INDIA in F1

Tag: Sidvin

  • Pragathi excels in Rally5 class at French Nationals

    Pragathi excels in Rally5 class at French Nationals

    France, 2nd September 2024: Pragathi Gowda continued her hot form in her maiden international gravel rally experience on Sunday. The Rallye Terre de Lozere, a round of the French national championship, which hosted 126 participants from across the world saw Pragathi finish 15th in Rally 5 class and 53rd overall with a timing of 1:42:03.7.


    Pragathi reflected on the fantastic drive saying, “This is a rally where the world champions like Sebastien Loeb and Sebastien Ogier have learnt and come up in. To make my gravel rally debut here is a special feeling on its own but to be the only Indian to have achieved this feat in a European/ French national championship round is the icing on the cake. I cannot thank Sidvin Engineering enough for this tremendous opportunity.”

    In a rally with challenging terrain in the volcanic mountains, which was a first for Pragathi, with ruts as deep as 3-4 feet dug up by the 4 wheel drive cars and all top French drivers participating in cars including the WRC -1, 2 and 3 spec and Rally -4 cars, Rally-5 cars and historic cars, Pragathi faced a steep learning curve ahead of her.


    She was slower off the blocks, coming in 31st in her class in the first special stage. But she wasted no time in adapting to this unique rally which features a reconnaissance in the rally car in the morning, followed by the rally stage after 1 hour, instead of the regular reconnaissance which is done the previous day, in a normal car and has 2 passes on the road; a tight program the French drivers have been used to for the past 10-15 years.
    Pragathi was helped by Arnaud Dunand, a championship winning WRC co-driver in improving her pace notes and her trainer, Alex Bengue who is a former French National champion and has driven alongside the likes of Sebastien Loeb. With a total of 6 stages on Saturday and 4 stages on Sunday, she took huge steps after the first special stage, improving her pace by almost 2.5 seconds per KM during the 2 days, a fact highlighted by all top drivers.
    “The stages were very rough and I haven’t ever seen such rough stages in my career. The ruts created due to the very powerful WRC and WRC2 cars , was something I had never seen . I made a goal yo kept it clean and had only one puncture in stage 2 of the rally. After crossing that hurdle, I knew how to drive clean and not damage the car, a top 15 finish was very satisfying and kudos to PH sport that gave me a very reliable car ” Pragathi explained the challenges she braved.


    She registered the 13th fastest time in the last stage and finished 15th in class with 27 cars following her past the finish line. Pragathi also achieved average speeds of 82 km per hour – a very high figure for a gravel rally.

    Pragathi is supported by Sidvin Engineering, who were the first to take an Indian to the WRC in the year 2009.

  • Sidvin supported Pragathi Gowda gets a podium in her class at Rallye des Vallees

    Sidvin supported Pragathi Gowda gets a podium in her class at Rallye des Vallees

    Remiremont (France), 26 August 2024: Bengaluru’s ace rally driver, Pragathi Gowda, finished a creditable third in her class and overall 37th in the Rallye des Vallees 2024 here on Sunday.

    India’s top lady driver supported by Sidvin and MRF Tyres, Pragathi, made a stunning debut in the Rally 5 spec car and clocked a time of 23 minutes and 51.8 seconds. She won a podium in her class on debut and as she raced on equal footing with male drivers, which also included France’s National Champion Yoan Corberand, who finished first in her class.

    After three months of rigorous training in Europe, the 26-year-old Pragathi, along with Brazilian co-driver Gabriel Morales, not only blazed to the podium in her category while finishing 37th overall.

    Pragathi Gowda is supported by Sidvin and MRF Tyres.

    “My first international rally in France was an incredible experience. We had a very productive test day and a perfect recce in the build-up to this beautiful rally. It was a challenging rally for me but with each kilometre I drove I gained confidence in the car and with my co-driver. I was able to match the speed of other top drivers, I was doing about 165kmph in some places and averaged about 102 kmh speed through the race on these narrow roads,” Pragathi said.

    Pragathi and co-driver Morales in action. Photos from Pragathi Gowda

    “Thanks to the support provided by everyone on my team, I improved my time stage-after-stage. I am really happy with my first rally experience in France and I will continue to work hard to improve my performance in the upcoming rallies. Also being acknowledged by some of the top rallyists here has been overwhelming and I am encouraged to do better in the upcoming race this weekend,” she added.

    Driving a Renault Clio Rally 5 car fitted with Indian-made MRF tyres, Pragathi showed immense pace in the first special stage to come 5th in her class and 80th overall. With a better grip on the track, she went on to improve her timing by a whopping 32 seconds across the second and third special stages to finish on the podium.

    The Rallye des Vallees 2024 is a high-speed rally on narrow asphalt roads which begs impeccable precision and one misstep could mean the end of the rally. Pragathi braved this challenge, achieving a top speed of almost 165kmph in some areas of the circuit and clocked an average speed of 102.5 Kmph at the end of the rally, an impressive drive that was applauded by many of the local champions.

    After an exhilarating drive that saw her match the speed of some of the top experienced drivers, Pragathi will put the pedal to the metal again in a gravel race this weekend at the Rallye Terre de Lozere.

  • Sidvin commits long-term development deal with Pragathi-Trisha duo

    Sidvin commits long-term development deal with Pragathi-Trisha duo

    Bengaluru, 7th April 2024: Pragathi Gowda, a rallyist from Bangalore, has signed a multi-year development deal with Sidvin, a globally renowned Oil and Gas Engineering services company specialising in Deep offshore Floating Production Systems, to help propel her career in the sport. The deal with Sidvin will enable Pragathi Gowda and co-driver Trisha Alonkar to make their mark on upcoming Rally Championships in Asia and Europe.

    The 26-year-old Pragathi is a Junior Indian National Rally 2022 champion, winner of the Asia-Pacific Rally Star Cup in 2022, and was named the reserve driver for FIA Rally Star for JWRC in 2023. 

    As she gears up to set tracks on fire at the forthcoming Indian National Rally Championship and Asia Pacific Rally Championship, Sidvin’s multi-year deal comes as shot-in-the-arm for the racer whose career has been on a meteoric rise. 

    On signing the contract, Pragathi said, “I am beyond excited to announce that I am joining Sidvin and signing a contract for the next three years. The support, and passion within the team are truly inspiring, and I am honoured to be a part of it. Teaming up with Sidvin feels like a natural fit, and I am confident that together, we will achieve great things on and off the track.”

    “I want to express my heartfelt thanks to the Managing Director of Sidvin, Mohan Nagarajan, a veteran rallyist himself, and the entire team for welcoming me and Trisha with open arms and for believing in our potential. I am eager to embark on this new chapter of my rally career with Sidvin by my side. Here’s to the hard work, determination, and victories together.”

    Speaking on the association, co-driver Trisha Alonkar said, “I am thrilled to share that my rally journey, which began with Pragathi, has been a remarkable experience filled with growth and determination. Today, I am grateful to Sidvin for believing in us and taking the step to team up. This partnership marks a significant milestone in our rallying career, and we are eager to embark on this new chapter with Sidvin by our side. I want to express my gratitude to Pragathi for being an integral part of my journey so far and to Sidvin for their belief in our ability,”

    Sidvin has backed prodigal motorsport athletes time and again. They were the first team to have had an Indian participation in the World Rally Championship way back in 2008. They have been associated with C.S. Santosh at the Dakar Rally and Ms. Aishwarya Pissay at the World Baja Championship, which she went on to win and become a world champion. Sidvin is also proud to be supporting Jeffery Emmanuel on his way now to the MotoGP. Now, as Pragathi and Sidvin join forces groundbreaking growth & development are expected to follow.

    Speaking of the contract, Sidvin Chairman and Managing Director, Mr. Mohan Nagarajan said “Sidvin has always been at the forefront of encouraging and developing Indian talent on the world’s stage be it in engineering or sports and in empowering women athletes to achieve their best. Having worked with Pragathi and Trisha for the last year and a half I’m very confident that they will make our country proud in the world of rallying. Sidvin wishes the young athletes all the very best in the coming years.“