INDIA in F1

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  • Triumphant Harkrishan, Kunal clinch iconic K1000 Rally for second Overall win

    Triumphant Harkrishan, Kunal clinch iconic K1000 Rally for second Overall win

    Tumakuru, 23 Dec. 2023: Delhi’s Harkrishan Wadia and co-driver Kunal Kashyap turned their overnight lead into a memorable victory at the iconic Blueband K1000 Rally, and won the 2023 INRC2 title bagging full 40 points in the sixth and final round of the Blueband Sports fmsci Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) for four-wheelers, which concluded near Gubbi, here on Saturday.

    The Mangaluru-Bengaluru pair of Aroor Arjun Rao and co-driver Satish Rajagopal has already won the Blueband Indian National Rally Championship 2023 Overall title winning the first three rounds and took a 45-point unbeatable lead going into K1000. Wadia and Kashyap of Himachal, after their maiden win at the Blueband Robusta Rally of Kodagu last month, took their second straight Overall victory at K1000 to comfortably clinch the title in their class, the INRC2. “I am delighted with the back-to-back wins and the title is a bonus. I am grateful to my father and I thank all my team, especially Leela sir, Karna, Phil and all the boys. But for them, this would not have been possible,” said the 25-year Harkrishan, the 2020 Junior INRC champ and son of former rally star Anil Wadia.

    Harkrishan Wadia, left, and Kunal Kashyap, winners of the Blueband 47th K1000 Rally at Tumakuru on Saturday. An INDIAinF1 image

    Mangaluru’s Dean Mascarenhas along with co-driver Gagan Karumbaiah, who were lying in Overall third overnight, finished Overall second ahead of the Snap Racing pair, Younus Ilyas (co-driver Nitin Jacob). Behind Arka Motorsports’ Wadia (co-driver Kashyap), who was driving an INRC2 spec Volkswagen Polo 1.6, it was 2019 champion Chetan Shivram and co-driver E Shivprakash, who took the second place in the INRC2 class. Ritesh Guttedar and Chetan M finished third.

    In the INRC3 class, Jason Saldanha and co-driver Thimmanna Uddapanda, fresh from their exploits in this year’s Malaysian Rally Championship, emerged as winners of K1000 in this class. Jahaan Singh Gill and co-driver Suraj Keshav Prasad finished second, which was enough for them to clinch the INRC3 2023 championship. Daraius Shroff and Shahid Salman, who were in title contention till Hyderabad, lost the plot in the last two rounds. They finished third in their class today.

    Jahaan Singh, who won the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) Junior title last month in Indonesia, also won the Junior INRC title.

    Ammyfied Rallying pair Abhin Rai and co-driver Rohit Gowda won the K1000 on way to their maiden INRC4 title. Kothamangalam privateers Athul Thomas and Sajil V Saji came second and Praveen Dwarakanath and co-driver Kariyappa KB finished third.

    In the Gypsy class, Ammyfied Rallying made a clean sweep of the podium led by Samrat Yadav and Arvind Dheerendra. Darshan Nachappa and co-driver Abhinav Ganapathy were second and that was enough for them to clinch the 2023 FMSCI Gypsy Cup. Dr Akarsh Sunder and V Sekar, who finished third amassed more points but lost on “N minus one’ rule, where drivers can discard one round.

    Anushriya Gulati, who won the K1000 Rally, also clinched the Ladies Class championship for 2023.

    Of the 59 entries, only 30 cars finished. Six cars on Day 1 and 21 cars on Day 2 did not finish.

    Final Provisional Results:

    Overall: 1. Harkrishan Wadia/ Kunal Kashyap (Arka Motorsports) (01hr, 26min, 53.5seconds); 2. Dean Mascarenhas/ Gagan Karumbaiah (Pvt.) (01:27:57:2); 3. Younus Ilyas/ Nitin Jacob (Snap Racing) (01:28:06.1);

    INRC2: 1. Harkrishan Wadia/ Kunal Kashyap (Arka Motorsports) (01:26:53.5); 2. Chetan Shivram/ E Shivaprakash (Jo1 Rallying) (01:30:34.4); 3. Ritesh Guttedar M/ Suraj M (Pvt.) (01:32:27.5);

    INRC3: 1. Jason Saldanha/ Thimmanna Uddapanda (Dark Don Racing) (01:29:39.0); 2. Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad (Snap Racing) (01:29:49.6); 3. Daraius Shroff/ Shahid Salman (Chettinad Sporting) (01:30:02.0);

    INRC4: 1. Abhin Rai/ Rohit Gowda (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:36:25.2); 2. Athul Thomas /Sajil V Saji (Pvt.) (01:47:34.0); 3. Praveen Dwarakanath / Kariyappa KB (Pvt.) (01:51:05.2):

    Gypsy: 1. Samrat Yadav/ Arvind Dheerendra (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:40:02.9); 2. Darshan Nachappa/ Abhinav Ganapathy (Ammyfied) (01:43:29.6); 3. Dr Akarsh Sunder/ V Seker (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:44:03.3);

    Junior INRC: 1. Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad (Snap Racing) (01:29:49.6); 2. Arjun Rajiv/ Milen George (Ammyfied) (01:33:14.2); 3. Abhin Rai/ Rohit Gowda (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:34:45.2);

    Ladies Class: 1. Anushriya Gulati/ Sherwin Dalmeida (Dark Don Racing) (01:51:35.1);

    INRC Champions for 2023:

    Overall 2023 Rally champion: Aroor Arjun Rao/ Satish Rajagopal;

    INRC2: Harkrishan Wadia/ Kunal Kashyap (Arka Motorsports);

    INRC3: Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad (Snap Racing);

    INRC4: Abin Rai/ Rohit Gowda;

    Ladies Class: Anushriya Gulati;

    Junior INRC: Jahaan Singh Gill;

    Gypsy Cup: Darshan Nachappa/ Abhinav Ganapathy;

  • K1000 postponed due to COVID19 second wave

    Bengaluru, 11 May 2021: Karnataka 1000, popularly known as K1000, scheduled to run as the second round of the Champions Yacht Club fmsci Indian National Rally Championship 2021, from May 28 to 30, was postponed due to the second wave of COVID 19 that hit Bengaluru badly. The new dates will be announced later.

    With the way the pandemic is raging, the Indian Championship is expected to be stretched to the end of the year and two back-to-back rounds beginning with South India Rally are likely to be held Chennai and Bengaluru. Last year, Champions Yacht Club conducted two back-to-back rounds in Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh and the calendar concluded with the third round in Coimbatore as K-1000, scheduled to be the last round, was cancelled.

    The first round of the scheduled six-round National Championship this year, the MMSC South India Rally was postponed last month. The rally which attracted a record number of 73 entries was supposed to be held concurrently with the Asia Leg of the Asian Pacific Rally Championship (APRC). The third round at Coimbatore to be run by the Coimbatore Auto Sports Club, slated to be held from July 16 to 18, also looks like a non-starter.

    The postponement was announced by the National body, the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (fmsci) on May 11 and was confirmed by the BS Gautham, President, Karnataka Motor Sports Club (KMSC).

  • K-1000 for bikes, the 2nd round of INRC, flagged off after Recce

    K-1000 for bikes, the 2nd round of INRC, flagged off after Recce

    By David Bodapati

    Bengaluru, 5 Dec 2020: Defending champion Rajendra RE of TVS Racing will be looking to bounce back at the popular K-1000 rally, the second round of the God Speed Racing MRF fmsci Indian National Rally Championship for bikes which was flagged off here at the Tribal Adventure Cafe on Saturday.

    Organised by Karnataka Motor Sports Club (KMSC), one of the oldest active founder members of the Federation of Motors Sports Clubs of India (fmsci), has been running the K1000 for over four decades and with 2W rally being revived in recent years, KMSC, is once again in the thick of action with God Speed Racing as promoters of the 2w Rally Nationals.

    Raghavendra, Senior District Manager of MRF, flagged off the rally. “KMSC has taken all the precautions and the rally is being organised with all safety precautions under strict guidelines as prescribed by the Sports Ministry and the Federation,” said Sanjeev Shah, General Secretary of KMSC.

    Rajendra, who lost the premium class race in Group A to teammate Samuel Shajan Jacob at Puttur in the first round recently, is raring to go. The talented multi-national champion suffered a rare setback and will be astride a Apache RTR 200cc but his teammate Jacob will be eager to do an encore to increase his points tally. TVS Racing once again looks strong in other classes too, and has a World Cup champion in Aishwarya Pissay, who will be defending her title in the Ladies class and has already bagged the first round with a huge lead. Ryhana Bee the runner up and who recently won the Sprint Nationals round will be putting up a fight with three other girls in the fray.

    With reigning champion Syed Asif Ali and Pinkesh Thakkar suffering mechanical issues, another TVS Racing rider Shamim Khan won the first round in the Scooter Class which is usually dominated by TVS Racing as they sweep the podium in every round. One has to watch if the likes of Karthik, who took a podium in Round 1, can get up to speed here.

    Asad Khan, the winner in  Class 1A in Puttur will also look to consolidate his position. KMSC received 70 entries. The two physical stages, Tribal (8.01km) and Kaadu (8.15km), will be run thrice, to make it 48.48km of Special Stage distance. Along with transport (liaison) distance of a bit less than 120km, the total distance of the rally is 168.33km. Both the stages and the parc ferme, are at the Tribal Adventure Cafe, near Devanahalli.

  • Chetan Shivaram-Dilip Sharan thwart pressure from Dr Bikku Babu-Milen to win K1000 Rally

    Chetan Shivaram-Dilip Sharan thwart pressure from Dr Bikku Babu-Milen to win K1000 Rally

    Chetan Shivram (left) and Dilip Sharan on the podium after winning the K1000 rally, the 4th Round of Champiojns Yacht Club INRC 2019 in Bengaluru on Sunday. INDIAinF1 photo

    Bengaluru, 24 Nov 2019: Gaurav Gill, Dean Mascarenhas, Karna Kadur, Fabid Ahmer… the top drivers, stalwarts, experienced veterans, talented seniors and upcoming youngsters…  many of them bit the dust. The unforgiving terrain of Khoday’s Special Stages saw that only 23 of the 50 cars finished the 44th edition of the K1000 rally, which was run entirely on a private property after many years, with special focus on spectator safety.

    In the SUV Challenge, Gagan Karumbaiah (co-driver Thimmu Uddapanda) of Team Champions took the first place to virtually seal the 2019 title.

    File photo of Chetan Shivram. @FB

    Coimbatore round winners, Chetan Shivaram and Dilip Sharan of Team Akshara won the fourth round of the Indian National Rally Championship after thwarting sustained pressure from Dr Bikku Babu and Milen George of Team Champions, and took the overall win by 12.7 seconds and also topped their class INRC3. The Doctor from Kerala had to be content with the overall second place but topped INRC2 and Team Mahindra Adventure’s second entry Amittrajit Ghosh and Ashwin Naik were overall third, a good three minutes and 27 seconds behind, but were rewarded for finishing the rally with the top prize in the top class, the INRC. Chetan Shivaram took the overall lead in the Championship replacing Fabid Ahmer, with one round remaining, the Popular Rally in Kerala.

    Mujeeb Rahman (left) and Goutham, INRC4 winners

    Motoring stalwart and speed demon Gaurav Gill and co-driver Musa Sherif, too, had a disappointing outing as he failed to take the start on Sunday and other pre-event favourites Dean Mascarenhas and Shruptha Padival (SS6), and Karna Kadur and Nikhil Pai (SS5) failed to finish the day along with championship leaders Fabid Ahmer and Sanath Gopalan (SS7).

    After the shock exit of Gaurav Gill, order seemed to have been restored, with another JK favourite Dean Mascarenhas winning SS5. But he promptly fell in the next stage, leaving the field for Championship leader Fabid Ahmer. But the MRF driver, who was nursing his car carefully, suffered a mechanical failure in SS7 and tumbled out. “What looked like a promising result ended up with broken tie-rod end! Had to stop in SS7 when running 3rd Overall and 2nd in INRC3. We will bounce back at our home rally in Kerala,” quipped Fabid Ahmer.

    “The top guns may not have fired today but we couldn’t have hoped for a more thrilling finish. It was good to see so many of the INRC 2 and 3 teams making a mark here, ahead of the known champions,” Hema Malini Nidamanuri, co-promoter of the INRC, said.

    SUV winners of K1000 on 24 Nov 2019. (INDIAinF1 publishes other class winners’ photos as they usually get buried in mainstream media. We encourage drivers to send their winning photos to INDIAinF1@gmail.com) Photo: Prabhu Kethanur

    Dr Bikku Babu and Melen George, winners of INRC2 at K1000 on Sunday. Photo: FB

    Chethan Shivaram in action at K1000. Photo by Prabhu Kethanoor

    Fabid Ahmer and Sanath G stall in Special Stage 7 due to tie-rod failure on Sunday. @Fabid on FB

     

     

    File photo of Team Akshara. Courtesy: FB @ChetanShivram

    Final Provisional Unaudited Results: 

    Overall: 1. Chetan Shivaram/ Dilip Sharan (Akshara Racing) (1hour, 47minutes, 37.200seconds); 2. Dr Bikku Babu/ Milen George (Team Champions) (1:47:49.900); 3. Amittrajit Ghosh/ Ashwin Naik (Team Mahindra Adventure) (1:51.04.300).

    INRC: 1. Amittrajit Ghosh/ Ashwin Naik (Team Mahindra Adventure) (1:51.04.300); 2. Phalguna Urs/ Chandramouli M (Sanp Racing) (1:53:00.500). (only two cars finished out of six)

    INRC2: 1. Dr Bikku Babu/ Milen George (Team Champions) (1:47:49.900); 2. Sahil Khanna/ Rajit Kadian (Snap Racing) (1:52:00.200); 3. Younus Ilyas/Harish Gowda (Race Concepts) (4:50:24.200).

    INRC3: 1. Chetan Shivaram/ Dilip Sharan (Akshara Racing) (1:47:37.200); 2. Jacob KJ/ Murthy PVS (Arka Motorsports) (1:53.35.600); 2. Pradeep Kumar/Ahammad Ansary (Pipe & Pipe) (2:19:58.000).

    INRC4: 1. Mujeeb Rahaman/ Gautham CP (Privateers) (1:55:17.900); 2. Shirole Prakhyat H/ Bharath SM (Pvt) (1:57:16.300); 3.Satish Peddineni/ Vinay Kumar PM (Team Champions) (2:33:19.500).

    FMSCI SUV Challenge: 1. Gagan Karumbaiah/ Thimmu Uddapanda (Team Champions) (2:47:46.800); 2. Thomas Kuncheria M/ Dwarakanath Sudarshan (Pvt.) (2:13:41.200); 3. Sanjay Agarwal/ Smitha N (Team Champions) (5:03:17.100).

    (Note: Results were revised after confirmation from official version at 6.15pm.)

  • Gaurav Gill takes lead in K1000; 24 of the 50 cars that took the start suffer casualties

    Gaurav Gill takes lead in K1000; 24 of the 50 cars that took the start suffer casualties

    Gaurav Gill leads K1000 at the end of Day 1 in Bengaluru on Saturday. Photo by Sriharsha Nadiger

    Bengaluru, 23 Nov 2019: Speed Maestro Gaurav Gill touched his wonted form, making an immediate impact as he returned to rallying, by speeding to the first-Special Stage win of the popular K1000 rally, the fourth leg of the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) organised by Karnataka Motor Sports Club (KMSC) at the Khoday’s stages in Amruthnagar, about 20km, near here, on Saturday. But the champion driver was forced to pay attention and drive with caution as the tough stages took a toll on many an experienced driver during the four stages run on Day 1. Still Gill won two of the four stages but displayed controlled aggression and went steady in the other two.

    Of the 50 cars that took the flag at the ceremonial start on Friday, 24 cars suffered casualities on Day 1 in the demanding and treacherous dirt stages but five cars out of them will not be able to start the final day of the 44th K1000 Rally, promoted by Champions Yacht Club under the aegis of Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI). Only 45 cars will take the start on Sunday.

    The Arjuna Awardee and three-time Asia Pacific Rally Championship winner, Gill, dashed with vengeance taking the 18.5km stage in 13min, 43.6sec, the only driver on the day to go under 14-min mark on Special Stage 1. The five-time INRC champion in JK Tyre colours, was followed by talented Karna Kadur, who took 29 seconds more behind him, but kept the pressure on Gill (co-driver Musa Sherif) to finish the day in second place. Karna Kadur and navigator Nikhil Pai, of Arka Motorsports, won Special Stage 4 to reduce the deficit and will be gunning for maximum points. Then, it was Dr Bikku Babu who sprang a surprise. Watch Prabhu Kethanoor’s 8-sec Video of Karna Kadur here…

    But it was Dr Bikku Babu and Milen George, who won SS2. The doctor from Kerala, who was involved in reviving the Popular rally along with his team, pelted to take a stunning win and Karna despite losing time and finishing 7th in this stage came back and took the second place behind Gill and Musa Sherif in SS3 and went on to win SS4 to make up enough time and stand second, behind Gill, the Delhi-based master of speed.

    Overall leader before the start of this round, Fabid Ahmer, driving a Volkswagen Polo, with partial sponsorship from MRF tyres, opted for the smart option, driving steadily in each of the four stages, with the finishing post in his mind. He was in the sixth position at the end of the day and could well go full throttle on the big day.

    Fabid Ahmer and co-driver Sanath Gopal, of Team Champions, had their strategy of steady and clean driving as the track took a toll on man and machine on Saturday. Only Popular Rally is remaining in the calendar as the Coffee Day rally at Chikmagalur is likely to be cancelled for want of a sponsor. The Palakkad driver began with caution and was keen on completing the day and could only finish 8th in SS1 but reeled out consistent times and made sure he is safe. The duo was fifth in SS2 but again lost time in SS3 and SS4 finishing 7th and 8th respectively. But Dean Mascarenhas of Mangalore with Shruptha Padival as co-driver has finished the day in overall third and with only 7 points behind to Fabid’s 49, is likely to take the overall lead as INRC goes to Kerala for the last round. Dean has a lead of about 75 seconds to Fabid and will be looking to be cautious on the four stages to be run on Sunday.

    Fabid and Sanath even fell behind brothers Chetan Shivaram and Dilip Sharan, who also compete in INRC3. The Bengaluru brothers are in 5th place at the end of the day. Chetan managed to take the 6th place in the first stage and put in some consistent time finishing 3rd in both SS2 and SS3 and clocked fourth best time in SS4 to finish overall 5th after four stages.

    Mangaluru boy Dean Mascarenhas in action finishing Day 1 in second place in the K1000 at Bengaluru on Saturday. An INDIAinF1 image

    Dean, meanwhile, continued to hold sway in the INRC2 category, although he had Dr Bikku Babu and co-driver Milen George, breathing down his neck, only 9.8 seconds behind. The good doctor was the clear surprise package of the day, going past the winning post in SS2; he even left Gill in his wake in SS4, taking the second place to Gill’s third, and claimed the fifth position in SS3 and the 6th in SS1 to boast of the best show of the day. Shahil Khanna and Rajit Kadian are placed third in INRC2.

    However, all eyes will be on Karna Kadur and Nikhil Pail. The Arka Motorsports duo, who had two disappointing rounds at Chennai and Coimbatore, showed their mettle to take the overall second position behind Gill and also in the INRC class. Karna showed glimpses of his talent and won SS4 with an impressive timing of 12:24.200. The technically sound driver could be a major threat on Sunday if he can control his speed and manage the tough terrain. They are also second in the INRC class behind Gill and are followed by Phalguna Urs and Chandramouli M, who recovered from a bad crash in Jodhpur.

    The INRC 4 class, saw Vaibhav Marate suffering a setback, withdrawing from the first stage itself after a mechanical problem. He should, however, be back in action on Sunday to put his title aspirations back on track, gunning for stage points. In his absence, Mujeeb Rahman and co-driver Gautham CP, privateers on a Honda City took the top position on Day 1. Shirole Prakhyat and Bharath SM, on a Honda City VTech are second, followed by Karthik Arumugam and Lenin Jose in third place.

    Thomas Kuncheria M and co-driver Dwarakanth Sudarshan brought their Maruti Gypsy to the top in the SUV Challenge class. Leaders Gagan Karumbaiah and Thimmu Uddapanda are trailing in second place and will be gunning for the final shot on Sunday to take back the lead. K Shivakumar Reddy and Dheeraj KV, also in a Gypsy, are place third with four more Special Stages to be run on Sunday.

    “It was an exciting day, opening up the championship in this penultimate round,” Hema Malini Nidamanuri, co-promoter of the rally, said. “We got to see some amazing driving and I am sure it’s going to be even more fun on Sunday,” she added.

    Satyapal, communication head, briefing the team at K1000 on Saturday. Photo Moto Port Seena

    Provisional Unaudited Results after Leg 1 (Day 1): 

    Overall: 1. Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif (Team Mahindra Adventure) (52minutes; 58.200seconds); 2. Karna Kadur/ Nikhil Pai (Arka Motorsports) (53:47.800); 3. Dean Mascarenhas/ Shruptha Padival (Privateers) (54:14.300).

    INRC:  1. Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif (Team Mahindra Adventure) (52minutes; 58.200seconds); 2. Karna Kadur/ Nikhil Pai (Arka Motorsports) (53:47.800); 3. Phalguna Urs/ Chandramouili M (Snap Racing) (55:37.800).

    INRC2: 1. Dean Mascarenhas/ Shruptha Padival (Privateers) (54:14.300); 2. Dr Bikku Babu/ Milen George (Team Champions) 54:27.100; 3. Sahil Khanna/ Rajit Kadian (Snap Racing) (56:05.800).

    INRC3: 1. Chetan Shivaram/ Dilip Sharan (Akshara Racing) (54:28.500); 2. Fabid Ahmer/ Sanath G (Team Champions) (55:32.900); 3. Pradeep Kumar/ Ahammad Ansary (Pipes & Pipes) (56:17.400).

    INRC4: 1. Mujeeb Rahaman/ Gautham CP (Privateers) (58:56.100); 2. Shirole Prakhyat H/ Bharath SM (Pvt) (59:11.500); 3.Karthik Arumugam/ Lenin Jose (Pvt) (1:02:11.400).

    FMSCI SUV Challenge: 1. Thomas Kuncheria M/ Dwarakanath Sudarshan (Pvt.) (1:07:09.700); 2. Gagan Karumbaiah/ Thimmu Uddapanda (Team Champions) (1:13:36.800); 3. K Shivakumar Reddy/ Dhiraj KV (Pvt.) (3:03:01.800).

    Note: The report was edited and results added at 10.45 pm

     

  • Younus Ilyas-Harish Gowda win Sprint de Bengaluru

    Chikkaballapura (near Bengaluru), 24 March 2019: Kerala’s Younus Ilyas survived a late attack from Bengaluru’s Dean Mascarenhas to win the INRC overall and INRC 2 categories in the Sprint de Bengaluru 2019, the non-championship event, a prelude to the FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) on Sunday.

    The two-day stage rally on dirt track was organised by Karnataka Motor Sports Club (KMSC) under the aegis of the new promoters of INRC, Champions Yacht Club.

    The Race Concepts driver, along with his navigator Harish Gowda, seemed to be in control after storming into a comfortable ten-second lead in the night stage on Saturday.

    But Mascarenhas, driving in the INRC 3 category, showed a glimpse of his speed and prowess on Sunday. Despite driving his stock car, he began day two with a bang, finishing just two seconds off Ilyas’ Cedia. He was equally brilliant in the next stage, clocking 4:58.30 which was just one second behind Ilyas.

    The two stages, at LG Tranquil, tested the drivers and cars thoroughly, with tarmac, gravel, loose soil, sharp climbs and steep falls marking the route.

    Mascarenhas then came into his own, winning the next two stages at the LG Champions County track handsomely. With only long straights and sharp curves and turns to conquer, he went all out and gained 9 and 8 seconds each to make up for his 10-second shortfall in the opening stage.

    Sadly for him, he was penalised six minutes for getting to the starting point on Saturday night late which proved to be too big a deficit to overcome. He slipped all the way to the bottom of the table.

    “It was just bad luck,” Mascarenhas said. “My car didn’t start so I got delayed. I am, however, very happy with the way I drove and I am looking forward to a good season,” he added.

    Ilyas expressed happiness at his performance and praised the stages. “It was a great outing, and I loved being out here. The stages were interesting and challenging at times. But I am really glad to have come out on top,” he said.

    Dhruva Chandrashekar, with his navigator Musa Sherif, quietly made his way up to take the second place in the INRC overall category. The duo clinched the INRC 3 category in the process.

    Provisional Unaudited Final Classification: INRC Overall: 1. Younus Ilyas / Harish KN; 2. Dhruva Chandrashekar / Musa Sherif; 3. Sanjay Agarwal / Smitha N

    INRC 1: Suhem Kabeer / J. Jeevarathinam; 2. Lokesh Gowda / D Uday Kumar

    INRC 2: 1. Younus Ilyas / Harish KN; 2. Ritesh Guttedar / Lokaranjan; 3. Lanusanen Pongener / Vinay Kmar PM

    INRC 3: 1. Dhruva Chandrashekar / Musa Sherif; 2. Chetan Shivram / Dilip Sharan; 3. Aroor Vikram Rao / Somayya AG

    FMSCI CUP / 4WD: 1. Sanjay Agarwal / Smitha N; 2. Avin Nanjappa / Darshan Nachappa; 3. Nikhil J / Arjun Dheerendra

    FMSCI CUP / 2WD: 1. Vaibhav Marathe / Arjun SSB; 2. Avinash DC / Kenith Harsha; 3. Adith KC / Venu Ramesh Kumar

    Ladies Class: 1. Shivani Pruthvi / Deepti Pruthvi; 2. Harshita Gowda / Vidya M

  • Younus Ilyas-Harish Gowda pair takes early lead in Sprint de Bengaluru; Dean-Kabir lead INRC3

    Younus Ilyas-Harish Gowda pair takes early lead in Sprint de Bengaluru; Dean-Kabir lead INRC3

    IGP Revanna flagging off a car at the ceremonial start of Sprint de Bengalore near Chikkaballapur on Saturday as Champions group Director Hemamalini looks on. An INDIAinF1 image

    Bengaluru, 23 March 2019: Kerala’s Younus Ilyas stormed into the early lead after the first stage of the Sprint de Bengaluru 2019, the curtain-raiser to the highly anticipated FMSC Indian National Rally Championship here on Saturday night.

     Aided by his navigator Harish Gowda from Bengaluru, Ilyas attacked the sharp turns and curves during the night stage with confidence and verve. He needed just 06:47.30 minutes to complete the 5.5 kilometres to the delight of a packed audience.

    Suhem Kabeer (and J Jeevarathnam) eased into the second position in the INRC 1 category, finishing just 10 seconds behind the leaders. They were quick in their Polo but missed out on a couple of turns that hurt them.

    The third place was taken by another INRC 1 entry, Lokesh Gowda (Uday Kumar) who took 7:03.10 minutes to complete their run.

    Younus and Harish naturally grabbed the lead in their own category too, the INRC 2 for a brilliant start to the season for the Race Concepts Motorsports Team.

    Ritesh Guttedar (Lokaranjan) took the second place while Lanusanen Pongener (Vinay Kumar) took the third place.

    Dean Mascarehnas, (Suhem Kabir) who finished a creditable fourth despite driving in his stock car, led his category, the INRC 3.

    The second stage will take place later in the night, followed by four day stages on Sunday.

    Models pose with the first car before the start of the Ceremonial Start at LG Champions Green County near Chikkaballapur on Saturday. An INDIAinF1 image

    Earlier in the evening, the event began with a bang, with all the 25 cars lining up for the ceremonial start. The state IGP K Revanna, Chairman of Champions Yacht Club Subhakar Rao and its Director Ms Hemamalini N flagged off the cars, cheered on by thousands of enthusiastic spectators.

    This was immediately followed by the shakedown, with the drivers giving the guests a taste of their skills and the route in their cars.

    Provisional Unaudited Results after Special Stage 1:

    INRC: 1 (INRC 2) Younus Ilyas | Harish K N (00:06:47.300); 2. (INRC 1) Suhem Kabeer | J. Jeevarathinam (00:06:57.600); 3. (INRC 1) Lokesh Gowda | D Uday Kumar (00:07:03.100)

    INRC 2: 1    Younus Ilyas; 2. Ritesh Guttedar; 3. Lanusanen Pongener

    INRC 3: 1    Dean Mascarenhas; 2. 2    Dhruva Chandrashekar; 3. 3    Chetan Shivram

  • Champions Yacht Club, KMSC present Sprint de Bengaluru as a prelude to INRC

    Bengaluru, 22 March 2019: Champions Yacht Club, the new promoters of the Indian National Rally Championship, presents the two-day Sprint de Bengaluru 2019, a mouth-watering curtain-raiser to the six-round rally calendar of the year. Organised by Karnataka Motor Sports Club (KMSC), the rally will be held at Champions Green County on the Bengaluru-Hyderabad highway on March 23 and 24.

    Over 40 entries have been received from all over the country and some of the top drivers and navigators are expected to compete for top laurels on dirt tracks in the rally approved by Federation of Motor Sports Clubs in India (FMSCI). The rally has a special stage distance of 30 kms and along with a transport distance of 108.63 kms, the total distance will be 138.63 kms. There are two short stages which are run thrice each. The Alpha stage is 4.5-km long while the Beta stage is 5.5 km. The two stages are run once each on Saturday as a night stage and twice each on Sunday. The prize distribution and podium ceremony will be held at 3 pm on Sunday.

    Experienced and talented drivers like Chetan Shivaram, Dr Bikku Babu, Vikram Rao Aroor, Dean Mascarenhas, Dhruv Chandrasekhar, Fabid Ahmer and Sanjay Agarwal will be in the fray as the rally is run in the same format and same classes as INRC. There will be a separate ladies class and the Champions Group is supporting 17 teams. The Sprint organised by KMSC, one of the oldest and active motorsports clubs in India, is expected to provide a glimpse of the rally action to be held this year. The Champions Group is the new promoter and the season is expected to start in June after the election process is completed.

    “It is a huge responsibility but we are fully geared up to make INRC vibrant and popular and bring back the glory days of rallying. Champions Group wants to support talented drivers, including women, so that new champions can be spotted and nurtured,” said Merla Vamsi, Director, Champions Yacht Club.

    “The entry of Champions Group is a boon to the INRC and to many talented drivers. It has created a buzz and we hope to make rallying popular so that more competitors will enter motorsports. All the safety aspects are taken care of and the Sprint will usher in new rally season,” said Shivu Shivappa, president of the KMSC. He is also the vice-president of FMSCI and the Clerk of the Course (CoC) for the event.

    The rally will be run in the following classes: INRC (upto 3500cc including turbo factor), INRC 2 (upto 2000cc as per Rally Sport regulations), INRC3 (upto 2000cc as per Group N regulations), FMSCI 4WD (Group N, N4, T1 and T2 cars), FMSCI 2WD (Honda City VTech, Maruti Esteem, Maruti Baleno) and Ladies Class.

  • Gaurav Gill wins MRF fmsci K-1000, clinches fifth National title: Indian National Rally Championship

    Gaurav Gill wins MRF fmsci K-1000, clinches fifth National title: Indian National Rally Championship

    Gill finally opens up a spray as his co-driver is late in getting off the podium to avoid the champagne attack from the champ. K1000
    PD on 21jan2018 . Image by David Bodapati

    Tumakuru (Karnataka), 21 Jan 2018: King of Indian Motorsports, Gaurav Gill of Mahindra Adventure annexed his fifth National title winning the premier class of the MRF Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) 2017 at the MRF 43rd K-1000 Rally, the sixth and final round of the INRC here, about 100 km from Bengaluru, on Sunday. The two-day National Championship round was organised by Karnataka Motor Sports Club (KMSC) under the aegis of Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (fmsci) and is promoted by Ramakrishna Race Performance Management (RRPM) of Kolkata. Incidentally this is also the fifth K1000 title for both Gill and Sherif.

    The Chennai round of the INRC was canceled due to inclement weather and the Rally of Arunachal was postponed thereby pushing the K1000 round and the championship in 2018.

    The New Delhi based, Gill, a three-time APRC champion underlined his class and control once again, winning all the five Special Stages recording an overall timing of 00:55:41.6 minutes, a 2 minute-45 second lead ahead of second finisher Arjun Rao Aroor, to take his final tally to a perfect 100 points.

    Gill, along with co-driver Musa Sherif (110 points), has been unbeaten in the MRF INRC 2017, romping home in each of the four rounds that they had taken part in. He missed Round 4, the Rally of Chikmagalur, as it coincided with his assault on the APRC title, but that didn’t stop him from being crowned the undisputed king in the domestic arena. “It was a perfect day, a perfect finish for us,” Gill said, shortly after his coronation once again. “The first couple of stages were slippery but we managed to handle them well; we controlled the rally thereafter,” he added talking about the controlled aggression he displayed to conquer the fast and speedy terrain which was also tricky due to the pebbles, ditches, and grass. N Leelakrishnan with seven National titles and Naren Kumar with six are the only other drivers who have won INRC more times.

    INRC 3 champion Dean Mascarenhas, despite rolling into a ditch in the first run of the Alpha Special Stage and falling behind by over 27 minutes, managed to take the second place in the overall standings by 16 minutes.

    Dean (and Shruptha Padival), who entered the sixth and final round with a slim outside chance of upsetting Gill, picked up a puncture in SS2 too but hung on to keep pace with the rest of the field in the remaining stages. But the initial meltdown meant that he finished 8th (3rd in this category) and could add only 4 points to his final tally. It didn’t affect him in this category though, as he had already sealed the INRC 3 trophy in the last round itself.

    Defending INRC champion Karna Kadur, however, took advantage of Dean’s bad luck and familiar home conditions to force his way to the third position in the K-1000. It ensured him two podium finishes too, the second place in his INRC 2 category and the third place in the overall  Championship.

    Arjun Rao finally showed his true class, taking the second place in the rally but he had to be content with a sixth-place finish in the Championship thanks to DNFs in three rounds.

    As expected, Rahul Kanthraj and co-driver Vivek Bhat claimed the INRC 2 trophy, despite finishing third (fourth overall) in this category.

    The only one who could have upstaged him, Younus Ilyas, pulled out during SS4 to fade out of his Championship battle with Rahul. He eventually had to settle for the third place, with Karna jumping a place to take the second position.

    The FMSCI 2WD Cup was taken by Chetan Shivram and Rupesh Kholay, as they posted one more victory here.

    Defending K-1000 champion Amittrajit Ghosh, who was hovering in the 3rd to 5th position all the way, crashed at the finish, in the sixth and final stage to take the overall fifth place. His car got completely smashed but he and his co-driver, Ashwin Naik, got away with minor injuries. Ghosh was stuck between the seat and the steering wheel and had to be extricated after an hour or so. He escaped with minor bruises and knees pains. The full medical report is awaited.

    INRC Ranking for the National title: INRC Drivers: 1. Gaurav Gill (100 points) & Musa Sherif (110); 2. Dean Mascarenhas (67) & Shruptha Padival (69); 3. Karna Kadur (58) & Nikhil Vittal Pai (58).

    INRC 2 Drivers: 1. Rahul Kanthraj & Vivek Y Bhatt (97) 2. Karna Kadur  & Nikhil Vittal Pai (75); 3. Younus Ilyas & Harish K.N. (58)

    INRC 3 Drivers: 1. Dean Mascarenhas (115) & Shruptha Padival (118); 2. Saddam Ali Sheikh (54) ; 3. Daraius N Shroff (51).

    INRC 3 co-drivers: 1. Shruptha Padival (118); 2. Nitin Jacob (54) and  3. Mrinmoy Saha (53)

    FMSCI 2WD Cup Drivers: 1. Chetan Shivram (75); 2. Fabid Ahmer (61); 3. Suraj Thomas (48).

    FMSCI 2WD Cup Co-Drivers: 1. Rupesh Koley (75); 2. Suraj M (66) and 3. Thomas Paul (33).

    K-1000 Provisional Unaudited Results: INRC: 1. Gaurav Gill & Musa Sherif (00:48:14.1); 2. Arjuna Rao & Satish Rajagopal (00:50:18.2); 3. Karna Kadur & Nikhil Pai (00:51:10.3)

    INRC 2: Karna Kadur  & Nikhil V Pai (00:51:10.3); 2. G.B. Girijashankar Joshy & Chandramouli M (00:52:03.6); 3. Rahul Kanthraj & Vivek Y Bhatt (00:52:54.2)

    INRC 3: 1. Vikram Rao Aroor & Somayya (00:52:55.2); 2. Saddam Ali Saikh & Abhijeet Singh (00:56:22.8); 3. Chandan M Gowda & Vinay P.M. (01:03:43.5)

    FMSCI 2WD Cup: 1. Chetan Shivram & Rupesh Koley (00:55:19.2); 2. Fabid Ahmer & Sanath G (00:55:35.8); 3. Asad Khan  & Gautam C.P. (00:56:08.8).

    eom/posted by David Bodapati

  • K1000 preview: KMSC all-set to conduct 43rd edition; INRC final round on Sunday

    K1000 preview: KMSC all-set to conduct 43rd edition; INRC final round on Sunday

    K1000 KMSC logo. Courtesy KMSC facebook account

    Standings courtesy promoters RRPM, Kolkota (twitter)

    David Bodapati

    Bengaluru, 20 Jan 2018: King of Indian Motorsports, Gaurav Gill of Team Mahindra Adventure and his co-driver Musa Sherif will once again be the favourites to win the Indian National Rally championship final leg, the popular K1000 (Karnataka 1000) which began its 43rd edition with the recce on Saturday morning at a terrain about 70kms from here.

    The K1000 rally, a regular part of the Indian National Rally Championship is being organised by Karnataka Motor Sports Club (KMSC) one of the oldest active clubs in India. Except for a year or two, K1000 was continuously held for over forty years. It is also a founder member of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (fmsci). The INRC is being promoted by Kolkota-based Ramakrishna Race Performance Managment (RRPM) headed by a veteran rally ace, who was on of the winners of K1000 in its early years. Along with Amittrajit Ghosh, they are the only father-son who have taken part in INRC rallies.

    The number of entries for the popular K1000 this year is a luke-warm 28 which is one of the lowest in the recent years.

    Fresh from their victory in the fifth round at Arunachal Pradesh, the top duo who are leading the INRC class will be followed by young gun Dean Mascarenhas and Shruptha Padival of Mangalore and another seeded pair of Amittrajit Ghosh and Ashwin Naik, who finished in that order in the overall standings of Rally of Arunachal. However, Dean and Shruptha are leading their class INRC3.

    Experienced stalwarts Rahul Kantharaj and Vivek Bhat who won the INRC2 class will be gunning for a closing bang to win the championship but their job will not be easy with stiff competition coming from the likes of Younus Ilyas and Karna Kadur. The strong pair of talented Kadur and Nikhil Pai had an unfortunate DNF (did not finish) in Arunachal Pradesh, but the youngster will also be a strong favourite to win his class INRC2 besides the leading pair. Kadur slipped on the table standings after that DNF.

    In the INRC overall rankings for the season, Delhi’s Gaurav Gill is leading with 75 points with Dean Mascarenhas on 63 in second and Rahul Kantharaj on 47. Karna Kadur is only four points behind at 43 while Amittrajit Ghosh slipped to 5th place with 40 points. Musa Sherif and Shruptha Padival lead the co-driver rankings with 85 and 63 points respectively. Mahindra Adventure tops with 125 points in the team championship with ARKA motorsports in second place at 90.

    In the INRC2, Rahul Kantharaj (79), Younus Ilyas (58) and Karna Kadur (50) are leading the table in the Drivers’ championship with Vivek Bhat topping the co-drivers’ with 79 points over Harish KN (58) and Nikhil V Pai (50) in that order. ARKA is leading team standings in this class over Snap Racing.

    In the INRC3, Dean Mascarenhas with a century is leading the Driver’s Championship and has already clinched the title in the class but is found wanting in terms of sponsors to show his talent on a better platform. Darius N Shroff, Punyabrata Barma are on 51 and 46 respectively to fight for second and third positions. Likewise, Dean’s navigator Shruptha won the co-drivers title in this class. Nitin Jacob and Mrinmoy Saha will fight for the second position.

    Chettinad Sporting had won the team title in this class beating the only other team entry Snap Racing. They garnered 117 points.

    Stage Distance

    The total distance of the Rally will be 97.26 km. The Special Stage distance will be 69.15 km while the liaison distance will be 28.11km. The two stages Alpha and Beta will be run thrice. Alpha is 14.95 km long while Beta covers a distance of only 8.10km. The first car starts at Alpha 1 at 9 am on Sunday. The one-day rally will not have a spectator-friendly Super Special Stage this year.

    “It has been another exciting season of Indian rallying. I want to thank MRF Tyres, Mahindra Adventure, CARTAir, Isuzu, Arunachal Tourism, York, Arya and Century Club for their support” Arindam Ghosh, RRPM’s Director, the promoters of the MRF FMSCI INRC, said on the eve of the rally. “Gill has dominated despite missing out on one round. He has won the other three rounds but he must bring it to the finish here to win the championship”, he added.

    Supplementary Regulations on INRCindia site

    The MRF 43rd K1000 Rally is round 6 of the MRF FMSCI INDIAN NATIONAL RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP (INRC) 2017 will run in compliance with the International Sporting Code of the FIA (and its appendices), the General Prescriptions of The Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI), the relevant Regulations concerning IRC championship or cup, the Supplementary Regulations and bulletins issued by the FMSCI can be found at www.inrcindia.com,

    The Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) is the ASN of FIA in India. This rally is inscribed on the FIA Calendar under Asia Zone. Asia Zone competitors may take part in this rally and accrue points.

    There will be two Mahindra XUVs in fray with Gill and Ghosh behind the wheels of the Team Mahindra Adventure factory team. There will be six Mitsubishi Cedias competing for the honours in different classes but all of them will be privateers. The Kodagu team of Gagan Karumbaiah and co-driver Amrith Thimmaiah will be the lone entry in the fmsci 4w Cup in a Maruti Gypsy.

    eom/David Bodapati