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Tag: INRC
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Supported by Vamcy Merla, Ammyfied Rallying fields record 23 cars: INRC
Bengaluru, 28 July 2023: For the first time in the 35-year history of Indian National Rally Championship (INRC), a team has fielded a record number of 23 cars for a round of the INRC as official team entries. The huge number also made it a record 76 entries for the Rally of Coimbatore to be held at the Kethanur Windmill farms on Saturday and Sunday.
Team Ammyfied Rallying, powered by Vamcy Merla Sports Foundation, has fielded a record-breaking number of 23 team entries for the Rally of Coimbatore, the third round of the Blueband fmsci Indian National Rally Championship 2023 which begins here on Friday. Apart from the team entries, VMSF is said to have supported another 15 privateers.
“Ammyfied Rallying has a deep vision to promote rallying in India and has been supporting talented drivers from different parts of India. With ample support from VM Sports Foundation, we have created a platform for young talent to step into rallying,” said Aeman Ahmed, Team Principal.
“I wish all the best to the biggest team, Ammyfied Rallying. Rallying is my passion and I am doing my bit to promote talented drivers so that they can realise their potential,” said Vamcy Merla of the Foundation.
Ammyfied which has dominated the Gypsy Class so far in the first two rounds has also bagged many podium places in other classes. For this round, drivers were fielded in all the classes except in the top INRC class. Top drivers like Suhem Kabeer and co-driver Jeevarathinam, Maninder Singh Prince and Vinay Padmashali, Chetan Shivram and Shiv Prakash, Ritesh Rai and Lokranjan are in the INRC2 class while Aeman Ahmed and Sagar Mallappa, Himanshu Arora and Kunal Kashyap, Arnav Prathap Singh and Arjun SSB, Arjun Rajiv and Rohit Gowda, Jagbir Nirwan and Karanpreet Mattu, and Nikeetaa Takkale and Venu Ramesh Kumar are in the INRC3 class.
The team will have another five care in INRC4 namely, Abhin Rai and D Uday Kumar, Prakhyat Shirole and Belli, Phoebe and Sawan, Renuka and Pramod, and Farhan and Arun. Ammyfied’s favourite class, the Gypsy Cup will see the championship leaders Samrat Yadav and Chandu lead eight cars. The other are Darshan Nachappa and Abhinav Ganapathy, Akarsh Sundar and Ravi Kumar Reddy, Gurinder Singh Sidhu and Manjunath GM, Baiju Stephen and Sachin Sharma, Sachin Singh and Prakash M, Madhusudhan V and Harsha, Kalyan MVV and Raghuram Saminathan.
Vamcy Merla, who recently won the SUV class in a 4×4 event in Coorg, is expected to get behind the wheel of a Gypsy with Raghu as co-driver.
“I have promoted several FMSCI events in the past too, including the 2019 edition of the Indian National Rally Championship. I have created this foundation to help India’s best rallyists follow their dreams without worrying about money,” said Vamcy Merla, Chairman of the Foundation.
“The INRC has received a huge boost thanks to VMS Foundation’s enthusiasm and wholehearted support. Several drivers, who can’t afford the costs of competing in an event of this scale and magnitude and skip several rounds every year, are all here in Coimbatore,” J Prithiviraj, secretary of the Coimbatore Auto Sports Club, said. “We have a formidable field and every class is going to be thrilling and a close affair,” he added.
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Amittrajit Ghosh posts stunning time in SuperSpecial: INRC Ro2
Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh) June 15, 2023: Double National Overall INRC champion Amittrajit Ghosh and experienced co-driver Ashwin Naik zoomed to the top of the charts, thrilling the crowds with stunning drifts to clock 1min 53.5sec in the 2.05-KM Super Special Stage second run. Ghosh had skipped SSS-I, which is also the SS5, on Wednesday (June 14) night as the Rally of Arunachal headed to a climax.
Earlier, Gaurav Gill posted a time of 2-min flat in the first run of the Super Special Stage. “I always give my best but the huge crowds are too close to comfort. Both the runs in ‘Triple S’ are quite different tracks but I enjoyed my run,” the three-time APRC champion said. Obviously, the times of left and right ones could not be compared despite both being the same distance of 2.05km.
Despite their intimidating presence, the ‘Master of Speed’ displayed controlled aggression and put in a couple smart and pitch-perfect drifts posting the best time of 2-min flat in the first run.
The Ziro leg is cancelled according to a bulletin by the CoC Girijashankar Joshy, and the rally will finish the course with four more Special Stages at the Chimpu and Hollongi, twice each in the same direction.
Safety was an issue with huge number of spectators thronging the Super Special Stage (SSS) venue. But the organisers were alert and quick to stop the SSS as the situation become unmanageable. The drivers who did not compete were given scratch times.
Photo: YouTube grabThe leg one standing will be available only after scratch times were given to those who did not complete the SSS runs.
While 51 cars took the start, four cars logged a DNF. Three from INRC3 and one Gypsy. Prominent among them are Pragathi Gowda and Jason Saldanha.
Revised Itenerary
Rally of Arunachal 2023
Day 2 Programme ( 15th June ) at Itanagar14:45 Parc ferme out / Service in
45 Mins Service
15:30 Service out
15:45 SS7 Chimpu
17:18 SS8 Holongi
17:58 Service In
30 Min Service
19:33 Regroup Out
19:48 SS9 Chimpu
21:21 SS10 Holongi
22:01 Service In
10 Min Service
22:11 Parc ferme -
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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INRC all set to thrill the spectators in Itanagar
Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh), June 13, 2023: The Rally of Arunachal, organised by the Motorsports Club of Arunachal, under the aegis of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (fmsci)*, the second round of the Blueband FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship will begin with the first leg at Hollongi and Chimpu stages on Wednesday June 14, before it moves up into the mountains of Ziro for Thursday’s final leg. The Ceremonial flag off was held on Tuesday evening.
This prestigious event is hugely supported by the Directorate of Youth Affairs, Government of Arunachal, with a huge financial and technical support to promote tourism in the North Eastern hill State. Headed by Lhakpa Tsering, President of the Motorsports Club of Arunachal, who will also be the Chairman of the event, the Rally offers a technically daunting terrain and with rains expected, the challenge both for the drivers and the teams increases making it unpredictable. Being a Tarmac rally already offers substantial change in the preparations and car set-up and the travel distance to North East and the transportation of cars, is a huge burden on the drivers. However, the thrills and scenic beauty and the support from the organisers and Promoters should ease the situation.
Karna Kadur and co-driver Kumar Ramaswamy being flagged off at the Ceremonial inauguration on in Itanagar on Tuesday. Karna will be missing his regular navigator, Nikhil Pai, a professional sound engineer, who is in Durban for a big show. Photo MRF In the pre-event press conference, Tsering said, “We are proud to hold the 5th Rally of Arunachal INRC in Arunachal Pradesh. Arunachal is already established as a driving destination of the Northeast because of events like this. This championship is bound to go a long way in boosting adventure tourism in the state.” Itanagar had hosted two back to back rounds to begin the a very successful 2020 INRC Championship that was delayed to due to COVID19. It was first time in the history of INRC that any venue hosted two rallies within a span of eight days. Later, the INRC 2020 was rounded off with a 3-round year at Coimbatore with Gaurav Gill (Musa Sherif) adding another title to his chequered career. The event also saw a Digital Steward and was held for the first time on week-days. Arunachal Pradesh made its debut as a venue into the INRC calendar for the first time in 2017, which also saw Gaurav Gill and Musa Sherif clinch the victory. Thus, Gill and Sherif have won the Overall top class, in all the rallies held in Arunachal so far. This year, both the stages held in 2020 December will be repeated on Day 1, June 14, before the caravan moves to greater heights to Ziro. Thanks to the government support, the State Police are deployed and the Highways closed for the Special Stages and the rally is run in no-man’s land.
The stages are very fast and the rule says that the average speeds cannot exceed 110 KMPH, which means that the drivers could touch top speeds of 180kmph (while maintaining over 100kmph average speeds), like what Gaurav Gill, the King of Speed, did in the previous Itanagar round. In fact, this reporter was a witness when Gill and Musa, stopped about a 100 metres from the finish for about 11 seconds. The speed maestro skillfully exploited a brief pause, before the flying finish to stay within the rule. He was streets ahead and could afford halting on a Special Stage and he did win to keep a clean record of winning all the INRC events in Arunachal. Just after that Amittrajit Ghosh (Ashwin Naik) came speeding down and as he crossed the line with a burning hot wheel that flew away from the car into the wilderness, they made it safely to the finish. And Ghosh ran to collect the tyre and resumed to service. Fortunately, it flew into the no-man’s and and there were no casualties. That was all in 2020.
Amittrajit Ghosh recovers a wheel within a few seconds after his front right flew away into the wilderness of the night stage Hollingi F1 SS2 on Wednesday 17Dec2020, even as Ashwin Naik (in the car) reports timesheets. Exclusive File Photo by David Bodapati “We have installed a few artificial chicanes to reduce the speeds at the tarmac roads are very fast. It will help the drivers ease out and makes it more safer,” said Shrikanth Gowda, the Safety Officer, who too was present in 2020 with the same role.
The Rally of Arunachal 2023 attracted a massive field of 51 entries, thanks to Ammyfied Rallying which fielded 14 cars with the support Vamsi Merla Sports Foundation. It is the highest seen in the North East, and will offer an adrenaline-fueled experience . The ceremonial start at the Legislative Assembly Complex in Itanagar was held at 4:30 p.m.
The thrilling event is set to showcase the skill and determination of rally drivers across multiple categories, with seven cars in INRC, 12 in INRC2, 22 in INRC3 and five each in INRC4 and Gypsy Class, a non championship class. Eight of the drivers are also eligible for Junior INRC which is for drivers below 26 years as of Jan 1, 2023. Only 6 of the eight lady drivers and co-drivers will be eligible for Women’s Class honours, which is also a non-championship event. Deeksha Balakrishna, a talented co-driver, misses out as she is navigating for a male driver.
Promoter Premnath K. of Blueband Sports said: “It is truly encouraging to witness the overwhelming response the INRC has received this year, with a record number of entries representing the absolute cream of rallying talent from all corners of our nation. We are committed to making the INRC bigger, better, and more captivating for competitors and the audience. With a series of six rounds scheduled across India, alongside various other initiatives, we aim to elevate the stature and allure of the INRC.”
The three-day event will take place on June 14, with the Special Stages run on the highway from Hollongi to Chimpu and back, near Itanagar. The adrenaline-fueled action will kick off at 11 a.m. and continue until 8 p.m., offering spectators an unforgettable experience. As dusk falls, the excitement will intensify with a thrilling night Spectator Special Stage inside the city, starting at 8:00 p.m. and concluding at 11:30 p.m., taking participants from Zero Point to the “C” sector.
The Rally of Arunachal 2023 boasts an impressive lineup of renowned drivers who are set to unleash their skills on the challenging terrain. Leading the pack is the Arjuna Awardee Gaurav Gill (Aniruddha Rangnekar) and reigning national champion from Bengaluru Karna Kadur, who will have a new navigator in Kumar Ramaswamy. The first Round South India Rally INRC segment winner, the formidable Arjun Rao Aroor, and Satish Rajagopal of Mandovi Racing will look to extend their lead. Former champions Amittrajit Ghosh and Ashwin Naik, 2021 champions Aditya Thakur and Virender Kashyap, multiple champions in various sub-classes and reigning champions of INRC2, Rahul Kanthraj and Vivek have moved up to the top INRC class, will join talented Dean Mascarenhas and co-driver Gagan Karumbaiah, in the top INRC category. “What a lovely stage, just flat out… The corners are tricky but we will make it,” said Nikeetaa Takkale after the Recce, with experienced Venu Ramesh Kumar, her navigator, watching in admiration, in an insta reel.
Maninder Singh Prince, the INRC3 champion of 2022 has also moved up to INRC2 class while Pragathi Gowda and Trisha Alonkar the Junior INRC champions are in INRC3 and Pragathi will be competing in both INRC3 and Junior INRC.
The defending Overall team champions Arka Motorsports headed by N Leelakrishnan has fielded 12 cars, including Karna Kadur while Chettinad Sporting and Snap Racing have 7 cars each. Aroor Arjun Rao continues to spearhead Mandovi challenge while two talented drivers Jason Saldanha (Thimmu Uddapanda) and Anushriya Gulati (Arjun Dheerendra) are in fray representing Dark Don Racing.
For the benefit of followers, real-time results will be available on live.chronopulse.com. The podium ceremony will be held at Ziro on June 16 at 11:30 a.m. The third round Rally of Coimbatore, will be hosted by Coimbatore Automotive Sports Club, form July 28 to 30.
2022 Indian National Champions in INRC
Blueband Sports fmsci Indian National Rally Championship 4W 2022
1. INRC Driver Overall champion: Karna Kadur, Bengaluru;
2. INRC Co-Driver Overall Champion: Nikhil Vittal Pai; Bengaluru.
3. INRC Overall Champion Team: Arka Motorsports, Coimbatore;
4. INRC2 champion Driver: Rahul Kantharaj, Bengaluru;
5. INRC2 champion Co-Driver: Vivek Y Bhatt, Bengaluru;
6. INRC2 Champion Team: Snap Racing, Delhi;
7. INRC3 champion Driver: Maninder Singh Prince, Delhi;
8. INRC3 champion Co-Driver: Arjun SSB, Bengaluru;
9. INRC3 Champion Team: Snap Racing, Delhi;
10. Junior INRC champion driver: Pragathi Gowda, Bengaluru.
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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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Visit www.INDIANmotorsports.in for all Indian National Rally Championship 2023 articles
Here is a list of articles and reports that were published for the Blueband Sports fmsci Indian National Rally Championship 2023, starting with the Blueband Sports South India Rally (SIR) organised by the Madras Motor Sports Club (MMSC) at the Madras International Circuit (MIC) from March 17 to 19. The International rally returned to MIC after a year for the qualifying round of the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC), in the form of the second round of the Asia Rally Cup that was held concurrently with 18 cars taking part.
Top drivers including Arjuna Awardee and rally legend from India, Gaurav Gill of JK Tyre fame along with Mana Pornsiricherd and Thanyaphat Meenil from Thailand were the star attractions of the APRC Asia leg. Gill was taking the services of experienced navigator Aniruddha Rangnekar for the first time. Defending INRC champion and winner of the last year’s Asia Cup Rally in India, Karna Kadur and co-driver Nikhil Pai led a field of stars, in the Indian Championship along with Amittrajit Ghosh, (with co-driver Ashwin Naik) who is returning from a break from England, and Dr Speed, the one and only Bikku Babu from Kerala, now settled in US, co-driven by Milen George Cherian, and aggressive driver Dean Mascarenhas (Gagan Karumbaiah) from Mangaluru, 2019 champs and brothers Chetan Shivram and Dilip Sharan, reigning champions in their classes, Maninder Singh Prince, Samrat Yadav and Rahul Kanthraj, were the others stalwarts of the INRC who took part in the 46th edition of SIR.
Many talented youngsters like Jahaan Singh Gill, Arjun Rajiv, a graduate from karting also joined the fray along with six ladies led by FIA Rally Star cup champion from the Asia Pacific region Pragathi Gowda who had Trisha Alonkar as co-driver. Bengaluru-based Vizag driver Renuka Gajendra who paired with Dilip Sharan’s wife Angela James is the only other team which had both ladies in the car. Nikeetaa Takkale, the niece of Sanjay Takale, former APRC Production Cars champion, Shivani Parmar of Mumbai, co-driver Deeksha Balakrishna, were the other two ladies that represented ‘Women in Motorsports’.
A total of 66 cars took part along with three cars which took part only in APRC Asia round. Fifteen of the cars took part in both APRC round and INRC to make it 63 cars in INRC, an attractive number of entries but it not a record as many INRC rounds have seen more number of entries in the earlier years.
With sponsors JK Tyre pulling out in the last minute former champion in his class, Fabid Ahmer, opted out citing lack of time to put the things together. Other notable drivers missing were talented lady drivers Athira Murali (lack of sponsors), and Dr. Shivani Pruthvi (busy with post-graduate medical studies for MD).
The list of articles published for INRC in this website can be read here: (Compilation in process)
- Gaurva Gill begins favourite; 18 in fray for FIA-APRC (Asia Rally Cup).
- Vamcy Merla to back FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship India round: Asia Rally Cup.
- Gaurav Gill tops Super Special Stage; Karna heads INRC; Pragathi stuns the field for 7th.
- Aroor Arjun Rao sparkles in rain, leads INRC; Gaurav Gill extends lead in APRC Asia Cup.
- Gaurav Gill wins FIA-APRC (Asia Rally Cup) round.
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Karna Kadur-Nikhil Pai win K1000, clinch Indian National Rally title with a round to spare
Tumakuru (Karnataka), 4 Dec 2022: All the hard work and years of patience paid rich dividends as Bengaluru rally stars Karna Kadur and co-driver Nikhil Vittal Pai claimed the Indian National Rally Championship, with a round to spare here on Sunday. This is the second National overall title for the talented duo, who won their maiden Nationals in 2016 in the top class.
Kadur along with Nikhil Pai, one of the senior-most navigators in the country along with Musa Sherif, brought the second National title for Volkswagen Polo. Pai, who made his INRC debut aboard a two-wheeler in 1992, the victory is a justification for his meticulous work ethic, deep knowledge of the sport and the terrain that helps him to guide his driver, engineers in the car set-up and other technical aspects beyond his call of duty, the pace notes.
On the other hand, the seven-time National champion Karna Kadur, who switched from Road Racing to Rally and delighted his fans with his exploits as a young driver of Red Rooster Racing took a mind-boggling tumble in Nashik in 2009 when he graduated to a powerful Mitsubishi Cedia. Undaunted, the champion in him went on to build a successful career, which missed a probable maiden National title in 2012 due to the controversial “Penalty” at the Coffee Day rally in Chikmagalur.
Multiple National champions in the sub-categories, Karna and Nikhil bagged full 40 points with their overall INRC class victory, including full leg points, while their nearest rival Gaurav Gill (Musa Sherif), drew a blank in this round, remaining on 44 points. The Bengaluru duo garnered a total of 112, an unbeatable lead of 68 points, to clinch the National Overall title.
Driving a Volkswagen Polo 1.0 Comfortline tuned by Leelakrishnan, the Arka Motorsports stalwarts clinched their maiden Overall Karnataka-1000 title by finishing first in the Prasaditya 46th Karnataka-1000 Rally, the third and penultimate round of the Blueband FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship at the Special Stage run near Gubbi, in Tumakuru taluk, despite suffering a heavy damage to their car after clipping a rock.
Karna Kadur and long-time co-driver Nikhil Pai, after winning INRC Overall title.
Photos by Anand Philar.Finishing second, over a minute behind Kadur was Mangaluru’s Aroor Arjun Rao (co-driver Satish Rajagopal, Bengaluru) of Mandovi Racing while Delhi’s Philippos Matthai (Harish Gowda, Bengaluru), who returned to rallying after a 13-year break, finished third Overall.
Karna Kadur & Nikhil Pai in action on Sunday. Photo by Anand Philar Matthai also took the honours in INRC 3 category while Virajpet’s Suhem Kabeer (Jeeva Rathinam, Bengaluru) topped in the INRC 2 class. Further down the grid, Chikkamagaluru’s Aeman Ahmed (Sagar Mallappa, Bengaluru) of Ammyfied Racing won in the INRC 4 class with Delhi’s Arnav Singh Pratap (Arjun SSB, Bengaluru) of SNAP Racing bagged the Junior INRC crown. Chandigarh’s Samrat Yadav (Chandrashekar M, Bengaluru) of Ammyfied Rallying emerged champion in the Gypsy Challenge, a non-championship category.
The 34-year old Kadur, who enjoyed a comfortable lead after Leg-1 on Saturday, kept his wits about him after suffering some heavy damage to the sump guard in Sunday’s second Stage when he clipped a rock. His mechanics carried out the necessary repairs in 20 minutes flat during the service break which enabled Kadur to continue and finish the second loop without much ado.
A six-time INRC winner himself, N Leelakrishnan, mentor and coach, gives an appreciative hug to his ward Karna Kadur, who brought the legend his 20th National title as “Tuner” in the Indian National Rally Championship. Photo by Anand Philar (FB) Reflecting on the weekend, Kadur said: “It (the win) still hasn’t sunk in, but I am very happy that we won our first K-1000 Rally. We had a fairly smooth run yesterday, but this morning, we had a scare when we clipped a rock in the second Stage.
“The damage was pretty bad in the front because the sump guard got cut. I managed to come back to service and the boys did a tremendous job in carrying out the necessary repairs, including some cutting, chopping and welding, besides fabricating and fitting a new sump guard, all in 20 minutes flat.
“We checked into parc ferme with just 30 seconds to spare. All kudos to our team who did a tremendous job. Yes, a pretty emotional moment. My dad (late Prakash Kadur) never won a K-1000 Rally and so, I am first in the family.”
Meanwhile, seven times National champion Gaurav Gill (Musa Sherif), who retired in Leg-1 with a drive-shaft issue on Saturday, suffered another setback after rejoining for Leg-2 today with a broken front right knuckle leading to his retirement in the day’s second Stage after being the fastest in the first.
The last round of the INRC 2022 promoted by Blueband Sports is scheduled to be held at Meghalaya pending approval from FMSCI.
Provisional final classification:
Overall / INRC: 1. Karna Kadur /Nikhil Pai (Bengaluru, Arka Motorsports) (01hr,13mins, 56.5secs); 2. Aroor Arjun Rao (Mangaluru)/ Satish Rajagopal (Bengaluru, Mandovi Racing) (01:15:11.9); 3. Philippos Matthai (Delhi)/ Harish Gowda (Bengaluru, Arka Motorsports) (01:16:54.0).
INRC-2: 1. Suhem Kabeer (Virajpet) / Jeeva Rathinam (Bengaluru, Pvt) (01:16:57.1); 2. Rahul Kanthraj / Vivek Y Bhatt (Bengaluru, Arka Motorsports) (01:17:28.5); 3. Harkrishan Wadia (Delhi) / Amber Udasi (Chandigarh, Arka Motorsports) (01:25.08).
INRC-3: 1. Matthai / Harish; 2. Maninder Singh Prince (Delhi) / Vinay Padmashali (Bengaluru, JK Rallying) (01:17:23.1); 3. Arnav Singh Pratap (Delhi) / Arjun SSB (Bengaluru, SNAP Racing) (01:19:51.7);
INRC-4: 1. Aeman Ahmed (Chikkamagaluru) / Sagar Mallappa (Bengaluru, Ammyfied Racing) (01:28:11.4); 2. Rakshith Iyer (Mysuru) / Avinash CA (Bengaluru) (01:31:40.4); 3. Deepak Chandra / Raghuram CG (Bengaluru, DC Racing) (01:43.58.4).
Junior INRC: 1. Arnav / Arjun; 2. Pragathi Gowda / Trisha Alonkar (Bengaluru, Arka Motorsports) (01:20:13.2); 3. Ajay Sankar (Kollam) / Rohit Gowda (Bengaluru) (01:21:24.1).
Gypsy Challenge (Non-Championship): 1. Samrat Yadav (Chandigarh) / Chandrashekar M (Bengaluru, Ammyfied Rallying) (01:18:26.7); 2. Himanshu Arora (Delhi) / Vikram Thakur (Chandigarh, Ammyfied Rallying) (01:22:01.9); 3. Kariappa Mekerira (Kodagu) / Supreeth Sagar (Bengaluru, Ammyfied Rallying) (01:26:06.9).
All Women (Open): 1. Pragathi Gowda / Trisha Alonkar; Shivani Pruthvi / Deepti Pruthvi (Davangere, Pvt) (01:24.16.6); 3. Nikeetaa Takkale (Pune) / Deeksha Balakrishna (Bengaluru, Snap Racing) (1:29:20.9).
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Karna Kadur takes sizeable lead; Gaurav Gill retires: K1000
Tumakuru (Karnataka), 3 Dec 2022: The Bengaluru pair, Karna Kadur and co-driver Nikhil V Pai of Arka Motorsports, stepped up to the challenging terrain to finish Leg-1 as the Overall leaders in the Prasaditya 46th Karnataka-1000 Rally, the third round of the Blueband FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) here on Saturday which also saw the retirement of previous edition’s winner, Gaurav Gill (Musa Sherif) due to mechanical issues.
The day’s schedule was shortened to four Special Stages as against scheduled six following a delayed start due to a technical hitch. However, Kadur, the championship leader, kept his focus and came up with a well-paced drive to take a 47.4-second lead over Palakkad’s Fabid Ahmer (Sanath G) on completion of Leg-1 with Mangaluru’s Aroor Arjun Rao (Satish Rajagopal) of Mandovi Racing in third, trailing the leader by one minute. Four more Stages are scheduled to be run tomorrow (Sunday), the concluding day of the event.
Ahmer, who missed the 2021 National championship narrowly, leads in the INRC 2 category while Maninder Singh Prince (Suraj Keshava Prasad) of JK Rallying is ahead in the INRC 3 category.
Fabid Ahmer and co-driver Sanath G in action on Saturday. Photos: Anand Philar Leaders in the other classes were: Aeman Ahmed (Sagar M) of Ammyfied Rallying, in INRC 4; Arnav Pratap Singh (Arjun SSB) of SNAP Racing in JINRC and Samrat Yadav (Chandrashekar M) in Gypsy Challenge which is a non-championship category.
As well as Kadur drove today, the expected clash with seven-times National champion Gill dissipated in the day’s very first Stage with the Delhi star pulling out due to an issue with the gearbox of his Mahindra XUV 300 barely two Kms in the first Stage. “We had put in some new parts, but in SS-1, we had to pack up due to some issue with the gearbox. I was looking forward to the event as the Stages were to my liking. We will restart tomorrow and I hope to score some leg points,” said a disappointed Gill.
Kadur, aiming to win the National title this season, and who leads Gill by 44 points in the championship standings, said: “We stuck to our plan today which was to bring the car home. We pushed more in the second loop in the afternoon and made time on our morning run. I enjoyed the drive today. As for tomorrow, again, our aim will be to finish the event, exercise caution where required and push when we can. The car is still a work in progress and I am learning it all the time. Hopefully, we will have a good run tomorrow.”
Maninder Singh Prince and Vinay Padmashali lead INRC3 after Day 1. The Prasaditya Karnataka-1000 rally is being organised by the Karnataka Motor Sports Club under the aegis of FMSCI, the governing body of motorsports in India and promoted by Blueband Sports.
Of the 65 cars that took the start, 24 cars logged DNF and failed to finish on Day 1. Some of the cars will take the start again on Sunday for leg points.
Provisional partial classification (After Leg-1): (After Day1)
Overall / INRC: 1. Karna Kadur / Nikhil V Pai (Bengaluru, Arka Motorsports) (36mins, 03secs); 2. Fabid Ahmer / Sanath G (Palakkad) (36:50.4); 3. Aroor Arjun Rao (Mangaluru) / Satish Rajagopal (Bengaluru, Mandovi Racing) (37:04.7); 4. Suhem Kabeer (Virajpet)/ Jeeva Rathinam (Bengaluru) (37:09.300); 5. Aditya Thakur (Solan) / Virender Kashyap (Shimla, Chettinad Sporting) (37:21.7); 6. Jahaan Singh Gill (Chandigarh)/ Suraj Keshava Prasad (Bengaluru, SNAP Racing) (37:50.700); 7. Maninder Singh Prince (New Delhi) / Vinay Padmashali (Bengaluru, JK Rallying) (38:10.9); 8. Philippos Mathai (New Delhi) / Harish KN (Bengaluru, Arka Motorsports) (38:10.9); 9. Samrat Yadav (Chandigarh) / Chandrashekar M (Bengaluru) (38:54.300); 10. Arnav Pratap Singh (Delhi) / Arjun SSB (Bengaluru, SNAP Racing) (39:05.9); 11. Pragathi Gowda / Trisha Alonkar (Bengaluru, Arka Motorsports) (39:08.7);
INRC 2: 1. Ahmer / Sanath; 2. Suhem Kabeer (Virajpet) / Jeeva Rathinam (Bengaluru) (37:09.3); 3. Aditya Thakur (Solan) / Virender Kashyap (Shimla, Chettinad Sporting) (37:21.7); 4. Jahaan Singh Gill (Chandigarh)/ Suraj Keshava Prasad (Bengaluru, SNAP Racing) (37:50.700).
INRC 3: 1. Maninder Singh Prince (New Delhi) / Vinay Padmashali (Bengaluru, JK Rallying) (38:10.9); 2. Philippos Mathai (New Delhi) / Harish KN (Bengaluru, Arka Motorsports) (38:10.9); 3. Kuber Sharma (Solan) / Kunal Kashyap (Shimla) (38:18.1); 4. Arnav Singh Pratap (Delhi) /Arjun SSB (Bengaluru) (39:05.900).
INRC 4: 1. Aeman Ahmed (Chikkamagluru) / Sagar M (Bengaluru, Ammyfied Rallying) (43:25.2); 2. Rakshith Iyer (Mysuru) / Avinash CA (Bengaluru) (43:45.6); 3. Jagbir Nirwan (Patiala) / Karanpreet Mattu (Kurukshetra) (47:43.2); 4. Ruthuparna Vivek (Chikkamagaluru) /Santosh Thomas (Hyderabad) (59:18.900).
Junior INRC: 1. Arnav Pratap Singh (Delhi) / Arjun SSB (Bengaluru, SNAP Racing) (39:05.9); 2. Pragathi Gowda / Trisha Alonkar (Bengaluru, Arka Motorsports) (39:08.7); 3. Ajay Shankar (Kollam) / Rohit Gowda (Bengaluru) (40:47.8); 4. Shivani Pruthvi/ Deepti Pruthvi (Both Davangere) (41:21.900).
Gypsy Challenge (Non-championship): 1. Samrat Yadav (Chandigarh) / Chandrashekar M (Bengaluru) (38:54.300); 2. Himanshu Arora (Delhi) / Vikram Thakur (Chandigarh, Ammyfield Rallying) (40:14.300); 3. Kariappa Mekerira (Kodagu) / Supreeth Sagar (Bengaluru, Ammyfied Rallying) (43:02.200); 4. Darshan Nachappa /Abhinav Ganapathy (Both Kodagu, Ammyfied Rallying) (43:14.300).
Fabid Ahmer on Saturday. Photo courtesy Twitter @JKtyreracing -
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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TVS’ Rajendra wins K1000; Sarath Mohan, top privateer
Bengaluru, 14 Aug 2022: Former National champion Rajendra RE of Petronas TVS Racing notched up a hard-fought second consecutive victory beating teammate and defending champion Abdul Wahid Tanveer in the K1000 2-wheeler rally, the fourth round of the GodSpeed Racing fmsci MRF Mogrip National 2w Rally Championship 2022 organised by Karnataka Motor Sports Club here at the Tribal Adventure Cafe on Sunday.
While Tanveer began the season with a victory at Chikmagaluru, Rajendra bounced back with a fine victory at Coimbatore in Round 3, and with this K1000 win, he took a narrow 1-point lead on the championship table with two rounds to go. All the TVS riders missed Round 2 due to new technical regulations.
Rajendra, the Shivamogga talent, started cautiously as some parts of the Special Stages remained slushy but still clocked the fastest times in all the six Special Stages. However, despite having about 8-second lead, he threw caution to winds and clocked a blistering 7min, 12.207sec in the final Special Stage to make over 12 seconds that left Tanveer clueless. Nataraj, finished a distant third. Samuel Jacob and Imran Pasha (SS 260cc) completed the top-5 sweep for TVS.
Sarath Mohan and Naresh VS are the only riders who have won all the four rounds, thus far, and are well on their way to National Championship honours.
All-win streak continues: Sarath Mohan sweeps all rounds in Superbike Expert class Kerala’s Sarath Mohan, astride a Husqvarna FE450, became the top privateer, taking sixth place in the overall standings, behind Petronas TVS Racing team, who once again made a clean sweep of all the top five places. Sarath, the 25-year talent from Mallapuram, won the Superbike Expert Class 1A beating state mate Sinan Francis (KTM 450) of Kochi by a huge margin. In fact, his big lead helped him overcome the time he lost going off-route due to a missing ‘bunting’ in the stages and a road penalty later. Still he was fastest in all the stages. “I missed the route and lost about two minutes in the Banana farms. But I am quite happy to continue my winning streak,” said the talented rider, who aims to shift to longer cross-country rallies abroad by 2024. Mithun Gopal of Thiruvananthapuram, on a Suzuki RM450, won the bronze to make the class an all-Kerala affair.
Bengaluru’s Naresh VS conquered the Royal Enfield Class 6 astride a Himalayan. Naresh was fastest in all the six stages taking a healthy five-minute lead before his nearest rival Mahesh Kumar suffered a 1min, 40-sec road penalty. Sajeer Ismail from Ernakulam came third.
Bengaluru’s Aishwarya Pissay, the 2019 World Cup Baja winner, took back the championship lead in the Ladies class with a facile victory. With Aishwarya missing Round 2, Fazeela of Ernakulam, took the title lead after Round 3, but today she lost over six minutes in the very first Special STage and had to be content with a fourth place. Bengaluru’s Sameera Dahiya came second on an Impulse and Deeksha Shrivasta, the reigning Sprint champion, finished third.
Imran Pasha of Mysore won the Supersport 260cc Group B class comfortably despite easing off in the last stages where teammate Banteilang Jyrwa clocked the fastest times. However, the TVS talent and former champion did a creditable job taking the overall fifth position on his RTR200 punching above his weight to beat more powerful bikes. Mangalore’s Adnaan Ahmed who won Round 2 at home, finished third.
Bengaluru’s Anoop Manjappa on a Stunner defeated Chalass Bose (Kottayam) despite a 1min 10sec penalty in the Supersport 130cc class. Chikkamagaluru rider Sudarshan B on a Gladiator finished third. However, Bose, the Kottayam rider, leads the table by a narrow six-points by virtue of his two wins and two second places while Anoop, has two wins and a second and could only finish fourth in Coimbatore, losing precious points.
But Gidyun Benjamin, who clocked fastest times in all the six stages, lost to Sasi Kumar K in the Supersport 165cc Group B class due to a road penalty of 2min 50seconds. Varun Kumar came third. Sasi Kumar, breathes easy as he now tops the table with 83 points as, Francis PV, the table topper going into Round 4, had a terrible crash and suffered a leg fracture.
Mumbai’s Russel Jossy on a KTM 390 clocked fastest times on all the stages except SS4 but his nearest rival Amog Nag lost over 4min Liaison penalty and just managed to beat veteran Venu Ramesh Kumar by about 11 seconds. Coimbatore’s Venu, a regular in the rally scene for over a decade bagged another podium and still leads the Supersport 400cc Group B championship standings going into the final two rounds. Assam’s Hansraj Saikia, who came fifth, is second behind Venu in the standings.
Sanjay Somasekhar won the Superstock Group D upto 450cc class beating Naveen Somasekhar, also of Bengaluru while C Pradeep took the third place.
Pinkesh Thakkar of Aprilia JB Racing topped the standings winning the Scooter class while BK Pawan won the Star of K1000 title.
Of the 87 entries, a total of 76 bikes finished the rally while 10 “Did Not Finish” (DNF) and one rider Harish Eranty could not take the start on time.
Provisional Results (Ro 4 K1000):
Class 1: Superbike Pro-Expert:
1. Rajendra RE (Petronas TVS Racing; Shimoga) RTR 450; 51:21.156;
2. Abdul Waheed Tanveer (Petronas TVS Racing; Bengaluru) RTR 450; 51:41.457;
3. R Nataraj (Petronas TVS Racing; Mysore) RTR 450; 53:00.815;
4. Samuel Jacob (Petronas TVS Racing; Udupi) RTR 200; 53:04.462;
5. Imran Pasha (Petronas TVS Racing – Mysore) RTR 200; 55:55:636;
6. Sarath Mohan (Pvt- Mallapuram) Husqvarna; 57: 03.707;
Class 1A:
1. Sarath Mohan (Pvt- Mallapuram) Husqvarna; 57: 03.707;
2. Sinan Francis (Pvt- Vennala/Kerala) KTM 450; 01:00:36.723;
3. Mithun Gopal (Pvt- Trivandrum ) Suzuki RM450; 01:13:42.547;
Class 2:
1. Anoop Manjappa (Pvt – Bengaluru) Stunner; 01:06:44.802; (including 1min, 10sec penalty);
2. Chalass K Bose (Pvt – Kottayam) Stunner; 01:07:21.388;
2. Sudharshan B (Pvt. Chikkamagaluru) Gladiator 01:09: 01.048; (including 1min, 20sec Penalty);
Class 3:
1. Sasi Kumar (Pvt -Coimbatore) Impulse; 01:00:11:700;
2. Gidyun Benjamin (Pvt – ) 01:01:02. 528; (including 2min, 50sec penalty);
3. Varun Kumar (Pvt. – Bengaluru) Impulse; 01:02:47:117;
Class 4:
1. Imran Pasha (Petronas TVS Racing – Mysore) RTR 200; 55:55:636;
2. Banteilang Jerwa (TVS -Shillong) Xpulse; 57:51.299;
3. Adnan Ahmed (Pvt -Mangaluru) Xpulse; 58:34.018; (incl. 1.30sec penalty)
Class 5:
1. Russel Jossy (Pvt – Mumbai) KTM390; 01:02: 06.696; (20sec penalty);
2. Amogh Nag (Pvt – Bengaluru) KTM390; 01:07:28.620; (4min, 10sec penalty);
3. Venu Ramesh Kumar (Pvt – Coimbatore) KTM390; 01:07:39.403;
Class 6:
1. Naresh VS (Pvt – Bengaluru) Royal Enfield; 01:02:32.481;
2. Mahesh Kumar (Pvt – Kochi) Royal Enfield; 01:09:26.454;
3. Shajeer Ishmail (Pvt – Ernakulam) Royal Enfield; 01:10:14.099;
Class 7:
1. Aishwarya Pissay (Petronas TVS Racing – Bengaluru) RTR 200; 01:07:24.068;
2. Sameera Dahiya (Pvt – Bengaluru) Xpulse; 01:24:17.364;
3. Deeksha Srivastava (Pvt – Pune) Impulse; 01:31:13.909;
4. Fazeela (Pvt – Ernakulam) Impulse; 01:45:09.443;
Class 8:
1. Pinkesh Thakkar (Aprilia JB Racing)Aprilia; 01:06:27:709;
2. Karthik Naidu (Petronas TVS Racing –Bengaluru) NTorq; 01:06:29:973;
3. Subramanya T (Pvt – Bhopal) NTorq; 01:06:46:747;
Class 9
1. Sanjay Somashekar (Pvt – Bengaluru) Xpulse; 01:00:25:746;
2. Naveen Somashekar (Pvt – Bengaluru) Xpulse; 01:06:14:891;
3. C Pradeep (PRN Motorsports – Bengaluru) Xpulse; 01:06:37:032;
Class 10: Star of K1000
1. BK Pawan (Pvt.- Bengaluru) Xpulse; 01:03:47.017;
2. Gowtham Rao R (Pvt. Bengaluru) Impulse; 01:04:02.918;
3. L Bharath (Pvt. Bengaluru) Impulse; 01:10:27.572.
