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Tag: MRF
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4W Racing Championship poised for a thrilling finish
Chennai, 26 Jan 2023: The stakes and expectations are as high as they can get in the fourth and final round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship 2022 to be held at the Madras International Circuit on the weekend of January 27-29.
The two premier categories, MRF F2000 and the Touring Cars comprising three classes, will have three races apiece while four will be run in the Volkswagen Polo Cup, and two each in the Formula LGB 1300 and the MRF Saloons (Toyota Etios).
The titles in each of these categories are up for grabs and few points separate the front-runners, thus setting the stage for an exciting finish to the monsoon-interrupted 2022 season that spilled over into 2023.
In what could be a humdinger, the MRF F2000 is headed towards a nail-biting finish with as many as five drivers having realistic as well as mathematical chances (depending on the results) of clinching the championship. With a maximum of 75 points on offer, Sai Sanjay (153), Mohamed Ryan (125), Dillon Thomas Zacharaiah (117), Divy Nandan (113) and Chirag Ghorpade (112) are the front-runners.
Of the lot Salem’s Sai Sanjay has won three races as against two by Bengaluru youngster Chirag Ghorpade who dropped a lot of points with a non-finish in one of the four races last weekend.
Two Coimbatore stars, 10 times National champion Arjun Balu (Race Concepts, 93 points) and former title winner, Arjun Narendran (Arka Motorsports, 86), head the Indian Touring Cars category. Narendran scored a double in the previous round last weekend to move closer to Balu who retired from the first of the two races due to engine issues. However, three wins in the earlier rounds ensured Balu stayed at the top in the points table.
As per provisional standings, Chennai drivers and Performance Racing team-mates Akkineni Anand Prasad (92) and Raja Rajan (78) who between them have won four of the five races so far, are ahead of the pack in the Indian Junior Touring Cars category. Another Chennai and Performance Racing driver, Ritesh Rai (111) enjoys a healthy 31-point lead over Narendran S (Redline Racing) in the Super Stock class.
The Formula LGB 1300 category has seen the closest races this season with plenty of wheel-to-wheel competition. Raghul Rangasamy (MSport) from Mamallapuram and Nellore’s Viswas Vijayaraj are separated by 15 points in the provisional points table.
Gurugram’s Justin Singh (129) leads Angad Mathroo (119) in the MRF Saloons (Toyota Etios) category while there is only a 10-point gap among the top three in Volkswagen Polo Cup – Pratik Sonawane (71) form Pune, Raaj Bakhru (66) from Mumbai and Bengaluru’s Adtiya Swaminathan (61).
Incidentally, Sandeep Kumar won all four Polo Cup races last weekend, but is not eligible for championship points since he is a guest driver.
Chairman of the Meet Vicky Chandhok said: “On the evidence of last weekend’s races, there is much to look forward to in the final round as we bring closure to the 2022 season that stretched into 2023. We at the MMSC take this opportunity to thank our sponsors MRF Tyres, the competitors and the Media for their wholehearted involvement in various roles.”
About Madras Motor Sports Club
Since its humble beginnings in 1953, the Madras Motor Sports Club has grown in stature as the hub of motorsport activity in India. Having moved its racing activities from Sholavaram to its present location, the Madras International Circuit (earlier MMRT), in Sriperumbudur in 1979, MMSC has kept pace with changing times by upgrading facilities. At a cost of about Rs 20 Crore, the MMSC built a pit complex comprising 20 garages, VIP hospitality suites and a viewing gallery, on the eastern side, apart from a second Paddock on the western side with its own short circuit. Parallelly, MMSC imported timing equipment specifically for Drag racing. The Control Room too was upgraded with state-of-the-art hardware while the track itself was improved to meet the exacting FIA standards for Grade-2 certification. MMSC also constructed a 500-capacity grand stand with provision for garages / storage below. In another upgrade, the MMSC installed Digi flags from TAG Heuer Chronolec that will be positioned strategically around the track. The facilities are also extensively used by various vehicle manufacturers for testing their products, displays and corporate days.
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Chirag Ghorpade tops F2000 race; Double for Arjun, Raghul
Chennai, 8 Jan 2023: Bengaluru’s Chirag Ghropade held his nerve to win his second race of the season in the premier MRF Formula 2000 category on the concluding day of the second round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship 2022 at the Madras International Circuit, here on Sunday.
Also in the limelight were Coimbatore veteran Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) and Mamallapuram’s Raghul Rangasamy (MSport) who completed a double each this weekend in the Indian Touring Cars and the Formula LGB category, respectively.
The day’s schedule came to an abrupt end with two remaining races cancelled following the demise of Chennai racer KE Kumar in a hospital where he was attended to for the injuries he suffered in a crash during the saloon cars race.
Ghorpade, 17, did well to survive close attention from Salem’s Sai Sanjay, before crossing the finish line while Mohammed Ryan from Chennai completed the podium.
“It (the win) was a long time coming. I struggled a bit at the start as we had new tyres fitted in. Once the tyres heated up, I managed to open up a good lead, but had to defend my position at certain times,” said Ghorpade.
In contrast, Balu, starting P5 on the reverse grid, showed amazing pace as he jumped into the lead by Turn-4 in the very opening lap of the scheduled 12-lap race which was reduced to nine after it was red-flagged following the incident involving Kumar and then re-started. Thereafter, Balu again went into cruise mode to destroy the field.
Chennai’s Raja Rajan (Performance Racing) topped in the Indian Junior Touring Cars category while another local racer, Narendran S (Redline Racing) won in the Super Stock class.
Rangasamy, who earlier in the day had won the Formula LGB 1300 race after starting form P11 on the reverse grid, continued his winning-ways by topping the next outing to complete a fine double.
The third round of the championship is slated for January 20-22 at the same venue followed by the fourth and concluding round on January 27-29.
The results (Provisional):
MRF F2000 (Race-3, 10 laps): 1. Chirag Ghorpade (Bengaluru) (15mins, 48.752secs); 2. Sai Sanjay T (Salem) (15:49.462); 3. Mohamed Ryan (Chennai) 15:51.211).
Indian Touring Cars (Race-2, 9 laps): 1. Arjun Balu (Coimbatore, Race Concepts) (17:30.324); 2. Ananth Pithawalla (Mumbai, Team N1) (17:43.103); 3. Biren Pithawalla (Mumbai, Team N1) (17:44.389).
Indian Junior Touring Cars (Race-2, 9 laps): 1. Raja Rajan (Chennai, Performance Racing) (17:55.058); 2. Deepak Ravikumar (Chennai, Performance Racing) (18:02.406); 3. Akkineni Anand Prasad (Chennai, Performance Racing) (18:06.320).
Super Stock (Race-2, 9 laps): 1. Narendran (Chennai, Redline Racing) (19:18.726); 2. Ritesh Rai (Chennai, Performance Racing) (19:23.585); 3. Fahad Kutty (Mumbai, Redline Racing) (19:26.875).
Formula LGB 1300 (Race-2, 10 laps): 1. Raghul Rangasamy (Mamallapuram, MSport) (18:57.069); 2. Diljith Shaji (Thrissur, DTS Racing) (18:57.511); 3. Tijil Rao (Bengaluru, Momentum Motorsports) (18:58.585). Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Raghul Rangasamy (15:14.465); 2. Viswas Vijayaraj (Nellore, DTS Racing) (15:14.620); 3. Chetan Surineni (Bengaluru, Momentum Motorsports) (15:17.331).
MRF Saloon Cars (Toyota Etios, Race-3, 8 laps): 1. Justin Singh (Gurugram) (16:44.314); 2. Angad Mathroo (Chandigarh) (16:44.325); 3. Jai Prashanth Venkat (Coimbatore) (16:54.057).
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Divy Nandan, Sai Sanjay share honours in MRF F2000
Chennai, 7 Jan 2023: Gurugram’s Divy Nandan and Salem lad Sai Sanjay notched double podium apiece with a win and a third place in the two MRF F2000 races that headlined the opening day of the second round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship 2022 at the Madras International Circuit here on Saturday.
Divy Nandan, 20, who enjoyed a great start in the first race for a comfortable win, finished the day with a third-place finish in the next outing starting from P6. Sai Sanjay, also 20, made amends for a disappointing first race with a fine win in the next starting from P4.
Also tasting success today was Nellore’s 24-year old Viswas Vijayraj (DTS Racing) in the Formula LGB 1300 category, with a pole-to-flag effort.
Earlier, 10-times National champion Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) powered to another fluent win in the premier Indian Touring Cars category as he led a Coimbatore sweep of the podium spots, sparing over seven seconds to Arjun Narendran (Arka Motorsports) while 77-year old D Vidya Prakash (Performance Racing), the oldest man in the championship, finished third.
The ITC along with Indian Junior Touring Cars and the Super Stock classes, was run in a combined grid of 27 cars that saw as many as four drivers penalized for jump start resulting in a couple of podium finishers getting demoted.
Local veteran Gurunath Meiyappan (Race Concepts) took the honours in the IJTC class with Narendran S (Redline Racing), also from Chennai, topping the Super Stock category.
Meanwhile, Viswas Vijayaraj chalked up a dominating win from pole to flag in the Formula LGB 1300 category race, easily holding off second-placed Mamallapuram veteran Raghul Rangasamy (MSport) while local ace Deepak Ravikumar (Momentum Motorsports) came in third with a last-lap pass on Bengaluru youngster and team-mate Tijil Rao.
Justin Singh (Gurugram) and Angad Mathroo (Chandigarh) won a race apiece in the MRF Saloon Cars (Toyota Etios) category.
MRF F2000 (Race-1, 8 laps): 1. Divy Nandan (Gurugram) (12mins, 42.224secs); 2. Mohamed Ryan (Chennai) (12:42.715); 3. Sai Sanjay T (Salem) (12:43.385).
Race-2 (10 laps): 1. Sai Sanjay T (16:01.632); 2. Chirag Ghorpade (Bengaluru) (16:03.564); 3. Divy Nandan (16:08.073).
Indian Touring Cars (Race-1, 10 laps): 1. Arjun Balu (Coimbatore, Race Concepts) (19:04.128); 2. Arjun Narendran (Coimbatore, Arka Motorsports) (19:11.427); 3. Vidya Prakash (Coimbatore) (20:07.604).
Indian Junior Touring Cars (Race-1, 10 laps): 1. Gurunath Meiyyappan (Chennai, Race Concepts) (19:32.970); 2. Deepak Ravikumar (Chennai, Performance Racing) (19:36.462); 3. Akkineni Anand Prasad (Chennai, Performance Racing) (19:52.477).
Super Stock (Race-1, 9 laps): 1. Narendran S (Chennai, Redline Racing) (19:07.337); 2. Ritesh Rai (Chennai, Performance Racing) (19:07.867); 3. Angad Mathroo (Chandigarh, Pvt) (19:41.701).
Formula LGB 1300 (Race-1, 8 laps): 1. Viswas Vijayraj (Nellore, DTS Racing) (15:06.989); 2. Raghul Rangasamy (Mahabalipuram, MSport) (15:10.325); 3. Deepak Ravikumar (Chennai, Momentum Motorsports) (15:13.839).
MRF Saloon Cars (Toyota Etios, Race-1, 8 laps): 1. Justin Singh (Gurugram, Redline Racing) (16:34.046); 2. Diana Pundole (Pune, Redline Racing) (16:34.050); 3. Angad Mathroo (Chandigarh, Redline Racing) (16:58.560). Race-2 (10 laps): 1. Mathroo (20:55.583); 2. Jai Prashanth Venkat (Coimbatore, Redline Racing) (21:13.776); 3. Zahan Commissariat (Mumbai, Redline Racing) (21:14.940).
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ERC awards for Team MRF Tyres at FIA gala 2022
Bologna (Italy) 11 Dec 2022: Team MRF Tyres received the European Rally Championship 2022 Awards here at the prestigious FIA Gala where all the Champions and Championship winning Teams have been awarded their Titles. The presentation was held in Bologna and marked the culmination of a successful and victorious season for Team MRF Tyres strengthening their place as one of the best in the sport.
Arun Mammen, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director – MRF Ltd., received the Winning Team award, while Efren Llarena received the Winning Driver Title and Sara Fernandez received the Winning Co-Driver Titles for the European Rally Championship. Javier Pardo of Team MRF Tyres was the Runner-up in the European Rally Championships 2022.
Speaking after collecting the award, Arun Mammen said, “It is indeed a proud and landmark moment in our journey as a Tyre company to be able to achieve this success in such a short period of time. We entered the ERC in 2020 and have been able to bring our technical and development skills to be able to fight against the top Tyre brands and win this Championship. This win means a lot to the team of MRF men and women back in the factories and India and is a stupendous achievement and is a realization of their hard work. We hope that this is the first of many to come.”
Photo caption: Arun Mammen, Vice-Chairman & Managing Director MRF Limited poses with the Team award along with, with Efren Llaren, right, and Sara Fernandez, who won the awards for ERC Driver championship and Co-Driver’s championship for the year 2022 at FIA gala Awards Giving on Saturday.
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Rugved Barguje sparkles in Goa Round 5: Supercross Nationals
Mapusa (Goa),13 Nov 2022: Braving a dislocated shoulder that is yet to heal, Pune’s Rugved Barguje from Petronas TVS Racing team won a golden double to win the Best Rider tag and reclaimed the championship lead in the premier class from veteran CD Jinan in the fifth and penultimate round of the MRF Mogrip National Supercross Championship promoted by Godspeed Racing at the Carnival grounds, Opposite to Bodgeshwar Temple in Mapusa here on Sunday.
Going into the Goa round trailing by a point to CD Jinan, Rugved won both the motos comfortably on Sunday to take a five-point lead ahead of the last round in Bengaluru next Sunday. Jinan finished second in both the motos of Group A SX1 class, the feature event of the day. Rugved leads the championship with 172 points to Jinan’s 167. Originally slated as the fifth round on Nov 6 but put off due to rains, Bengaluru will now be the sixth and final round on Nov 20.
In Moto 1 of the Group A SX1, the 21-year rider from Pune, Rugved, did not get the best of starts he is known for, but still got the hole-shot and quickly squeezed into the lead at the first corner pushing veteran rider and championship contender CD Jinan to second and rode a steady and consistent race on a tight and technical track to win by about seven bike lengths. Jinan, the 47-year stalwart from Thrissur, who started on the far-side behind the gates, endured the disadvantage to follow the leader and reduced the gap towards the end. But it was Rugved’s day as he took a comfortable victory despite the pain he endured at every jump and jerk. In the fourth round in Vadodara, Rugved Barguje had a nasty fall and dislocated his right shoulder. The braveheart, got up and finished fifth, for a valuable 11 points and came back to win Moto2 in severe pain with his shoulder heavily taped after shots of painkillers.
“I had an amazing day and I am very happy to get two race wins under my belt. Hoping for the best next weekend,” said Rugved.
In the 12-lap second moto, boxed by the top two riders Prajwal V took a ‘fall’ at the first corner affecting Jinan and Rugved wasted no time to zoom into the lead. Jinan trailed in third behind Ajay Srinivas, who crashed later in the opening lap itself, but Jinan played safe later, and retained his second position. Rugved, meanwhile, slowly increased the gap managing the hoops in quick time with good technique and was careful on the long jumps to protect his lead. Jinan, made a couple of mistakes and lost some time with two laps to go, and the Pune lad won with ease to reclaim the title-lead in the top class.
Triple for Sarthak Chavan; Jinendra leads Class 2
Pune’s Sarthak Chavan won both the SX2 motos in Class 2 and added one more moto winning the Junior SX1 first race. But Jinendra Sangave, who represented India in the MiniGP World finals recently, recovered to a third place in the first Moto and took a second in the next, to increase his Championship lead to a comfortable 157 points with Shlok Ghorpade and Ajay Srinivas fighting behind him, more than 20 points adrift.
Indian Experts class goes to wire – Arun sparkles
Popular privateer Arun T from Hassan won the Indian Experts Group C Class 6 but it was Petronas TVS star Sachin D who took a slender one-point championship lead from teammate Imran Pasha as the Championship battle goes to the wire. Arun also won the Private Experts Class 5 ahead of Yogesh and Shabuddin Syed, a popular local rider from Goa Racing team.
Akshat Hupale virtually seals the Junior SX2 title
Another Pune rider Akshat Hupale virtually sealed the Junior SX2 championship winning the first moto in Class 8 while Bengaluru school boy Bhaiarav C upset the applecart of the champion astride a Gasgas machine in Moto2 and in the process displayed enough skills to defend a marauding Sujan in the last two laps with a mature ride. Way behind, Akshat made sure he took the third, which was enough to seal the championship.
Podium for Ananstya Pol
Shlok Ghorpade and Sarthak Chavan shared the honours in the Junior SX1 but it was Bengaluru lass Anastya Pol, who stole the limelight with a podium in the second Moto, competing on equal terms with boys.
Provisional Results – Round 5:
(Results are NOT official and will be updated soon with official version)
Class 1: SX1 Moto1: 1. #9 Rugved Barguje (Petronas TVS Racing-RTR300); 2. #50 CD Jinan (Petronas TVS Racing-RTR300); 3. #75 Sarthak Chavan (Pune, Kawasaki KX).
Class 1: SX1 Moto2: 1. Rugved Barguje (Petronas TVS Racing-RTR300); 2. CD Jinan (Petronas TVS Racing-RTR300); 3. Shlok Ghorpade (KTM150 Satara).
Class 2: SX2 Moto1: 1. Sarthak Chavan (KX250F- Pune); 2. Ajay Srinivas (KX250F- Bengaluru); 3. Jinendra Sangave (KX250F- Ichalakaranji, Kolhapur);.
Class 2: SX2 Moto2: 1. Sarthak Chavan (KX250F- Pune); 2. Jinendra Sangave (KX250F- Ichalakaranji); 3. Shlok Ghorpade (KTM150 – Satara).
Class 4: Locals: 1. Tanweer Shaikh; 2. Sarvesh Korgonkar; 3. Mayur Kolekar; (All Goa, on Impuse).
Class 5: Indian Experts: 1. Arun T (Hassan) 2. Sachin D (Bengaluru – TVS Racing) 3. Imran Pasha (Mysore – TVS Racing).
Class 6: Private Experts: 1. Arun T (Hassan, Xpulse); 2. Yogesh PD (Bengaluru) 3. Shabuddin Syed ().
Class 7: Junior SX1 Moto1: Sarthak Chavan (Pune); 2. Shlok Ghorpade (Satara); 3. Jinendra Sangave (Kolhapur);
Class 7: Junior SX1 Moto2: 1. Shlok Ghorpade (Satara); 2. Sarthak Chavan (Pune); 3. Ananstya Pol (Bengaluru).
Class 8: Junior SX2 Moto1: 1. Akshat Hupale (KTM SX 85 -Pune); 2. Sujan J (KTM65- Coimbatore).
Class 8: Junior SX2 Moto2: 1. Bhairav C (Gasgas – Bengaluru); 2. Sujan J (KTM65- Coimbatore); 3. Akshat Hupale (KTM SX85 -Pune);
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MRF Tyres are the 2022 European Rally Champions
Chennai, 24 August 2022: Team MRF Tyres with Efrén Llarena and Sara Fernández are the new 2022 FIA European Rally Champions. Team MRF Tyres secures the championship with two rounds to spare of the eight round 2022 FIA ERC Championship, demonstrating the high performance and success the team has demonstrated throughout the ERC. The team will take part in the Barum Czech Rally this week-end.
It is the first FIA ERC title for MRF Tyres, having only come to the Championship in 2020, to take on, compete and then beat the world’s best.
This victory comes close on heels of the success that Team MRF Tyres has enjoyed with victories in the Finnish Rally Championship and Italian Rally Championship in 2021. The FIA ERC title is the result of the immense effort the team has put in over the last three years.
The year 2022 has been equally rewarding for Team MRF Tyres with wins in the Azores Rallye, and podiums in Rally Islas Canarias and Liepaja Rally for Llarena and Fernández. A further win for Mārtiņš Sesks and Renars Francis followed in Latvia, winning every stage of the event. Simone Campedelli and Tania Canton took second place at Rally di Roma Capitale.
Mr. Arun Mammen, Vice-Chairman & Managing Director, MRF Tyres said, ““It is a very happy and momentous occasion to capture this first European Rally Championship for us at MRF Tyres. It is a testament to the work put in by our entire team to come up with Championship winning tyres which have performed at the top most level in European rallying thereby showcasing our superior technical capabilities. I would like to congratulate Efrén Llarena and Sara Fernández for achieving this feat, and our other drivers who have supported our Team in achieving this historic effort. It is indeed a very prestigious and proud moment for us to be crowned European Rally Champions 2022.”
The outstanding and consistent performance with the team, allowed them to take the Championship with two rounds remaining. The team of Llarena and Fernández has been a successful one for the team. They have proven equal to the challenge of competing with the world’s best and have been strong and consistent throughout the championship.
Efrén Llarena, FIA European Rally Championship, Driver’s Champion, Team MRF Tyres said, ““I can’t stop smiling! I would like to thank everyone at Team MRF Tyres. The commitment and work from the entire team over the last seasons has made this possible. We have worked hard this year and I am very proud to take the title with MRF Tyres. This is the result over the year of work. For us, and for MRF Tyres to be able to win a Championship at European level is a great achievement. To win it with the two rounds to spare demonstrates what a great product MRF Tyres has given us.
I am now looking forward to the rest of the season and we will continue to push for more great results!”
Sara Fernández, FIA European Rally Championship, Co-Driver’s Champion, Team MRF Tyres said, “I am really happy. This is my second co-driver’s title but this one is better because I can share it with Efrén and the entire team at MRF Tyres. “I would like to thank everyone at MRF Tyres. They gave us the most important opportunity of our life and they gave us an amazing tyre to rally on. We would not be in this position without the hard work and dedication from the team. “From our win in the Azores and our podiums this year, we have a great year, and I am looking forward to more success with MRF Tyres.”
Mr. Iain Campbell, FIA European Rally Championship Manager said, “On behalf of WRC Promoter and the FIA ERC, I’d like to pass on my congratulations to Efrén Llarena and Sara Fernández on becoming our 2022 champions. They have performed exceptionally all season. Furthermore, I also want to congratulate Team MRF Tyres on making history with this breakthrough win.”
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Rajini Krishnan, Sarvesh Balappa keen to keep slate clean
Chennai, 4 August 2022: Experienced Indian racing ace Rajini Krishnan and Hubbali’s youngster Sarvesh Balappa who won all the four races in their respective classes will look to keep their slate clean as Round 3 begins here at the rechristened Madras International Circuit, which will open it newly-built Grand Stand for the Public for the first time. The facility could not be opened till now due Covid-19.
The MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2022 enters its crucial phase this weekend with the front-runners on the leaderboard keen to consolidate their positions by achieving a fine balance between outright aggression and smart riding.
While veteran Rajini Krishnan (RACR Castrol Power1), bidding for his 11th National title, has dominated the premier Pro-Stock 301-400cc category with four wins from as many starts, the situation in the popular Pro-Stock 165cc class is intriguing, though Pacer Yamaha’s Mathana Kumar enjoys a 35-point advantage. His arch-rivals, Rajiv Sethu (Idemitsu Honda SK69 Racing), and the Petronas TVS Racing pair of Deepak Ravikumar and KY Ahamed, showed signs of resurgence in Round-2 last month after a washout in the season-opener at Coimbatore in June. Thus, the expectations are high of close battles this weekend.
Hubballi’s Sarvesh Balappa (Axor Sparks Racing), with four wins out of four, is comfortably placed in the Novice category (Stock 165cc) that attracts a grid of some 40 riders. In the Girls category (Stock 165cc), just 10 points separate the top four – Aditi Krishnan (Bengaluru, Winverve Apex Racing Academy), Ann Jennifer (Chennai, Axor Sparks Racing), Jagruti Penkar (Mumbai, Axor Sparks Racing) and last year’s champion Ryhana Bee (Chennai, Pacer Yamaha), in that order.
The Petronas TVS One-Make Championship has seen some hectic action. In the Open category, there have been four different winners, while Bengaluru schoolboy Chiranth Vishwanath has won all four races in the Rookie class and Aditi Krishnan remains unbeaten after two outings in the Girls category.
Pune teenager Sarthak Shrikant Chavan, with a clean sweep of all four races, heads the NSF 250R class in the Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup as also Mumbai’s Raheesh Mudassar Khatri in the Novice (CBR 150) category.
The 20-race card will get rolling tomorrow (Friday) with Free Practice and qualifying sessions ahead of the races over the following two days which could see some exciting competition as was the case in the previous round last month.
While almost 200 entrants fight it out on the track, promoters Madras Motor Sports Club have thrown open the 600-seater grandstand along the main straight to the public and fans. Spectators can avail of refreshments and snacks besides watching the live streaming of the races on several 55-inch television monitors in the stands.
“The two rounds so far have witnessed some thrilling action and extremely close races, and this weekend, we are sure, it will be no different. We are hoping that the fans will turn out in good numbers to witness the action. We have opened the grandstand to the public for the first time since it was built in 2020, but could not be utilised due to the pandemic. A special award will be presented to a rider / team with the biggest cheering squad in the grandstand,” said MMSC vice-president Vicky Chandhok.
On the track, the National Championship will see double-headers in the two premier Pro-stock categories – 301-400cc Open and 165cc Open – besides the Novice (Stock 165cc) class, while one race is slated for the Girls (Stock 165cc) and the Stock 301-400cc, introduced as a support event this season.
The Petronas TVS One-Make Championship organised by MMSC – Open (Apache 310RR), and Rookie, Girls and Media (all Apache RTR200) – and the Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup – NSF 250R, Novice (CBR 150) and Hornet 2.0 (Support race) – make up rest of the weekend programme.
About Madras Motor Sports Club
Since its humble beginnings in 1953, the Madras Motor Sports Club has grown in stature as the hub of motorsport activity in India. Having moved its racing activities from Sholavaram to its present location, the Madras International Circuit (earlier MMRT), in Sriperumbudur in 1979, MMSC has kept pace with changing times by upgrading facilities. At a cost of about Rs 20 Crore, the MMSC built a pit complex comprising 20 garages, VIP hospitality suites and a viewing gallery, on the eastern side, apart from a second Paddock on the western side with its own short circuit. Parallelly, MMSC imported timing equipment specifically for Drag racing. The Control Room too was upgraded with state-of-the-art hardware while the track itself was improved to meet the exacting FIA standards for Grade-2 certification. MMSC also constructed a 500-capacity grand stand with provision for garages / storage below. In another upgrade, the MMSC installed Digi flags from TAG Heuer Chronolec that will be positioned strategically around the track. The facilities are also extensively used by various vehicle manufacturers for testing their products, displays and corporate days.
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Arjun Balu to rely on pure talent and skill to defend title
Chennai, 9 Feb. 2022: Veteran gentleman of motorsports Arjun Balu is raring to go and is looking to defend his National title in the prestigeous Indian Touring Cars class as four-wheeler competitors in other classes too are gunning for titles in the MRF MMSC fmsci National Car Racing Championship 2021, the fourth and final round to be held, near here, at the MMRT from February 11 to 13.
Despite myraid ugly tactics on the track, Arjun Balu won the National Championship last year after narrowly losing to similar tactics a year earlier in 2019. This year too, the gentle giant, withstood such dirty tricks to let his driving and skill talk on the track.
Drivers drive to win! But in ITC class a few of the “team drivers” have been driving to prevent a leading driver from winning. The class has seen some dirty driving in the last few years. Chennai’s Deepak Ravikumar of Performance Racing has sealed the National title in the Super Stock Class with a round to spare as he took an unbeatable lead after five wins from six starts. The championship in two other saloon cars classes – the Indian Touring Cars and Indian Junior Touring Cars – is still wide open. In the MRF 1600cc Class, Chirag Ghorpade will be looking to halt the advancing Shahan Ali Mohsin.
These youngsters, have made a mark in the premier MRF Formula 1600 category and title fight narrowed to these two teenagers. Bengaluru’s Chirag has 153 points (2 wins) and Shahan Ali Mohsin from Agra has rallied brilliantly after a bad weekend to garner 140 points with 4 wins. The two are best-placed to win the championship. However, Rishon Rajeev (110), also from Bengaluru, has an outside chance alond with Coimbatore’s K Suriyavarathan (105, one win). These two cannot be discounted since a maximum of 75 points are available from three races and it all depends on the day’s form besides other conditions.
Experienced Coimbatore driver Arjun Balu of Race Concepts, a private team will be fighting with VW factory-supported drivers. Balu heads the table in the ITC class and leads Rayo Racing’s Jeet Jhabakh by 18.5 points with a maximum of 25 points to be had from the double-header. Another Coimbatore racer, Charen Chandran is ahead of Chennai’s Hatim Shabbir Jamnagarwala of Performance Racing by 13.5 points in the Indian Junior Touring Cars (IJTC) class going into the final round.
In the Formula LGB 1300 category, the race for the title is poised on a knife-edge. Two Momentum Motorsport team-mates, Tijil Rao (85) from Bengaluru, Deepak Ravikumar (72), head the championship table, ahead of Nellore’s Viswas Vijayaraj (DTS Racing, 64), Ruhaan Alva (MSport, 59) from Bengaluru, and Kolkata racer Arya Singh (DTS Racing, 58), all having a realistic shot at the title with a maximum of 50 points to be won.
Chennai’s Sandeep Kumar and Fahad Kutty from Mumbai currently head the points table in the Volkswagen Polo and MRF Saloon Cars (Toyota Etios) categories, both of which are triple-headers.
Ajit Thomas, President of promoters Madras Motor Sports Club, said: “Due to the Covid-19 situation, we could not offer five rounds to the four-wheeler competitions, but the action thus far has been quite exciting with close races. Given the pandemic, it is still heartening that the response has been fairly good with many youngsters, after graduating from karting, are already making their presence felt at this level. And surely, the concluding round this weekend will throw up its share of excitement and surprises. We also salute our sponsors, MRF Tyres, for their unstinted support to the championship.”
There will be live streaming of the races on Facebook and the MMSC website.
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Sahan Ali cuts Chirag’s lead with commanding win; Ruhaan dominates F1300
Chennai, 21 Jan 2022: Agra’s Shahan Ali Mohsin won a battle of the teenagers while Rayo Racing’s Ishaan Dodhiwala from Hyderabad avoided a first-corner incident to triumph as the third round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship 2021 sparked to life at the MMRT, here on Friday.
The day began with some commanding display by 15-year old Bengalurean, Ruhaan Alva of MSport, who showed good racecraft while comfortably pocketing the pole position and was the only car to go under 1min 51-sec mark. He set the pace beginning with a best Sector I time before the Red Flag and went on to post the fastest lap of the day in F1300. Meanwhile, Tijil Rao, who had clutch issues jumped into the pits without setting his best time.
Later in the evening, the multiple-National karting champion, Ruhaan, won Race 1 with ease and grace leading from pole to flag in the Safety Car-interrupted race as he gave no chance to the Momentum Motorsports duo Deepak Ravikumar and Tijil Rao, who finished in that order. Tijil Rao, also from Bengaluru, however, made the most of the disadvantage in the morning, by zooming from 19th to podium in the 20-car field. Ruhaan logged the fastest lap, thus completing a triumphant treble on Friday. A pole, a win and the best lap.
Shahan, 17, enjoyed a good start from pole position and went on to pip two 16-year old Bengalureans Chirag Ghorpade and Rishon Rajiv, for his third win of the season. The victory took the Agra teenager’s tally to 109 points in the championship, just 14 short of leader Chirag. The Agra racer too is a multiple Indian Karting champion, who switched over to the Formula cars. Amidst board exams, he took part in the last round and lost points in two races as he had a puncture and technical issues and was trailing by 21 points to Chirag. Thus the victory helped him reduce the margin and with two more races on Saturday in this round, the MRF 1600 class, is interestingly poised. Rishon Rajiv, the reigning Junior National Karting champ, too graduated to cars and did well to complete the podium. Shahan too completed a treble, a pole, a win, and the fastest lap.
Earlier, in the Indian Touring Cars race, Dodhiwala steered clear of a Turn-1 incident involving championship leader Arjun Balu of Race Concepts and Jeet Jhabakh of Rayo Racing to chalk up a fluent win, his first of the season. Balu and Jhabakh, who tried to pass taking the inside line, came together and went off the track while Dodhiwala slipped through into the lead. Balu recovered quickly and all but caught up with Dodhiwala before being forced to ease off due to rising engine temperature each time he pushed.
Eventually, Dodhiwala, who came into this round as a replacement for absentee team-mate Anindith Reddy, won handily ahead of Balu who, however, continues to lead the championship table. The Stewards, after a post-race investigation, docked third-placed Jhabakh a 15-second penalty for “causing an avoidable collision”.
It was a lights-to-flag victory for Ruhaan who fully capitalized on his pole position start and was never really challenged through the eight-lapper which was interrupted by a Safety Car period due to an on-track incident.
Behind Ruhaan, who had missed the previous round due to an international karting commitment, raged a tight fight for the other podium spots. Viswas Vijayaraj (DTS Racing) and Mohd Ryan (MSport), running second and third, spun off after a contact. It allowed Deepak Ravikumar (Momentum Motorsport) to move into second position from fourth and defend his spot to the chequered flag, ahead of team-mate Tijil Rao, the teenager from Bengaluru who put in a great performance to move from P19 to P3. The victory took Ruhaan from eighth and fourth in the championship standings.
Also chalking up victories today were Bengaluru’s Varun Anekar of Race Concepts (Indian Junior Touring Cars) and Chennai’s Deepak Ravikumar of Performance Racing (Super Stock) while Oshan Kothadiya from Pune drove a near-flawless race for his maiden win of the season in the Volkswagen Polo category.
Haryana’s Justin Singh and Mumbai veteran Fahad Kutty, who started P11 on the reverse grid, won a race apiece, in the MRF Saloon Cars (Toyota Etios) category.
For live streaming of the races, please follow the link https://youtu.be/0OithC0iLLo
The results (provisional – all 8 laps unless mentioned):
MRF F1600 (Race-1): 1. Shahan Ali Mohsin (Agra) (13mins, 31.446secs); 2. Chirag Ghorpade (Bengaluru) (13:32.719); 3. Rishon Rajiv (Bengaluru) (13:33.917).
Indian Touring Cars (Race-1): 1. Ishaan Dodhiwala (Rayo Racing, Hyderabad) (15:26.029); 2. Arjun Balu (Race Concepts, Coimbatore) (15:42.328); 3. Jeet Jhabakh (Rayo Racing, Hyderabad) (16:06.177, incl 15-second penalty).
Indian Junior Touring Cars (Race-1): 1. Varun Anekar (Race Concepts, Bengaluru) (16:01.284); 2. K Srinivas Teja (Performance Racing, Chennai) (16:13.396); 3. Charen Chandran (Pvt, Coimbatore) (16:29.012).
Super Stock (Race-1): 1. Deepak Ravikumar (Performance Racing, Chennai) (16:11.010); 2. Rithvik Thomas (Race Concepts, Bengaluru) (16:19.707); 3. RP Raja Rajan (Performance Racing, Chennai) (16:23.196).
Formula LGB 1300 (Race-1): 1. Ruhaan Alva (MSport, Bengaluru) (19:08.955); 2. Deepak Ravikumar (Momentum Motorsport, Chennai) (19:14.841); 3. Tijil Rao (Momentum Motorsport, Bengaluru) (19:15.168).
Volkswagen Polo (Race-1): 1. Oshan Kothadiya (Pune) (15:57.549); 2. Sandeep Kumar (Chennai) (16:01.665); 3. Saurav Bandyopadhyay (Thane) (16:02.115).
MRF Saloon Cars (Toyota Etios – Race 1, 10 laps): 1. Justin Singh (Red Line Racing, Haryana) (16:47.458); 2. Fahad Kutty (Red Line Racing, Mumbai) (16:48.378); 3. Anand Prasad (Red Line Racing, Chennai) (16:49.775).
Race-2 (10 laps): 1. Fahad Kutty (Red Line Racing, Mumbai) (21:09.211); 2. Bala Prasath (Quest Motorsport, Coimbatore) (21:12.259); 3. Angad Matharoo (Red Line Racing, Chandigarh) (21:13.716).
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Simone Campedelli and Tania Canton finish fifth for MRF: ERC Rally Hungary
Nyíregyháza (Hungary), 25 October 2021:Team MRF Tyres successfully completed the data and development exercise at the FIA European Rally Championship at Rally Hungary.
The day’s action saw seven stages and 78.83km of action on the unique tarmac roads in north-east Hungary that took in forest and farming paths.
Simone Campedelli and Tania Canton were flying the flag for Team MRF Tyres in their Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo and started the day in eighth position.
The aim of this rally was to gain data for the development of the tyres, as MRF Tyres looks forward to further tarmac developments into 2022.
The rapid development of the MRF Tyres tarmac product is aimed to pay dividends into next year.
The Sunday action in Hungary saw high speeds with, the MRF Tyres duo pushing on the super-fast stages, clocking average speeds of more than 120km/h over a stage.
Throughout the rally, the MRF Tyres ran faultlessly with the tarmac tyres proving to be more than a match for the rough tarmac and gravel sections that this rally provides.
Campedelli and Canton were consistent throughout the day and were able to move up the field, moving into fifth place by the end of the rally.
Nil Solans and Marc Marti did not start the day.
The FIA European Rally Championship now has just one round to go, on the tarmac surface of the Rally Islas Canarias.
The Spanish Island offers yet another different type of tarmac surface with smooth and flowing tarmac on offer.
In the meantime, Team MRF Tyres will not rest with the aggressive testing regime and the final round of the Italian Gravel Rally Championship (CIRT) with the 12th Liburna Terra where Paolo Andreucci and Rudy Briani have an outside chance of becoming champions.
The final round of the FIA ERC will take place from 18-20 November.
Quotes
Simone Campedelli, Driver, Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo.
“Rally Hungary was a challenging rally. The speeds were very high and the tarmac was unique. We tried many things with the tyres to get the data we needed.”“I also pushed a lot through the rally and particularly on stage 12, I enjoyed the drive and my performance with the MRF Tyres. In the dark, I was on the limit. The long straights on the limiter and into a tight corner, there was no margin for error.”
“It is my first time in Hungary, it is a beautiful rally. Warm, people, warm fans. I would like to thank everyone at Team MRF Tyres for their work at this rally and I am looking forward to the final rounds of the season with the Liburna Terra and Rally Islas Canarias. I am happy to bring the car home and for now, I am happy.”
