INDIA in F1

Tag: Karna Kadur

  • Karna Kadur-Somonnita gift Coffee Day Rally win to Ghosh-Naik due to `penalty’

    Karna Kadur-Somonnita gift Coffee Day Rally win to Ghosh-Naik due to `penalty’

    By David Bodapati

    Chikmagalur, 24 Nov 2012: Rising star of Bangalore Karna Kadur (co-driver Somonnita Ghosh) rallied brilliantly to clock the best time but failed to win as the duo was penalized 40 seconds for a delayed start after the last service break to gift the Coffee Day Rally to Amittrajit Ghosh (Ashwin Naik) as the third leg of the Indian National Rally Championship concluded at the special stages in Birur near here. Karna-Somonnita finished second.

    With only the Nashik rally remaining, it may prove costly for Karna Kadur, as he lost a golden chance to be in the reckoning for his maiden National Championship. The prize distribution will be held at the ABC campus at 10.30 am on Sunday. There was an eerie silence at the team hotel, Planters Court, in the evening and the grapevine has it that the talented youngster suffered due to team orders. But it was all `hush-hush’ with no one willing to be quoted.

    Karna Kadur tops the Coffee Day Rally but loses win due a penalty. Photo by Anand Philar.

    The lone entry in the Indian Rally Championship for modified foreign cars, Zuhin A and seasoned Musa Sherif of Team Kajah Motorsports who thrilled the crowds yesterday in the Super Special Stage began well on Saturday setting a scorching pace in the University Stage to take a lead of over 40 seconds by SS3 but soon fell behind with a Turbo problem. They later retired in Special Stage 5 (SS5) with an electrical snap.

    In the INRC 2000cc class, Amittrajit Ghosh (Ashwin Naik) who were tied with Karna Kadur after three stages lost time in the next three but the penalty to Karna saw them clinch the issue. Vikram Devadasan and co-driver Somayya AG came third. Strong contenders Lohit Urs (co-driver Sujith Kumar) managed to run with a troublesome suspension and came fourth to keep themselves at a striking distance gaining some valuable championship points.

    Organised by Chikmagalur Motor Sports Club under the aegis of Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India, the popular rally is sponsored by Café Coffee Day, The Serai Resorts, Amber Valley School and Way2Wealth.

    In the 1600cc class, Raghunandan K and co-driver Suraj K came first on a day which saw many casualities. Byram Godrej (Prajwal Pai) came second followed by Suhem MK (Jeevarathinam) in third. Sirish Chandran (co-driver Nikhil Pai) slipped and went down into a ditch in SS5.

    In the JINRC class, overnight leaders Karan AM (Shanmugha) ran all the stages with controlled aggression to clinch the rally. Asad Khan and Zayne Asrar came second while Samrat Yadav (Tushar Marwaha) came third.

    Of the 43 cars that started the day, 15 cars failed to finish.

    Provisional unaudited results:

    Indian Rally Championship: 1. Zuhin A / Musa Sherif (Team Kazah Motorsports) 38 minutes 36.4 seconds (DNF – retired in SS5)

    Indian National Rally Championship: 2000cc N: 1. Amittrajit Ghosh /Ashwin Naik 1: 21: 59.5;  2. Karna Kadur/ Sommonita Ghosh 1: 22: 08.3; 3. Vikram Devadasan/ Somayya AG 1: 22: 40.9:

    1600cc: 1. Raghunandan B/ Suraj K 1: 27: 45.5; 2. Byram Godrej/ Prajval Pai 1:28:58.8; 3. 3.Suhem MK/

    Jeevaratinam K 1: 29:08.8; 

    Junior INRC: 1. Karan AM/ Shanmugha SN; 2. Asad Khan CA/ Zayne Asrar; 3. Samrat Yadav/ Tushar Marwaha. (Timings to be released)  

    Note: The article is updated from old archives.

  • Kolkota’s Bro-sis duo hog limelight in different teams

    By David Bodapati

    Chennai, 26 June 2011: Kolkata’s talented youngster Amittrajit Ghosh with co-driver Ashwin Naik of Mangalore saved the day for Team MRF winning the 37th South India Rally as the Red giants lost the second runner Lohit Urs (Srinivasa Murthy PV) to a stewards’ decision in the second round of the Speed Indian National Rally Championship, at Irrungattukottai, 35 kms from here, on Sunday.

    Talking about experienced Ashwin Naik, a veteran journalist quipped: “To finish first, first you have to finish. And that happens only when you have a navigator who can control the emotions of a driver,’’ and that’s what Amit Ghosh acknowledged of Ashwin’s expertise today at the Post-event press conference.

    Thus, Team MRF dominated the second rally of the season despite strong contender Gaurav Gill of Delhi (co driver Musa Sherif) logging a DNF with gear box problems when he was only a few kilometers to the finish and tried to run only on 5th gear but could not complete on Day One. Experienced Arjun Balu (Sujith Kumar), also of team MRF, saw their car roll to a halt after SS 6 on Saturday but bounced back to get 7 leg points on Sunday as they were the fastest. It was the new recruit Ghosh, who led the Red challenge till the end winning the top class 2000N+ in the Super Rally format . The lone opposition of privateer Arjun Rao Aroor (Satish Rajagopal) who started his own AR Racing after quitting MRF failed he did not complete the rally. The tight corners and twisty route apart from the bumpy terrain of `Track Stage’ took a toll on the cars and 12 out of 27 dropped out, to tell the tale of the challenging terrain.

    In the 2000cc N class, talented youngster who was out of the INRC, Karna Kadu of Bangalore, after a crash in Nashik in 2009, made a stunning comeback after a year’s hiatus, to edge out overnight leaders Rahul Kantharaj and Vivek Bhat also of Bangalore and made it a double whammy for his navigator exactly after a year. His codriver, Somonita Ghosh, sister of winner Ghosh, is the only lady driver in the National Championship. The name Kadur rings a bell in the ear of every motorsport fan for the exploits of his father Mr Kadur, and one hopes that the young giant takes forward the family tradition. “It was a brilliant rally and I am happy where I am finished,’’ said a content Kadur, winning his second only run on the powerful Cedia machine in the INRC. Rahul Kantharaj and Vivek Bhat, who finished second in the 2000 cc N category had a flat tyre while Vikram Devadasen and Somayya AG came third.  “But for the flat tyre today on SS7, we would have retained our lead,” said Kanthraj with Bhat in tow as they tried to hide their disappointment.

    In the Gypsy Class, the seasoned Sanjay Agarwal (Shivaprakash E) from Bangalore dedicated his victory to Manoj Dalal, the Clerk of the Course (CoC), who as a co-participant saved his life 10 years back at the same venue in South India Rally, when Sanjay broke his back and still insisted that he would drive. “I am alive and here, because of Manoj, whose timely help saved my life,’’ said Sanjay, with everyone applauding him. Sachin Singh (Venu Ramesh) who lost a minute due to electrical malfunction and finished second while Shafeeq (Adhiraj Bardhan) came third.

    In the 1600cc class, Vignesh Devadasen, ably assisted by Anoop Kumar of Bangalore who survived a 300 ft fall in Nashik, won the rally and proved that the safety is of paramount importance. Leader of the championship, Aniruddha Rangnekar and Overdrive’s Hally Prabhakar as codriver finished a deserved second as they managed to nurture their car.

    Here you can watch the YouTube video by OVERDRIVE produced by CNBCTV18.

    The results (provisional unaudited partial classification):

    Overall: Amittrajit Ghosh / Ashwin Naik (MRF) 1 (2hr, 05 mins, 59.0 secs); Karna Kadur (Somonita Ghosh) 2 (2: 08: 44.0 secs);  Rahul Kanthraj / Vivek Bhatt (Pvt) 3 (2: 09: 03.4).

    2000cc (N+): Amittrajit Ghosh / Ashwin Naik (MRF) 1 (2hr, 05 mins, 59.0 secs);

    2000cc (Group N): Karna Kadur (Somonita Ghosh) 1 (2: 08: 44.0) 1; Kanthraj / Bhatt 1 (2: 09: 34.0); Vikram Devadasen  / Somayya AG (Pvt) 3 (2: 09:53.0).

    1600cc: Vignesh Devarajan / Anoop Kumar (pvt) 1 (2: 31:56.0); Aniruddha Rangnekar / Halley Prabhakar 2 (2: 41: 31.0);

    1400cc (Star Cup): Hrishikesh Thackersey / Kaushik H Shinde 1 (2: 04.14.0); Karan AM / Shanmuga SN 2 (02:03:.4).

    Gypsy – stock: Sanjay Agarwal / Shivaprakash E 1 (2:00:31.0); Sachin Singh / Venu Ramesh 2 (2:02:35.0); Shafeeq-ur-Rehman / Adhiraj Bardhan 3 (3:03:34.0).

    Note to editors: Since 1400cc and Gypsy Cup are not officially part of INRC, the scratch time given for the cars in the other classes for the cancelled stage are not added to these class cars and the timings are for only ten stages.