INDIA in F1

Tag: MRF

  • Gaurav Gill beats teammate to take Hokkaido win: APRC

    Hokkaido, 17 Sept 2017: India’s Gaurav Gill has won the 2017 Rally of Hokkaido in his MRF Team Skoda and moved into the lead of the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship points, ahead of the final round in India, late November.

    There was high drama on the first morning when four of Gill’s main rivals retired on Stage 3, including his MRF team-mate Ole Christian Veiby from Norway.

    Gill though completed both days with no problems and prior to celebrating on the finish podium said ” Its been a perfect weekend, getting maximum points. Most importantly I’m back in the championship and the last round is in India, my home country. Japan as always is difficult with such high speeds and rough roads, however we had the perfect tyre choice and the perfect car from our team MRF Skoda. Would have been good to have OC in the fight but unfortunately he went off yesterday – we had a great weekend, overall very satisfying.

    Arriving in Hokkaido Veiby led the championship points but his off road excursion on Day 1 means the title will now be decided in India, “Saturday was a big disappointment we had some problems with a damper, after that we went a little bit off and we got stuck. Today was really good and I think we got some good points. The championship is still on and its going to be a very exciting rally in India”, said Veiby at final service.

    Behind, it was Mpart’s Robert Blomberg (co-driver Lars Andersson) in the Mitsubishi Mirage taking his first podium of the seasom, finishing 11m41.4s aloof Gill.

    The Swedish driver inherited second after Cusco Racing’s Yuyi Sumiyama (co-driver co-driver Takahiro Yasui) in the Skoda R5 was forced to retire in SS12 due to mechanical issues.

    Third in the APRC class went to Fuyuhiko Takahashi (co-driver Mitsuo Nakamura) in the Subaru Impreza. He was fourth overall in Rally Hokkaido, which was run alongside the Japanese Rally Championship.

    Returning after Leg 1 retirements were MRF Skoda’s Ole Christian Veiby (co-driver Stig Skjarmoen) in his Skoda R5 and Mpart Sport’s Sanjay Takale (co-driver Noriko Takeshita) in his Mitsubishi Mirage in Leg 2.

    The duo had a huge gap to bridge down with the leaders. In the end, Takale finished fourth, while Veiby was fifth in the APRC class – the latter also managing to eke out two stage wins (SS13 & SS15). They were 15th and 16th overall respectively.

    The title fight goes into the final rally of the 2017 season, with the Rally of India to be held during the November 24-26 weekend​

  • Deepak, Narendran to battle it out in ITC class; Anindith leads MRF F1600

    Deepak, Narendran to battle it out in ITC class; Anindith leads MRF F1600

    Chennai, 14 Sept 2017:  Hyderabad’s Anindith Reddy, with six wins in 10 outings, heads the  points table in the MRF F1600 Championship with a comfortable 44.5 points lead over Sandeep Kumar from Bengaluru going into the triple-header in the fifth and final round of the MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship 2017 sponsored by MRF, beginning here on Friday.

    The MRF F1600 which offers the champion a ticket to the Mazda Road To Indy shootout later this year. Besides the Volkswagen Ameo Cup, the third and final round of the MMSC fmsci Indian National Drag Racing Championship will also be run on Saturday (practice) and Sunday (final).

    In the premier Indian Touring Cars class, everything points to a straight shootout between championship leader Deepak Paul Chinnappa (Race Concepts) from Bengaluru who is ahead of a late-charging defending champion Arjun Narendran (Red Rooster Performance) by just seven points.

    While Chinnappa enjoyed a brilliant start to the season with four wins on the trot, Narendran, shuttling between England where he is pursuing higher studies and India for the races, shrugged off a poor start to post three victories in a row to put his campaign back on track. With a maximum of 50 points at stake in this weekend’s double-header, neither can afford to drop points.

    The situation is similar in the other three saloon cars categories, the Indian Junior Touring Cars, Super Stock and Esteem Cup, all of which run on a combined grid, and have three races this weekend.

    Eight points separate Hisham EKP (DTS Racing) and Kamlesh Parmar (Team N1) in the IJTC, Varun Anekar (Race Concepts) enjoys a 57-point lead over RP Rajaran (Performance Racing) while Anant Pithawalla (Team N1) has a 16-point advantage over Narendran Sankaran (Red Rooster Performance) whose team-mate Sudanand Rajan is a further 16-point adrift in third place.

    Kolkata’s Arya Singh (DTS Racing) appears well-poised in both Open and Rookie categories of the Formula LGB 1300 class leading Bengaluru’s Yash Aradhya (Momentum Motorsport) by 31 and 28 points, respectively.

    On changes to the championship next season, Chairman of the Meet Vicky Chandhok said: “We decided on combined grids from the next season to make the races more competitive. The spectators would get to see more overtaking on the track.

    “The ITC and Volkswagen Ameo Cup cars are almost on par on pace, and that should make for some exciting racing and overtaking when run concurrently. The MRF 1600 and the Formula LGB 1300 will also run on combined grid. We may also combine more classes to give spectators more of what they want plus give drivers new challenges.

    “The MMRT has a FIA International license which permits the track to have up to 42 starters and we intend to use that from next year. It’s time for big changes to make it a more exciting spectacle.”

    Race Director Manoj Dalal said: “We have 18 new high-definition cameras which will enable us in Race Control to monitor the races even more closely from our screens and take immediate calls on any photo finish, many of which we’ve seen in the recent past or on-track incidents.”

    eom/AP Media Comm./MMSC press release

  • Double delight for Anindith, Arjun: FMSCI Racing Nationals

    Double delight for Anindith, Arjun: FMSCI Racing Nationals

    Chennai, 20 Aug 2017: Winning both the races today, Hyderabad’s Anindith Reddy extended his domination in the MRF FF1600 class while Arjun Narendran, the Coimbatore-based defending champion in the Indian Touring Cars category also completed a double as the fourth round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship concluded at the MMRT track on Sunday.

    With the fifth and concluding round to be run on September 16-17, Reddy, who leads Chennai’s Sandeep Kumar by 29 points, is well placed in the championship whose winner earns a ticket to the Mazda Road To Indy shootout in the United States later this year.

    It was smooth sailing for Reddy in both the races today as he put in a flawless performance to destroy the opposition as he more than made up for a disappointing outing on Saturday when he finished fifth after being forced to pit early in the race for repairs on the nose cone.

    Similarly, Narendran of Red Rooster Performance, with the two wins this weekend, narrowed the leeway to just seven points after championship leader Bengaluru’s Deepak Paul Chinnappa (Race Concepts) dropped crucial points with a non-finish in Saturday’s first race and third place finish in the next outing today. Narendran won both races virtually unchallenged, after the initial jostling for track positions.

    “I had a good weekend. The car felt great, no problems at all. I am happy that my campaign is back on track with the two wins this weekend after the sort of start I had to the season when I failed to score a win in two rounds,” said Narendran.

    Mikhail Merchant from Mumbai (Team Game Over) also scored a double in the Indian Junior Touring Cars category as did Bengaluru’s Varun Anekar (Race Concepts) in the Super Stock class.

    In the Esteem Cup, Mumbai’s Anant Pithawalla (Team N1) consolidated his position at the top of the leaderboard with three podium finishes on the weekend while Mamallapuram’s Raghul Rangasamy, who won two races in the triple-header, completed a fine double.

    Delhi’s Karminder Singh stamped his authority in the Volkswagen Ameo Cup by winning both the races today to enjoy a lead of 104 points going into the concluding round next month when the remaining three races are to be run.

    The results (Provisional):

    MRF FF1600 – Race 2 (15 laps): 1. Anindith Reddy (Hyderabad) (14: 57.509); 2. Sandeep Kumar (Chennai) (15: 01.399); 3. Chetan Korada (Chennai) (15:15.305). Race 3 (15 laps): 1. Anindith Reddy (14: 58.193); 2. Sandeep Kumar (14: 58.410); 3. Chetan Korada (15:10.826).

    Indian Touring Cars – Race 2 (15 laps): 1.Arjun Narendran (Red Rooster Performance) (16:52.608); 2. Ashish Ramaswamy (Red Rooster Performance) (16:58.568); 3. Deepak Paul Chinnappa (Race Concepts) (17: 08.741).

    Saloon Cars – Super Stock (Race 2, 12 laps): 1. RP Rajarajan (Performance Racing) (14:30.913); 2. Varun V Anekar (Race Concepts) (14: 31.640); 3. Bala Vijay B (Performance Racing) (14: 49.918). Race 3 (12 laps): 1. Varun V Anekar (14:25.775); 2. RP Rajarajan (14:37.434); 3. Bala Vijay B (14:40.081).

    Indian Junior Touring Cars (Race 2, 12 laps): 1. Mikhail Merchant (Team Game Over) (15:27.157); 2.  Hisham EKP (DTS Racing) (14:27.335+1 lap); 3. Kamlesh Parmer (Team N1) (14:28.859+1 lap). Race 3 (12 laps): 1. Mikhail Merchant (15:20.098); 2. Hisham EKP (14:17.583+1 lap); 3. Prabu AS (Red Rooster Performance) (14:28.191+1 lap).

    Esteem Cup (Race 2, 12 laps): 1. Narendran Sankaran (RAD Racing) (14: 19.391); 2. Sidharth Balakrishnan (Red Rooster Performance) (14: 24.264); 3. Anant Pithawala (Team N1) (14:25.896). Race 3 (12 laps): 1. Raghul Rangasamy (Performance Racing) (14:15.558); 2. Anant Pithawalla (Team N1) (14:22.634); 3. Narendran Sankaran (RAD Racing) (14:29.254).

    Volkswagen Ameo Cup – Race 2 (15 laps): 1. Karminder Singh (Delhi) (17:05.639); 2. Jeet Jhabakh (Hyderabad) (17:19.305); 3. Dhruv Mohite (Kolhapur) (17:20.487). Race 3 (15 laps): 1. Karminder Singh (17:06.047); 2. Saurav Bandyopadhyay (Mumbai) (17:08.962); 3. Dhruv Mohite (Kolhapur) (17:15.446).

    Top honours for Tharani, Jayant in Drag races

    Chennai, August 20: Local racer Karthik Tharani, driving the Volkswagen Ameo, and V Jayant in a Maruti Esteem, topped in the Unrestricted and Indian Open categories, respectively, in the third round of the MMSC fmsci Indian Drag Racing Championship at the MMRT track, here on Sunday.

    Tharani clocked 14.130 seconds while V Jayant, piloting the Maruti Esteem, was the fastest with a timing of 14.049.

     

    The results (Provisional):

    Unrestricted: 1. Karthik Tharani (Volkswagen Ameo) (14.130secs); 2. D Vidyaprakash (Maruti Zen) (14.210); 3. Siddharth Singh Jhala (Maruti Zen) (14.210). Esteem Cup: 1. Fahad Kutty (Team Game Over) (16.394); 2. Imran Majid (Game Over) (16.478).

    Indian Open: 1. V Jayant (Maruti Esteem, 14.049); 2. D Vidyaprakash (Maruti Zen, 14.345); 3. Siddharth Singh Jhala (Maruti Zen, 14.760).

    Indian Touring Cars: 1. Sivaramakrishnan (Maruti Esteem, 15.845); 2. Tharun Kumar (Maruti Zen, 15.957).

    Super Stock: 1. Imran Majid (Game Over, Honda City) (16.410); 2. Swajit (Team N1, Honda City) (16.498); 3. Kashif Kapadia (Game Over) (Honda City) (16.550).

    Indian Junior Touring Cars: 1. Kamlesh Parmar (Honda Jazz) (17.718); 2. Imran Majid (Team Game Over, Honda Brio) (18.014); 3. Kashif Kapadia (Game Over, Honda Brio) (18.177).

    MMSC Support Races – Pro-Stock (Petrol, Up to 1150cc): Fahad Kutty (Team Game Over) (16.737); 2. Arjun Zaveri (Game Over, Maruti Zen) (16.771); 3. Mohammed Ali (Game Over, Maruti Zen) (17.122). 1151-1650cc: 1. Mikhail Merchant (Team Game Over, Honda City) (16.463); 2. Fahad Kutty (Game Over, Honda City) (16.499); 3. Swajit (Team N1, Honda City) (16.752). Petrol (2051-3060cc combined): 1. V Jayant (Maruti Esteem, 14.613); 2. Kasha Sai (Honda Accord, 17.014); 3. Sanjay Madhavan (Mazda Miata, 18.960).

    Pro-Stock (Diesel, 1151-1450cc): 1. Mikhail Merchant (Team Game Over, Ford Figo) (17.995); 2. Uday Nerulkar (Game Over, Hyundai Getz) (18.384); 3. Arjun Zaveri (Team Game Over, Ford Figo) (18.475). 1651-2051cc: 1. Vivek Ramachander (Skoda Laura) (15.010); 2. Rayomand Banajee (Volkswagen Vento) (17.575).

    eom/AP Media Comm. release

  • Narendran capitalises on Chinnappa mechanical failure: fmsci Nationals

    Chennai, 19 August 2017: The expected intense battles in the two premium classes did not materialize as Sandeep Kumar and Arjun Narendran cruised to comfortable victories in the MRF F1600 and the Indian Touring Cars categories, respectively, in the fourth round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship at the MMRT track on Saturday.

    In contrast, competition was at its fiercest in other categories. Raghul Rangasamy (Performance Racing) topped the saloon car race after an initial blip, while Bengaluru schoolboy Yash Aradhya, only 14, and Pune’s 18-year old engineering student Aanjan Patodia, both of Team Momentum Motorsports, fought tooth and nail to win a race apiece in both the categories (Open and Rookie) of the double-header Formula LGB 1300.

    In the other categories of the saloon cars, Bengaluru’s Varun Anekar (Race Concepts) and Hashim EKP (DTS Racing) emerged comfortable winners in the Super Stock and Indian Junior Touring Cars, respectively.

    Sourav Bandyopadhyay from Mumbai pulled off a fine win in the Volkswagen Ameo Cup, pushing championship leader Karminder Singh (Delhi) to second place while Sandeep Kumar completed the podium.

    The MRF FF1600 race turned out to be disappointing especially after pole-sitter and championship leader Anindith Reddy (Hyderabad) pitted at the end of Lap 1 to repair a damaged nose cone following a contact with Chennai’s Sandeep Kumar at the start of the race.

    Reddy, on rejoining the race, finished a lap down in fifth while Sandeep won untroubled leaving Chennai’s Chetan Korada and Kolkata schoolboy Arya Singh to scrap for the other two podium spots.

    The spotlight was also on the Indian Touring Cars where Coimbatore-based defending champion Arjun Narendran and Bengaluru’s Deepak Paul Chinnappa (Race Concepts), the championship leader, were expected to repeat their Round 3 battle which, however, fizzled out. Chinnappa packed up when the timing belt snapped at the end of the first of the 15 laps.

    It left the field wide open for Narendran to exploit with his nearest challenger and team-mate Ashish Ramaswamy from Bengaluru struggling with a car bleeding power. With five others too retiring, Narendran cruised home to victory ahead of Ramaswamy. The win, his second in a row, took Narendran (119 points) within striking distance of Chinnappa (136).

    The results (Provisional – all 15 laps unless mentioned):

    MRF FF1600 (Race 1): 1. Sandeep Kumar (Chennai) (15mins, 01.880secs); 2. Chetan Korada (Chennai) (15:10.711); 3. Arya Singh (Kolkata) (15:11.709).

    Indian Touring Cars – Race 1: 1.Arjun Narendran (Red Rooster Performance) (16:50.960); 2. Ashish Ramaswamy (Red Rooster Performance) (17: 02.745); 3. C Raja Ram (Prime Racing) (17:26.277).

    Saloon Cars (Race 1) – Esteem: 1. Raghul Rangasamy (Performance Racing) (17:49.329); 2. Narendran (RAD Racing) (17: 51.486); 3. Ananth Pithawala (Team N1) (17: 59.385).

    Super Stock: 1. Varun V Anekar (Race Concepts) (18:12.176); 2. Deepak Ravikumar (Quickshift Racing) (18:33.902); 3. Bala Vijay B (Performance Racing) (18:42.584).

    Indian Junior Touring Cars: 1. Hisham EKP (DTS Racing) (18: 15.268); 2. Mikhail Merchant (Team Game Over) (18:27.330); 3. Prabhu AS (Red Rooster Performance) (18:35.509).

    Formula LGB 1300 (Race 1, 13 laps) – Open: 1. Yash Aradhya (Momentum Motorsports) (16:14.230); 2. Aanjan Patodia (Momentum Motorsports) (16:14.778); 3. Arya Singh (DTS Racing) (16:16.906). Rookie: 1. Yash Aradhya; 2. Aanjan Patodia; 3. Arya Singh.

    Race 2 (Open): Aanjan Patodia (Momentum Motorsports) (16:35.848); 2. Arya Singh (DTS Racing) (16:40.056); 3. Deepak Ravikumar (Wallace Sports) (16:48.463). Rookie: 1. Aanjan Patodia; 2. Arya Singh; 3. Yash Aradhya (Momentum Motorsports) (16:48.495).

    Volkswagen Ameo Cup (Race 1): 1. Sourav Bandyopadya (Mumbai) (16:05.858); 2.Karminder Singh (Delhi) (16:13.204); 3. A Sandeep Kumar (Chennai) (16: 14.485).

    eom/AP Media Comm. press release

  • Patodia, Rangasamy take pole: MRF Racing Nationals

    Chennai, 18 Aug 2017: Raghul Rangasamy (Performance Racing) set a hot pace to grab overall pole position in the saloon cars category at the MMRT track here on Friday as the fourth round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship commenced with qualifying and practice sessions.

    Rangasamy, hailing from the temple town of Mamallapuram near here, topped in the Esteem class, while Bengaluru’s Varun Anekar (Race Concepts) was the quickest in the Super Stock Category and Kamlesh Parmar (Team N1 Racing) from Mumbai topped the Indian Junior Touring Cars.

    Aanjan Patodia of Momentum Sports grabbed the pole position in the Formula LGB 1300 category, in both Open and Rookie classes while Mumbai’s Saurav Bhandopadhyay was the fastest in the Volkswagen Ameo Cup qualifying session.

    Earlier, Hyderabad’s Anindith Reddy (58.149secs) warmed up nicely by being the quickest during practice session in the marquee MRF FF1600 category ahead of Kolkata schoolboy Arya Singh (58.643), ahead of Saturday’s qualifying session.

    In the premier Indian Touring Cars class practice session, Ashish Ramaswamy (Red Rooster Performance) from Bengaluru clocked a best lap of 01:06.121, upstaging championship leader Deepak Paul Chinnappa (Race Concepts) who did 01:06.501, ahead of defending champion Arjun Narendran (Red Rooster Performance, 01:06.866). The qualifying round will be run on Saturday.

    The start of the day’s proceedings were delayed due to water puddles in some sections of the track following heavy overnight rains, forcing the organizers, with the consent of the competitors, to use the “short loop” (2.1Kms) instead of the regular full configuration.

    The results (Qualifying – provisional):

    Formula LGB 1300 (Open): 1. Aanjan Patodia (Momentum Sports) (01min, 04.675secs); 2. Yash Aradhya (Momentum Sports) (01:04.870); 3. Deepak Ravikumar (Wallace Sports) (01:05.448). Rookie: 1. Patodia; 2. Aradhya; 3. Bala Prasath (DTS Racing) (01:05.238).

    Saloon cars – Esteem: 1. Raghul Rangasamy (Performance Racing) (01:09.472); 2. Narendran (RAD Racing) (01:09.789); 3. Anant Pithawalla (Team N1) (01:10.013). Super Stock: 1. Varun Anekar (Race Concepts) (01:10.475); 2. Deepak Ravikumar (Quickshift Racing) (01:11.174); 3. RP Rajarajan (Performance Racing) (01:11.736).  Indian Junior Touring Cars: 1. Kamlesh Parmar (Team N1) (01:12.418); 2. Mikhail Merchant (Team Game Over) (01:13.917); 3. Prabhu AS (Red Rooster Performance) (01:14.586).

    Volkswagen Ameo Cup: 1. Saurav Bhandopadhyay (Mumbai) (01:06.377); 2. Karminder Singh (Delhi) (01:06.457); 3. A Sandeep Kumar (Chennai) (01:06.680).

    About Madras Motor Sports Club

    The Madras Motor Sports Club has been the pioneer in developing and promoting motorsport in India since 1953, and we look to further improve in the years to come. It is the club’s endeavor to provide more opportunities for competitors and to this end, it has chalked out a progressive program for 2016. From the days of Sholavaram , MMSC built its own racetrack which was inaugurated in 1979 and secured its FIA Grade-2 international certification in 2015, making it the only club which owns such a facility. The club has organised the Porsche Super Cup, Formula Campos, Formula Asia, Asian touring car championships, Formula 3, Tata Prima Truck racing championship, the Asian 2-wheeler racing championships besides a host of other motorsport events over the years. The club also has active participation for its events from vehicle manufacturers who also use the Madras Motor Race Track (MMRT) extensively for testing their products.

    eom/AP Media Communications press release

  • OC Veiby beats Gill again for MRF 1-2: APRC

    Johor Bahru , 13 Aug 2017: Team MRF delivered another 1-2 result with Norwegian Ole Christian Veiby comfortably winning the International Rally of Johor, the third round of FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship, here on Sunday, ahead of India’s Gaurav Gill who made up a deficit of over two minutes to finish second.

    Veiby defeated Gill once again despite the 35-year old Delhi-based defending champion winning all the six Special Stages on Sunday in the Race Torque-prepared Skoda Fabia R5. Gill managed to go past overnight second-placed Finnish ace Jari Ketomaa while Veiby held on to a huge Leg-1 lead to win by over four minutes, also in a Skoda Fabia R5.

    The 21-year old Veiby, Skoda’s factory-backed driver who recently topped the WRC-2 category in Poland, thus scored back-to-back win following his win in the second round in Australia after Gill had taken the season-opener in New Zealand a month earlier. The win also put helped Veiby to consolidate his championship lead over Gill.

    The day that was spared of rains which had marred Saturday’s proceedings, belonged to Gill who had lost a lot of time on Saturday after a run-in with a tree stump and alternator problem as he made up the two-minute, 16-second deficit to Ketomaa over a distance of just 76 Kms and went on to beat the World Rally Championship driver by 18.8 seconds, but finished 04:41.7 adrift of Veiby.

    Gill’s pace was phenomenal as he made 26 seconds on Ketomaa in the day’s first Stage (11.98Kms), 31 in each of the next two (12.21Kms and 13.93Kms) on the first loop. After service, Gill made a further 69 seconds in the second loop of the same Stages to emerge second.

    “For sure, it was one of my best drives, very fast and precise. I didn’t make any mistakes. I was driving at 110 per cent which was what I always wanted do and what all the top drivers do. We had amazing speed, good pace notes and made correct tyre choice. I drove my heart out and pushed the car beyond its limit. But the small mistake I made yesterday cost me the Rally or else, we could have won.

    “Starting the day, we were down by two minutes and 16 seconds to Jari. I wanted to get as close to OC (Veiby) as possible. I made most use of my experience to go past Jari who is not a slow driver and has WRC experience. Yes, it was a satisfying drive today, but not overall. I am still upset with the silly mistake I made yesterday,” said Gill who drew some consolation by topping the FIA Asia Cup category.

    Veiby was pleased as punch with the win and said: “Today was all about getting through without any trouble. We didn’t want to make any stupid mistakes when we were leading by over five minutes. We had some problems with oil leak, but we had it fixed during service and got through the day. I didn’t go flat out today and tried to enjoy a bit.

    “After what happened to Gill on the first Stage yesterday, we were leading the whole Rally and it was kind of boring here. In Australia, it was more fun as Gill and I kept pushing each other, changing positions up and down. But a win is a win and my target is to win the championship.

    “It is good to be back in winning mode after my flip in Finland (during WRC-2 round). I just had to forget what happened and trust in yourself and the car. I prepared my mind as I knew Malaysia was a tough round. I read all about the rally, watched some videos to see what happened last year.”

    Provisional classification:

    FIA APRC: 1. Ole Christian Veiby / Stig Rune Skjarmoen (Team MRF, Skoda Fabia R5) (3hrs, 02mins, 39.1secs); 2. Gaurav Gill / Stephane Prevot (Team MRF, Skoda Fabia R5) (03:07:20.8); 3. Jari Ketomaa / Ville Mannisenmali (Mpart Sport, Mitsubishi Mirage) (03:07:39.5).

    FIA Asia Cup: 1. Gaurav Gill / Stephane Prevot (Team MRF, Skoda Fabia R5) (03:07:20.8); 2. Michael Young / Malcolm Read (Cusco Racing, Subaru Impreza) (03:18:42.9); 3. Yuva Sumiyama / Takahiro Yasui (Cusco Racing, Skoda Fabia R5) (04:10:42.8).

    eom/AP Media Communications release

  • MRF’s Veiby surges ahead; Gill third: APRC

    MRF’s Veiby surges ahead; Gill third: APRC

    Johor Bahru (Malaysia), 12 Aug 2017: Ole Christian Veiby of Team MRF survived treacherous conditions and rode his luck to take a seemingly winning lead in the International Rally of Johor, the third round of the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship, here on Saturday while defending champion and team-mate Gaurav Gill was a distant third following a string of mishaps.

    Veiby, the 21-year old from Norway, driving the Race Torque-prepared Skoda Fabia R5, finished the day marked by incessant rains which rendered the

    Ole Christian Veiby in action at the Malaysian Rally, a round of the APRC on Saturday. An MRF image

    terrain into a virtual skating rink and led to cancellation of a Stage, four minutes, 32.5 seconds ahead of Finland pair of Jari Ketomaa and co-driver in a Mitsubishi Mirage.

    For Delhi-based Gill, 35, it was a wretched outing as he first clipped a tree stump due to “purely a driving error” as he put it in the day’s first Special Stage leading to a bent steering arm and later in the day, suffered alternator problem which fogged the windscreen.

    These mishaps cost him precious time, yet, he came up with a superb drive to make about five places, overtaking two cars on different Stages in the process to finish the day third, some 12 minutes behind Ketomaa,

    Veiby, who leads Gill by two points in the championship standings, has all but clinched the title here with just two loops of three short Special Stages to be run on Sunday.

    “It’s been a good day overall. But for sure, it was not easy as it is my first time down here. I have never driven in such conditions. It was so slippery. I was a bit lucky in some places. On the first stage, I went straight into a tree and after that I used the grass to see how the grip level is. Now I know how fast I could do. In these conditions, it is so easy to do mistakes.

    “We have a good gap, but can’t just roll down the Stages tomorrow. My aim is to try to make it to the finish, but I have to keep the pressure up. I am so lucky to be here at the finish today,” said Veiby.

    Looking back on his day, Gill said: “Obviously it was not my best day. About 18 Kms into the first Stage, I hit a tree stump which I didn’t see. It was purely a driving error. It bent the steering arm. On finishing the stage, I had to go under the car and repair the steering control arm. It cost us a lot of time. Thereafter, we made time on others in spite of the bent steering.

    “Overall, we were down to seventh or eighth, but had some good times. In the day’s third Stage, we had alternator problem and almost immediately, caught up with Sumiyama who held me up for about 30 seconds before I nudged him to pass. But with the windscreen fogging, I had almost nil visibility and had to slow down which again cost us time. So, one drama after another!

    “Thereafter, we again made time on others, and I passed Young on one of the Stages and we are now placed third, but with one Stage cancelled today and only short Stages to be run tomorrow, I have to settle for what I have. The gap is too much to make up.”

    Classification after Leg-1 (Provisional):

    FIA APRC: 1. Ole Christian Veiby / Stig Rune Skjarmoen (Team MRF, Skoda Fabia R5) (1hr, 58mins, 27.9secs); 2. Jari Ketomaa / Ville Mannisenmali (Mpart Sport, Mitsubishi Mirage) (02:03:00.4); 3. Gaurav Gill / Stephane Prevot (Team MRF, Skoda Fabia R5) (02:15:17.6).

    Asia Cup: 1. Gaurav Gill / Stephane Prevot (Team MRF, Skoda Fabia R5) (02:15:17.6); 2. Michael Young / Malcolm Read (Cusco Racing, Subaru Impreza) (02:18:19.5); 3. Yuva Sumiyama / Takahiro Yasui (Cusco Racing, Skoda Fabia R5) (03:13:44.6).

    eom/AP Media Communications release

     

  • MRF’s Gill sets early pace in Rally of Johor: APRC

    MRF’s Gill sets early pace in Rally of Johor: APRC

    Gaurav Gill (right) and Ole Christian Veiby during FIA press conference a Johor on Friday. An MRF image

    Johor Bahru (Malaysia), 11 Aug 2017: India’s Gaurav Gill and Norwegian youngster Ole Christian Veiby set the benchmark while showcasing their pace in the International Rally of Johor, the third round of the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship as the Team MRF duo topped the time sheets during this morning’s shakedown here ahead of the ceremonial flag-off and the Super Special Stage later on Friday.

    Delhi-based Gill, 35, was the quickest of the lot as he put in six laps around the 1.6 Kms dirt track clocking a best of one minute, 39 seconds as against 21-year old Veiby’s 01:39.6. The pair was well ahead of the pack that included WRC regular Jari Ketomaa from Finland and Swedish ace Robert Blomberg.

    “Since this is my first drive in the Skoda Fabia R5 in nearly three months, I was keen to put in as much seat time as possible and am happy with how everything went today,” said Gill during the pre-event FIA press conference today. “However, the Malaysian Rally is the toughest of the championship with changing conditions and high humidity, but I am well prepared for it.”

    Veiby, who is driving a brand new R5 which came here straight from the factory, said his goal was to maintain his lead in the championship, referring to his two-point advantage over Gill who had won the first round in New Zealand while the Norwegian took the next in Australia.

    “My target here is to stay ahead in the championship. I know Gaurav is very quick and has the experience driving in these conditions, while this is my first time in Malaysia. I hope to do well,” said Veiby who recently won in the WRC-2 category in Poland.

    After tonight’s Super Special Stage which will be run at the same premises as the shakedown, but with a few modifications in the track configurations, the cars head to the nearby palm oil plantations for the Special Stages spread over the next two days.

    Shakedown results: 1. Gaurav Gill / Stephane Prevot (Team MRF, Skoda Fabia R5) (01min, 39secs); 2. Ole Christian Veiby / Stig Rune Skjarmoen (Team MRF, Skoda Fabia R5) (01:39.6); 3. Yuma Sumiyama / Takahiro Yasui (Cusco Racing, Skoda Fabia R5) (01:41.2).

     

    eom/AP Media Communications

  • Mathana takes maiden win; Jagan crashes in the last lap, recovers

    Chennai, 6 Aug 2017: Mathana Kumar of Honda Ten10 Racing finally emerged from the shadows of his peers while chalking up his maiden win of the season in the premier Super Sport Indian (up to 165cc) class as the third round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship concluded at the MMRT track here on Sunday.

    Mathana, 25-year old from Trichy, with three second-place finishes in five outings this season, came good in Race-2 and the 25 points he garnered took him 91 points, just 14 behind team-mate Rajiv Sethu even as defending champion Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) squandered a double by crashing on the last lap.

    Aravind Balakrishnan, also of Honda Ten10 Racing, dominated the Pro-Stock (up to 165cc) class by completing a fine double which took him to the top of the leaderboard while Gusto Racing’s Amarnath Menon from Kozhikode scored his fifth win in six outings in the Super Sport Indian (300-400cc) class.

    Anup Kumar M of RACR team took the honours in the highly-competitive Novice (Stock up to 165cc) race in a near-photo finish ahead of Sparks Racing duo of Satyanarayana Raju (Sparks Racing) and Sri Rahil Pillarishetty.

    The Super Sport Indian (up to 165cc) race was one of fluctuating fortunes. Jagan, winner of the first race on Saturday, initially led a tightly-packed bunch of five riders that also included Sethu, Mathana, and TVS Racing mates KY Ahamed and Sylvester.

    Jagan looked good for another win until a problem with his bike saw him drop down the grid and later crashed on the last lap, but picked himself up to finish fifth. By then, Mathana had moved to the front with Sylvester in hot pursuit. Sethu survived a contact with Ahamed who fell and retired, to come in third.

    “I am very happy to score my first win of this season. I have had issues with the bike, but I was determined to win today. I kept myself in the front-running bunch and then passed Jagan, Rajiv and Ahamed, and then led all the way to the finish,” said Mathana.

    The Super Sport Indian 300-400cc race was as dramatic with front-runner Dinesh Kumar (Team Alisha Abdullah) went into a water puddle at Turn-1 and crashed. It allowed Menon to move ahead along with Anthony Peter. The pair traded positions once before Menon took a decisive lead on the last lap and win a close race.

    “I had a bad start, but I managed to stay with Dinesh until he crashed at Turn-1. Thereafter, it was a close fight with Anthony Peter who overtook me once, but I regained my track position. It was very tight when we crossed the finish line. It is a huge relief for me after having crashed during practice, qualifying and the first race yesterday. So, I was keen to bring the bike home safely and glad that I did it,” said Menon.

    The results (Provisional):

    Super Sport Indian (up to 165cc) Race 2, 9 laps: 1: Mathana Kumar (Honda Ten 10 Racing) (18:06.287); 2. Harry Sylvester (TVS Racing) (18:06.744); 3. Rajiv Sethu (Honda Ten 10 Racing) (18:15.142).

    Super Sport Indian (300-400cc) 9 laps: 1. Amarnath Menon (Gusto Racing) (17:51.839); 2, Antony Peter (Kingdom Motorsports) (17:51.945); 3. Deepak Ravi Kumar (Moto-Rev) (17:52.117).

    Pro-Stock (up to 165cc) Race 2, 9 laps: 1. Aravind Balakrishnan (Honda Ten 10 Racing) (18:56.859); 2. Aravind Ganesh (pvt.) (19:04.364); 3. Naresh Babu (RACR) (19:08.598).

    Stock (up to 165cc) Novice  – Final (6 laps): 1: Anup Kumar M (RACR) (13:15.938); 2. Satyanarayana Raju (Sparks Racing) (13:15.940); 3. Sri Rahil Pillarishetty (Sparks Racing) (13:16.195).

    One-Make Championship – Honda CBR250 (Open) Race 1, 6 laps: 1: Harikrishnan Rajagopal (Honda Ten 10Racing) (12: 27.667); 2. Rajiv Sethu (Honda Ten 10Racing) (12: 27.808); 3. Abhishek Vasudev (pvt.) (12:28.253). Race 2 (9 laps): 1. Rajiv Sethu (Honda Ten 10 Racing) (18:37.642); 2. Harikrishnan Rajagopal (Honda Ten 10 Racing) (18:37.738); 3. Amit Richard Topno (Pro Lap Racing) (18:38.064).

    CBR 150 (Novice) Race 2, 6 laps: 1. Satyanarayana Raju (Hyderabad) (13:27.240); 2. Vysakh Sobhan (Kerala) (13:27.560); 3. Amala Jerald A (Chennai) (13:28.413).

    TVS Apache RTR200 (Open) Race 2, 6 laps: 1: Sivanesan S (Chennai) (13:13.935); 2. Kannan Karnan (Chennai) (13:14.000); 3. Yuvaraj S (Chennai) (13:14.020). Novice (Race 2, 6 laps): 1. Anup Kumar M (Chennai) (13:19.447); 2. Romario J (Chennai) (13:23.279); 3. Shankar Guru A (Chennai) (13:24.762).

    eom/AP Media Communications release

  • Arjun Narendran ends Deepak’s win-streak: FMSCI Racing Nationals

    Arjun Narendran ends Deepak’s win-streak: FMSCI Racing Nationals

    • Sandeep Kumar, winner of MRF FF1600 Race-2 on Sunday (23July 2017). An AP Media Comm. image

      Anindith, Sandeep share honours in MRF FF1600

    • Maiden win for Bengaluru schoolboy Yash Aradhya

    Chennai, 23 July 2017: Anindith Reddy from Hyderabad and Coimbatore’s Arjun Narendran provided a thrilling finale to the third round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship at the MMRT track, Sriperumbudur, near here, even as 14-year old schoolboy from Bengaluru Yash Aradhya chalked up his maiden win.

    Reddy finished the weekend on a high by chalking up his second win in the MRF FF1600 triple-header with Chennai’s Sandeep Kumar denying the Hyderabad racer a hat-trick, while Coimbatore-based Narendran (Red Rooster Performance), the defending champion in the premier Indian Touring Cars class, scored his first victory this season, to end the four-in-a-row win-streak of Bengaluru’s Deepak Paul Chinnappa (Race Concepts).

    Earlier, Yash (Momentum Motorsports), a ninth standard student of Bishop Cotton’s school, drove a well-judged race to claim top honours in both Formula LGB 1300 and the Rookie categories which also produced its share of tight finishes.

    Kolhapur’s Dhruv Mohite, starting third on the grid, drove a near-flawless race for his first win in the MRF MMSC Volkswagen Ameo Cup race ahead of Karminder Singh (Delhi) and South African guest driver Devin Robertson.

    Both the MRF FF1600 races today dished out exciting fare. Sandeep Kumar shrugged off a bad start owing to wheelspin and recovered well to take a jump on the front-runners Chetan Korada and winner of lung-opener on Saturday Reddy, in the very first lap before nursing the lead to the finish.

    In the next race, the third of the weekend in this class, it was Reddy’s turn to fight his way through the pack and survive a spin after coming into contact with race leader Korada who thus dropped out of contention while Sandeep Kumar came in second with Kolkata schoolboy Arya Singh finishing third.

    “It was a good weekend overall, but it wasn’t clear-cut as the results would suggest. I am happy to come away with two wins and a podium,” said Anindith who has four wins in seven outings which put him firmly in front in the championship the winner of which earns a chance to compete in the Road To Indy shootout in the United States later this year.

    Likewise, both the ITC races, especially the duel between Narendran and Chinnappa were as close as they could get with little separating the two. In the day’s first race, Chinnappa, starting third on the reverse grid, had the measure of Narendran for his fourth win in a row. However, in the next race, pole-sitter Narendran enjoyed his best outing of the weekend to pip Chinnappa by a mere half-a-car length in a thrilling finish.

    “Yes, I am absolutely relieved to score my first win in nearly a year. My last win was in August of 2016 and hopefully, this victory will turn my luck over the next couple of rounds. I had a tough time staying ahead of Deepak. We were quicker than each other in different sections of the track, but in the end, I am happy that scored my first win of this season,” said Narendran who is currently studying in England.

    The results (Provisional – all 8 laps unless mentioned):

    MRF FF1600 – Race 2: 1. Sandeep Kumar (Chennai) (13mins, 47.962secs); 2. Anindith Reddy (Hyderabad) (13:48.564); 3. Chetan Korada (Chennai) (13:55.975). Race 3: 1. Anindith Reddy (14:00.875); 2. Sandeep Kumar (14:02.022); 3. Arya Singh (Kolkata) (14:05.415).

    Indian Touring Cars – Race 2: 1. Deepak Paul Chinnappa (Race Concepts) (15:37.529); 2. Arjun Narendran (Red Rooster Performance) (15:38.209); V Nikanthram (Red Rooster Performance) (16:14.611). Race 3: 1. Arjun Narendran (Red Rooster Performance) (15:34.638); 2. Deepak Paul Chinnappa (Race Concepts) (15:34.769); 3. B Vijayakumar (Prime Racing) (16:07.988).

    Formula LGB 1300 – Race 2: 1. Yash Aradhya (Bengaluru, Momentum) (15:17.864); 2. Arya Singh (Kolkata, DTS Racing) (15:18.316); 3. Rupesh Sivakumar (Salem, DTS Racing) (15:31.142). Rookie: 1. Yash Aradhya; 2. Arya Singh; 3. Bala Prasath A (Coimbatore, DTS) (15:46.420).

    MRF MMSC Volkswagen Ameo Cup – Race 2: 1. Dhruv Mohite (Kolhapur) (15:53.219); 2. Karminder Singh (Delhi) (15:59.667); 3. Devin Robertson (Johannesburg, South Africa) (16:01.045).

    eom/AP Media Comm. press release