March - April 2022

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14TH

JK RACING

NATIONAL TITLE

FOR

VISHNU

ADITYA‑VIRENDER

TRIUMPH AT COIMBATORE

4W INRC

HEMANTH MUDDAPPA CLAIMS 9TH NATIONAL CROWN DRAG

10

TH

NATIONAL TITLE

FOR

RAJINI AND JAGAN MRF 2W RACING

PLUS

DBL DIRT TRACK

IMRAN TOPS DBL DIRT TRACK TVS ONE MAKE JINENDRA EXCELS KAVIN TOPS HONDA ONE MAKE RAJENDRA WINS 12TH DAKSHIN DARE SHAHAN, ARJUN, TIJIL AND SANDEEP WIN IN MRF 4W RACING

EDITORIAL / IMPRINT

Hi,

Our New Look.

AUTO TRACK is on a new track...

F

inally, the short extended­season was successfully completed with Chennai keeping its date with the only INRC for 4­wheelers that was left out till the end.

The Supercross National Championship remains the only championship to have been missed for the second time in a row due to pandemic. This spectator sport which was supposed to begin in Jan 2022 and end in March 2022 had faced too many hurdles as many states failed to lift the crowd­gathering restrictions due to Covid third wave.

The new Promoter will be in place for the upcoming INRC 4­wheelers 2022 season. Here on, things should look up. If the Promoter decides to keep the title for himself, we can see a very upgraded competition between JK Tyres, MRF Tyres and Yokohama. If that is possible, the sport shall jump up to the next level.

The three INRC rounds were run as per schedule and the final round also doubled up as part of the 2021 APRC round. Thus, it has been an fmsci season closure along with the INRRC finale held on the same date. JK INRRC which had a very long season spread across the length and breadth of India, probably for the first time in Indian motorsports history.

Meco sticks on to the ROTAX championship for this season while the X30 championship will be run under Narain Karthikeyan and Mumbai Falcons banner. This championship is due to begin shortly and a few rounds will be held in their new upcoming facilities.

The 2021 season also saw two new classes. The Royal Enfield was part of the JK Racing championship, while the Toyota cars formed the grid in the MRF Racing Championship. The upcoming season should add up a few more championships, the long­pending ones include Dirt Track for two­wheelers, Autocross championship for four­wheelers and the 4­wheeler Sprint Championship.

As the 2022 is set to begin from April, just 30 days after the last event of 2021 season. The major challenge will be for the participants to gear up as they will have no time left to upgrade their machines. The Round 1 of the INRC and APRC is set to begin in the second half of April 2022.

S. ASHOK KUMAR TIWARI Editor M: +91­9845296190 autotrack.editor@gmail.com

O1 autotrack.ind.in MARCH / APRIL 2022

IMPRINT

Editor S. Ashok Kumar Tiwari Concept and Design: S. Ashok Kumar Tiwari

Staff Photographers: Nirav Mehta Prakash Rawat, Noorulla Managing Editor: Roopa A. Tiwari

Sr. Correspondent: S. Nithyanand

Correspondent: K. Manjunath Ghanshyam A Tiwari Spl. Correspondent: David Bodapati

Western Region: autotrack.west@gmail.com Mob: 09757176958

Northern Region: autotrack.north@gmail.com Mob: 09871765886 Editorial Office:

Auto Track 7/3-1, Lalitha Engineering Building, Subbanna Garden Main Road, Vijayanagar, Bangalore-40 autotrack.editor@gmail.com www.autotrack.ind.in For Subscription, contact: 9845296190

For Advertisement, E: ashok.autotrack@gmail.com The Publisher makes every effort to ensure that the magazine’s contents are accurate. However, he accepts no responsibility of any effects arising therefrom. Printed at Raj Hans Enterprises, Rajajinagar Industrial Town, Bangalore-560044.

Published by S. Ashok Kumar Tiwari At # 7/3-1, Lalitha Engineering Building, Subbanna Garden Main Road, Vijayanagar, Bangalore - 560040

VOLUME 15, ISSUE 3

CONTENTS

MARCH / APRIL 2022

34 16

50 36 TVS One Make: 06

Jrod at his best at Dakar : 08 Harith at Dakar: 10

JK Racing Natl finals: 12

MRF 2W Racing Natl finals: 16

Honda One Make: 20

INRC 4W Coimbatore: 22

28 12

48

MRF 4W Racing Finals: 28 MRF 4W Racing R 3: 26 DBL Dirt Track: 36

Drag Natl finals: 48

Dakshin Dare: 51

Electric charging: 40

22

Jaipur Cycling: 42

Maruti’s new Baleno: 44

Arunachal Adventure: 54

All women petrol station: 56

54

51 08

44 30

12

O2 autotrack.ind.in MARCH / APRIL 2022

30

56

NEW DELHI

Will we get back a fruitful INRC season 2022?

Though this season was short, it was fruitful too. In spite of taking off in a very awkward manner by the previous Promoter, the Champions Group, such shoddy manner of handling a prestigious event should not have happened, and it should not repeat.

The Federation took the right decision of spending the money in the right direction with a three­round championship. It looks too small but, yes, it was useful for many to try out their two years of silence. As many drivers are looking for at least a six­round championship, this is not a bad deal at all. At least you got a few events to drive. The best part of the season were all the three rounds were on dirt.

The fast Coimbatore stages were really thrilling to watch and it was very unfortunate.

Karting to take front seat Yes, but we should work on bringing in new faces and firstly we should take back the sport to

grassroot level and source for new faces. As it is, it is good to see a new promoter for X30.

Never­the­less, MECO has done its bid to promote the championship. But as you know lack of sponsorship from a couple of years did put the growth on hold. But the sport was going up with its capacity. To keep the sport moving without sponsorship is not a joke. This pain can only be understood by the organisers. This year X30 will come up in various cities which includes the two new facilities coming up in Maharashtra and Coimbatore. Yes, the championship will begin behind schedule due to various reasons.

Karters will get two big championships from this season but as mentioned earlier, a lot of work has to be put in

at the ground level and at grassroot level to bring in new and young faces.

Supercross takes a back seat As I have told earlier, this year only belonged to events where the gathering was not allowed.

When you look at the previous year organising data, only events in controlled areas were taken on and the rallies which run in no­ man's land, even those rallies had to be postponed in spite no compulsion in keeping the safety and containing the Covid point of view. Hence, it was justified enough to keep the crowd puller championship on hold. Never the less, the Round 1 of the MRF Supercross which was supposed to take off from Chattisgarh will now be run separately. Since, the Government o f Chattisgarh in involved in every s t e p o f organising, it shall prove to be a very great event and also will be a good opening.

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FINALS, CHENNAI

RACING ONE MAKE

Amarnath Menon, Jinendra Sangave chalk out wins

K

ozhikode's Amarnath Menon took the title in the Apache RR310 Open category of the TVS One­ Make Championship with four wins from ten starts. In Race 1, Jagadeesh N from Bengaluru won with a total time of 11:46.912 beating Navaneeth Kumar S from Puducherry who clocked time of 11:48.365.

Amarnath Menon from Kozhikode came third in 11:49.054. In Race 2, Amarnath won in 11:50.667 pipping Ananthraj P from Chennai by 0.300 t h of a second. Manoj Yesuadiyan came third in another close finish, less than a second behind. Amarnath Menon won the 2021 championship in this class.

In the Girls Apache RTR 200, the five­lap race was dominated by O6 autotrack.ind.in MARCH / APRIL 2022

Deepika Reddy from Hyderabad. She won in a time of 11:15.788 followed in less than 0.150th of a second by Rakshita Dave from Chennai. Adlin Seles, also from Chennai came third another three seconds behind.

In Rookie Apache RTR 200 class, Jinendra Kiran Sangave from Kolhapur won in 12:52.657 beating Chiranth Viswanath from Bengaluru. Chiranth clocked 12:52.784 for his second place. Abdul Bhasim from Chennai finished third with a time of 12:52.877. In Race 2, Chiranth upped the pace and won clocking 12:48.129 as he beat Jinendra by a little over 0.300th of a second. Shreyas Hareesh Cooparam from Bengaluru was a further 0.014sec behind in third. The final race of the class saw

Chiranth on top once again as he clocked 12:42.924 to beat Jinendra to second. The latter rider clocked 12:43.614 while KR Tamizhinian from Chennai finished third in 12:44.221.

Jinendra Kiran Sangave from Kolhapur was declared the champion in this class.

In the TVS Media Apache RTR 200 class was bagged by Soham Thakur as he clocked 11:46.045.

Manaal Mahatme came second in 12:15.099 followed by Ajinkya Lad, who took over a second more to complete the five­lap race. course. slower to finish third. Soham Thakur bagged the 2021 media class title.

.

JEDDAH

RALLY

Historic Dakar 2022

for Hero MotoSports team rally

H

ero MotoSports Team Rally, the motorsport team, completed its Dakar 2022 campaign with a stellar result as both team riders crossed the final finish line in Jeddah.

Dakar 2022 will go down in history as the edition that saw an Indian manufacturer win a Stage in the world's toughest rally for the very first time. With one stage win and one stage podium, this has been its best­ever performance at the Dakar Rally so far. This was the team's sixth consecutive appearance at the rally.

All through 2021, the team participated in multiple races, constantly upgrading their machines, and reaching the top positions. They entered the Dakar Rally battling several last­ minute hurdles, including two of their riders getting unfit for

the race due to injuries. The Dakar 2022, however, turned out to be a watershed moment for the team and Hero MotoCorp, as the team overcame challenges and achieved a historic result. Having won the hearts of fans around the world, the team has been receiving congratulatory messages all day long.

Joaquim Rodrigues, the star performer of the team, finished the last stage of 163 kms between Bisha to Jeddah with yet another top­15 finish.

For JRod, who lost his brother­in­law and mentor Paulo (Goncalves) two years back at the Dakar, walking back into the same event each year has been a battle with himself. After making it to the podium of an FIM World Championship race in 2021, JRod entered Dakar 2022 with great confidence.

Riding stronger than ever, he delivered his best­ever performance at the Dakar by bagging his maiden stage win and also a 3rd place stage finish, which he dedicated to his mentor. He goes back proud from his fifth appearance at the Dakar with a 13th position in the overall RallyGP class rankings.

Having performed consistently throughout the Rally, Aaron Maré was not far behind, securing 15th place in the overall standings of the RallyGP class. Even though Aaron Maré joined the team as a last­minute replacement for injured Franco Caimi, he adapted with the team and his new bike quickly, and proved to be a great team player. His consistent and praiseworthy performance this Dakar has earned the young rider attention from far and wide.

With seven of the world's top manufacturer teams battling for the top prize, Dakar 2022 was the most competitive edition ever. The 12 gruelling stages and over 8000 kilometres later, the Hero Rally 450 machine proved its mettle yet again with no technical failures.

Even though the team rode with only one of their original riders JRod, the presence of CS Santosh at the camp greatly boosted the team's confidence and morale. With eight top­10 stage finishes, including a 1st and 3rd position, the team came back from Jeddah, far more confident than they were at arrival two weeks earlier.

O8 autotrack.ind.in MARCH / APRIL 2022

JEDDAH

RALLY

Harith Noah flies Indian flag at 44th Dakar rd

The TVS Racing Factory rider completes 3 Dakar in Experience class for last 2 stages due to technical issues

T

VS Racing Factory rider Harith Noah successfully completed his third Dakar becoming the only rider from India to fly the Tricolour at the 44th Dakar Rally, the prestigious annual cross­country endurance rally­raid race, which concluded at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on January 14. He also set the fastest stage time by a rider from India, 18th in Stage 11, beating his own record set last year.

Performing consistently throughout the 12 stages, Harith Noah finished the last day's Stage 12 at 23rd place. In the gruelling race that traversed through about 8000 km of desert sands and dunes, mixed with dangerous and tricky terrain of rocks, Noah clocked 72H, 52min 50sec for the 12 stages including two stages under the Dakar Experience Class. Due to the technical snag with the engine, officially Noah is not classified in the general rankings.

Over 140 riders from about 30 countries took part in the rally and Harith Noah, the star TVS Racing rider, who became the fastest rider from India at Dakar in 2021 by finishing P20 last year, bagged the experience of one more Dakar in his chequered career. The TVS Racing speed maestro, into his 10th year with the premier two­wheeler manufacturing company, had a fall in the very first stage but moved on, discarding another serious shoulder injury in Stage 7, but ended up riding in pain for two days without knowing that he fractured two of his ribs on January 9.

Undaunted, the 28­year Sports Science graduate from Kerala, braved the odds and was forced to change his engine for safety reasons before the start of Stage 10 but unfortunately suffered technical issues in the same stage and shifted to Dakar Experience class for the last two days, Stages 11 and 12. Noah had a new bike for his 2022 campaign, which is sleek and light weight, and was thrilled with it. Though he took time with not a comfortable ride in the first stage, having not much time for acclimatisation, he settled down and overcame many a fall and injury to ribs but found his bike stall in Stage 10,

10 autotrack.ind.in MARCH / APRIL 2022

which was about 360km. About 30 km into the stage, the bike just stopped. "I was hoping that I would somehow take the support of the tail­enders who are just competing to finish and get to the finish line. But the distance was over 300 km and my thoughts were unrealistic. Then I got the helicopter take my bike and ended up in the bivouvac."

As part of Sherco TVS Factory team astride a 450 SEF Rally, Noah took part as privateer sponsored by TVS Motor Company in Dakar RallyGP, the premier class of the Moto section, before shifting to the Experience class after Stage 10. Harith completed Dakar three times and is also the fastest Indian at the Dakar beating CS Santosh record of 34th in 2018. KP Aravind is the only other Indian to have completed the Dakar.

.

RACING NATIONALS

Vishnu Prasad

wins another National title, regains LGB Formula 4 title

Ruhaan Alva seals Novice title; Anish D Shetty claims the inaugural Royal Enfield GT Cup

PHOTO BY: SHAHJAHAN

M

ultiple National champion Vishnu Prasad, added one more title to his kitty as he bagged the LGB Formula 4 National Championship in the Round 4 of the JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship 2021, which concluded the season at Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore on Feb 27.

12 autotrack.ind.in MARCH / APRIL 2022

LGB Formula 4 The LGB Formula 4 proved to be a closely­fought fight among the top­four drivers with just seven points separating them as they went into the final round. In the end, Vishnu from MSport claimed the title garnering 70 points while Diljith TS followed him in second with 59 points while Arya Singh and Sandeep Kumar tied for

the third place with equal points on 55 each. Team Dark Don Racing with 167 points clinched the team championship.

The final LGB Formula 4 run saw Arya Singh from Dark Don Racing win the race beating teammate Ashwin Datta and Vishnu finished third.

The first race of the LGB Formula 4 category saw

Vishnu, the Championship leader, manage to hold on to his lead as his closest contender Sandeep could not finish the race. The highlight of the race, however, was the inspired show put on by Diljith TS who fought back and managed to stave off Mira Erda to finish 2 nd . Vishnu finished third. That forced the Championship to go down to

FINALS, COIMBATORE

LGB Forumula 4 Race one winners

the wire.

Day 1 In the keenly­contested LGB Formula 4, Amir Syed in his maiden year in this class showed great agility in fending off tremendous pressure from the experienced Diljith TS. As the race continued under the safety car for a lap, Amir led and increased the lead to win the race without any hiccups.

Diljith TS came a close second while Ashwin Dutta sprung­up a surprise as he overtook Sandeep for the

third position.

Despite Vishnu finishing fifth on Day 1, he still was one point ahead of Sandeep Kumar in the overall points table going into the final day.

Amir overtook Diljith's third place in the points table, just by a point.

JK Tyre Novice Cup 2021 With a final tally of 98 points, Ruhaan Alva from MSport was declared JK Tyre Novice Cup 2021 Championship winner. Jaden R Pariat with 80 points was first runner­up and Neym Rizvi came third

JK Tyre Novice Cup Race 3 winners

Ruhaan Alva in action MARCH / APRIL 2022 autotrack.ind.in 13

RACING

constantly improving. Covid has had a big impact on my preparation but I am happy to finish on the top. My ultimate aim is to get into F1.”

NATIONALS

with 49 points. The team

championship was bagged by

MSport with 202 points.

Ruhaan Alva expertly manoeuvred his car, keeping his balance and composure, and took a massive lead to win the race and seal the championship.

Neym Rizvi came second and Aadithya Parasuram was third.

Despite the collision, Jaden Pariat ended the race in top 5 while Ruhaan and Jaden clearly sealed their first & second places respectively in the championship before the start of the race, the battle for third was on between Neym Rizvi and Chetan Surineni.

In Race 2, Jaden from MSport won followed by Aadithya Parasuram, behind in five seconds and Neym Rizvi took third coming in 0.200 th of a second later.

Jaden dominated and won Race 3 also clocking 17:59.256 and Ruhaan Alva came two seconds behind to take the second spot as he played it safe. Aadithya Parasuram finished third with less than a second difference.

Elated with his Championship title, Ruhaan said: “It's been a tough fight with the competition 14 autotrack.ind.in MARCH / APRIL 2022

Race 1 winners of JK Tyre’s Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup

JK Tyre presents Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup The Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup presented by JK Tyre went to the wire with the top two riders separated by just seven points. Anish D Shetty won the inaugural Championship title in a race that saw Meka Vidhuraj, Allwin Xavier and Anish fight for the honours. Just a few laps after the flag off, Anish surprised both Meka and Allwin with a sudden burst and took the lead. But Meka and Allwin managed to exploit corners to overtake Anish for the first and second spots, in that order. Allwin with a total time of 17:28.877 won the race beating Meka Vidhuraj by three seconds. Anish D Shetty with 64 points did not risk anything and was content with a third that was enough to win the championship. Allwin Xavier with 61 points came second in the Championship title race while Anfal Akdhar with 40 points came third.

Earlier in 10­lap Race 1, Anish Shetty recorded the fastest lap­

FINALS, COIMBATORE

time early on and led the race followed by Allwin Xavier who almost lost out on the gravel. In the next few laps, Meka Vidhuraj dominated the track and was trailing Anish, putting pressure on the championship leader.

LGB Fourmula 4 race 2 winners

With Allwin in third, Anish and Meka had their battles in the front. But young Meka Vidhuraj in a photo finish edged past Anish to take the chequered flag first in the final moments logging 10 precious points.

.

MARCH / APRIL 2022 autotrack.ind.in 15

RACING NATIONALS

Pro Stock 165cc Race one winner Deepak Ravi Kumar

Rajini Krishnan, Jagan Kumar

win 10th National title each

Alwin Sundar, Ryhana Bee clinch National championship

PHOTO BY: SRINIVASA KRISHNAN

J

agan Kumar from TVS Racing assured himself of his 10th National title after finishing third on day one, with the final day left in the Pro­ Stock 165cc category. He was the second to win the championship this season after Ryhana Bee from RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate had sealed the championship in the previous round itself in the Girls category.

This marked her comeback season after a year's absence due to injury. By winning fifth consecutive race, she ensured and closed the season on a

16 autotrack.ind.in MARCH / APRIL 2022

winning note.

The 41­years veteran Rajini Krishnan from RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate had to wait for the last race of the season to script a master class ride and though he finished third in the premier Pro­Stock 301­400cc category despite a crash, he did just enough to claim his 10th National title and his first in a decade.

Also annexing the National title on final day was 19­year old Chennai collegian Alwin Sundar from AS Motorsports in the Novice Stock 165cc category

despite finishing second behind Allwin Xavier from Sparks Racing who thus completed a triple crown in the fifth and final round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship at the MMRT.

Pro­Stock 165cc: Jagan Kumar of TVS Racing finished third, but the 15 points were enough to fetch him his 10th National crown with a race to spare in the fifth and final round.

Keeping the title in sight, 33­year old Jagan rode a conservative race and was content to finish

third behind winner and team­ mate KY Ahamed who broke the Honda hearts by passing race leader Rajiv Sethu of Idemitsu Honda SK69 Racing entering the start­finish straight on the final lap. KY Ahmed was the winner followed by Rajiv Sethu in second and Jagan Kumar finished third in the race one.

An ecstatic Jagan, 33, said: “The No.10 title was always my goal. In fact, after I won title No.5, I said I would like to double it, but people laughed. Anyway, I am extremely happy to have sealed the championship and it has

Championship and Team Championship.

Pro Stock 165cc Race 1 winners

L

Pro Stock 165cc Race 2 winners

Pro Stock 301­400cc: Earlier, Bengaluru­based Anish Damodara Shetty (Race Concepts), astride a KTM 390, shrugged off a hip injury that he suffered after a high­speed crash in the qualifying session a couple of hours earlier, to win a thrilling race that headlines the championship. But he managed to scramble from a P3 start to the front after a battle with front­ running pole­sitter Deepak Ravikumar from TVS Racing. Also in the mix was Rahil Shetty from Gusto Racing. As the six­lap race progressed, Ahamed made two places to tuck in behind Anish Shetty and Rahil as the trio crossed the finish line, Anish from Race Concepts was the winner with a total time of 11min, 19.140sec, Ahamed KY from TVS Racing had to settle for second position with a difference of .172sec, Rahil Shetty with further .302sec difference stood third in race one. Rajini the front runner

2W FINALS, CHENNAI

crashed to finish 12 t h , and without a point.

In the race two, Veteran Rajini Krishnan from RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate scripted a master class ride and though he finished third despite a crash, he did just enough to claim his 10th National title and his first in a decade. Rajini Krishnan, who needed just four points to annex the championship going into the final round, had a roller­coaster weekend, marked by crashes in both the races. In the second race, starting from P12, he moved to second but hit an oil patch on the last lap. However, he jumped back on to finish third behind Rahil Shetty and Anish Damodara Shetty, to earn 15 valuable points. Anish Shetty crossed the finish line first, but he dropped to second following a five­second penalty for an infringement, elevating Rahil to the top step of the podium. Rahil with 15min, 12.66sec was the topper, Anish was slower by two seconds to finish second and Rajini with over twelve seconds

“The No.10 title was always my goal. In fact, after I won title No.5, I said I would like to double it, but people laughed. Anyway, I am extremely happy to have sealed the championship and it has been a long and difficult journey for me. Today, I did not really push in the race as I wanted to pick up the points I needed for the championship.” said Jagan

been a long and difficult journey for me. Today, I did not really push in the race as I wanted to pick up the points I needed for the championship.”

Jagan, who had started the season with a hat­trick of wins, moved to 174 points, well clear of Rajiv Sethu (134), Deepak Ravikumar (128) and Ahamed (124) with just one more race to be run on the final day a maximum of 25 points on offer.

Ahamed was the winner with a total time of 15:41.370 Deepak Ravi Kumar from TVS Racing finished second behind his team mate with a difference of .091sec and Rajiv Sethu with further below one second difference finished third. Thus giving TVS Racing won the Manufacturer

Pro Stock 165cc Race two winner Prabhu Arunagiri

L

MARCH / APRIL 2022 autotrack.ind.in 17

2W FINALS, CHENNAI

RACING NATIONALS

Pro Stock 301 to 400 Race two winners

Pro Stock 301 to 400cc Race 2 winner Rajini Krishnan

further diferrence was third.

Rajini, who had made his National Championship debut in 2003, topped the leader board with 183 points and six wins, followed by Anish Shetty (164) and Rahil Shetty (156). Rajini was the Champion and the Team Championship was won by TVS Racing and Manufacturer championship was bagged by KTM. “It was a tough race to win especially after my crash earlier in the day. In the qualifying a couple of hours before the race, I had a high­side crash on the back sweep on just my second hot lap. I must have been doing about 135­140Kmph. I landed on the right side of the hip. Luckily, I didn't suffer any other injuries, but the team did a fantastic job in getting the bike ready for the race. I had a twitch on the right side and so I couldn't lean much on the right­hand turns,” said Anish who thus moved within 22 points of leader Rajini Krishnan (RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate) for whom it was a disastrous outing as he crashed in the second lap and finished without a point in12th.

Novice Stock 165cc:

Hogging the limelight was Thrissur's Allwin Xavier from Sparks Racing who won both the races to move to third spot on the championship leader board. Alwin Sundar from AS Motorsports, with two second­ place finishes, took a 16­point 18 autotrack.ind.in MARCH / APRIL 2022

lead over another Thrissur rider Anfal Akdhar of Rockstar Racing to head the championship standings. Race one saw Allwin Xavier was the winner with a total time of 12:54.639, Alwin Sundar Was slower by .200th of a second to finish in second position, while Samrul Zubair from Raceists, Hyderabad with seven seconds further difference was third. in Race two it was Allwin on top for the second time in a row with a total time of 12:57130, Jinendra Kiran Sangave from Sparks Racing, Kolhapur with five seconds difference was third.

The final race of the season the race three of the round saw once again Allwin finishing on top with a third straight win with a total time of 12:53.797, Alwin with a timing of 12:54.438 finished second, while Jinendra with 13:03.099 was third. Alwin Sundar was the Champion and the Team Champions were Sparks Racing.

Girls Stock 165cc:

The five lap race saw Ryhana Bee from RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate winning with a total time of 10:53.980, Lani Zena Fernandez from Speed Up Racing finished in second position with a total time of 10:55.735, Ann Jennifer from Sparks Racing, clocked 11:04.284 to finish third. Rhyana Bee was the Champion and the Team championship was bagged by RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate.

.

Stock 165cc Girls class winners

Stock 165cc winners Stock 165cc winner Alwin Sundar

MARCH / APRIL 2022 autotrack.ind.in 00

2W FINALS, CHENNAI

RACING NATIONALS

Kavin Quintal wins title despite Sarthak's late push: NSF 250R class CBR 150 class winners

Y

PHOTO BY: SRINIVASA KRISHNAN

oungster Sarthak Chavan from Pune, dominated the NSF 250R category in the Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup with a double following his four consecutive wins in two rounds.

However, he finished second in the championship, seven points behind Chennai youngster Kavin Quintal who had won the first four races of the season.

In Race 1, Sarthak won in 07:26.094 but Kavin Quintal from Chennai kept his cool to bag valuable points taking second with a difference of six seconds. Mohsin Paramban from Valancherry was another two seconds behind in third.

Sarthak won the race two as well clocking 14:45.513 but again Kavin was content with a second eyeing to keep up the points game as he came a leisurely second, taking nine seconds more as he kept Mohsin at bay.

2O autotrack.ind.in MARCH / APRIL 2022

Mohsin came third a second behind Kavin.

Vivek Gaurav won CBR 150 Race 1 with a timing of 13:04.401.

Siddesh Sawant came in less than two seconds later to settle for second. Raheesh Khatri lost second by 0.043sec difference.

Theopaul Leander from Chennai won Race 2 clocking 17:13.251.

Siddesh from Puttur finished second once again this time with a difference of 0.249th. Raheesh from Mumbai was third, half a second behind second. In the last race of the round, Theopaul won again. He clocked 13:03.492 followed by Siddesh close to half a second behind.

Vivek Gaurav from Patna finished third with a further half­ a­second difference. Prakash Kamat from Bokaro Steel City won the one­make title for the year 2021.

Hornet 2.0 the support class

Hornet class winners

Race 1 winner was Kevin Kannan from Chennai. He clocked 13:25.983. G Balaji from Chennai finished second with a timing of 13:26.336 and Ajai Xavier from Nagerkoil finished third five seconds behind. Race 2 saw G Balaji on top as he clocked 13:29.763. Ajai finished second with a difference of eight seconds to second place. Prabhu

V from Chennai was further behind by six seconds in third.

Balaji won Race 3 too, clocking 13:33.889 followed by Udayi Prakash from Coimbatore in second, with difference of less than a second and Shankar Guru from Chennai came third another 3 seconds behind. Kevin Kannan from Chennai won the Hornet title for 2021.

.

RALLY

COIMBATORE

ADITYA THAKURVIRENDER KASHYAP

triumph

The Himachal drivers hog limelight at INRC 2021 opener; Fabid, Mujeeb on top

PHOTO BY: VIKRAM SUNDHARAMOORTHY, SRIHARSHA NADIGER and KRISHANU CHATTERJEE

Overall winners

T

he Himachal pair of Aditya Thakur and Virender Kashyap supported by MRF Tyres won the season opener at the Rally of Coimbatore, the round one of the fmsci Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) 2021. The shock exit of Gaurav Gill was due to an electrical issue while many other top and leading rally leaders went down with the 22 autotrack.ind.in MARCH / APRIL 2022

INRC R1, COIMBATORE

Overall Winners Aditya Thakur and Virender Kashyap

challenging terrain forcing mechanical failures, right from Day 1. The Coimbatore being one of the fastest stages in INRC Calendar, were very tricky, technical and challenging. They took heavy toll on the top­line fast drivers.

The worst hit was team Arka Motorsports, which ran out of luck, with all the four vehicles which were leading, were later

unable to finish the rally. A few broke down and the remaining had electrical issues. Gaurav Gill along with Musa Sherif supported by JK Tyre were the fastest in both the stages they completed. But they had to discontinue for the day as the vehicle stalled just after the second stage finish due to electrical problem. By then they were ahead by 49 seconds. Later,

the charge was taken over by Karna Kadur and Nikhil Pai who were supported by MRF Tyres.

They were leading by over a minute on Day 1 and were on top till the last minute but had to pull out due to electrical issues on Day 2.

After starting fourth on Day 2, the pair of Amittrajit Ghosh and Ashwin Naik supported by JK Tyre left no stone unturned. In

the very first stage of Day 2, they managed to put themselves in second spot which never lasted long as they had to pull out due to lower­arm issues. While the breakdown account began with Chetan Shivram, the Yokohama Tyres­supported driver who suffered a broken drive­shaft in the very first stage. Day 1 leaders in JINRC the lady pair of Pragati Gowda and Trisha Jagannath MARCH / APRIL 2022 autotrack.ind.in 23

RALLY

COIMBATORE

Overall First runner­up Fabid Ahmer and G Sanath

supported by MRF Tyre had a short span of life on Sunday, the Day 2. They had to pull out due to drive shaft issues. Aditya running second on Day 1 with a lead of 19 seconds managed to keep JK Tyre­supported Dean Mascarenhas and co­driver Gagan Karumbaiah, to third position. Amittrajit with a second difference was fourth. Gaurav who restarted on Day 2 was fastest in all the stages but suffered again due to lower­arm issues in the final stage of the day. Dean's vehicle had issues with axle on Day 1 but he also joined the breakdown wagon on Day 2.

The event, which comprised of 24 autotrack.ind.in MARCH / APRIL 2022

120 km of Special Stages attracted 57 entries in the five National championship categories, namely INRC, INRC2, INRC3, INRC4 and the Junior INRC. Overall / INRC Privateers supported by MRF, Aditya Thakur and Virender Kashyap won the Overall honours with a total time of 2:3:29.5sec. Fabid Ahmer and G Sanath both from Palakkad, privateers supported by JK Tyre, were front­runner for a podium finish. But they had a disappointing Day 1 after suffering a puncture and lost over two minutes in SS­1. They continued with it in SS­2 and

JINRC first runner­up Shivani Pruthvi and Deeksha Balakrishna

INRC4 winners Mujeeb Rehman and Ravindra Kumar

INRC1 winners

INRC2 winners

changed the tyre at the service halt. It pushed him down in the Overall standings but they managed to finish second with less a minute difference.

Maninder Singh Prince from Delhi and co­driver Vinay Padmashali from Bengaluru were disqualified from their third position finish for the infringement with regard to removal of his car from parc ferme when it was closed and therefore not being present for the post­event scrutiny. The pair of Sahil Khanna from Gurugram and KN Harish from Bengaluru, who were 34 seconds behind, moved up the order to third place. But they were not eligible for higher leg points and will only score the points they scored in their original position. Syed Salman from Mysuru and BK Rishabh from Mangaluru, supported by JK Tyre, missed the podium by 1min 5sec. Byram Godrej and Vrun Sathyanarayana finished fifth with a seven­ second difference. Arjun Rao Aroor and Satish Kumar R from Team Mandovi pulled out after completing Day 1 due to engine overheating issues.

INRC2 The pair of Dean Mascarenhas and Gagan Karumbaiah, supported by JK Tyre, were the leaders on Day 1 with 16­second lead over Sahil Khanna from Gurugram and Harish KN from Bengaluru. The Mangaluru pair of Aroor Vikram Rao and AG Somayya, a further 44­sec

INRC R1, COIMBATORE

behind were third and the pair of Fabid Ahmer and G Sanath both from Palakkad were fourth despite running the first two stages of the day with a flat tyre.The Palakkad pair also supported by JK Tyre were at their best on Day 2 and managed to scale to the top from fourth position with a total time of 02:04:29.2. Day 1 leader Dean had to pull out due to mechanical failures. Sahil and Harish managed to retain their second position with a 34­sec difference. Vikram and Somayya settled for third with a 1min 22sec difference.

INRC3 MRF Tyres supported drivers Thakur and Kashyap won the class. They maintained their top position in the class right from Day 1. Syed Salman and Rishab, supported by JK Tyres, finished in second position with a difference of 3min 3sec as they came up against all odds on Day 1. Byram Godrej from Pune and Varun Sathyanarayana from Bengaluru with a seven­second difference to second, completed the podium. Maninder Singh Prince from Delhi and Vinay Padmashali from Bengaluru, supported by JK Tyres, managed to run second on both the days but were disqualified.

INRC4 The pair of Mujeeb Rehman from Kasargod and Ravindra Kumar from Bengaluru won the class with a total time of 02:12:18.3.

INRC3 winners Raghuram Saminathan and Bharath Sargur JINRC winners

JINRC winners

MARCH / APRIL 2022 autotrack.ind.in 25

INRC R1, COIMBATORE

RALLY

COIMBATORE

Rupender Shroran and Mohit Malik winners of FMSCI Gypsy Challenge

They climbed a position up from their Day 1 standings of second with two seconds difference.

Deepak Chandra from Bengaluru and Kenith Harsha from Shivamogga were 12min 21sec slower and settled for second position. The Bengaluru pair of P Ananth Kumar and GM Manjunath with a 4min­49sec difference finished third. Day 1 leaders, the pair of Vaibhav Marathe from Goa and Dr Dinesh S from Shivamogga, were leading the rally till the fag end as they extended their overnight lead to over 20 seconds. But they had to give up in the final stage of the day just 500 metres before the finish due to electrical issues. They faced the same issue in SS 4 and lost over 3minutes by still managed to hold on top position. Shivani Parmar and Dr Vani Parmar, the daughter­mother pair from Mumbai carried forward their third position from Day 1 but in the second stage of Day 2, they had to pull out.

Junior INRC Raghuram Saminathan from Coimbatore and Bharath Sargur from Bengaluru were the winners with a total time of 02:17:16.5. They began Day 2 in second position with 1min 49sec 26 autotrack.ind.in MARCH / APRIL 2022

difference but the day one leader Pragati B and Trisha Jagannath supported by MRF Tyres broke the drive shaft on Day 2 and had to pull out in SS6. The all­Ladies team of Shivani Pruthvi from Davangere and Deeksha Balakrishna from Bengaluru supported by JK Tyres finished second with over five minutes difference.

FMSCI Gypsy Challenge Rupender Sheoran from Gurugram and Mohit Malik from Faridabad were the winners of the class with a total time of 02:13::46.0. They extended their lead by over 31 seconds on Day 2 and were second finishers.

Bengaluru pair of Sanjay Agarwal and Smitha Prasad retained their Day 1 position as both finished second with a difference of 1min 31sec. Mettuchetty Venkatapathy and S Santosh Kumar both from Coimbatore finished third with a difference of 3min 29sec on the leader.

Ladies class Both the winners in the Ladies class were supported by JK Tyres.

The Kerala pair of Athira Murali and George Varghese were the winners followed by Shivani and Deeksha in second position.

Gill, the three times FIA Asia Pacific Rally champion and

Arjuna Award winner said: “It was a long break (due to the pandemic) for all of us and it is good to be here as rallying is what we love to do. The terrain is not the typical Coimbatore stages.

“The surface is slippery and it could be difficult to generate traction. So, it is important to keep the right momentum as it will be no walk in the park.”

Kadur, despite nil seat time, showed tremendous pace. “I made some mistakes with the

Gypsy class winners

set­up for the first loop, but otherwise, enjoyed a good run despite not having any seat time in the car ahead of the rally,” said Kadur.

On his part, Thakur whose driving skills are honed in the mountains of Himachal, was fortunate to survive a crash after his Polo hit a tree in SS­1, damaging the front fender. “The incident did not really affect the performance of the car. I had good pace today and managed to do my best ,” said Thakur.

.

RACING NATIONALS

Shahan Ali Mohsin emerges champ in MRF F1600

Arjun Balu, Tijil Rao retain titles Sandeep Kumar clinches VW Polo crown

PHOTO BY: SHAHJAHAN

A

gra teenager Shahan Ali Mohsin won the biggest prize of his blossoming career in the senior section as he annexed the title in the premier MRF F1600 category to finish the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship 2021 on a high at the MMRT near Chennai.

Also annexing the National titles in their respective categories were Bengaluru's Tijil Rao from Momentum Motorsport in the Formula LGB 1300, Arjun Balu from Race Concepts in the Indian Touring Cars, Chennai's Deepak Ravikumar

28 autotrack.ind.in MARCH / APRIL 2022

(Performance Racing) in Super Stock, Hatim Shabbir Jamnagarwala (Performance Racing), also from Chennai, in Indian Junior Touring Cars, Sandeep Kumar (Chennai) in Volkswagen Polo and Mumbai's Fahad Kutty (Redline Racing) in MRF Saloon Cars (Toyota Etios).

Balu, the 47­year old defending champion, who qualified for pole in the morning by setting a lap record of one minute, 49.023 seconds in a Honda City, chalked up his fifth win of the season and with that the championship in the Indian Touring Cars category with one more race left, Arjun

Balu clocked 15:16.979 to win Race 1. Jeet Jabhakh from Rayo Racing was nine seconds behind in second position while his

teammate Ishaan Dodhiwala with over a second difference came third.

It was Balu, the defending

champion who remained unchallenged once again as he was quicker by four seconds.

Starting third on the reverse grid behind the Rayo Racing pair from Hyderabad, Ishaan Dodhiwala and Jeet Jhabakh, he bid his time before easing his way to the front for a commanding win. Ishaan finished in second position while Jeet was four seconds behind, to complete the podium in the ITC class. Arjun Balu from Race Concepts retained his ITC Championship for 2021.

Meanwhile, two second­place finishes proved sufficient for Chennai's Hatim Shabbir Jamnagarwala to claim the title in the IJTC category. though, following a protest, the final outcome is awaited. Varun Anekar from Race Concepts was the winner with a total time of 15:50.484 as Hatim from Performance Racing finished second with over 28­seconds difference and his teammate K

Srinivas Teja came in third with over seven seconds deficit. In Race 2, Varun once again finished on top followed by Hatim in second position with a difference of 43 seconds and Raghul Rangasamy also from Performance Racing finished third. As per the Provisional results Hatim Shabbir Jamnagarwala from Performance Racing was the champion.

The title in the Super Stock class was already pocketed by Deepak Ravikumar on conclusion of the third round last month. He finished this weekend with a second place and a win, his sixth of the season. RP Raja Rajan from Performance Racing was the winner followed by his teammate Deepak in second and Rithvik Thomas from Race Concepts finished third. In Race 2, Deepak was the winner followed by Rajan in second while Suprej Venkat from Race Concepts finished third with a 16­sec difference.

FINALS, CHENNAI

MRF 1600 class winners

Super Stock race 2 winners

ITC class winner Arjun Balu MARCH / APRIL 2022 autotrack.ind.in 29

RACING NATIONALS

Nellore's Viswas Vijayaraj from DTS Racing was the winner of race one followed by the championship leader Tijil Rao from Bengaluru representing Momentum Motorsports in second position and his teammate Deepak Ravi Kumar finished third. At this stage with a race to go, teenager Tijil needs 12 points from the last race to clinch the title.

Tijil, the 18­year old, played it smart and safe to finish second in a race that was red­flagged twice and the number of laps reduced to seven. Prior to that, defending champ Tijil displayed amazing pace to move from P12 at the start on the reverse grid to P1 before tucking himself just behind the front­runners to avoid close racing with an eye on the title. The experienced Raghul from MSport won the race ahead of Tijil and Deepak finished third.

Mumbai's 38­year old Fahad Kutty recorded his fourth win of the season in the MRF Saloon Cars (Toyota Etios) category to seal the championship in this class. Anand Prasad finished second and Justin Singh finished third. Anand Prasad 3O autotrack.ind.in MARCH / APRIL 2022

from Chennai, returning to active racing after a 14­year break, took the honours in the second race of the day. Angad Matharoo from Chandigarh finished second and Zahan Commissariat from Mumbai finished third. In the third race, Fahad once again finished on top followed by Anand in second and Justin Singh from New Delhi finished third.

Ghaziabad's Anmol Singh Sahil roared to his second consecutive win in the Volkswagen Polo category. But it was Sandeep Kumar from Chennai, who bagged enough points for the title with a third place finish behind Pune's Oshan Kothadiya in Race 1. In Race 2, Avik Anwar from Bangladesh was the winner followed by Sourav Bandopadhyay from Thane while Pratik Sonawane from Pune came third. Anmol won Race 3 followed by Oshan in second and Sai Sanjay from Salem in third.

Sandeep Kumar from Chennai became the VW Polo champion for 2021.

Suriya Varathan from Coimbatore, only 18, scored a fluent win from pole in Race 1 of

MRF F1600 race one winners

MRF Formula 1600 class despite being constantly harried by Agra youngster Shahan Ali Mohsin and Bengaluru's Chirag Ghorpade. He not only survived the close attention but also a Safety Car period following an on­track incident, which left the drivers with a three­lap sprint to the finish. In Race 2, Rishon Rajeev from Bengaluru won clocking 19:11.167 followed by Shahan in second position with a difference of two seconds. Arya Singh from Kolkata finished third a further two seconds behind.

The final race was also won by Rishon. Shahan finished second while Chirag came third.

Shahan, 17, survived a roller­ coaster season that included a DNF (did not finish), but showed resilience to win the coveted

championship.

Arjun Balu, who left nothing to chance as he was quick off the line from pole and built up a massive lead for a comfortable victory to close the title with a race to spare. “It is certainly great to win the championship again. It has been a very challenging season as the team had to deal with a lot of issues. However, I am happy at the way the car performed for which I thank the entire Race Concepts team for working on it for long hours. And yes, the record lap in the qualies was as satisfying,” said Balu who moved to 79 points for an insurmountable lead over his nearest rival, Hyderabad's Jeet Jhabakh, with a maximum of 12.5 points on offer in the final race of the season.

FINALS, CHENNAI

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MARCH / APRIL 2022 autotrack.ind.in 31

RACING NATIONALS

Double delight

for Agra lad Shahan Ali Mohsin

Arjun Balu triumphs in a close battle; Double for Varun Anekar, Deepak Ravikumar

Commanding wins for Shahan Ali, Ruhaan Alva; Maiden success for Ishaan

PHOTO BY: SHAHJAHAN

S

hahan Ali Mohsin, the 17­year old from Agra, further underlined his stature as a top racing talent with a grand double as the curtain came down on the third round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship 2021 at the MMRT, near Chennai.

Shahan won the first and third races in the premier MRF F1600 category with local veteran 32 autotrack.ind.in MARCH / APRIL 2022

Deepak Ravikumar topping the second on an incident­filled day that also saw Coimbatore's Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) survive a few close calls to win the Indian Touring Cars race.

Also achieving a double were Bengaluru's Varun Anekar (Race Concepts) in the Indian Junior Touring Cars category and Deepak Ravikumar (Performance Racing) in the Super Stock class.

Meanwhile, 15­year old Bengalurean, Ruhaan Alva (MSport) displayed good pace while comfortably winning a Safety Car­interrupted Formula LGB 1300 race.

MRF 1600

Agra's Shahan Ali Mohsin won a battle of the teenagers. He enjoyed a good start from pole position and went on to pip two 16­year old Bengalureans Chirag

Ghorpade who finished second and Rishon Rajiv in third, 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 two races dished out contrasting fares. In the morning, Ravikumar, starting from pole on the reverse grid, won as he pleased after a brilliant start that put him clear of the

two wins on Saturday put Shahan within 13 points of leader Chirag in the championship standings going into the final Sunday.

ITC

Dodhiwala steered clear of a Turn­1 incident involving championship leader Arjun Balu from Race Concepts and Jeet Jhabakh from Rayo Racing to chalk up a fluent win, his first of the season. Balu and Jhabakh, who tried a 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

R3, CHENNAI

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. The Stewards, after a post­race investigation, docked third­ placed Jhabakh a 15­second penalty for “causing an avoidable collision”.

The saloon cars race, with its combined grid, turned out to be stormy, especially at the front.

The trio of Indian Touring Cars drivers, Balu and Rayo Racing's Jeet Jabhakh and Ishaan

Deepak Ravi Kumar in action Ruhaan Alva in the lead in Novice class

field by the end of the first lap.

Behind him, championship contenders Chirag Ghorpade (Bengaluru) and Shahan Ali Mohsin, both starting from mid­ grid, jockeyed for positions with an eye on the points. The pair made some places, but Shahan, while running third, ran wide while trying to pass Rishon Rajeev (Bengaluru) and eventually finished seventh.

Rishon held position to finish second followed by Dillon Zachariah (Chennai).

Shahan, however, bounced back to win the next race starting from pole position, after holding off Chirag and Rishon, a repeat of yesterday's Race­1 result. The MARCH / APRIL 2022 autotrack.ind.in 33

RACING

Chennai's Deepak Ravikumar of Performance Racing (Super Stock), 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.

NATIONALS

Super Stock

Chennai's Deepak Ravi Kumar of Performance Racing clocked 16:11.010 to win Race 1. Rithvik Thomas from Race Concepts came second eight seconds behind while Deepak's teammate RP Raja Rajan finished third. It was the second win of the round for Deepak while his teammate Ranjan took 22 seconds more to finished the course. Hareeshwar Prasad from Race Concepts with a difference

Dodhiwala were involved in a tense battle. There were a few contacts causing damage to Balu's and Jabhakh's cars while Dodhiwala forged ahead. Balu then put his head down, moved past Dodhiwala after a hot chase and came through to chalk up his fourth win of the season in six starts. Jeet finished third.

Formula LGB 1300

It was a lights­to­flag victory for Ruhaan who fully capitalised on his pole­position start and was never really challenged through the eight­lapper which was interrupted by a Safety Car period due to an on­track 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 Motors port) to m ov e i nto second position from fourth and defend his spot to the chequered flag, ahead of team­mate Tijil Rao, the teenager from Bengaluru who put in a great performance to move from P19 34 autotrack.ind.in MARCH / APRIL 2022

to P3. The victory took Ruhaan from eighth to fourth in the championship standings.

In Race 2, Bengaluru teenager Tijil Rao took the honours, after starting from P10 on the reverse grid. He sliced his way through the field to emerge a deserving winner with Nellore's Viswas Vijayaraj (DTS Racing) and local lad Mohd Ryan (MSport) following home in that order while Race­1 winner, Ruhaan Alva (MSport), also from Bengaluru, finished fourth after starting from P12. The victory, his first of the season, took Tijil to the top of the leaderboard with 85 points.

IJTC

Bengaluru's Varun Anekar of Race Concepts won the race one by clocking 16:01.284. K Srinivas Teja from Performance Racing with about 12­seconds deficit stood second and Charen Chandran a privateer from Coimbatore finished third.

Varun continued his winning spree in Race 2 as well. Hatim Shabir Jamnagarwala from Performance Racing with a difference of over 30 seconds was second and Charen finished third, a further eight seconds later.

R3, CHENNAI

of over 0.200th of a second came third.

Oshan Kothadiya from Pune won Race 1 of the Volkswagen Polo Cup. Sandeep Kumar from Chennai with a 4­sec difference stood second and Saurav Bandyopadhyay from Thane was third, half a second behind.

Pratik Sonawane from Pune won Race 2 as he managed to be on top with over six seconds lead over Avik Anwar from Bangladesh. Sandeep Kumar came third less than a second behind. Ghaziabad driver Anmol Singh Sahil made the best of his P2 start as he managed to hold on to the top position with six seconds lead on Sourav, who came second. Sandeep once again came third six seconds later.

two racers from Mumbai, veteran and championship leader Fahad Kutty in second, and young Zahan Commissariat in third.

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MRF Saloon Cars Toyota Etios

Justin Singh from Harayan managed to keep Fahad Kutty from Mumbai in second with less than a second difference. Anand Prasad from Chennai finished third in Race 1. Fahad improved one position up to be the topper in Race 2 while Bala Prasath from Quest Motorsport, Coimbatore came second, three seconds behind. Angad Matharoo from Chandigarh with over a second difference finished third.

Meanwhile, Race 3 was reduced to five laps from scheduled eight after it was red­flagged following an incident on the exit of the last corner on Lap 1.

On resumption, Chandigarh's Angad Matharoo cruised to victory after early front­runner Anand Prasad went off the track.

Finishing behind Matharoo were MARCH / APRIL 2022 autotrack.ind.in 35

DIRT

BIKE LEAGUE

Imran wins Indian Open; Fazeela bags Ladies' class DBL dirt track event organised by AnyHelp & Auto Track attracts celebrities

T

PHOTO BY: SRIHARSHA NADIGER

he first edition of DBL dirt track race changed the dirt­track event into a league format which was held in Unite off­road park organised

by Any Help & Auto Track. Most of the Kannada TV artistes and Kannada film artistes showcased the celebrity presence in large numbers at the event. This 36 autotrack.ind.in MARCH / APRIL 2022

transition event restricted the entries to 90 for seven classes.

The idea was to divide each class into six teams. Now it becomes easier for the upcoming season.

Imran Pasha from Mysuru was the Indian Open winner of the prestigious event of the day. The gate start was limited to six keeping in view the narrow

opening at the start. Two Motos with six each were part of the Indian Open. Sachin, Arun and Imran managed to reach the finals from first qualifying.

Nataraj, Md Zaheer and Md Arif were part of the final grid from second qualifying. Naresh one of the front runners experienced issues with his bike and was

unable to make to the top three.

Experts Class There were two motos for qualifying. In the first moto, Md Zaheer, Shailesh and Md Arif managed to to reach to the final grid. The two majors who failed to qualify for final were Naresh with bike issues and veteran rider Minar from Mysuru, who also

had to go unsatisfied due to vehicle non­performance. In the second moto, Sachin, Nataraj and Prajwal V managed to find the slot for the final grid. Imran was one amongst the front runners who was unable to make it to the finals. The six­lap final race, witnessed Nataraj leading the race right from the start to win the race. Md Zaheer managed to keep Shailesh behind till third lap but had to give up his second position. Then he had to defend his position against the dare devil Sachin.

Once again Zaheer was unable to defend running third in the fourth lap. Sachin was on Shailesh's neck and in the fifth lap he overtook him and started closing in on the front runner Nataraj and he was a threat to Nataraj till 200mts before finish.

Then, the curtains came down on Sachin as his chain slipped from the sprocket and he finished fourth. But not before getting a standing ovation from the spectators for his performance.

Zaheer also ran out of luck as he crashed out in the last lap.

Nataraj was followed by Shailesh Kumar in second and Prajwal V finished third.

Intermediate Class This class had three qualifying motos. In the first moto, Feeshan and Yogesh managed to reach the finals. In the second moto, Akbar from Coimbatore and Shailesh Kumar managed to

Kids class action

BENGALURU

Intermediate class winners

Ladies class winners

Under 16yrs class winners

MARCH / APRIL 2022 autotrack.ind.in 37

DIRT

BIKE LEAGUE

Novice class winners Imran Pasha in action

Under 12yrs class winners

38 autotrack.ind.in MARCH / APRIL 2022

make the final grid. In the third moto, Subramanya and Ajay M booked the final slots. Shailesh Kumar was in the forefront right from the start in the five­lap finals. Yogesh P also was comfortable in second position, while Nithin S who was running third till the final lap had to drop out and Akbar from Coimbatore was in fourth till last, but Feesahan Ahmed in the final lap managed to finish third.

Novice Class Amogh Nag from Bengaluru and Nithin S managed to reach the final grid from the first moto.

Yogesh and the youngest in the grid Prajwal V managed to reach the finals in the second moto. In the final moto, Akbar from Coimbatore and Nivanthan made it to the finals. Akbar was in the forefront right from the first corner and was the winner.

Yogesh P finished in second

position. Prajwal V climbed one position up in the third lap after going past Amogh Nag. Prajwal was third and Amogh Nag finished fourth.

Indian Open In the first qualifying, Sachin, Arun and Imran made it to the final grid. In the second qualifying Nataraj R, Md Zaheer and Md Arif made it to the final grid. Naresh VS once again missed the bus, also following him was Minar from Mysuru.

In the nine­lap final race, Imran got off to a good start and with a substantial lead he managed to win the class. Aruna T from Tumkur held on to second position till third lap but was unable to withstand the pressure form Sachin on his back and had to back off to third. Nataraj was fifth in the start and in the very second lap he moved on to fourth. Md Zaheer was in third

BENGALURU

Sachin D in Indian Open class

Indian Open class action

Indian Open class winners

position in the first lap but slid down to fifth in the second and finished in the same order. Imran Pasha from Mysuru was the winner followed by Sachin in second and Aruna T finished third.

Ladies Class It was a straight six for the finals.

Fazeela from Kerala got off to a good start and held on till the finish to win the class. She was followed by 12­year old Aleena Mansoor Sheikh from Bengaluru in second. She was stuck in the mid­rush and still managed to close the gap with the winner and finished second. Sushmitha V also from Bengaluru finished third while Nithila Das was fourth. Mandhara Gowda was fifth and Mynthuri Iswarya finished sixth.

Kids under­12 years In the first qualifying, Shreyas

and Bhairav made it to the finals.

In the second moto, Aleena and Arhan succeeded to be part of the final grid. Shreyas Hareesh from Bengaluru was the winner followed by Aleena Mansoor Sheikh also from Bengaluru finished second while Bhairav also from Bengaluru in spite of crashing just ahead of the finish line crashed against the tyre barricading and managed to finish third.

Kids under­16 years From two motos, Jinendra, Savion, Chiranth, Bhairav and Ram Gopal were the finalists.

Jinendra Kiran Sangave with a huge margin was the winner of the class followed by Savion Sabu in second. Chiranth was running second till the second lap, but after a fall he slipped down to third.

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Expert class winners MARCH / APRIL 2022 autotrack.ind.in 39

MOEVING EV CHARGING

ALL CHARGED UP

MoEVing launches India's first new-age multi-modal EV charging space

A

s part of its continued expansion in the business, MoEVing, India's largest full­stack electric mobility platform, recently inaugurated India's first futuristic electric vehicle charging space in Yeshwanthpur, Bengaluru.

Spread across 12,000 sq ft, this charging space will have high volume electric vehicle (EV) charging points, both fast and 4O autotrack.ind.in MARCH / APRIL 2022

slow charging, EV battery swapping stations, EV maintenance stations and EV experience & learning centre, all under one roof. Agnostic across OEMs, vehicle types and charging technologies, MoEVing is present in 11 cities nationally, having established 300+ charging points across 40 charging spaces. These charging spaces are both MoEVing spaces as well as network spaces in

collaboration with partners.

Speaking about the new EV Charging facility, Vikash Mishra, CEO & Co­founder, MoEVing, said, “We are excited for the launch of the first futuristic EV charging space in India. At MoEVing, we have always been bullish about accelerating EV adoption. With the launch of our Yeshwanthpur facility, we wish to adopt an integrated and

interoperable approach towards the whole EV charging and maintenance space, with a goal of powering all charging hubs through clean renewable energy sources. We look forward to working with our partners to expand this network nationally and enabling seamless adoption of electric vehicles.”

MoEVing is here to speed the adoption of EVs in intra­city

transportation by using data to optimise vehicles and EV infrastructure in India's fast­ growing electric mobility sector. The national and state governments are fully committed to promoting and growing renewable energy and electric vehicle infrastructure, ensuring that everyone has access to healthier air.

Government dignitaries Rajender Kataria, Principal Secretary to Government, Transport, Karnataka attended the opening ceremony.

While taking a tour of the space, Honorable Chief Guest, Rajender Kataria, Principal Secretary to the Government ­ Transport, Karnataka, commented, “Reduction of transport­related pollution is extremely important for the government, we have taken multiple initiatives to accelerate the uptake of non­ polluting vehicles. Today, the need of the hour is adopting an ecosystem approach, having the whole Electric Vehicle value chain work together in synergy.

It is equally important to enable the driver­partners and I am happy to see MoEVing leading the way, taking a holistic approach. By deploying EVs in

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BENGALURU

Vikash Mishra, CEO & Co­ founder, MoEVing

“We are excited for the launch of the first futuristic EV charging space in India. At MoEVing, we have always been bullish about accelerating EV adoption. We look forward to working with our partners to expand this network nationally and enabling seamless adoption of electric vehicles.”

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Bengaluru at this scale, providing access to agnostic charging infrastructure that can be used

by all for all kinds of electric vehicles, we are making Bengaluru a cleaner city for the next generation.”

With over 12 million electric kilometres on the road just in the first 13 months of operations with a fleet touching close to 1000 EVs, both two and three­ wheelers, MoEVing has a proven track record in providing tech­ enabled last­mile intra­city services, charging, fin­tech, analytics, and vehicle life cycle management with India's largest e­commerce, e­grocery, FMCG, logistics and D2C companies.

They are Rapidly Electrifying Mobility starting by Disrupting Last­Mile Intra­City Delivery, Transforming a market of 2 million vehicles and constructing a responsible business that is unit economics positive and internationally replicable, with a high ESG impact.

.

MARCH / APRIL 2022 autotrack.ind.in 41

DRIVE

ADVENTURE

REJUVENATE RAJASTHAN

In our adventure series, this time we decided to explore the places en route to Rajasthan

TEXT: Dr. VISHWAS SAVKAR

O

ur tour was long in planning until one day we finally picked a date and started. That was the key decision, rest became easy.

We formed a group of 6 people, all of us experienced drivers ­­ Dada Raundal, Bapusaheb Pagaar, Deepak Shirke, Dr Vishwas Savkar, Ad. Patole and Changdev Ghumare. Age ranging between 56 and 72, all young at heart.

We started early one Saturday morning at 5 am, taking newly constructed Peth road. We reached the city of Baroda by 12 noon. Once there we went to the beautiful Laxmivilas Palace, constructed by late Sayajrav Gaikwad, an illustrious ruler.

Although all of us had visited Baroda earlier, none of us had seen this monument. It was a grand experience. This magnificient and well­ constructed palace is among the largest of Indian palaces. It is well decorated with many artefacts and paintings, most noticeably, those of Raja Ravi Varma, who introduced his unique styles.

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of Indian deities are derived from his technique. Alongside was the art gallery of the Raja, again, exhibiting many beautiful paintings and sculptures.

After this 4 hour­long visit, we left Baroda on way to Ahmedabad, stopping at Kalol for an overnight stay. The next day we proceeded to the famous sun temple at Modhera.

This huge complex has the main temple and secondary ones along with a huge stepped waterfall. The carvings on the temple were very beautiful, however, due to age and time as well as damage, there is some deterioration.

Then we left for Abu, making a pit stop in Patan. We visited the world­famous ancient stepwell, famously known as Ranichi Waav. It is full of rock carvings depicting many Hindu deities as well as different scenarios from Puranas. This place is a favourite picnic spot for locals as there are extensively well­maintained lawns and gardens surrounding it. As we proceeded to Abu, we were very fortunate to reach

right on time to enjoy the sunset point.

The next day, we visited Gurushikhar, a famous spot with the temple of Guru Dattatreya and another well­known Jain temple. We made another stop at the Brahmakumari Ashram, trying to absorb some spiritual insights. Abu has a fort, Achalgarh, constructed by Rana Kumbha, Rana Pratap's grandfather. He also constructed 34 other forts. As we trekked up the fort, we saw a Jain Mandir as well as the temple of Chamunda.

Our next driving destination was Udaipur, reaching there by 9 pm.

During this whole trip, we never exceeded the speed of 100 kph, nor travelled beyond 9 pm. The next morning, we were fortunate enough to get a good guide at the gate of Saheliyoki baadi. He showed us around the city palace and then took us to the world heritage site of the city place by lake Pachola. The tour

was quite memorable. We also had a boat ride in lake Pachola, going around other island palaces. This lake is surrounded by so many luxury hotels of almost every brand. In Udaipur had a pleasant meeting with my niece after so many years. Her husband is a chef in another 5­star hotel. In the afternoon, we proceeded towards Kumbhalgad, seeing multiple farm horses, obvious of Udaipur gentry. By the time we reached the last fort, it was almost sunset time, visiting hours completed.

There, we procured lodging in

RAJASTHAN

to enemy attacks. With many ingenious contraptions, this fort remained unconquered till the end.

tents in a hotel on the hillside, Hotel Junagadh.

That evening, we had our evening session in moonlight followed by good food. The next day morning, we visited the huge fort of Kumbhalgarh, constructed in the Hallyat area

by Rana Kumbha. Its ramparts is almost 39 km, next only to the Wall of China. The fort was in excellent condition. We were shown the birthplace of Rana Pratap. This fort was the capital of Mewad as Chittorgarh was too close to the plains and vulnerable

Bidding adieu, the next morning we proceeded towards Ranakpur. Along the way we found some curious contraption to fetch water from the well.

Naturally, we had to stop and investigate. We even tried our hand at driving the bullocks. We finally reached there around 3 pm. This exquisite monument in marble was constructed by the 'arthmantri' of Rana Kumbha.

The platform is spread over almost an acre of land. The whole temple is unique in that it had no walls. The whole structures stand on 1444 pillars. Every one of these is full of exquisite carvings in marble and no two pillars are similar. Situated in a small nondescript village, it is easy to miss. I will strongly advise anyone to visit this place and enjoy a great quality of sculptural excellence.

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The author is a doctor and adventure lover. He is also Director of CATS Ecosystems Pvt. Ltd, Nasik.

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After 3 hours, we left for Jodhpur, reaching there at night 9 pm and stayed at Hotel Marwar haveli overnight. At Jodhpur, the next morning, we visited Umaid Mahal palace, the one of the world's biggest palace. We were afraid of the visiting cost, but half the palace is a museum, open for just Rs. 300. The main part converted to a luxury hotel costs Rs. 6500 for entrance. Mehernjar was exquisite, and those of us who were first­time visitors were delighted.

Conclusion: We came back to Nasik after our successful drive. This trip will be remembered for a long time. We will back soon with another adventure story.

We were 6 with light luggage, so we could travel comfortably in our Toyota Innova. As pictures convey beauty better than words, we have added a few glimpses of our trip.

MARCH / APRIL 2022 autotrack.ind.in 43

DRIVE

A

fter the successful launch of the new Celerio, the Baleno has had a complete overhaul. The car is out with more stylish interiors and exteriors and major technological upgrades. We drove the car, both in the city roads of Goa and the hilltop for a photo session. We had this opportunity to assess its tech­loaded premium features. Here is our take on the new and improved Baleno.

The 2022 Baleno is more than just style, handling and comfort, it embodies the NEXA design language, 'Crafted Futurism' and promises an unparalleled driving experience to the customers. The company shares its NEXA design philosophy; NEXpression of artfully designed interiors and exteriors,

LED PROJECTOR HEADLIGHTS 46 autotrack.ind.in MARCH / APRIL 2022

NEXtech with advanced technology suited to new customer needs, and NEXperience having futuristic experiences. The car itself features a powerful, dynamic bearing with leaner lines and liquid flow aesthetic complemented by a premium looking exterior flaunting the NEXWave Grille with an accentuated chrome finish.

The interior looks premium and sculpted, with plush seats and a host of comfort and convenience­centric features. The car comes equipped with cruise control along with improved safety, with features such as 6 airbags, ABS with EBD, and ESP Hill Hold Control, which helps in starting to move uphill by applying the brakes for a couple of seconds even after brake pedal release.

THE 360 DEGREE VIEW CAMERA

Sporting the Advanced K­Series Dual Jet, Dual VVT engine the New Age Baleno offers 113Nm@4400rpm torque and peak power of 66kW@6000rpm which comes paired with 5­ speed transmission. The Idle start­stop technology ensures best in class fuel economy for both manual as well AGS variant.

To emphasize the motto of 'Driven by Technology', the new Baleno comes with futuristic safety and convenience of the Head Up Display (HUD). It allows the driver to concentrate on the driving without taking eyes off the road by displaying critical information like speed, RPM, fuel economy, etc. The intuitive segment 360 view camera is present with latest 'approaching object

AUTOMATIC GEARSHIFT

SLIDING ARM REST

MARUTI SUZUKI NEW BALENO

detection' feature that can sense the presence of moving objects on the screen. The camera views enable the driver to make informed decisions while parking or maneuvering the vehicle.

It is not all work and no play for the new Baleno as the car comes with 22.86 cm (9”) SmartPlay Pro+ Infotainment system. The new Infotainment system will come with a High­Definition display, intuitive user interface with advanced Voice Assist to offer seamless connected driving experience to customers.

The next­gen telematics system Suzuki Connect comes as an in­ built feature in the New Age Baleno. It offers over 40+ features for vehicle safety and

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security, trips and driving behaviour, status­alerts and remote operations through all new Suzuki Connect App that can also be remotely accessed through compatible smart watch and voice connectivity through Alexa Skill providing the best­in­ class user experience.

Reinforcing safety, the new Baleno is built with Suzuki's signature HEARTECT platform offering ultra­high tensile steel strength body. The car is also equipped with 6 airbags, ESP and Hill Hold Assist to secure and improve the overall control and driving efficacy. As a part of NEXA Safety Shield, the car also sports premium feature such as ABS with EBD, seat belt reminder, rear parking and high­speed

alert system as a standard feature across all variants.

Available in an array of 6 colours and 4 new exciting shades, the new Baleno will be taking on its rivals – Hyundai i20, Tata Altroz, Toyota Glanza and Honda Jazz in

the premium hatchback segment. With the company offering solutions to the changing needs of the new customers, we expect the new Baleno to put up a fierce competition to meet rising demands in the segment.

The 2022 Baleno is more than just style, handling and comfort, it embodies the NEXA design languary, ‘Crafted Futurism’ and promises an unparalleled driving experience to the customers.

The company shares its Nexa design philosophy: NEXpression of artfully designed interiors and exteriors, NEXtech with advanced technology suited to new customer needs and NEXperience having futuristic experiences

INFORMATION IN COLOUR

( HUD ) HEAD UP DISPLAY

REAR FAST CHARGING USB

.

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DRAG NATIONALS

Hemanth Muddappa

conquers ninth National Drag Racing title

Bengaluru's Mantra Racing rider smashes two National records

S

etting two new records along with a golden double, Bengaluru's Hemanth Muddappa from Mantra Racing annexed his ninth National title, and fifth in a row, at MMRT which hosted the third and final round of the MMSC Fmsci Indian National Drag Racing Championship 2021 on Feb. 28.

Astride a Suzuki Hayabusa, 48 autotrack.ind.in MARCH / APRIL 2022

Muddappa was the quickest in the Above 1050cc (Super Sport) category while setting a National record of 7.749 seconds over the 300­metre run. Muddappa then rode his BMW S1000 R while winning the 851­1050cc (Super Sport) in a record time for 7.555secs, also over 300 metres. In the process, he overcame his arch­rivals and fellow­Bengalureans Hafizullah

Khan and Mohd Riyaz.

Muddappa's exploits also helped his team, Mantra Racing, Bengaluru, to clinch the team championship crown in both the categories.

4­Stroke Above 1050cc Super Sport Muddappa National Record timing of 07.749sec helped him win the Above 1050cc class, the premier event of the Nationals.

Hafizullah Khan from Bengaluru came second with a difference of over half a second as he managed to beat Harish Naik also from Bengaluru by just 0.014 of a second. While Hemant won the championship for 2021, the Team championship was bagged by Mantra Racing.

4S 851­1050cc Super Sport Muddapa was once again in his elements as he topped the 851­

1049cc Class, with another record, improving his own mark.

He clocked 07.555sec. Tajamul Hussain from Hyderabad with 07.966sec finished second ahead of Mohd Riyaz from Bengaluru who clocked 08.135sec for his third place. It was Hemanth Muddappa, the champion of the class and Mantra Racing were the Team Champions again.

4S 361­550cc Super Sport Indian Bengalurians dominated the class as Aiyaz won clocking 12.265sec followed by Thulasi Ram in second with a difference of 0.146th of a second. Zuheeb Ahmed was further behind by 0.052 of a second to settle for third position. Aiyaz was the champion in this class and Speed Up Racing won the Team Championship.

4S 226­360cc Super Sport Indian Chennai­based Mohammed Shakir from Rockers Racing clocked 12.450sec to clinch the class beating his teammate from Chennai, Bharat Raj, by 0.099sec second. But Bharat's second place was enough to clinch the title. Shankar Guru from Chennai came third, a further 0.214sec behind. Bharat was the champion of the class and Rockers Racing bagged the team champions tag.

4S Up to 165cc Super Sport Indian Chennai boys were in full swing in the Upto 165cc class. Mohan Babu from Rockers Racing won

FINALS, CHENNAI

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FINAL, CHENNAI

DRAG NATIONALS

by clocking 13.544 followed by Kevin Kannan from RACR Castrol Power 1, who finished second with just over 0.200th of a second difference. Yogeswaran P was about a second slower to finish third. The champion of the class was Kevin and the Team title went to RACR Castrol Power 1.

4S Girls (Up to 165cc) Lani Zena Fernandez from Chennai representing Speed Up Racing won the Girls upto 165cc class clocking 16.383. Jagruti Penkar from Pune came second in 16.414 Soundari Ananthraj was third clocking 16.493. Lani Zena was the champion of the class while Speed Up Racing were the Team Champions.

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2­Stroke (Up to 165cc) By clocking 12.868sec, Abdul Shaikh from Bengaluru won the 2­stroke upto 165cc class. The class saw other Bengalurians on the podium. Mohd Rafiq clocked 12.879 to finish second while Aiyaz timed 13.002 to finish third. Mohd Rafiq from Bengaluru was the champion of the class.

2S Up to 130cc R Madhan Kumar from Chennai won with a timing of 13.426 while Goutham K from Bengaluru missed the top slot by 0.256th of a second. Mujahid Pasha, also from Bengaluru, clocked 13.703 to be part of the podium. R Madhan clinched the National championship in this class.

“I am very happy. We are on a mission to improve our performance every time we go out and race. Getting every bit out of the bike is a huge achievement and it is a team success. Clipping almost two­ tenths is a very, very big achievement in drag racing. I have also worked on my fitness which also helped me a lot,” said Muddappa.

Meanwhile, Aiyaz (Bengaluru), Bharat Raj (Rockers Racing, Chennai), Kevin Kannan (RACR Castrol Power 1, Chennai), Lani Zena Fernandez (Speed Up Racing, Chennai), Mohd Rafiq (Bengaluru) and R Madhan Kumar (Chennai) won the National titles in their respective categories.

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CHITRADURGA

CROSS COUNTRY

Rajendra wins

12th Dakshin Dare for bikes

Yuva plays good Samaritan to rescue rival Sachin after a fall PHOTO CREDITS: KRISHANU CHATTERJEE AND PSYTHER PHOTOGRAPHY

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hivamogga rider Rajendra RE came out triumphant winning the Overall title in the 12th edition of the Dakshin Dare, a cross­country event organised

by Motorsport Inc under the aegis of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (fmsci), which concluded on February 17.

The Shivamogga rider was dominant in the 12th edition which was run only for bikes as the cars event was put off twice and cancelled due to Covid travel restrictions. Riding a TVS RTR

450 and dominating right from Day 1, the former National two­ wheeler rally champion held on to his lead despite witnessing many of his colleagues drop out on Day 2 due to a crash in Stage 1, two kms after the start.

After clocking 2:16.473, the fastest time in the Super Special stage Rajendra went on to top the stages with a total time of 4hrs 19min 23.561sec to clinch the honours. Sharath Mohan from Kerala made a comeback, after a break due to injury during Chikkamagaluru Rally, and finished second in the overall

classification. He was fourth fastest on Day 1, but there on he was consistent and managed to hold on to his position for second overall. Yuva Kumar from Hero Motosports finished third after running third right from the start. Suhail Ahmed from Bengaluru finished fourth.

Sathyaraj from Hero Motosports stood fifth and Pavan BK stood sixth.

The event was held on the outskirts of Chitradurga and Chikkanayakanahalli. While Day 1 was at the Unite Off­road park in Bengaluru, Day 2 was held

amidst the windmills. The stage distance of about 30­km was run twice while on Day 3 and 4, the bikes took the same stages which were about 40 kms. First day was run in forward direction twice, and on the final day the same stage was run twice in the reverse direction.

In the Upto 600cc Group A class, Rajendra RE won with a total time of 04:19:23.56 beating Sharath Mohan by seven minutes. Mohan's hit a dip and his bike had to be ferried to Bengaluru for rectification in the evening and it reached next MARCH / APRIL 2022 autotrack.ind.in 51

CROSS COUNTRY

next start competitor Yuva Kumar and there on Yuva continued the rally, later Sachin was given first aid and had to discontinue as his vehicle was damaged beyond riding condition.

In the Group D upto 260cc class, Sathyaraj from Hero Motosports was the winner with a total time of 04:45:30.605. He dominated the class right from SSS, and despite not being fastest in a few of the stages, he still managed to lead by over a minute on Pavan BK from Bengaluru, who finished second. Karthik came third a further 16 minutes behind.

Amoghnath participating for the first time in a cross country race finished fourth with a further difference of over one minute to his immediate rival. Chethan Hosati took another 13 minutes to finish the course in fifth. Karan Drishya came sixth another 8 minutes behind.

In the Bullet class, Suhail Ahmed from Bengaluru won in 04:44:49.415. It was a neck­and­ neck competition with Naresh VS also from Bengaluru. But Naresh's DZ (Dead Zone) and FZ (Fast Zone) penalties mounted on him and he had to settle for second position with ten­ minutes difference to the first­ placed time.

morning before start. Sinan Francis from Kerala finished third another 16minutes behind to complete the podium. Dishank Gowda from Bengaluru a further 19min in deficit came fifth.

Yuva Kumar from Hero Motosports won Group B, 166 to 260cc with a total time of 04:35:36.889. He was third fastest in the SSS and had a comfortable win in the class as Karan Mohan took more than an hour in second position. Sachin D one of the front runners had a crash about 3 kms from the start in the stage and was injured. An unattended Sachin was brought to safer place from bushes by his 54 autotrack.ind.in MARCH / APRIL 2022

CHITRADURGA

Pinkesh Thakker from Pune was the lone competitor in Scooter Class and clocked a competitive time of 5:30:10.195 to take home the trophy.

Rajendra RE apart from winning overall honours also bagged the Group A upto 600cc class. He managed to keep Sharath

Mohan in second position with a difference of over eight minutes.

Mohan managed to get back his bike in time on the final day after getting it serviced about 200­km away. Sinan Francis from Kerala with a 16­minute difference completed the podium. Dishank Gowda from MotoFarm Bengaluru was fourth, behind by

another 22 minutes.

further 46 minutes in deficit.

Aakash Aithal won Group B 261 to 400cc class. He was the front runner in the class right from the start by and won in 04:55:12.360.

He was 9 minutes faster than his Kolkata counterpart Uday Ganguli, who came second.

Dwarith Manna came third a

Goutham won the Group B Upto 165cc class with a time of 05:07:29.526. Jithu took second, being four minutes behind while Manmeet Singh from Kolkata was third who took a further 31minutes to complete the course.

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PHOTO F E AT U R E

ADVENTURE AT ARUNACHAL PRADESH We recently attended JK Tyre's annual event of Orange 4x4 Fury 7th edition TEXT: SM BOOTHEM

PHOTO: MOHIT S BAJAJ

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K Tyre is well known in the automotive industry for its commitment to promoting motorsport in the country. We had the opportunity to visit the seventh edition of the JK Tyre Orange 4X4 Fury off­roading adventure and music festival which concluded recently at Dambuk, Arunachal Pradesh. While all the drivers and officials were busy with the competition, we, a group of four decided to take a different route. We picked up our cycles and rode them on the river bed of the mighty Dipang river.

Apart from motorsports, Arunachal Pradesh offers a variety to adventure seekers – trekking, cycling and river rafting. We also tried our hands with river rafting the next day and had the most wonderful experience. The local government is dynamic in promoting tourism with many choices of activities to attract tourists across the country. Good roads, infrastructure, easy connectivity and communication facilities will further help boost its tourism sector. The participants from many parts of India to attend JK Tyre's event will spread the message on the facilities available at Arunachal Pradesh as a tourist destination.

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ARUNACHAL PRADESH

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IOC

WOMEN P O W E R

WOMEN POWER Indian Oil to power India's first corporate Women's Hockey Team N

ine Women Hockey players become part of the Indian Oil Family on International Women's Day

In a historic first for any Corporate in India, the country's largest energy company, Indian Oil, will now power the Indian Women's Hockey Team. Nine players of the Indian Hockey team have become part of the Indian Oil family as the company inducted them onto its rolls under its new sports policy, which promotes Women's Hockey.

The nine Women's Hockey players include Suman Devi Thoudam, Rajwinder Kaur, Rashmita Minz, Sharmila Devi, Ishika Chaudhary, Bichu Devi Kharibam, Deepika, Baljeet Kaur and Akshata Dhekale. These nine players come from various states which include Haryana, Punjab, Manipur, Odisha and

Maharashtra. These sports stars have participated in international tournaments, including the Tokyo Olympics, Asian Champions Trophy among others. They were handed over their appointment letters by Indian Oil Chairman, Mr S M Vaidya in the presence of functional Directors of Indian Oil and Federation of International Hockey (FIH) President, Dr Narinder Dhruv Batra who is also the President of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).

Speaking at the induction ceremony of the nine female hockey players on International's Women Day, Chairman, IndianOil, Mr S M Vaidya, highlighting IndianOil's social commitment, said: "We recognise how Sports is the most effective vehicle of ushering in enduring social change. Thus,

Indian Oil's commitment to gender equality had to manifest in our sporting outreaches.

Recently, Indian Oil was conferred "Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar" for encouragement to sports through CSR. This recognition at the highest level symbolizes Indian Oil's contribution to the promotion of sports over the last several decades”.

Mentioning Indian Oil's revamped sports policy, Mr Vaidya said, "Last year, we released our revised sports policy, included the provision for recruiting women hockey players for the first time. I am glad that within a few months of the policy's rollout, we are witnessing the conversion of intent into action."

Addressing the gathering, Indian Oil's Director (Human

Resources), Mr Ranjan Kumar Mohapatra, "Sports is not just a CSR obligation for Indian Oil but is part of our philosophy of Pehle Indian Phir Oil. We recognise the power sports have to unify a nation and bring people together in resonance with the national spirit".

Indian Oil has taken up the mantle to support Women's Hockey which holds immense potential as witnessed by the entire world in the Tokyo Olympics. The oil major is determined to harness the budding talent in Women's Hockey present across India and give them a platform to bring laurels for the nation. The recruitment of these nine players in the Indian Oil fold is the first of many steps by the Corporation to take women's hockey in India to the pinnacle of success.

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