched the Rally Star Cup. Suresh Rana had no trouble winning the Gypsy Cup along with co-driver Harpreet Bawa.

    Gill has virtually rendered the INRC into a one-horse race, such has been his domination in the opening two rounds, notwithstanding his impressive run last year. Completely at ease in the 2000cc Cedia he seems to be improving with every rally, in stark contrast to his teammates, struggling to come to terms with the more powerful cars and finishing nowhere near Gill’s timings.

    “I lost the brakes of the car in the day’s second stage and flipped over after hitting a tree stump. I had to then call some spectators to right the car and lost precious time,” said a disappointed Urs. Any hopes he had in finishing among the top five overall were then dashed when he had a flat tyre in the repeat of the same stage and had to use his spare, which cost him another 20 minutes. Urs finished way back down the list in 2: 07.30.

    Provisional unaudited results:

    Overall: 1. Gaurav Gill/Musa Sherif (Team MRF, 2000cc Cedia) (1hour, 41min, 2sec); 2. Arjun Balu/Kumar Ramaswamy (Team MRF, 2000cc Cedia) (1: 42.53); 3. Arjun Rao Aroor/Satish Kumar (Team MRF, 1600cc Baleno) (1:46.33); 4. Philippos Mathai/ Ashwin Naik (Team MRF, 1600cc Baleno) (1:49.09); 5. BS Pruthvi/ Sunil Shetty (Baleno) (1:50.33).

    1600cc: 1. Arjun Rao Aroor/ Satish Kumar (Team MRF, 1600cc Baleno) (1:46.33); 2. Philippos Mathai/ Ashwin Naik (Team MRF, 1600cc Baleno) (1: 49.09); 3. BS Pruthvi/ Sunil Shetty (Baleno) (1:50.33).

    1400cc: 1. Amitrajit Ghosh/ Sourabh Chaudhary (Esteem) (1:53.44); 2. S Sujay/ M Chandrasekhar (Esteem) (2:01.07); 3. G Raju Prasanth/ Samuel Sangeeth (Esteem) (2:10.11).

    Rally Star Cup: 1. Arvind J/ SM Bharath (Esteem) (1:54.23); 2. Mazdayar Vatcha/ Kaushik Shinde (Esteem) (1: 54.27); 3. Elias Paarel/ Madhu KC (1:55.01).

    Gypsy Cup (3 stages): 1. Suresh Rana/ Harpreet Bawa (1:57.33); 2. Kamaljit Virdi/ Manoj Kumar (2:17.05).

  • Gill-Musa clinch Kerala rally

    Kochi, 11 Mar 2007: Indian speed maestro Gaurav Gill of Delhi, stamped his class once again and conquered new region adding Kochi to his list of triumphs winning the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) round here in the state of Kerala on Sunday.

    The fluent driving and aggressive approach saw the talented champion dominate all the stages on Day 2 and capture a well-deserved win. Veteran champion Jagat Nanjappa was all praise for the youngster as he displayed a class of his own. He was a clear winner by 1 minute 22 seconds at the 22nd Heera Rally, the first round of the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC). With an overnight lead of 48 seconds, the speed master took it easy and it was just a matter of time to notch up another win.

    With disciplined and meticulous Musa Sherif calling the pace notes, Gill, in only his second year on the rallying circuit, had a simple plan. To keep it cool and drive safe. And he did it, with confidence and class. Earlier, he had the strength of Farooq Ahmed as his navigator but Sherif too fitted in as well.

    Gaurav Gill and Musa Sherif (right) receiving the trophy after winning the Heera Rally. Photo courtesy Musa Sherif

    Gill’s teammates Lohitt Urs and co-driver Pradeep Kumar suffered an engine seizure on the day’s first stage and it became virtually a one-horse race. It was left to the pair of Arjun Rao Aroor and Satish Kumar to take the second place, way-beyond the winners.

    Gill, looks forward to the Asia Pacific Rally Championship for Team MRF now after the Chandigarh-leg of the INRC in April. He decided to race against clock rather than take it easy. “There’s no point in being content just winning, it’s how you push yourself that matters and that’s exactly what I did,” said Gill. Gill was doing speeds of 177-km per hour, which distinctly reflected on the stage times as compared to Day 1.

    “Today, I adopted a different approach to my driving, concentrating more on the technical aspects rather then sheer power. Results showed, didn’t they,” he asked in jest.

    Gill clocked 1 hour, 16 minutes, 44 seconds compared to Aroor’s 1:18.06.

    Day 1: Earlier on Saturday March 10, the 25-year-old proved his superiority by shrugging off the handicap of suffering two flat tyres and managed a reduce the gap to 51 seonds behind the leaders. But by the end of the day he not only covered the distance but took a lead of 48 seconds ahead of Lohit Urs and co-driver Pradeep Kumar and also overtook Arjunrao Aroor and co-driver Satish Kumar.

    With six stages completed, Gill, co-driven by Musa Sherif, was his usual self; going flat-out on the 15.06-kilometre opening stage at Illythodu, situated 75 kilometers from Kochi. Clocking 10.10 seconds, he had flats in his front tyre, which he managed to replace, and rear right tyres which he drove on to concede a 51-second lead to Arjun Balu. “I was driving fast and safe and I was aware of what I was doing,” explained Gill, who, over the next two stages, regained a 10-second lead after Balu was forced to pull out and Lohit Urs and Pradeep Kumar had problems aplenty due to a torn exhaust.

    That was the beginning of Gill’s dominance, as in the next two stages he increased the lead to 48 seconds over Lohit, with Arjun Rao Aroor 1 minute, 27 seconds adrift of Lohit in third place.

    While Gill was having his moments on the route, veterans Karandip Singh (Jaidas Menon), Arjun Balu (Kumar Ramaswamy), Prithveen Rajan (PVS Murthy) had their share of ‘luckless’ moments. Karandeep dropped out with a gearbox leak on the transport stage while Arjun, who pushed his car back to the starters’ ramp a day earlier during the ceremonial flag-off also pulled out along with Prithveen who suffered due to car problems at different stages.

    Additional Notes added By David on 29 Sept. 2021 from Archives courtesy Mint, who first published it.

    Team MRF’s Aroor Arjun Rao and his co-driver Satish Kumar Rajagopal came second in the overall standing while third place went to Girijashankar Joshy-Srikanth G M.

    In the 1600 cc segment, Aroor Arjun Rao emerged winner, while the 1400 cc segment was won by Girija Shankar Joshi.

    The Rally Star cup went to Abhijeet N Pai and Prajal Pai while the Gypsy Cup went to Surendra Babu and Sheraz Ahmed.

    18 cars out of the 30 were flagged off on the opening day of the rally with each of them vying for the prize money that amounted to ₹ 4.5 lakhs.

    This was the first round of the Indian National Rally championship, a six-round event organized by the MotorSports Association of India. The next round will be held in April at Chandigarh.

  • Gaurav Gill-Farooq Ahmed clinch Bosch K1000 Rally

    By David Bodapati

    Bangalore, 13 August 2006: Talented Gauravsingh Gill and experienced co-driver Farooq Ahmed maintained the overnight lead they had built and coasted to a facile win in the Bosch K1000 Rally, the 4th round of the MAI Indian National Rally Championship(INRC) which concluded at The Club, here, on Sunday.

    Gaurav Gill and Farooq Ahmed, who won the K1000 overall title. Photo Yogesh Kalro @FB

    Gill and Ahmed completed the 13 special stages in the Mitsubishi Cedia with a timing of 1:28.14, 35 seconds ahead of Team MRF’s Karandip Singh (co-driver Jaidas Menon), with Team MRF’s Arjun Balu (Kumar Ramaswamy) coming in third in 1:29.04, driving the Ford Fiesta.

    However, Team MRF had the satisfaction of storming to the top of the points table, Karandip’s second-placed finish fetching him 12 points to take his tally to 33.

    A Chettinad Sporting car in action in the Bosch K1000 Rally. An INDIAinF1 image.
    A Chettinad Sporting car in action in the Bosch K1000 Rally. An INDIAinF1 image.

    Gill victory seeds him in second place with 31, while Naren Kumar is in third spot with 29.

    The 1400 cc category saw overnight leaders Girijashankar Joshy (co-driver Srikanth GM) pop the champagne, while Sanjay Agarwal (Pradeep Kumar) finished second Dr Bikku Babu (Bonnie Thomas), making a return to rallying after four years, finished third.

    Rajesh Gadakh and Paritosh Kohok also secured their second consecutive title of the season when they drove to victory in the Rally Star Cup. In the Gypsy Cup, overnight leader Sanket Shanbhag (Ramesh Shanbhag) went off the road and into a tree in the day’s second last stage, losing more than a minute in the process, wiping out their lead. Second-placed Suresh Rana then maintained the slender two-second lead to win the title.

    Gill, who has emerged as a strong contender to break into the echelons of Indian rallying, occupied by the likes of Naren Kumar and Karandip Singh, was ecstatic after his win. “I was never in trouble throughout the two days and thoroughly enjoyed my drive,” said the young champion. After the day’s first three stages, Karandip Singh had managed to whittle the overnight lead of 52 seconds to 28, thanks to rear suspension problems for Gill, but after the final service, with his car fixed up, Gill then stepped on the pedal in the last three stages to drive home a comfortable winner.

    “The choice for me was to either go all out and risk not finishing or ease off a bit and settle for second place. Since the second place was giving me the championship lead, I decided to play safe,” said Karandip Singh, for whom action now shifts into hometown Chandigarh, the venue for the next round of the championship.

    Defending champion Naren Kumar (Ram Kumar) of Team JK Tyre pushed hard in an attempt to make good the difference in timing, but though he finished with the day’s fastest timings, which fetched him 3 points, he could not better on his overall fifth finish. Fourth place was taken by Team MRF’s Lohith Urs (Musa Shereif).

    Final provisional placings:

    1600cc: 1. Gauravsingh Gill/Farooq Ahmed (Team JK Tyre, Mitsubishi Cedia) (1hour, 28min, 14sec); 2. Karandip Singh/ Jaidas Menon (Team MRF, Maruti Baleno) (1:28.45); 3. Arjun Balu/ Kumar Ramaswamy (Team MRF, Ford Fiesta) (1:29.04); 4. Lohit Urs/ Musa Sherif (Team MRF, Maruti Baleno) (1:29.26); 5. Naren Kumar/D Ram Kumar (Team MRF, Maruti Baleno) (1: 29.28).

    1400cc: 1. Girijashankar Joshy/Srikant GM (1:31.45); 2. Sanjay Agarwal/Pradeep Kumar (1:32.50); 3. Bikku Babu/Bonnie Thomas (1:36.56).

    Rally Star Cup: 1. Rajesh Gadakh/Paritosh Kohok (1:38.12); 2/ Amanpreet Ahluwalia/Manoj Shadija (1:38.58); 3. Deepak Chinappa/Sri Karnuya (1:40.25).

    Gypsy Cup: 1. Suresh Rana/Surendar Kumar (1:39.38); 2. Sanket Shanbhag/ Ramesh Shanbhag  (1:39.40).

  • Naren-Ram win thrilling Coffee Day Rally; Gill crashes out

    Chikmagalur, 28 May 2006: In a nail-biting finish, winner Naren Kumar and co-driver D Ramkumar, who were leading by a narrow margin of a second had to wait anxiously for the pair of Gaurav Gill and Musa Sherif to finish the last stage. But with Gill crashing out, the champion duo, claimed the Overall honours in the Coffee Day rally, the second round of the MAI Indian National Rally Championship here on Sunday.

    The reigning champions lost the first round of Motorsports Association of India (MAI) organised National championship, held at Pune to strong contenders Gaurav Gill, who had the advantage of an experienced navigator Farooq Ahmed. Unfortunately, trying to gain that wee bit advantage in the last stage, Gill had crashed out and Naren equalised the National Championship standings with this win.

    Starting the last stage, the Birur Canal Stage, Gaurav Gill was just a second behind as Naren just finished the rally. But alas, the speed king crashed out in the stage and Naren Kumar heaved a sigh of releif.

    But like a true champion, Naren expressed sympathy for his JK Tyre teammate saying: “Gaurav is an excellent driver and his entry into the INRC has infused a greater degree of competition. It’s much tougher to win now,” he conceded, praising the young talent.

    Naren too had some hiccups in the last stage but recovered from a spin as he managed to reverse and get back on the road.

    The stages on Sunday proved to be competitive. Though, Naren had taken a lead of 20 seconds in the morning, Gaurav upped the pace and drove flat out to reduce the margin and was within seconds before starting the last stage.

    Gill had a golden chance when Naren made an off-road spin but as fate would have it, Gill hit a ridge and crashed into the fence after a roll. Thanks to the roll-cage, both the driver and the co-driver were safe.

    Thus Karandip Singh and Jaidas Menon of Team MRF, gained a place, finishing second though more than a minute behind Naren. Lohith V Urs and Musa Sherif came third.

    Sanjay Aggarwal, who missed the Pune round, paired with co-driver Pradeep Kumar, to win the 1400cc class.

    Provisional results: Upto 1600cc: 1. Naren Kumar/Ramkumar (JK Tyres) (1hour, 48min, 45sec); 2. Karandip Singh/Jaidas Menon (Team MRF) (1.49.57); 3. Lohith V. Urs/Musa Sherif (Team MRF) (1.50:57); 4. Arjun Rao Aroor/Chandramouli (Team MRF) (1.51:28).

    Upto 1400cc: 1. Sanjay Aggarwal/ Pradeep Kumar (2.03.52); 2. Ravi Aggarwal/ Prakash D’Souza (2.09:18).

    Rally Star Cup: 1. Rajesh Gadakh/ Paritosh Kohok (2.06:20); 2. Amanpreet Ahluwalia/ Manoj Shadija (2.06:49); 3. Hitesh Sharma/ E Shivaprakash (2.15:19).

    Gypsy Class: 1. Sandeep Sharma/ CK Chinappa (2.02:01); 2. Sanket Shanbagh/ Rajesh Shanbagh (2.03.32).

  • Naren Kumar-Ram win Sujana MRF Deccan Rally

    Hyderabad, 11 Dec 2005: Naren Kumar and co-driver D Ramkumar won the three-day Sujana MRF Deccan Rally 2005, the seventh and final round of the Motorsports Association of India (MAI) Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) which concluded here on Sunday.

    Leading by just two points before the start of the Rally, Naren Kumar and Ramkumar wrested the National Championship by a convincing margin after winning the Deccan Rally. They left beyond doubt, who the winners are, despite having the advantage of bagging the title even without winning the rally as Arjun Balu, the main contender, had crashed out on Saturday. Thus Naren Kumar won his fifth National title to become the celebrated driver in the 18-year history of INRC in this format. He just needs one more title to overtake Coimbatore star N Leelakrishnan, who has six titles.

    Speed master Gaurav Gill of Delhi finished second ahead of Mysore star Lohith Urs. Girijashankar JOshy won the Rally Star Cup while Sandeep Sharma clinched the Gypsy Cup. Sanjay Aggarwal beat Ravi Aggarwal to second place and bagged the 1400cc class and local lad Ramaraj, ignited the celebration at home, taking the final place on the podium in this calss. Rayna Aranhya won the Ladies Class.

    Before the start of the rally, the championship standings were nail-bitingly poised as Naren Kumar with 42 points is leading by just two points on Arjun Balu, who garnered 40 points. In the 1400cc class,Sanjay Agarwal is leading Prithveen Rajan by two points.

    The last rally of the INRC 2005 season got underway on Friday with the Recce being completed in time by all 26 entries. The number of entries makes it the second-highest this year. As usual, the competition will be in all the three classes, namely 1600cc, 1400cc and Rally Star Cup (RSC). The top names that will be vying for honours are strong contenders Naren Kumar and talented Arjun Balu in the Overall and 1600cc classes. Both belong to team MRF. Pritveen Rajan and Sanjay Aggarwal in 1400cc and Chetan and Joshi in RSC category are the other drivers to watch out for.

    The Rally will be flagged off at 12.15 pm from Fortune Katriya Hotel and the Super Special Stage (SSS) will be held at NTR Stadium. The SSS covering a distance of 4km will be run twice. The Rally Special Stages on Friday and Saturday will be run in the picturesque locations on the Karimnagar Road, about 45km from the city. The three Special Stages will be run thrice in the forward direction and once in Reverse direction totalling for 12 Special Stages on Day I and will be repeated on Sunday. The Stages were smooth gravel with tight and twisty corners.

    Unofficial OVERALL RESULTS: 1. Naren Kumar/ Ramkumar; 2. Gaurav Gill; 3.Lohit Urs; 4. Sanjay Agarwal; 5. Rajith Ballal.

    1400cc class: 1. Sanjay Agarwal; 2. Ravi Agarwal; 3. Ramaraju.

    Rally Star Cup: 1. Girijashankar Joshy; 2. Anil Wadia; 3. Thirtha Patil.

    Gypsy Class: 1. Sandeep Sharma; 2. Sanket Shanbhag.

    Ladies Class: 1. Rayna Aranhya;

    Best Local Entry: 1. Ramaraju.

    (Note: The results compiled are from unofficial sources)

    SSS timings :
    1. Naren Kumar 4m 07s (Maruti Suzuki Baleno 1600);

    2. Arjun Balu 4m 12s (Maruti Suzuki Baleno 1600);

    3. Arjun Aroor 4m 12s (Maruti Suzuki Baleno 1600);

    4. Karandip Singh 4m 12s (Maruti Suzuki Baleno 1600);

    5. Lohit Urs 4m 15s (Maruti Suzuki Baleno 1600);

    6. Pritveen Rajan 4m 19s (Maruti Suzuki Esteem 1400);

    7. Gaurav Gill 4m 20s (Maruti Suzuki Baleno 1600);

    8. Jiby 4m 21s (Team Gulf Oil, Honda city Vtec);

    9. Sanjay Agarwal 4m 23s (Maruti Suzuki Esteem 1400);

    10. Phillipose 4m 24s (Maruti Suzuki Esteem 1400);

    11. Ranjith 4m 24s (Maruti Suzuki Baleno 1600);

    12. Rahul 4m 25s (Maruti Suzuki Baleno 1600);

    13. Joshi 4m 26s (Maruti Suzuki Esteem 1300 RSC);

    14. Shresta 4m 28s (Maruti Suzuki Baleno 1600);

    15. Sandeep 4m 31s (Maruti Suzuki Gypsy);

    16. Sanket 4m 31s (Maruti Suzuki Gypsy);

    17. Ravi 4m 32s (Maruti Suzuki Esteem 1300 RSC);

    18. Anil Wadia 4m 34s (Maruti Suzuki Esteem 1400);

    19. Chetan 4m 35s (Maruti Suzuki Esteem 1300 RSC);

    20. TT Patil 4m 40s (Maruti Suzuki Esteem 1400);

    21. Prithvi 4m 41s (Maruti Suzuki Esteem 1300 RSC);

    22. Kiran 4m 45s (Maruti Suzuki Esteem 1300 RSC);

    23. Zubin 4m 45s (Maruti Suzuki Esteem 1300 RSC);

    24. Anita 5m 04s (Maruti Suzuki Esteem 1300 RSC);

    25. Ramaraju 5m 10s (Maruti Suzuki Esteem 1300 RSC);

    26. Rayna Aranhya 5m 49s (Maruti Suzuki Esteem 1300 RSC).

    List of retirements: Day 1: Phillipose Mathai; 2. Arjun Aroor Rao; 3. Prithveen Rajan; 4. Arjun Balu; 5. Karandip Singh; 6. Anita Kholay; 7. Prithvi; 8. Shresta Patil; 9. Rahul Kanthraj; 10. Chetan; 11. Kiran. DAY 2: None (Arjun Aroor Rao rejoined in Super Rally format).