Tag: MRF

MRF Jan Kopecky wins Rally of China; Gill crashes out: APRC

November 9, 2014: Team MRF completed their best season ever in the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) by winning all six races in the 2014 Championship with Jan Kopecky coasting to the win in the China Rally Longyou. Kopecký driving an MRF Skoda Fabia S2000 convincingly won the China Rally reinforcing his and Skoda’s dominance of the series in 2014.

Kopecký’s task was made easier on Day 1 when team-mate Gaurav Gill who was leading the event at the time, hit a rock on Stage 5 that damaged the Skoda’s steering resulting in a heavy crash and retirement on Stage 6. Team MRF continued to prove that they are the team to beat after winning 3 titles in a row on MRF Tyres. MRF Tyres is the only Indian based tyre company to enjoy such success in international motorsport.

At the finish-line Kopecký said, “It’s been a great year and thanks a lot to the whole team it was a great opportunity in APRC and hopefully I can come back for some rallies in the future. I think the highlight is we won the championship, our team-mate Gaurav was very strong, he knows the conditions and we managed to beat him. I’m very happy we showed that Skoda is really strong, a really strong brand and we showed to everyone our car is really fantastic. The tyres have been great so a big thank you to Team MRF for making this possible.”

Cusco Subaru driver Yuya Sumiyama was second overall and in doing so, won the 2014 Asia Cup for a third time. “Asia Cup champion and overall 2nd position, very very happy and good result for the team. The conditions were very slippery and rough condition so we’re lucky”, said Sumiyama at final service.

It was another giant killing performance from New Zealander Mike Young bringing his Cusco Proton Satria home in 3rd place overall and securing the APRC Production Cup. Young was the only driver to finish all events in 2014 and doing so moved himself into second place in the drivers points “Its amazing for our team and Cusco, the boys worked so well, not even had a mechanical (problem) this year – we’re over the moon! Malcolm’s done an awesome job all year, kept me on my toes and in the grove so we’re really happy. Consistency has rewarded us with second in the championship in a 1.6 Proton, against all the four-wheel drive cars its just awesome”.

In only his third APRC event EZY Racing’s Dinesh Deheragoda from Sri Lanka found the conditions very difficult, but is looking forward to the next event in Thailand where he hopes to secure second in the Asia Cup, “Points for second in Asia Cup is more than I expected and my congratulations to Sumiyama who is already the Asia Cup champion mathematically. My target now is to see if I can finish second in the championship with some more points in Thailand.”

China Rally again proved to be a tough event to finish, especially with the wet conditions on Day 1. Australian Mark Peddar suffered the same fate as Gill hitting a rock on Stage 5 and retiring with damaged steering. Taiwan’s Huilan Shen didn’t make it past Stage 2 after she when off road in her Fiat Abarth 500.

There was no finish ceremony or celebrations at 2014 China Rally, after an accident on Stage 6 claimed the life of 20 year old Taiwanese driver Xie Chengxun.

ends

Jan Kopecky of Team MRF Tyres wins in China. Image courtesy APRC

November 9, 2014
Team MRF looking to make it six wins out of six rallies: APRC final leg

Longyou (China) 7 Nov 2014: Team MRF will be hoping to complete the perfect season at this weekend’s China Rally Longyou, when they aim for their sixth win from six starts in the 2014 Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC). With Czech driver, Jan Kopecky, clinching the 2014 APRC driver’s crown at the previous round, he and team-mate, Gaurav Gill (India), will be going head-to-head for victory in the Team MRF Skoda Fabia S2000s. Team MRF’s title win is their fifth, and their third in a row, and the team will be celebrating their success after the China Rally.

2013 APRC Champion and Indian Rallying Ace Gaurav Gill is hoping to finish the season on a high and is cautious of the challenge that lies ahead this weekend. He said, “It is always very tough and difficult here in China because of different changes in the Stages. You know you can go from gravel to wet and rocky surfaces and then onto the really fast concrete roads. It can also be very unforgiving with long and winding roads. The season has not turned out as well as I had hoped but am still proud to be part of Team MRF and our unbelievable record this year. I will be going for the win here and am confident of fighting for the win.”

Both drivers have been evenly matched this year, with Kopecky being a little more consistent on his first season in the APRC. His 2014 title comes after he won the 2013 European Rally Championship. Kopecky said, “It’s been a great experience competing together in all these different countries, and again China will be something new. Hopefully we can get a good result in China, because it would be the perfect way to finish this incredible season.”

Team MRF’s first win in this hat-trick of titles came in 2012, when Australian Chris Atkinson took the crown, with current driver, Gaurav Gill, tasting success last season. Team MRF Technical Head Lane Heenan, said, “The victories have been hard fought and are a real credit to all the Race Torque guys who prepare the cars. The APRC provides some of the most challenging conditions in world rallying, from the fantastic roads in New Zealand, right through to the slippery tracks and unpredictable weather in Malaysia.Throughout the past three seasons the Skoda Fabia S2000 has been the car to beat, and has really proved itself in these conditions.”

This weekend, Jan Kopecky and Pavel Dresler, and Gaurav Gill and Glenn Macneall, will face 13 closed road special stages over a mixture of gravel and concrete surfaces that will test them to the limit. In a total competitive distance of 231 kilometres, the event’s longest stage is the 25.64km Mu Chen test, which will be run as stage eight and 11.

The China Rally is based in the city of Longyou, 400 kilometres south-west of Shanghai and 200km from Hangzhou, the capital city of Zhejiang Province. Longyou has a long history. It’s 2236 years since its foundation, and on one side of the city, there are bamboo covered mountains, hills, plains and rivers; on the other side peaks, cliffs, caves, stones, pools and lakes.

Team MRF’s main opposition will come from Australian Mark Pedder in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X, and Japan’s Yuyu Sumiyama.

eom/Adrenna Press Release

November 7, 2014

Raj Bharath storms to stunning win and a second in Quatar MRF Challenge

Qatar, 19 October 2014: Raj Bharath pulled off two stunning overtaking moves enroute to winning his first race in the MRF Challenge 2014 at the Losail International Circuit in Doha, Qatar. Raj finished ahead of Kyle Mitchell and Toby Sowery in Race 3 to make it two consecutive wins for Indian drivers after Tarun Reddy won Race 2 on Saturday.

Raj almost made it two wins in a day but just missed out by 0.212secs to Toby Sowery in Race 4. Fans were treated to great racing under the floodlights with both races providing plenty of overtaking and close racing in what is probably the closest MRF Challenge grid.

The main feature race started with Toby on pole position with Raj alongside him. Raj had a great start and went into the lead with Toby falling to 3rd position behind Ryan Cullen. Cullen passed Raj at the end of the first lap to take the lead with Kyle Mitchell also squeezing through. Toby ran wide and slipped back to 6th position. Raj spent the next few laps trying to find a way past Kyle as Cullen failed to take advantage of his lead. Raj pulled off a great move to get past Kyle and within a lap he was right behind Cullen. Raj overtook Cullen on the next lap to take the lead of the race.

Behind him the battle continued when Kyle got past Cullen and in to 2nd place. Toby also found his way past Cullen and started challenging Kyle for 2nd place. Raj crossed the finish line to take the win with Kyle managing to hold off Toby to take 2nd place. Cullen finished in 4th position with Pedro Cardoso in 5th position. Mathias Lauda took 6th place to take reverse grid pole for the 4th and final race of the weekend.

Race 2 started with pole sitter Mathias Lauda going into the lead ahead of Ryan Cullen. Pedro Cardoso slotted into 3rd position with Tarun Reddy jumping from 7th to 4th after the 1st lap. Tarun passed Pedro and started catching the top 2 drivers. On lap 4 the top 7 drivers were separated by just over a second with nothing to choose from them. Toby and Raj, who had poor starts, started carving through the field and on lap 8 were in 3rd & 4th positions.

Toby quickly passed Cullen and took the lead from Lauda on lap 10. Raj took a little longer to pass both the drivers and set off to catch Toby, who had a 3 second lead with 3 laps to go. Lauda, meanwhile, made a mistake and went off track which dropped him out of the top 6. Raj became the only driver to go under the 2 min lap time as he set two fastest laps and reeled in Toby. However he ran out of laps as he crossed the finish line in 2nd place, 0.212secs behind Toby. Cullen held on to take the final step on the podium with Pedro and Tarun crossing the line side-by-side, with Pedro ahead by 0.012secs to cap off a brilliant weekend of racing for the MRF Challenge 2014.

Raj Bharath, who also won the Mercedes Young Star Driver program earlier this year, was ecstatic after taking scoring the most points of the day. He commented, ” It was an amazing day today, after all the issues we had yesterday. Starting on the front row, the start wasn’t the best and I fell back to fourth. All the drivers I ended up fighting with were far more experienced – so it was an incredibly close and tough dice and I’m really happy to have come out on top”.

“In the second race starting sixth I was hoping to get on the podium and the first few laps was a bit chaotic obviously. My aim was to just stay out of trouble because I knew the pace was there and then push from there on. Last two laps I really caught up to Toby but just fell short at the line. It was a bit disappointing at that point to be honest but getting the fastest lap of the weekend along the way made up for it somewhat.”

Race 4 winner Toby Sowery, who was the only driver to finish on the podium in all 4 races, commented, “Another great race and really happy to end the weekend as the Championship leader. I had a poor start again so had to work through the field to get on the top step of the podium. It was a great battle with Raj as he was really quick at the end but it was a nice way to end such a great weekend for me.”

Race 3 Top 10:

Pos	Driver Name	Country	Total Time
1	Raj Bharath	IND	30:33.379
2	Kyle Mitchell	RSA	30:33.705
3	Toby Sowery	GBR	30:34.591
4	Ryan Cullen	GBR	30:36.420
5	Pedro Cardoso	BRA	30:42.693
6	Mathias Lauda	AUS	30:43.400
7	Tarun Reddy	IND	30:44.074
8	Dylan Young	AUS	30:47.176
9	Vinicius Papareli	BRA	30:47.797
10	Freddie Hunt	GBR	30:53.413

Race 4 Top 10:

Pos	Driver Name	Country	Total Time
1	Toby Sowery	GBR	30:28.285
2	Raj Bharath	IND	30:28.497
3	Ryan Cullen	GBR	30:33.088
4	Pedro Cardoso	BRA	30:37.804
5	Tarun Reddy	IND	30:37.816
6	Nikita Mazepin	RUS	30:38.336
7	Kyle Mitchell	RSA	30:38.866
8	Vinicius Papareli	BRA	30:39.287
9	Mathias Lauda	AUS	30:41.975
10	Dylan Young	AUS	30:42.515

Bharat Raj passes Lauda at Qatar on Sunday. An Adrenna image

October 19, 2014

MRF Tyres’ Jan Kopecky wins APRC title with a round to spare; Gill misses out after Rally Hokkaido accident

Hokkaido, 28 Sept 2014: Team MRF Tyres driver Jan Kopecky from the Czech Republic won the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) title after a convincing win in the Rally Hokkaido. 2013 European Rally Champion Kopecky takes an unassailable 50 point lead with only one round remaining. His main rival and Indian Rallying ace Gaurav Gill crashed out of the lead of the rally and his team was unable to get the car ready in time for the final day.

Rally Hokkaido in northern Japan is traditionally one of the fastest rallies in the Asia Pacific Rally Championship where the faster cars often reach 240kph on the narrow tree lined roads, but also an event that can get very rough as the surface breaks up into deep ruts.

While Kopecky won the event easily by 42 seconds from his nearest rival, he controlled his speed and saved the car over the rough sections. Kopecky commented, “The car was great, the team was great and I would like to thank everyone from Team MRF Skoda to making this possible. They did an amazing job these past five rallies and hopefully we can do it again in China”.

Kopecky was also quick to thank his co-driver Pavel Dresler also from the Czech Republic. He said,“ I was trying my best and big thanks to my co-driver, he’s a part of the game and 50% of the result. Without him I would be lost somewhere in the forest and am happy that we didn’t make too many mistakes in the last 5 rallies. It’s been a great experience competing together in all these different countries”.

With a total of 154 points accumulated over the past five events Kopecky wins the 2014 Asia Pacific Rally Championship Drivers title as he cannot be beaten, even with one round to go in China. India’s Gaurav Gill is currently second on 104 points but with only 39 points available to win in the one remaining round, it’s now impossible for Gill to retain the title he won in 2013.

Sanjay Takale from India finished 10th overall and won the Production Cup in Hokkaido, driving a Cusco prepared Subaru Impreza. “This was our goal to come here and win a round of the Production Cup as this will my last APRC event of the year. We’ll be back next year though, preparation for that begins now” said Takale at the finish.

The next event in the 2014 Asia Pacific Rally Championship and the MRF Tyres Skoda team is the China Rally 4-7 November.

Overall Classification:

STAGE CLASSIFICATION						OVERALL CLASSIFICATION
Pos	No	Cls Pos	Driver Vehicle	Time	Diff Ldr (Prev)	Pos	No	Cls Pos	Driver Vehicle	Time	Diff Ldr (Prev)
1	1 AP/T	RC2 1	J.KOPECKY SKODA	39.8	. (.)	1	1 AP/T	RC2 1	J.KOPECKY SKODA	2:12:29.5	. (.)
2	11	RC2 2	Toshi.ARAI SUBARU	41.5	+1.7 (+1.7)	2	11	RC2 2	Toshi.ARAI SUBARU	2:13:11.8	+42.3 (+42.3)
3	3 A/T	RC2 3	Y.SUMIYAMA SUBARU	42.3	+2.5 (+0.8)	3	5 T	RC2 3	H.YANAGISAWA SUBARU	2:16:09.2	+3:39.7 (+2:57.4)
4	4 AP/A	RC2 4	J.XU SKODA	42.6	+2.8 (+0.3)	4	3 A/T	RC2 4	Y.SUMIYAMA SUBARU	2:17:17.4	+4:47.9 (+1:08.2)
5	15	RC2 5	T.NIIHORI SUBARU	42.7	+2.9 (+0.1)	5	15	RC2 5	T.NIIHORI SUBARU	2:22:10.1	+9:40.6 (+4:52.7)
6	5 T	RC2 6	H.YANAGISAWA SUBARU	42.9	+3.1 (+0.2)	6	14	RC2 6	F.TAKAHASHI SUBARU	2:25:49.1	+13:19.6 (+3:39.0)
7	13	RC2 7	H.ISHIZAKI SUBARU	44.1	+4.3 (+1.2)	7	20	RC2 7	T.YOSHII MITSUBISHI	2:26:21.9	+13:52.4 (+32.8)
8	23	RC2 8	K.KOIDE MITSUBISHI	44.5	+4.7 (+0.4)	8	16	RC2 8	T.OHASHI SUBARU	2:26:31.6	+14:02.1 (+9.7)
9	20	RC2 9	T.YOSHII MITSUBISHI	45.0	+5.2 (+0.5)	9	4 AP/A	RC2 9	J.XU SKODA	2:27:11.6	+14:42.1 (+40.0)
10	18	RC2 10	T.NASU MITSUBISHI	45.2	+5.4 (+0.2)	10	6 AP/A/T	RC2 10	S.TAKALE SUBARU	2:31:58.3	+19:28.8 (+4:46.7)

September 28, 2014

Arjun Narendran double ensures maiden Indian Touring Car championship
Arjun Narendran wins the Indian Touring Car Championship 2014 with a double win at BIC on Saturday. An Adrenna image

Buddh International Circuit (Noida), 27 Sept 2014: Arjun Narendran took his first ever title when he sealed the Indian Touring Car Championship with 2 wins at the 2014 MMSC-FMSCI National Racing Championship (NRC) at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida. The battle for supremacy in the Indian Junior Touring Car (IJTC) will come down to the last race after reigning champion Feroze Khan won ahead of Siddharth B and VJ Senthil to keep lead by 3 points.

Tarun Reddy headed into Race 1 of the MRF FF 1600 series as Champion after his main contender Advait Deodhar pulled out of the finale after suffering from illness. Tarun, starting on pole once again, had a great start and went into the lead ahead of Lee Keshav and Karthik Tharani Singh. There was action on Lap 1 with Anshul Shah and Adnan Lehri collided resulting in the Safety Car coming out. After 3 laps under the safety car the racing resumed and it was Tarun pulling away from the rest of the field again. Behind him Lee Keshav and Karthik were running very close together with the latter unable to find a way past. Behind them there was a close battle between Niranjan Todkari, Siddharth Trivellore, Dhruv Behl and Abhinav Bikkani with Trivellore getting the best of the them and finishing in 4th place. Tarun went on to win ahead of Lee Keshav and Karthik.

Arjun Narendran started on pole position in the ITC category and had a clean getaway to lead into the first corner ahead of Ashish Ramaswamy. Ashish kept up with Arjun for the first few laps but could not hold on as the latter was too fast. Arjun won by a convincing 13secs with Ashish in 2nd place and veteran driver Vidya Prakash in 3rd place. In Race 2 of the ITC category it was Arjun again as he pulled away comfortably from the chasing pack. Ashish Ramaswamy did not have it so easy as he spent all race battling with Sivaramakrishnan and just managed to hold off him as they crossed the finish line.

VJ Senthil started on pole position in the IJTC race but was quickly passed by Feroze Khan and Siddharth B. Senthil had a 7 point lead heading into the finale but will now start 3 points behind with one race to go. However for tomorrow’s decider, Senthil will start on pole again with Feroze Khan starting behind in 6th position, which is based on 2nd fastest qualifying time.

The Toyota Etios Motor Racing Trophy (EMR) provided some thrilling racing with Varun Anekar winning both races and thereby taking the lead in the championship. In Race 1 Varun beat Hisham 0.533 with Dean Mascarenhas further behind in 3rd position. Race 2 was even closer with a race long battle between Varun and Dean as both drivers battled for the championship. Varun caught Dean by lap 2 and both cars put on a great show for the lead. Varun finally got past Dean on the back straight but with one lap to go almost lost the lead but managed to stay ahead. As they crossed the finish line both drivers were side-by-side as Varun edged ahead by 0.011 seconds.

Race Classifications – ALL RESULTS ARE PROVISIONAL

Indian Junior Touring Cars
1. Feroze Khan
2. Siddharth B
3. VJ Senthil
Toyota EMR – Race 1
1. Varun Anekar
2. 2. Hisham
3. 3. Dean Mascarenhas
Toyota EMR – Race 2
1. Varun Anekar
2. 2. Dean Mascarenhas
3. 3. Prashant Tharani
Superstock – Race 1
1. Balavijay
2. Rajarajan
3. Joel Joseph
Superstock – Race 2
1. Balavijay
2. Joel Joseph
3. Rajarajan
Indian Touring Cars – Race 1
1. Arjun Narendran
2. Ashish Ramaswamy
3. Vidyaprakash
Indian Touring Cars – Race 1
1. Arjun Narendran
2. Ashish Ramaswamy
3. Sivaramakrishnan
MRF FF 1600 – Race 1
1. Tarun Reddy
2. Lee Keshav Gupta
3. Kartik Tharani Singh
September 27, 2014
Heartbreak for Gaurav Gill; Chances of retaining APRC crown bleak

Hokkaido (Japan), 27 Sept 2014: Indian rallying Ace and Team MRF Tyres driver Gaurav Gill put in a blistering performance at the Rally Hokkaido before an accident caused extensive damage to his car in the penultimate round of the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC). Any chance of retaining the Asia Pacific Rally Championship that Gill won in 2013 now appears to be remote, although the Team MRF Tyres are working to get the car repaired in time to restart tomorrow. With Gill’s retirement, MRF Tyres driver and teammate Kopecky took over the lead of APRC Rally Hokkaido, 25 seconds ahead of Japan’s Toshi Arai.

After seven stages and 70 kilometers of flat out competition, MRF Skoda driver Gaurav Gill from India led the 2014 APRC Rally of Hokkaido. Through the first morning of competition Gill has built a steady lead on MRF team-mate Jan Kopecky, arriving at the first break confident he had the right strategy. Unfortunately for Gill on stage 8 Yam Wakka, a high speed crash ended his rally. Gill commented “I was a little surprised this morning that Jan was faster than me on the first stage, but after that I dug in and put in some good (stages) times to take the lead. We’re not pushing, looking after the car is really important here. It’s a shame what happened as the car felt really good this weekend.”

Kopecky, who started the Rally with an 8 point lead is looking to finish the race tomorrow after seeing his main competitor go out. “It’s unfortunate what happened to Gaurav, we were having a good battle but these roads are very unforgiving. Our plan today was to keep the same safe pace especially through the long stages. Tomorrow the stages are very tricky, very difficult and are different from today, so hopefully we can keep our position and bring the car back to the finish. We must finish tomorrow as this will win for the MRF team, the APRC Manufacturer’s award”.

eom/Adrenna Communications

September 27, 2014
Gaurav Gill overcomes suspension problem, thanks to Team MRF: APRC

Johor Bahru, 17 Aug 2014: Gaurav Gill, the Team MRF speed maestro and defending Asia Pacific Rally Champion (APRC) overcame a problem with his mechanical problem to win the Malaysian Rally in convincing fashion. After crashing out in Australia this was a strong performance by Gill, finishing over thirteen minutes ahead of Australia’s Mark Pedder, to put himself within ten points’ rea

Gauvrav Gill seen with his wife Dr Shilpa (checks shirt on the right side) as he poses with MRF Skoda Team after winning the APRC Malaysian leg. An Adrenna image

ch of overall championship leader and teammate Jan Kopecky.

With Czech teammate Jan Kopecky out of the classification with a suspension break on day one, the onus was on Gill to finish and make sure at least one Team MRF car was on top. Gill got off to a wonderful start, winning the day’s first stage, Tai Tak Court House, by more than ten seconds. But trouble with his suspension in the next stage meant that he had to ease off.

Gill was thrilled to win the Rally of Malaysia after being unsure of finishing the Rally. He said, “The rear suspension stopped working because of the heat. We took it easy and the priority was to make sure one of the cars finished on top. In the second stage (of the day) we started having the problem. By the third it completely collapsed. Malaysia is all about finishing the rally. It’s the most difficult rally of the season. One of the toughest in the world I would say and the team has done a great job so big thank you to Team MRF for the win today.”

Yesterday Gill’s team-mate Jan Kopecky (co-driver Pavel Dresler) suffered a broken rear suspension as he seemed set to win his third consecutive rally when his Skoda S2000 landed too hard on a jump in Special Stage six (Tai Tak Fish Pond). Until then, Kopecky had won three of the five stages and built up a lead of 1:14.8s.

The racing crew will now move to the penultimate rally in Japan (September 26-28). For Kopecky it will be his first rally in Japan. He said, “There is still no pressure, It’s just good for the team at least one car has won the rally. Japan will be interesting. Hopefully we can find the same pace as we did in this rally.”

Gill was adamant that startegy will play a big role for the next race. He commented, “The strategy is going to be absolutely flat out from the word go in Japan,” said Gill. “That’s going to be sort of a decider for us. Either make it or break it.”

Final Standings:

1. Gaurav Gill (Ind) 3:01:23.2s;

2. Mark Pedder (Aus) 3:14:25.7s;

3. Xu Jun (Chn) 3:14:47.4s;

4. Sanjay Takle (Ind) 3:28:44.8s;

5. Michael Young (Nzl) 3:35:21.0s.

eom/Adrenna Communications Release

August 17, 2014
Gaurav Gill raring to mount challenge on MRF teammate: APRC in Malaysia

Gaurav Gill of MRF in action. File photo courtesy FIAAPRC.com

The Malaysian Rally is perhaps the toughest event in the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship. And Indian driver, Gaurav Gill, (in the MRF car) will be hoping that a new car will be just what he needs to get his Asia-Pacific Championship campaign back on track in Malaysia this weekend.

The Team MRF driver crashed out of June’s Rally of Queensland, and now trails his team-mate, Jan Kopecky, by 39 points in the battle for the title. However, his experience of the Malaysian Rally could prove decisive as the event’s slippery stages and tropical climate make this one of the toughest rallies in the world.

While Gill and co-driver, Glenn Macneall, will drive a brand new Race Torque-prepared Skoda Fabia S2000, team-mates Kopecky and Dresler (mug shots in red) will have a new engine fitted to their car, which could see them take a first-up Malaysian victory.

“This event is usually tricky on technical roads that are very slippery when wet,” Team MRF boss, Lane Heenan said.

“The temperature and humidity makes this one of the toughest rallies anywhere in the world and is a real test of the crews’ stamina.

“Jan has been going to the sauna and wearing his overalls for the last few weeks to help get used to the conditions here, and both drivers and co-drivers will wear cool suits with ice water circulation to prevent fatigue.”

Team MRF will be hoping to get both cars to the finish and to consolidate their already considerable championship lead.

While they’re hoping for a dry event, rain in Malaysia can often be very localised, making tyre choice more difficult than at any other event in the championship. Temperatures during the day are expected to be around 30 degrees, with high humidity.

After a promotional start at a local shopping centre on Friday evening, the Malaysian Rally continues on Saturday and Sunday with 14 stages covering a total competitive distance of 217 kilometres.

The longest stage of the rally is the 26.32km Tai Tak stage, held twice on the first day.

After Jan Kopecky won the Pacific Cup covering the first three rounds of the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship, Team MRF have entered Gill in the Asian Cup, of which this event is the first round.

Other leading entries include Australians Mark Pedder (Lancer Evo X) and Tom Wilde (Renault Clio), Kiwi Michael Young (Proton Satria), and China’s Jun Xu in a Skoda Fabia.

August 14, 2014
Sarath Kumar ends winless run beating Sumit Toppo: Motorcycle Nationals
Chennai, 3 Aug 2014: Round 3 of 2014 MMSC- FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship finished with India’s young riders showing why they provide the most entertaining form of motorsport at the MMRT in Irungattukottai this weekend. While Race 1 of all the categories were held yesterday, Race 2 took place today which included 2-wheeler giants TVS Racing, Honda Racing & Yamaha Racing one make championships.

This time it was Sarath Kumar’s turn to end his winless run when he beat Sumit Lucas Toppo by 0.087secs in the Honda CBR 250 race. While Sarath managed to win the race it was Toppo who impressed by trying every possible way to beat his rival. He even set the fastest lap of the race as the two riders finished side-by-side in the Honda CBR 250 race. Ramesh Kumar finished in a distant 3rd to take the final step on the podium.

K Rajnikrishnan took his second win of the weekend in the Group C 165CC after finishing ahead of K Jagan. Rajni’s main rival and Honda CBR 250 winner Sarath Kumar managed to finish in 3rd position after a holding off Deepak R.

The Yamaha One Make Championship, which returned to the MMSC-INMRC this weekend, saw Shyam Shankar winning in Race 2 of the Yamaha One Make Open. Dinesh Kumar in 2nd place while Ananth Raj finished in 3rd place. In the Yamaha One Make Novice race, Vivian Gladwin David took his first ever win after a race long battle with Naresh Babu with Piyush Ranjan in 3rd place.

KY Ahamed and SK Prakash had a great battle in the TVS One Make Open race in the TVS One Make Championship. Ahamed held off Prakash by 0.087secs to win the race with Ananth Raj in a distant 3rd position. The TVS Apache Novice race was another closely fought affair with S Kannan beating Naresh Babu and K Kannan with the top 3 riders being covered by 0.282secs.

In the Honda – MMSC One Make Championship with the Honda CBR 150 Novice category, Vivian Gladwin David took his second win of the day after finishing ahead of S Rajiv and Shreyas Sannake.

Mithun Kumar took two wins in the day with victories in both Group D 130CC Novice & Group D 165CC Novice categories.

RESULTS:

Honda CBR 250 Open – R2
1. Sarath Kumar
2. Sumit Lucas Toppo
3. Ramesh Kumar
Honda CBR 150 Novice – R2
1. Vivian Gladwin David
2. S Rajiv
3. Shreyas Sannake
TVS Apache Open – R2
1. KY Ahamed
2. SK Prakash
3. Ananth Raj
TVS Apache Novice – R2
1. S Kannan
2. Naresh Babu
3. K Kannan
Yamaha Open – R2
1. Shyam Shankar
2. Dinesh Kumar
3. Ananth Raj
Yamaha Novice – R2
1. Vivian Gladwin David
2. Naresh Babu
3. Piyush Ranjan
Group C 165CC – R2
1. K Rajnikrishnan
2. K Jagan
3. Sarath Kumar
Group D 130CC Novice – R2
1. Mithun Kumar
2. S Kannan
3. K Kannan
Group D 165CC – R2
1. Mithun Kumar
2. R Harikrishnan
3. Shreyas Sannake
For more information please do visit www.madrasmotorsports.in
August 3, 2014
Sumit Lucas Toppo beats Prabhu, Sarath Kumar in a thriller: 3rd round Motorcycle Nationals
Chennai, 1 Aug 2014: Round 3 of 2014 MMSC– FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship got off to a great start with some more close races at the MMRT in Irungattukottai this weekend. The Honda CBR 250 race once again proved to be a thriller with Sumit Lucas Toppo beating A Prabhu by 0.003secs with Sarath Kumar a further 0.096secs in a close battle.

In the Honda CBR 250 race provided Sumit, Prabhu and Sarath were exchanging the lead severall times before Sumit just managed to beat his rivals. It was a replay of the last round when Sumit beat A Prabhu by 0.002secs. It was the same this time as well with absolutely nothing to choose from the two riders with Sarath also joining in the action.

Sarath Kumar was engaged in another tight battle in the Group C 165CC but came out 2nd behind K Rajnikrishnan in yet another thriller. India’s top two riders gave it all but Rajni managed to pip ahead to take the win. Sumit Toppo finished in 3rd place, a further 3 secs behind.

The Yamaha One Make Championship returned to the MMSC-INMRC with Vivek Pillai returning to the top step of the podium in the Yamaha One Make Open race. Ananth Raj finished in 2nd place with Dinesh Kumar in 3rd place. In the Yamaha One Make Novice race, Mithun Kumar comfortably won ahead of E Saravanan and S Siva.

Mathana Kumar continued his fine run with another win in the TVS One Make Open race in the TVS One Make Championship. SK Prakash finished in 2nd place with Abhishek Vasudev finishing in 3rd place. In the TVS Apache Novice category S Kannan beat Naresh Babu and K Kannan with the top 3 riders being covered by 0.717secs.

In the Honda – MMSC One Make Championship with the Honda CBR 150 Novice category, R Rajanikanth took another win after a race long battle with S Rajiv. Vimochana Gadusu finished in 3rd place to take the final podium spot.

RESULTS: Honda CBR 250 Open – R1
1. Sumit Lucas Toppo
2. A Prabhu
3. Sarath Kumar
Honda CBR 150 Novice – R1
1. R Rajanikanth
2. S Rajiv
3. Vimochana Gadusu
TVS RTR 180 Open – R1
1. Mathana Kumar
2. SK Prakash
3. Abhishek Vasudev
TVS Apache Novice – R1
1. S Kannan
2. Naresh Babu
3. K Kannan
Yamaha Open – R1
1. Vivek Pillai
2. Ananth Raj
3. Dinesh Kumar
Yamaha Novice – R1
1. Mithun Kumar
2. E Saravanan
3. S Siva
Group C 165CC
1. K Rajnikrishnan
2. Sarath Kumar
3. Sumit Lucas Toppo
Group D 130CC Novice – R1
1. S Kannan
2. E Saravanan
3. R Harikrishnan
Group D 165CC – R1
1. Mithun Kumar
2. R Harikrishnan
3. Harshit Rao
For more information please do visit www.madrasmotorsports.in

eom/Adernna release
August 2, 2014