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Tag: INRC
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Arjun Rao Aroor’s dream punctured; Naren lifts title
Chandigarh, 23 October 2005: Arjun Rao Aroor and trusted co-driver Chandramouli were on the verge of winning the Rally de North before a puncture, destroyed their dream of winning the rally. With just 5km to the end of the last stage, the Karnataka pair had a flat tyre and the Team MRF’s duo, lost not just 41 seconds but the overall title. Celebrated champion VR Naren Kumar of Team JK Tyre was not the one to miss a chance and the Coimbatore speed diva clinched the the HPCL Power M1 Challenge Rally, the fourth round of the Motorsports Association of India (MAI)’s Indian National Rally Championship (INRC), which concluded at Kalagram on Sunday.
Naren, despite suffering from a viral infection, did everything along with co-driver Ramkumar to clinch the issue as he had to did deep into his reserves and rely on his considerable experience of Ram, to emerge the winner. Aroor and Chandramouli had the consolation of bagging the overall third place.
Trailing Aroor and co-driver Chandramouli overnight by 10 seconds, Naren Kumar and co-driver Ramkumar made six seconds on the first special stage of the day, over 10.14-km run at Kanda in the Shivalik Hills. Aroor was also docked a penalty of 90 minutes for reporting to service park, nine minutes late after the last stage. This meant team-mate Arjun Balu and co-driver Kumar Ramaswamy leapfrog into the second position, ahead of Aroor. Naren completed the rally in 2 hours 7 minutes and 20 seconds, while Balu came home in 2:9.13 and Aroor in 2:9.22.
Earlier, Team MRF’s Karandip Singh and Jaidas Menon were excluded from the competition for a technical violation, and were not permitted to start on the second day.
Both Arjun Balu and Arjun Rao Aroor maintained their momentum in the super special stage, the concluding stage of the rally in Kalagram, finishing first and second, with timings of 2.18 and 2.19 minutes, respectively. Naren could only manage 2.23 minutes.
The 1400 cc saw Prithveen Rajan and PVS Murthy winning the title with a timing of 2:13.09, followed by Philipose Mathai and Ashwyn Naik in second place.
Local driver Sunny Siddhu drove away with the honours in the Gypsy Class with a timing of 2:12.16, which also placed him in fifth place overall, a creditable showing that earned him much applause from the home crowd at the podium finish.
The Rally Star Cup also saw the emergence of new talent in Chetan Shivram and Rupesh Kholay, who finished on top in their category with a timing of 2:13.11.
Provisional Final results: Overall: 1. Naren Kumar/ Ramkumar (Team JK, Baleno) (2hour, 7min, 20sec,); 2. Arjun Balu/ Kumar Ramaswamy (Team MRF, Baleno) (2:9.13); 3. Arjun Rao Aroor/ Chandramouli (2:9.22); 4. Vikram Mathais/ Sujith Kumar (Team MRF, Baleno) (2:10.16); 5. Sunny Siddhu/HS Bawa (Gypsy) (2:12.16); 6. Prithveen Rajan/ PVS Murthy (Esteem) (2:13.09).
1400cc class: 1. Prithveen Rajan/ PVS Murthy (2:13.09); 2. Philipose Mathai/ Ashwyn Naik (2:13.11); 3. Ravi Agarwal/Prakash D’Souza (Esteem) (2:27.38).
Gypsy Cup: 1. Sunny Siddhu/ HS Bawa (2:12.16); 2, Sandeep Sharma/Kulbir Singh (2:13.38); Kanwar/ Vijay Vir Singh 2:16.38.
Rally Star Cup: 1. Chetan Shivram /Rupesh Kholay (2:13.11); 2. Girishankar Joshy/ Srikanth GM (2:14.28); 3. Anil Wadia / CK Chinappa (2:19.04).
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HPCL Power M1 Challenge, INRC Round 4, from Oct 21
Chandigarh, 14 October 2005: All eyes will be on top rallyists and National-level drivers from the city, Karandip Singh and Sunny Sidhu, as the cream of talent in motorsports field descends on the city for the three-day 3rd HPCL Power M1 Challenge 2005 rally, a round of the Indian National Rally Championship here next week-end. This is the only national event to be held in the city and the rally will be flagged off from Fun Republic in Mani Majra at 3 pm on October 21.
Leading the pack will be Asia Zone rally champion and four-time Indian national champion Naren Kumar, current championship leader Arjun Balu and defending champion Vikram Mathais. The speed devils will showcase thier machines and test their skills on narrow and treacherous gravel mountain tracks of Garkhal, Subathu, Vatnaghat and Solan.
Aiming to participate in Asia Pacific Rally Championship, MRF driver Karandip, the national champion of 2000, will participate in 1600 cc class while member of J K Tyres team with Jaidas Menon as navigatore while Sunny Sidhu will compete in Gypsy class. The entries for the rally, would be capped at 30 and the last date is October 17, said an organiser. The Super Special Stage (SSS) will be at Kalagram grounds after flag-off. After that the rally cars would compete on a two-km long challenging track in front of local crowd from close quarters as part of SSS. The event will conclude on October 23 at Kalagram.
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Arjun Balu-Kumar Ramaswamy clinch Mysore Safari Rally
Mysore, 29 May 2005: Talented Arjun Balu and co-driver Kumar Ramaswamy of Team MRF Tyres notched up a deserving victory in the Mysore Safari Rally, the second round of the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) here on Sunday.
Arjun Balu defeated teammates and local star Lohith Urs, and the other two MRF drivers Arjun Rao Aroor and Karandip Singh. All the MRF drivers were in Maruti Balenos. Jiby Malliakkal and co-driver Nikhil Pai of Team Gulf Chettinad Sporting finished fifth in their Honda City VTec. Other prominent finishers were privateers Rahul Kantharaj and co-driver Vivek Bhat and Ranjit Ballal, also in Balenos.
Sanjay Agarwal won the 1400cc class after leader Prithveen Rajan who was ahead by 9 seconds on Saturday, lost almost 23 seconds later in the day, due to a mistake at a tricky corner and Sanjay never looked back to win the rally, safely finishing the Super Special on Sunday. Philippos Matthai finished third. Chethan won the Rally Star Cup with Girijashankar Joshy taking the second spot.
The rally organised by Prosports and Motorsport Inc, had 21 entries in various classes and saw a clutch of protests and disqualifications after the thrilling Super Special Stage that was reserved for Sunday.
The rally also marked the return of `Yellow Giants’ with the 1600cc class witnessing JK Tyre teams with lead drivers Naren Kumar (co-driver Ramkumar) and Vikram Mathias (along with Sujith Kumar) behind the wheels. The former champions who both drove earlier for MRF are now in the yellow colours of JK Tyre.
Both the champion drivers displayed their skills and thrilled the crowds but were unfortunate to be disqualified as they were found to be running on rear suspension mounts that failed to pass the scrutiny and were found not as per the technical regulations. Both the cars were prepared by ace tuner N Leelakrishnan. Ironically, winner Arjun Balu’s car too was prepared by Leela’s team.
The 1400cc lineup had last year’s champion Pritveen E Rajan, Sanjay Aggarwal, Philipose Mathai, and the rest of the field was Rally Star Cup guys and with two Gypsies thrown in.
The gravel rally with fast tracks ran through four Special Stages (SS) which were repeated thrice on Saturday and Day 2, Sunday was reserved for two laps of the Super Special Stage (SSS) near Lalit Mahal Palace grounds.
Earlier on Friday, the Ceremonial flag-off was held at the Mysore Palace Grounds and all the Rally cars proceeded to the rally headquarters at Kadur Inn, in a parade. The rally started on Saturday at 8.30 am from Kadur Inn with the first stage run at Bilikere and the second stage at Hosapura, where the JK cars driven by Naren Kumar and Vikram Mathias dominated and showcased their skills to thrill the crowds, especially at the third stage in Marur.
Alas it was the superfast fourth stage which was thrilling and provided seat-edged excitement for the spectators, before it was cancelled. The fine gravel stage at Nigudanahalli village saw both Naren and Vikram touch speeds of over 120kmph. Since the INRC rules prohibit speeds over 110kmph, the stage was declared as transport section for the later cars.
Naren was leading all through Saturday until he hit a cow in the last stage and Vikram took the lead with about 3km to go. The yellow car was completely smashed. Naren re-entered the SSS on Sunday in the Super Rally format and clocked the fastest time to entertain the huge audience. Vikram was second fastest in the Super Special. However, the spectator control left much to be desired at the Super Special Stage.
Lohith Urs, who was running in second place in the overall standings till then on Saturday, also made a mistake, and Arjun Balu shot into the overall lead.
In 1400 class, a big fight was brewing between Pritveen Rajan, Sanjay Aggarwal and Philippos Matthai. But gradually Matthai yielded way and faded away as Rajan took a 9-second lead. However, it was Sanjay Aggarwal who had the last laugh with Rajan making a crucial mistake at one corner to lose 23 seconds.
The results were announced late in the night and the Prize Distribuiton (PD) was held after a four-hour delay only at 11.30pm at Kadur Inn.
Provisional Final Classification:
Overall: 1. Arjun Balu (Team MRF); 2. Lohit Urs (Team MRF); 3. Arjun Aroor Rao (Team MRF); 4. Karandip Singh (Team MRF); 5. Jiby Malliakkal (Team Gulf Chettinad Sporting);
1400cc class: 1. Sanjay Agarwal; 2. Pritveen E Rajan; 3. Philippos Matthai.
Rally Star Cup: 1. Chetan; 2. Girijashankar Joshy.
(Note: The results were compiled and were not the official version)
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Vikram Mathias, Sujith Kumar crowned INRC champions for 2004
Mumbai, 24 Jan 2005: Bangalore duo Vikram Mathias and co-driver Sujith Kumar of Team MRF were crowned as the new champions in the Indian National Rallying Championship and they were presented with a brand new Maruti Baleno by Maruti at a glittering prize distribution ceremony organised by Motorsports Association of India here on Saturday.
The 2004 season saw eight rounds and it was a close race with Mathias and Kumar winning the crown by just two points. The duo bagged 46 points to beat reigning championsh VR Naren Kumar and D Ramkumar, who garnered 44 points.
Prithveen Rajan and co-driver PV Srinivasa Murthy won the 1400cc title and was also presented with a Maruti Alto. The pair scored 71 points. Sanjay Agarwal and Chandramouli won the Rally Star Cup and drove away a Marut 800.
The Kadet Indian National Karting Championship was won by Chennai’s Vishnu Prasad with 53 points and Ashok Jadhav with 32 points was crowned as the Indian National Karting champion.
In the Asian Zone National Karting Championship, Charlie Charles of Malaysia won the honours and Chennai’s Preetham Muniappa came second.
Winners for 2004:
INRC Overall: Vikram Mathais/Sujith Kumar (Team MRF ) 46 points; V R Naren Kumar/D Ramkumar (Team MRF) 44; Lohit Urs/ Bonnie Thomas 42.
INRC 1400cc: Prithveen Rajan/P V S Murthy 71; Ranjith Ballal /Ashwin Naik 55; Arjun Rao Aroor/CK Chinappa 54.
Rally Star Cup: Sanjay Agarwal/ Chandramouli 72; Rajesh Gadakh/ Parithosh Kohok 49, Jasbir Singh/ Jeetender Nath 38.
Gypsy Cup: Anil Wadia/ Shrikanth GM 31; Along Iyer/ Suresh Rana 25; Gaurav Chirpal/ Satender Singh 18.
Kadet-Indian National Karting Championship (K-INKC): Vishnu Prasad 53; Ajay Kini 38; Chittesh Mandody 36.
INKC: Ashok Jadhav 32; Deepak Paul Chinnappa 27; Preetham Muniyappa 26.
Asian Zone National Karting Championship: Charlie Charles 18; Preetham Muniyappa 16; Mikko Nassi 16.
Vehicle preparation award: J Anand.Outstanding performance by a novice Gypsy driver: Gaurav Chirpal.
Outstanding performance by a novice driver: Rajesh Gadakh.
INRC event of the year 2004: MAK WISA Nashik Rally -
Naren Kumar-Ram win Rally de Goa for 2nd win
Panajim (Goa), 12 Sept 2004: Defending champions VR Naren Kumar and D Ramkumar of Team MRF edged out strong contenders and teammates Vikram Mathias and Sujith Kumar to win the WIAA Rally de Goa, the fourth round of the MAI Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) here on Sunday.
Naren Kumar put the tragedy in the second round behind him and drove a steady rally driving his Baleno with control to win by 13 seconds. Naren, thus gained valuable points, with this second win in the INRC, having won K1000, the second round at Bangalore. The first round at Nashik was won by Philippos Mathai and Ashwin Naik while Vikram Mathias and Sujith Kumar clinched the third round at Cochin.
1600cc and Overall winners, Naren Kumar, left, and Ram Kumar at the podium ceremony in Goa on Sunday. Photo courtesy Team-BHP.com Prithveen Rajan and co-driver PVS Murthy won the 1400cc class beating Ranjit Ballal and co-driver Ramesh while Sanjay Agarwal and co-driver Chandramouli won the Rally Star Cup. Gaurav Chirpal along with navigator GM Srikanth won the Gypsy Class beating Anil Wadia and co-driver Pradeep Kumar.
Provisional (Unaudited) Results: 1600cc INRC: 1. VR Naren Kumar/ D Ramkumar (Team MRF) (1hour, 13min, 32sec); 2. Vikram Mathaias/ Sujith Kumar (Team MRF) (1:13.45).
1400cc: 1. Prithveen Rajan/ PVS Murthy (1:18.44); 2. Ranjit Ballal/
Ramesh (1:18.57); 3. Purujit Singh/ Musa Sherif (1:22.43); 4. Philippos Mathai/
Ashwin Naik (1:22.59); 5. Nitin Batra/ Gaurav Srivastav (1:23.14).Rally Star Cup: 1. Sanjay Agarwal/ Chandramouli (1:00.11); 2. Jasbir Singh
Randhwa/ Jeetendra Nath (1:02.11); 3. Rajesh Gadakh/ Paritosh Kohok (1:04.02).Gypsy category: 1. Gaurav Chiripal/ GM Srikanth (1:24.16); 2. Anil Wadia/
Pradeep Kumar (1:24.16). -
Naren-Ram begin account in style; MRF sweep podium
Bangalore, 8 August 2004: Ace rally pair from Coimbatore, Naren Kumar and co-driver D Ramkumar of Team MRF began their title defence with a comfortable victory in the 30th Karnataka-1000 Rally, the second round of the Indian National Rally Championship here on Sunday.
The rally which was flagged off from The Club on Mysore Road on Friday ran the Special Stages at Bagepalli, off Bellary road, about 100km from the city. Defending champions Naren and Ram, began their account this year as Philippos Matthai and co-driver Ashwin Naik stole the victory at the first round in Nashik in July. The champion duo had to contend their teammates Karandip Singh and co-driver Jaidas Menon, who finished second and Vikram Mathis and co-driver Sujith Kumar, who had to settle for third. Thus Team MRF swept the podium in the overall category.
Prithveen Rajan along with navigator PV Srinivasa Murthy won the 1400cc category while Sanjay Agarwal and co-driver Chandramouili lifted the Rally Star Cup.
Two physical special stages, Garuda and Banda, were run thrice each on Saturday and twice each on Sunday near Bagepalli.
Provisional Results: Overall: 1. Naren Kumar/D Ramkumar (Team MRF) (43:32); 2. Karandeep Singh/Jaidas Menon (Team MRF) (44:28); 3. Vikram Mathais/Sujith Kumar (Team MRF) (44:29).
1400cc class: 1. Prithiveen/PVS Murthy (45:34); 2. Arjun Rao Aroor/C Chinappa (45:51); 3. Philippos Matthai/Ashwin Naik (45:51).
Rally Star Cup: 1. Sanjay Agarwal/ Chandramouli (48:36); 2. Chetan Shivraman/ Srikarunaya; 3. Rajesh Gadakh/Paritosh Kohok (50:03).
The following reported is first published in Deccan Herald and reproduced here Courtesy Deccan Herald.
Bangalore, DHNS, Monday August 9, 2004: Reigning National champion V R Naren Kumar (co-driver D Ramkumar) of Team MRF expectedly clinched the overall title with yet another stunning drive in his Baleno as the 30th Karnataka-1000 Rally, the second round of the MAI Indian National Rally Championship, concluded here on Sunday.
Incidentally, Naren had begun his Rally career by winning the group N (unmodified) title in a Gypsy in the 1994 K-1000 and had returned the following year to claim his first ever Overall crown in an Esteem.
Averaging 126kmph, the Coimbatore-based Naren destroyed the opposition even as his nearest overnight challenger and team-mate Arjun Balu (co-driver Kumar Ramaswamy), packed up with a broken suspension early in the first of the two 17.6 Kms stages that were run on Sunday at Bagepalli, about 120 Kms from Bangalore.
In the bargain, the Chandigarh-Bangalore combination of Karandip Singh and co-driver Jaidas Menon, also of Team MRF, finished second, but a mere one second ahead of team-mate Vikram Mathias (Masinagudi) and co-driver Sujith Kumar (Bangalore).
Meanwhile, Coimbatore’s Prithveen and co-driver PVS Murthy of Bangalore, spared seven seconds to local challengers, Arjun Rao Aroor and his veteran co-driver C K Chinnappa to top the 1400cc class.
Arjun Rao and the Nashik Rally winner, Philippos Matthai tied with penalty timing of 45 minutes, 41 seconds, but the former was adjudged second on the basis of more stage wins.
In the Rally Star Cup, Bangalore’s Sanjay Agarwal (co-driver Chandramouli), who was supported by Chettinad Sporting, topped comfortably while Chetan Shivaraman and co-driver Srikarunya of Bangalore, nursed their overnight second position despite suffering mechanical problems.
Provisional results: Overall/1600cc: Team MRF (VR Naren Kumar/D Ramkumar) 1 (43mins, 32 secs); Team MRF (Karandip Singh/Jaidas Menon) 2 (44:28); Team MRF (Vikram Mathias/Sujith Kumar) 3 (44:29).
1400cc: Prithveen/PVS Murthy 1 (45:34); Arjun Rao Aroor/C K Chinnappa 2 (45:41); Philippos Matthai/Ashwin Naik 3 (45:41).
Rally Star Cup: Sanjay Agarwal/Chandramouli 1 (48:36); Chetan Shivaraman/Srikarunya 2 (49:22); Rajesh Ghadag/Paritosh Kohok 3 (50:03). -
Philippos-Naik win maiden Overall title at Nashik
Nashik, 4 July 2004: Talented Philippos Mathai and co-driver Ashwin Naik won the MAK Nashik Rally, the opening round of MAI Indian National Rally Championship (INRC), sponsored by Gulf Oil, which concluded here at the Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan on Sunday.
The Nashik Rally is the season opener of Motorsports Association of India’s (MAI) ambitious 8-round calendar for 2004. The rally fraternity will move to Bangalore for the second round K1000 in August.
Strong contender Jiby Maliakkal and co-driver Nikhil Pai, who won the final rally last year in Pune, fell into 37-second arrears on Saturday night and made an aggressive attempt to cut the gap but could make only 22 seconds and ended up second overall.
Thus Philippos Mathai and Ashwin Naik bagged their maiden overall title. The Maliakkal and Pai duo, who lost crucial time when their 1600cc Honda City V-Tec went off the road. The duo finished 15 seconds behind clocking one hour 31minutes and 18 seconds. The duo of Mathai and Naik also won the 1400cc title. Arjun Rao Aroor and experienced CK Chinappa came second in the 1400cc class while Sandeep Sharma and co-driver Kulbir Singh Dhaliwal were third.
The Rally Star Cup was won by Zohrab Zorabian and co-driver Rayomand Banajee ahead of Amith Kumar and co-driver Amith Anand. Rajesh Gadakh and co-driver Paritosh Kohok finished third.
The results (provisional):
Overall: 1. Phillipos Mathai/Ashwin Naik 1:31.18; 2. Jiby Maliakkal/Nikhil Pai (Team Chettinad) 1:31.33; 3. R. Karthikeyan/G. Satish 1:31.42.
1400cc category: 1. Phillipos Mathai/Ashwin Naik 1:31.18; 2. Arjunrao Aroor/CK Chinappa (Methods) 1:32.40; 3. Sandeep Sharma/Kulbirsingh Dhaliwal 1:35.12.
Rally Star Cup: 1. Sohrab Zorabian/Rayo Banerjee 1:38.16; 2. Amith Kumar/Amith Anand 1:40.07; 3. Rajesh Gadakh/Paritosh Kohok 1:44.57.
Note: This article is manually migrated from the archives of old website.
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Karandip-Jaidas win Movva K1000 Rally; Naren-Ram clinch National Championship
Bangalore, 17 Nov 2003: Team MRF’s Chandigarh-based Karandip Singh teamed up with Jaidas Menon, his long-time navigator from Bangalore to finally notch up his first triumph in nearly two years winning the overall class in the Movva Rally de Bangalore, the sixth and penultimate round of MAI Indian National Rally Championship, on Sunday.
Driving a Honda City V-Tec, Karandip, whose last success in a National Championship event was in 2001 when he won the Karnataka-1000, saw off a late challenge from reigning National champion and team-mate VR Naren Kumar and co-driver D Ramkumar to emerge a convincing winner.
“It certainly is a nice feeling, and I am happy that I finally broke my jinx by winning here. It has been a frustrating season, as I could not capitalise on winning positions at Chikmagalur, Nashik and Chandigarh rallies. Today, I was not very comfortable on the first two Special Stages, but thereafter, I stepped up the pace,” said the modest Karandip, the National champion in Group N (unmodified) class back in 2000.
Meanwhile, Naren Kumar confirmed his third National Championship title with a round to spare by finishing third behind Karandip and Arjun Balu (co-driver Kumar Ramaswamy), also of Team MRF.
The third place finish was sufficient for the 29-year old from Coimbatore to clinch the National title with a tally of 68 points with just one more round of the INRC to be gone through in Pune (December 5-7). He has aggregated 68 points to Balu’s 47 and Karandip’s 44. The maximum number of points on offer in an INRC event is 16 (10 for win and three each for the two legs).
“It is a great relief to have the National championship race behind me. And I now look forward to a more relaxed approach for the final round at Pune next month. Yes, it certainly is a great feeling, but I would have loved to have clinched the championship by winning here in Bangalore rather than finish third,” said Naren.
Trailing by 53 seconds overnight to Karandip, Naren stepped up the pace today and made up 58 seconds before suffering a puncture on the penultimate Special Stage that cost him about 20 seconds as he slid from second to third position.
Though Naren had finished fifth on Saturday at the end of Leg One, he was elevated to second spot after team-mates N Leelakrishnan (Farooq Ahmed), Arjun Balu and Vikram Mathias (Sujith Kumar) conceded road penalty of 20 seconds apiece.
Meanwhile, in a strange turn of events, the 1400cc class saw none of the three contenders finishing the event, but picking up Leg points. Under the circumstances, Lohit V Urs (co-driver M K Bopanna) and Rahul Kantharaj (co-driver Vivek Bhat) found themselves on level terms with 44 points apiece while the third contender, Karthikeyan R (co-driver Sathish G), also could not complete the event due to mechanical failure, and remained on 38 points.
Ranjit Ballal and co-driver Shanmuga SN, who had won the Rally Star Cup category, were subsequently excluded following post-event scrutiny.
Final unaudited Classifications (after Leg 2):
INRC 1600cc: Team MRF (Karandip Singh/Jaidas Menon) 1 (1 hr, 29 mins, 13 secs); Team MRF (Arjun Balu/Kumar Ramaswamy) 2 (1:29:50); Team MRF (V R Naren Kumar/D Ramkumar) 3 (1:30:10); Team MRF (N Leelakrishnan/Farooq Ahmed) 4 (1:30:25); Team MRF (Vikram Mathias/Sujith Kumar) 5 (1:30:34); Jiby Maliakkal/Nikhil Pai 6 (1:32:24).
INRC 1400cc: No finishers.
Rally Star Cup: Ram Prashanth/Thiru Murthy 1 (1:30:51); Prithveen Rajan/PVS Murthi 2 (1:32:30); Arun Kumar/Lohit Anand 3 (1:33:0); Arjun Rao Aroor/Ashwin Naik 4 (1:35:08); Anitha Kholay/Rashmi Bopanna 5 (1:50:52).
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8th straight win for Naren-Ram; Karandip-Jaidas survive 40-foot drop
Chandigarh, 21 Sept 2003: Defending champion VR Naren Kumar ande co-driver V Ram Kumar of team MRF won all the four rounds this season and well on his way to another title as he won the overall title in the MAI Power M1 Challenge Rally, the fourth round of the MAI Indian National Rally Champioship here on Sunday.
This is the 8th straight win for the pair continuing from the previous season as they finished ahead of teammates Vikram Mathias and co-driver Sujith Kumar with over a minute to spare.
Naren Kumar, the 29-year old from Coimbatore, had an easy time on Sunday after overnight leaders Karandip Singh and co-driver Jaidas Menon, also of Team MRF, suffered a 40-feet roll on Special Stage-10 following a brake failure.
“Since I led Mathias by over two minutes, I eased off totally and did not take any risks. But I was determined to make up the 13 seconds and our approach was to go absolutely flat out and make at least three to four seconds on each of the Stages today. But once Karandip was out of the rally, we decided to take it easy and finish the event,” said Naren, who, in fact, had made three seconds on Karandeep after the first stage on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Mathias, after failing to finish the Chikmagalur and Nashik rounds of the INRC and skipping the Kochi leg, did well to pick up his first points of the season.
“I am happy with our performance in this event and it was a relief to finish after a string of DNFs,” said Mathias talking about the first two rallies he Did Not Finish (DNF).
Karandeep, 29, from Chandigarh, looked certain to clinch the title last night when he established a 13-second lead over Naren.
“We were doing about 100 kmph on a downhill stretch in SS-10 when the brake tube cut leading to loss of fluid. There was nothing I could do and we crashed down a 40-foot drop,” said a disappointed Karandip, who was looking to score a win on home territory. Both the drivers escaped because of the Roll Cage which is mandatory for all rally cars.
Naren and Mathias were the only two from Team MRF to complete the rally as former National champion N Leelakrishnan and co-driver Farooq Ahmed pulled out on Sunday with mechanical problems to join teammates Arjun Balu and co-driver Kumar Ramaswamy in the casualty list.
Veterans Samir Thapar and co-driver Gurinder Singh Mann, both making a comeback after several years, finished third overall in a Maruti Esteem, ahead of championship leaders in the 1400cc category, Lohit Urs and co-driver MK Bopanna.
Provisional final results:
Overall: 1. VR Naren Kumar/V Ram Kumar (Team MRF) (1hr, 43mins, 46secs); 2. Vikram Mathias/Sujith Kumar (Team MRF) (1:44:02); 3. Samir Thapar/ GS Mann (1:46:25;) 4. Lohit v Urs/ MK Bopanna (1:47:31); 5. Jiby Maliakkal/Nikhil Pai (Gulf Oil) (1:51:43); 6. Rajiv Suri/ Rajeev Mehta (1:58:22).
1600cc (Honda City V-Tec): 1. Naren Kumar/ Ram Kumar, 2. Vikram Mathias/B Sujith Kumar, 3. Jiby Maliakkal/Nihil Pai.
1400cc (Maruti Esteem): 1. Samir Thapar/Gurinder Singh Mann, 2. Urs/Bopanna.
Rally Star Cup: 1. S Ram Prashanth/ Thiru Murthy (1:51:18); 2. Ranjith Ballal/ Shanmuga (1:51:41); 3. Yogeshwar Gill/Harkanwal Cheema (2:05:23).
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Naren Kumar-Musa Sherif win MRF Taj Challenge
Nashik, 8 June 2003: Defending champion VR Naren Kumar and co-driver Musa Sherif of Team MRF gave an awesome display of speed and controlled driving to win the MRF Taj Challenge Rally, the second round of the Motorsports Association of India’s (MAI) Indian National Rally Championship (INRC), here on Sunday.
It was Naren Kumar sixth straight INRC victory and he appeared well on course to equaling 10 straight wins by teammate N Leelakrishnan in 1992-93. But in this rally, Naren was without his regular co-driver D Ramkumar, who is getting married later in the week.
Naren Kumar, left, & Musa Sherif. At the finish of the two-day event that saw the cars complete six Special Stages, Naren Kumar was a comfortable 55 seconds ahead of teammates Arjun Balu and co-driver Kumar Ramaswamy who finished a distant second. Naren clocked 1::13:40 to Balu’s 1::14:35.
Naren Kumar, the 28-year-old from Coimbatore, clocked one hour, 13 minutes, 40 seconds to Balu’s 1:14:35.
Meanwhile, the third Team MRF driver in the running, Karandip Singh and co-driver Jaidas Menon suffered his third puncture of the event and lost considerable time to finish sixth, behind Jiby Maliakkal (co-driver Nikhil Pai).
There were some pleasing performances lower down the field, especially in the 1400cc class won by Rahul Kantha Raj and co-driver Vivek Bhatt of Team Nova. The duo also finished third in the overall standings.
Arjunrao Aroor, a teenager from Manipal, won the Rally Star Cup in the company of co-driver C K Chinnappa, the oldest competitor at 51 years of age.
Aroor’s victory was more or less confirmed late last night when one of his main competitor, Sanjay Agarwal (co-driver Ashwin Naik) was excluded from the Rally by the Stewards. Agarwal was penalised for attending to his gear-box in the control area just at the start of the day’s last special stage.
Provisional Unaudited Results:
Overall: 1. VR Naren Kumar/Musa Sherif (Team MRF) (1 hour, 13 mins, 40 secs); 2. Arjun Balu/Kumar Ramaswamy (Team MRF) (1:14:35); 3. Rahul Kantharaj/ Vivek Bhatt (Team Nova) (1:19:10); 4. Lohit V Urs/ MK Bopanna (1:19:13); 5. Jiby Maliakkal/ Nikhil Pai (1:22:59); 6. Karandip Singh/ Jaidas Menon(Team MRF) (1:23:11); 7. V Shamsunder/PVS Murthy (Blue Lines) (1:25:13).
1400cc: 1. Kantharaj/Bhatt; 2. Urs/Bopanna; 3. Shamsunder/Murthy.
Rally Star Cup: 1. Arjun Rao Aroor/ CK Chinnappa ; 2. Ranjith Ballal/ Shanmuga Nataraj; 3. Anita Kholay/ Rashmi Bopanna.
