INDIA in F1

Tag: Robusta Rally of Kodagu

  • Sizzling Gaurav Gill wins Robusta Rally, back in contention for INRC title

    Sizzling Gaurav Gill wins Robusta Rally, back in contention for INRC title

    Ammathi (Kodagu), 24 Nov. 2024:Seven times National champion Gaurav Gill displayed enough speed and skill to emerge triumphant in the Robusta Rally, the fifth and penultimate round of the Blueband Sports fmsci Indian National Rally Championship 2024 organised by Robusta Adventure and Sports Academy here, on Sanday.

    Notching up his second straight win after the success in the Rally of Hyderabad last month, Arjuna Awardee Gill, along with co-driver Aniruddha Rangnekar, was in superb form and exhibited controlled aggression on the final day for a comfortable win and bagged full 40 points.

    The win saw Gill drawing closer to table topper Karna Kadur (Musa Sherif) of Arka Motorsports, who finished second overall. 2021 champion Aditya Thakur (Virender Kashyap) upped the game in the last stage to pip local favourites Jason Saldanha (Thimmu Uddapanda) by a second to take overall third place.

    “It is a nice feeling to win back-to-back. I must thank my team, probably the smallest with just four mechanics, who have put in a lot of hard work to give me a perfect car. JK Tyre also deserves commendation for the tyres they specially developed for my car. I think I am getting better as a driver. I would say I was in total control in both Hyderabad and here. My first aim this season has been to bring the car home and I am happy that I managed to do that in two consecutive rallies this season.”

    Himachal Pradesh duo Aditya Thakur and Virender Kasyap won the INRC2 class beating the Karnataka pair of Jason Saldanha and Thimmu Uddapanda while Mangaluru’s Dean Mascarenhas (Gagan Karumbaiah) powered his way from 11th to third in the class.

    In INRC 3 class, Daraius Shroff (Mumbai) and Arjun Dheerendra of Chettinad Sporting, the championship leaders won by over a minute to stay at the top. Gurugram-Bengaluru pair of Arnav Pratap Singh and Rohin N of Snap Racing came second and Jeet Jhabakh of Hyderabad with Sekar of Erode as co-driver, also from Chettinad Sporting, pushed his way to the third place. Arnav Pratap also won the Junior INRC.

    Dehradun’s Anushriya Gulati (co-driver Karan Aukta) won the Ladies class followed by talented Nikeetaa Takkale (Raghuram Saminathan) in second and Shillong’s Phoebe Nongrum (Nash Ross).

    Provisional Final Results:

    INRC Overall:

    1. Gaurav Gill (privateers, Delhi)/ Anirudha Rangnekar (Pune) (01 hour, 40 minutes, 36.6 seconds);

    2. Karna Kadur (Arka Motorsports, Bengaluru)/ Musa Sherif (Kasargod) (01:41:57.0);

    3. Aditya Thakur (Chettinad Sporting Solan) / Virender Kashyap (Shimla) (01:44:27.3);

    INRC2:

    1. Aditya Thakur (Chettinad Sporting Solan) / Virender Kashyap (Shimla) (01:44:27.3);

    2. Jason Saldhanha (Arka Motorsports, Hassan)/ Thimmu Uddapanda (Kodagu) (01:44:28.5);

    3. Dean Mascarenhas (Pvt. Mangaluru)/ Gagan Karumbaiah (Virajpet) (01:44:51.8);

    INRC3:

    1. Daraius Shroff (Chettinad Sporting, Mumbai)/ Arjun Dheerendra (Bengaluru) (01:45.02.4);

    2. Arnav Pratap Singh (Snap Racing, Gurugram)/ Rohit N (Bengaluru) (01:46:10.3);

    3. Jeet Jhabakh (Chettinad Sporting, Hyderabad)/ V. Sekhar (Erode) (01:46:53.8);

    Ladies Class:

    1. Anushriya Gulati (Arka Motorsports, Dehradun)/ Karan Aukta (Jubbal) (01:52:20.9);

    2. Nikeetaa Takkale (Pvt, Pune)/ Raghuram Saminathan (Coimbatore) (01:55:07.3);

    3. Phoebe Nongrum (Snap Racing, Shillong)/ Nash Ross (Hyderabad) (02:05:49.0);

    Junior INRC:1. Arnav Pratap Singh (Snap Racing, Gurugram)/ Rohit N (Bengaluru) (01:46:10.3);

    2. Abhin R Rai/ Arvind Dheerendra (Ideal Racing, both Bengaluru) (01:47:53.2);

    3. Arjun Rajiv (Chettinadu Sporting)/ Vinay Padmashali (Both Bengaluru) (01:49:14.6);

  • Gaurav Gill takes lead on Day1: INRC Robusta Rally

    Gaurav Gill takes lead on Day1: INRC Robusta Rally

    Ammathi (Kodagu), 23 Nov. 2024: Arjuna Awardee Gaurav Gill and co-driver Aniruddha Rangnekar overcame initial hiccups and performed admirably to take the lead after Day 1 in the Robusta Rally, the fifth and penultimate round of the Blueband Sports fmsci Indian National Rally Championship 2024 organised by Robusta Adventure and Sports Academy here, on Saturday.

    The Speed Maestro from Delhi, Gill, was forced to start on a cautious note as their intercom failed resulting in no calls and he had to drive from memory. After losing 17.4 seconds to Karna Kadur, who was fastest in Stage 1, Gill bounced back brilliantly to clock the fastest times in the remaining five Stages and took a handsome lead of over 53 seconds by the end of the day.

    “It has been a perfect day. The stages were rougher than I expected with massive stones and boulders but we managed to overcome all odds as our tyres performed well. We had decent speeds and the goal is to bring back the car home tomorrow,” said the seven-time National champion, Gill.

    Championship leaders Karna Kadur and co-driver Musa Sherif of Arka Motorsports were second overall followed by Hassan’s Jason Saldhanha and local co-driver Timmu Uddapanda. He who overtook former National champion Aditya Thakur (Chettinad Sporting) in the final Stage of the day, was also leading in INRC2 class with Thakur in second place ahead of Jahaan Singh Gill of Snap Racing.

    Chettinad Sporting’s Daraius Shroff from Mumbai, the championship leader in INRC3 category took a 20-second lead over Abhin Rai.

    Fabid Ahmer, Harkrishan Wadia, Philippos Matthai and Chetan Shivram were some of the top casualties on Day 1. Of the 61 cars that took the start, only 43 cars finished the day.

    On Sunday, the rally will run another six Special Stages at Woshully and Margoli estates.

    Provisional Results after Day 1 (Leg 1 – Saturday):

    INRC Overall:

    1. Gaurav Gill (privateers, Delhi)/ Anirudha Rangnekar (Pune) (00, 57 minutes, 35.1 seconds);

    2. Karna Kadur (Arka Motorsports, Bengaluru)/ Musa Sherif (Kasargod) (00:58:28.3);

    3. Jason Saldhanha (Arka Motorsports, Hassan)/ Thimmu Uddapanda (Kodagu) (00:59:05.1);

    INRC2: 1. Jason Saldhanha (Arka Motorsports, Hassan)/ Thimmu Uddapanda (Kodagu) (00:59:05.1);

    2. Aditya Thakur (Chettinad Sporting Solan) / Virender Kashyap (Shimla) (00:59:36.7);

    3. Jahaan Singh Gill (Snap Racing, Chandigarh)/ Suraj K Prasad (Bengaluru) (01:00:31.5);

    INRC3: 1. Daraius Shroff (Chettinad Sporting, Mumbai)/ Arjun Dheerendra (Bengaluru) (01:00.44.3);

    2. Abhin R Rai/ Arvind Dheerendra (Ideal Racing, both Bengaluru) (01:01:06.6);

    3. Arnav Pratap Singh (Snap Racing, Gurugram)/ Rohit N (Bengaluru) (01:01:33.8);

    Ladies Class: 1. Anushriya Gulati (Arka Motorsports, Dehradun)/ Karan Aukta (01:04:08.0);

    2. Nikeetaa Takkale (Pvt, Pune)/ Raghuram Saminathan (Coimbatore) (01:05:52.8);

    3. Phoebe Nongrum (Snap Racing, Shillong)/ Nash Ross (Hyderabad) (01:08:18.2);

    Junior INRC: 1. Abhin R Rai/ Arvind Dheerendra (Ideal Racing, both Bengaluru) (01:01:06.6);

    2. Arnav Pratap Singh (Snap Racing, Gurugram)/ Rohit N (Bengaluru) (01:01:33.8);

    3. Arjun Rajiv (Chettinadu Sporting)/ Vinay Padmashali (Both Bengaluru) (01:04:44.9);

    Fmsci Classic Challenge:

    1. Harish KN Gowda/ Mahesh Nandi (Privateers, both Bengaluru) (01:10:15.1);

    2. Praveen Dwarakanath/ Kariyappa (Kass Motorsports., both Bengaluru) (01:10:29.9);

    3. Thejas S Reddy/ Ravindra Kumar (Pvt. Both Bengaluru) (01:14:32.2);

    Fmsci Gypsy Challenge: 1. Darshan Nachappa/ Abinav Ganapathy (Pvt. Both Kodagu) (01:08:08.4);

    2. Sanjay Aggarwal/ Dheeraj Manae (Pvt. Both Bengaluru) (01:09:00.8);

    3. Dr Akarsh Sundar (Pvt., Chikmagalur)/ Ravi Kumar (Bengaluru) (01:10:14.8);

  • Harkrishan, Kunal duo takes lead after Day 1 at Rally Robusta: INRC Ro5

    Harkrishan, Kunal duo takes lead after Day 1 at Rally Robusta: INRC Ro5

    Kodagu, 18 Nov. 2023: Delhi driver Harkrishan Wadia, along with Himachal’s Kunal Kashyap did a splendid job to take the overall lead in the Round 5 of the Blueband Sports fmsci Indian National Rally Championship at the end of Day 1 at the Special Stages near here on Saturday. The Blueband Robusta Rally of Kodagu, organised by Robusta Adventure and Sports Academy, offered a tricky and tough terrain that saw 21 cars, of the 61 that started, fail to finish the course on Day 1.

    Arka Motorsports’ Harkrishan (co-driver Kashyap), driving an INRC2 spec Volkswagen Polo 1.6 did a commendable job to finish the tough Anandpura and Polibetta competitive stages after Day 1. The duo also topped their INRC2 class. Talented Jahaan Singh Gill of Chandigarh with Bengaluru co-driver Suraj Keshav Prasad of Snap Racing came overall second and topped the INRC3 class after six Special Stages on Saturday. The Mangaluru-Bengaluru pair of Aroor Vikram RAo and co-driver AG Somayya of Chettinad Sporting were placed overall third with six more stages to go on Sunday.

    “The day was full of adrenaline. The stages were fast and flowing but down to narrow and bumpy at places from time to time. I thank Arka Motorsport for giving us the perfect car even after the damages at Hyderabad rally. The strategy for Sunday is to do nothing different but follow up on today’s pace. keep the car on road and drive fast,” said Wadia after a tough day.

    Vikram Rao and Sahil Khanna (co-driver Harish KN) are following Wadia in INRC2 class while Jahaan Singh Gill is also leading his INRC3 class with Daraious Shroff (co-driver Shahid Salman) and Sheshank Jamwal (Harish KN) trailing him in that order. Abin Rai and Aravind Dheerendra of Ammyfied Rallying were leading INRC4 class while Darshan Nachappa and co-driver Abhinav Ganapathy topped the Gypsy class on Day 1.

    Provisional Results after Day 1:

    Overall: 1. Harkrishan Wadia/ Kunal Kashyap (Arka Motorsports) (1min, 0min, 55.7seconds); 2. Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad (Snap Racing) (01:01:27.5); 3. Aroor Vikram Rao/ AG Somayya (Chettinad Sporting) (01:01:47.0).

    INRC2: 1. Harkrishan Wadia/ Kunal Kashyap (Arka Motorsports) (1min, 0min, 55.7seconds); 2. Aroor Vikram Rao/ AG Somayya (Chettinad Sporting) (01:01:47.0); 3. Sahil Khanna/ Harish KN Gowda(Snap Racing) (01:02:41.8).

    INRC3: 1. Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad (Snap Racing) (01:01:27.5); 2. Daraious Shroff/ Shahid Salman (Chettinad Sporting) (01:02:51.8); 3. Sheshank Jamwal/ Ashish Sharma (Arka Motorsports) (01:03:08.2);

    INRC4: 1. Abhin Rai/ Aravind Dheerendra (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:04:52.4); 2. Vivek Ruthuparna/ Athreya Kousgi (Snap Racing) (01:05:34.7); 3. Prajwal HM/ Vinay SM (Pvt.) (1:12:19.2).

    Gypsy: 1. Darshan Nachappa/ Abhinav Ganapathy (Ammyfied) (01:10:14.6); 2. Sanjay Agarwal/ Phalguna Raghavendra (pvt) (01:11:28.6); 3. Michu Ganapathy/ Venu Ramesh Kumar (Pvt.) (01:11:40.3).

    Ladies: 1. Anushriya Gulati/ Sherwin Dalmeida (Dark Don Racing) (01:06:22.8); 2. Nikeetaa Takkale/ Raghuram Saminathan (Snap Racing) (01:06:52.9); 3. Shivani Parmar/ Arjun Dheerendra (Chettinad) (01:07:45.7).

    Junior INRC: 1. Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad (Snap Racing) (01:01:27.5); 2. . Abhin Rai/ Aravind Dheerendra (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:04:52.4); 3. Vivek Ruthuparna/ Athreya Kousgi (Snap Racing) (01:05:34.7).