January 2024

CONTENTS January 2024

16 26

34

NEW DELHI

04

Indian Racing League, Round 1 : 04

JK Tyre National Racing, Round 3 : 08 MRF 4W Racing, R3 : 12

MRF 2W Racing finals : 16

MRF K1000 : 26

Natl MRF Supercross, R4 : 32

INRC, Rally of Hyderabad : 36

08 08

24: Ready Assist

W Racing : 44MRF 4

Rallly of Himalayas : 48

Himalayan Drive : 52

42 12

48 32

22 64

O2 autotrack.ind.in DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024

Automotive

20: Morris Garage 100th year

National Rotax Karting, finals: 42

International News : 56

24 26

36 20

12 16

32 44

Ruhaan Alva draws first blood in IRL 2023; Sarah Moore wins Race 2

Second edition of Indian Racing League begins at MIC amidst rains

PHOTO BY: AKHIL P, MUNISHRAJA, SRINIVASA KRISHNAN

T

he Indian Racing Festival featured the 2nd edition of Indian Racing League and the 1st edition of F4 Indian Championship, promoted by Racing Promotions Private Limited (RPPL). Ruhaan Alva and Sarah Moore shared honours in the first round of the IRL 2023 which concluded at the Madras International Circuit on Nov 5.

Akshay Bohra won the first­ever F4 championship in India and it was a double for Cooper Webster. Rain drenched the track on both the days in the second half.

Indian Racing League

Race1, the season opener saw Indian driver Ruhaan Alva from Godspeed Kochi on the O4 autotrack.ind.in DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024

pole followed by Goa Aces driver Raoul Hyman from United Kingdom. The 20­min plus one lap race which was the final race of Day 1 had to be rescheduled to Day 2 due to heavy showers and water logging on the track and even the quality of light deteriorated.

Thus it was the first race of the final day held under good sunny conditions. It was a very clean race till the second corner. Ruhaan Alva took the lead and in the first corner, Jon Lancaster, who was third on the grid, managed to go past Hyman to take the second spot. But after C2, there was collusion in the backpack. Akhil Rabindra trying to

break away from the backpack, hit Alister Yoong's tail, and both slid away from the track on either side. Mohd Ryan was also caught in the melee and he crawled out at C3.

Akash Gowda from Speed Demons Delhi had to pull out in the very next corner due to mechanical failure.

Thus, a car each from Chennai Turbo Riders, GodSpeed Kochi, Hyderabad Black Birds and Speed Demons Delhi had to be recovered which forced the Safety Car to pitch in. The track went green with 10min left. Ruhaan was extending his lead but there was much action at the back with Anindith Reddy desperately trying to overtake Sandeep Kumar, and it

went on for some time. But Sandeep defended stubbornly and later on managed to extend the lead. However, he could not hold on for long and with six minutes left, Anindith managed to go past Sandeep.

Meanwhile, the battle for second position was intensifying between Hyman and Lancaster.

With 5 min left, Hyman took on Lancaster on a left hander and extended his lead. With one minute left, Amir Sayed climbed up a position by overtaking Sandeep. Hyman was not letting go of the opportunity and he scaled down his difference with the leader Ruhaan from 6 sec to just over a second and started mounting pressure. But Ruhaan Alva from Godspeed Kochi was in command and with just less than a second difference, he finished on top. Raoul Hyman from Goa Aces, finished second and Chennai Turbo Riders driver Jon Lancaster came third.

Race 2, was a water­drenched race with continuous rains before and after the start. Sohil Shah was on the pole, followed

by Mitchell Gilbert and Nikhil Bohra. The race began under Safety Car for the first two laps as the track was more challenging with water­drenched and drivers had to assess the relatively dry patch. Just as the track went green, Fabienne Wohlwend who

started fifth on the grid slid and floated on to the grass but did manage to come back in the last.

However, she finally gave up.

Thus the race had to run under safety car, and once the track was green Nikhil also slid on to the grass and rejoined in fourth position ahead of Sai Sanjay.

Sohil Shah the pole sitter aqua glided into the barricading and damaged his rear wheel and stranded. When the race was running in the last minute plus one lap, Nikhil with great difficulty overtook Akash Gowda and started to close in on Sarah Moore and in the final stage of the lap, he managed to go past her. And while approaching on to his next target, the leader. And in desperation, with just three corners left he took the inner line and crashed on to Gabriela Jilkova, who spun. Meanwhile, Sarah Moore from Bangalore Speedsters took the leading position. Nikhil was quick enough to recover and rejoin and finished in second position.

But a 15­second penalty was awarded to Nikhil Bohra from Godspeed Kochi for causing an avoidable collision that pushed him out of the podium position to fourth. Akash Gowda from Speed Demons Delhi finished in second position while Sai Sanjay from Chennai Turbo Riders completed the podium in third.

RACING LEAGUE

Indian Racing League Race 2 winners

Indian Racing League Race 1 winners

Sarah Moore from Bangalore Speedsters winner Race2

IRL Race 2 chequered flag

Winning moments DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024 autotrack.ind.in 05

Rishab Jain in race 1

Indian Formula 4

In Race 1, Akshay Bohra from Godspeed Kochi made history winning the first Indian F4 race followed by Rishon Rajeev from Speed Demons Delhi in second and Shahan Ali Mohsin from Hyderabad Black Birds in third.

And Mohsin's teammate, Alex Sawer settled for fourth while Rishab Jain from Chennai Turbo Riders came in fifth. Cooper Webster of Chennai Turbo Riders finished sixth, which got him a pole for Race 2 on Sunday.

Akshay Bohra was on the pole for the first race. In the very first lap, Rohaan Madesh climbed up two positions and meanwhile, Alex Sawer slid two positions down to sixth. With 20 minutes to go, there were two dropouts. First it was Rohaan Madesh in C3, and Arjun Chheda quit after C4.

These two incidents forced a Safety Car which went on for 10

minutes. The track went green with 10min to go, and once the Safety Car was out it was race as usual. In the last minute, Alex Sawer managed to go past Rishab Jain and Cooper also started to close in on his teammate Rishab. And twice, it was very close but Rishab defended well. By then half of the track was experiencing rain and the last two laps were under heavy rain. Meanwhile, the race was held under yellow flags till the end.

Race 2: It was a reverse grid for the top­6 and Cooper Webster from Chennai Turbo Riders who was on pole. Webster got to turn one first despite wheel spins for many and Rishab Jain who started on P2, kept Rishon behind. Rishon started fifth on the grid and in the very first lap he managed to scale up to third position.

O6 autotrack.ind.in DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024

Shahan Ali Mohsin went down by two places to sixth behind Akshay Bohra and was ahead of Rohaan Madesh. The battle for the second place between five cars was within the same second.

As all was going well Rishab Jain entered the grass and could rejoin only in 5th position after being hit on the back by Rishon in the third minute before a right hander. Alex Sawer also damaged his car's front wing and dropped down to seventh and further to 9th and ended last.

Cooper Webster dominated the race and with a lead of over 6 seconds he won. Rishon Rajeev from Speed Demons Delhi had finished second but a 15­sec penalty for causing an avoidable collision pushed him down to fourth. Akshay Bohra from Godspeed Kochi was promoted to second as he finished with over 7­sec difference. Shahan Ali

Mohsin from Hyderabad Black Birds completed the podium with a further 12­sec difference.

Rishab from Chennai Turbo Riders finished fifth and Rohaan Madesh from Bengaluru Speedsters was sixth.

Race 3: Akshay Bohra was on the pole for the second time this round as he had the second­best qualifying time. Rishon Rajeev and Alex Sawer were behind him.

It was a clean start at the first corner and Cooper Webster who started fifth on the grid managed to climb two places and got into third. Midway through the first lap, a wrong move by Bohra at a left hander pushed Rishab Jain and Rishon Rajeev on to the grass and they lost placings.

Rishon after starting second on the grid slipped to 8th position while Rishab rejoined in the last position.

Bohra after this move lost the

lead to Cooper but was quick enough to reclaim in the next right hander while exiting the grass from the inner. In the next lap on a right hander, Alex and Nooris made a wild turn and slid into the grass. He did come back on to the track immediately.

Nooris overtook Rohaan Madesh and Madesh was quick enough to regain.

Formula 4 Race 3 winners pre penalties

With 21minutes left, Nooris headed back to the pits. Slowly, Rishon Rajeev was climbing up the order and with 13 minutes left, he went past Madesh and was trying to get closer to Shahan Ali Mohsin. From 5 seconds, he cut down the lead to just over half a second but as he

RACING LEAGUE

was losing grip, later on he decided to finish behind him.

Akshay Bohra from God Speed Kochi was the first to take the chequered flag but the two dangerous moves during the race pulled him down as he was awarded with a total of 25 seconds penalties for causing an avoidable collision.

Thus, Cooper Webster from Chennai Turbo Riders was declared the winner followed by Alex Sawer from Hyderabad Black Birds and his teammate Shahan Ali Mohsin finished third.

Rishon Rajeev from Speed Demons Delhi was fourth and Rohaan Madesh from Bengaluru Speedsters was fifth.

Formula 4 Race 1 winners

Akshay Bohra leading in race1 DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024 autotrack.ind.in 07

Brilliant brace for Ruhaan Alva and Jigar Muni JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship dishes out exciting races

B

rilliant driving by Ruhaan Alva got him a double victory in the Formula LGB4 and Jigar Muni too showed equal skill to bag a brace in the JK Tyre Novice Cup race of the 26th JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship at the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore recently.

In the post­event scrutiny five drivers were disqualified from the Formula LGB4 races and three in the Novice Cup races.

LGB Formula 4 Five topline drivers lost their position and points on the final day. Arya singh, Tijil Rao, Diljith TS, Viswas Vijayaraj and Sarosh Hataria were disqualified and excluded for technical infringements in both the final­ day races. Thus new leaders made their way into the points table after post­event scrutiny.

Arya began on a winning note, baggin the Race 1 with ease. Starting from P3, the Kolkata racer quickly exerted his dominance and sneaked into the lead in the first lap itself while overtaking his senior teammate TS Diljith. But Diljith kept up the pressure and got the lead back in the next lap only to hand it back to Arya.

However, with the Safety Car out in the fourth lap, it was expected the one behind the leader would make up most of the lost ground and press hard to narrow the gap. But, Arya drove with guile and precision to keep his nose ahead with gritty defence.

Diljith kept the pace on but could not find a way past and eventually had to rest content with the second spot. Championship leader Tijil Rao of Dark Don Racing looked good to secure a third­place finish but his joy was short­lived as Ruhaan Alva of MSport took him by surprise in the final corner for a place on the podium.

The second race turned out to be an anti­climax. It was a Safety­Car finish due to a collision in the penultimate lap. Diljith was at his fiery best and led the pack till the eighth lap before the Safety Car came out for the first time. The introduction of the Safety Car cut short his momentum and Arya took his chance to shoot into the lead.

Diljith just could not recover after the Safety Car incident and despite O8 autotrack.ind.in DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024

Winners of Race 1 of JK Tyre Novice Cup

4W NATIONAL RACIING

Winners of JK Tyre Novice Cup Race 1

Winners of JK tyre presents 250 Cup DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024 autotrack.ind.in 09

Action from race 2 of LGB Formula 4

giving his best, he could not overtake Arya. And with just over a lap remaining, the Safety Car came out again which slowed down the pace helping Arya register his second win of the day. Diljith finished behind him while Ruhaan Alva of MSport who overtook Tijil and others in front of him before the yellow flag was waved to finish third.

Arya stole the limelight winning both the races in style the other day. It did raise his confidence levels but despite the wins, he decided to play it smart. He went straight into the opening race of the day, which turned out to be a tight affair. Starting on pole in Race 3, he quickly jumped into the lead. Diljith played catch­up and, at one stage, even managed to go ahead but Arya shut the door on him quickly.

Diljith was not the one to give in.

He put pedal to the metal a bit more aggressively and, this time around, he nosed ahead. From there, the duo exchanged

positions a couple of times.

Midway through, Tijil Rao (Dark Don Racing) joined the action and had the large crowd roaring in delight.

Arya began to feel the heat but the deployment of a Safety Car gave him breathing space. He managed to pull a gap and played it safe over the last five laps to take the lead and took the flag first. Tijil finished second as Diljith came third.

Ruhaan Alva from MSport was the winner with a total time of 19min 29.291sec. Saran Vikram Tmars from Mars Racing with over a second difference finished second and Dhruvh Goswami from MSport came in third with less than a second difference.

The Race 4 turned out to be really tight for Dark Don Racing as the reverse grid came into play. But the boys did the team proud yet again sweeping the podium in the 20­lap event.

Starting on P9, Diljith for once held his nerve despite the

1O autotrack.ind.in DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024

pressure from the back of the pack. Having surged ahead from back to the front, the Kerala racer upped the pace and kept increasing the lead to win in style.

Tijil Rao and Arya Singh battled hard from the start to finish second and third, respectively, much to the joy of the team.

Ruhaan Alva from MSport was the winner with a total time of 27min 50.308sec. His teammate Mira Erda finished second with a difference of 5sec and Saran Vikram Tmars from Mars Racing completed the podium with a further over one­second difference.

JK Tyre Novice Cup On the final day in post­event scrutiny, three drivers Arjun S Nair, Neythan McPherson and Joel Joseph were disqualified and excluded for technical infringement. All three lost their final­day placings and points.

Arjun S Nair and Neythan McPherson won a race each on

Day 1 but it came with a lot of sweat. Championship leader Arjun pulled off a comfortable win in the first race but met his match in McPherson in the second race that went down to the wire.

Race 1 was dominated by Momentum Motorsport. Arjun won the race defeating Neythan McPherson by 800th of a second. Jigar Muni with less than a second difference finished third.

McPherson handled the pressure­cooker situation well to finish on top of the podium in Race 2. Arjun had to rest content with the second position while Jigar Muni came third.

Thus the new leaders were winner Jigar Muni from Momentum Motorsports, who beat MSport's Aman Nagdev by over a second and Abhay M finished third with less than a second deficit.

In the final race, it was Arjun S Nair of Momentum Motorsports

who once again proved to be the best as he dominated from pole to win the race comfortably. The Bengaluru driver is currently leading the points table.

However, it was the fight for second and third place which intrigued everyone. Joel Joseph of DTS Racing and Jamie Jamshed Shaw of Momentum lit up the day with their skills behind the wheels.

While they were not quite in the reckoning for the initial few laps, they took advantage of the Safety Car in the fourth lap and dished out a performance to remember. Both were engaged in a fierce battle and kept the pressure on each other with fortunes fluctuating frequently.

However, it was Joel of Bengaluru who kept his composure and took the second position ahead of Mumbai's Jamie in a photo finish.

With the disqualification of the three drivers, Jigar Muni won his second podium. Jamie Jamshed Shaw from Momentum Motorsports was second and Abhay M came third.

JK Tyre presents Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup:

Md Samuel Zubair stole the show in Race 1, as he zoomed

4W NATIONAL RACIING

past the elite professionals to win his first podium in the championship. It was not an ideal start for the riders as an incident in the first corner of the opening lap slowed everyone down and they put forth their skills as they had to avoid running into the heap and stay in contention.

Zubair, who began on P4 started patiently and did not take any risks. It was only in the fourth lap, after a slight hesitation from Bengaluru's Jagadeesh Nagaraj on the home straight, he zoomed into the lead and finished off in style. Jagadeesh took the second position while his city­mate Abhishek Vasudev finished third.

Winners of Race 2 of LGB Formula 4 on day 1

In Race 2, it was Bengaluru's Jagadeesh Nagaraj who took the podium amidst firm challenge from his counterparts.

Compatriot Ullas Nanda and Abhishek Vasudev came second and third respectively to cap off a wonderful day for Bengaluru.

JK Tyre presents 250 Cup

Hubballi's Sarvesh Balappa claimed the top spot with a lead of over 7 seconds. Aldrin Babu of Chalakudy came second. The last spot on the podium was taken by Ashish Patel of Vadodara.

Winners of LGB Formula 4 race 1

Arya Singh of Dark Don Racing in action on day 2

JK Tyre presents 250 cup riders in action

JK Tyre present Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup riders in action DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024 autotrack.ind.in 11

Aditya Swaminathan who scored a double in the MRF F2000 category

Double for Aditya, Chetan and Diana

Bengaluru's Aditya Swaminathan, who notched a double in the MRF F2000 category 12 autotrack.ind.in DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024

NATIONAL RACING

Arjun Balu (39) on way to winning the Indian Touring Cars race

Angad Matharoo clinches MRF Saloon Car championship

PHOTO BY: ANAND PHILAR

B

engaluru's Aditya Swaminathan and Chetan Surineni notched up a double each in the MRF Formula 2000 and F1600 categories, respectively, as the third round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship 2023 concluded at the Madras International Circuit .

Meanwhile, Chandigarh's Angad Matharoo provisionally clinched the championship in the MRF Saloon Car (Toyota Etios) category with five wins from nine starts, besides two podium finishes this weekend.

Also scoring a double over the weekend were Deepak Ravikumar (Chennai, Performance Racing) in Indian Junior Touring Cars, Diljith TS (Thrissur, DTS Racing) in Formula

LGB 1300 and Diana Pundole from Pune in the MRF Saloon Car category. Diana also became the first female driver to score a double in a single round in MMSC National four­wheeler racing championship.

In view of the wet track conditions, the officials decided to run just the touring cars race while postponing the other two races, the MRF Formula 2000/1600 and the MRF Saloon (Toyota Eitos).

During the pre­lunch session, Bengaluru's Aditya Swaminathan, in his debut single­seater season, grabbed the pole position in the MRF Formula 2000 category. Another Bengalurean, Chetan Surineni, topped the charts in the MRF Formula 1600 qualifying session.

Pune's Diana Pundole, a mother

of two, qualified for pole position in the MRF Saloon (Toyota Etios) category as did Nellore's Viswas Vijayaraj (DTS Racing) in the Formula LGB 1300 class.

ITC The eight­lap Race 1 for the touring cars witnessed some drama even before it commenced. Pole­sitter and Balu's teammate Gurunath Meiyappan from Race Concepts, the championship leader, retired with a turbo issue on the outlap itself and could not take the start.

Arjun Balu, the 48­year­old multiple champion from Coimbatore, who had qualified P3, made a great start and overtook Ritesh Rai, the private entrant from Chennai, by Turn­2 in the opening lap and never looked back. His vast experience

was in evidence as he tip­toed past the water puddles around the track with a near­flawless drive and had something to spare at the finish. While Rai came in second with over one second difference, Mumbai's Biren Pithawalla from N1 Racing completed the podium within the same second.

One of the big stories of the day two was scripted by Biren, a 42­ year­old businessman from Mumbai, piloting a Honda Jazz.

He put in a solid performance to win race2, his second of the season after a stirring duel.

Starting from P2 on the reverse grid, Biren overtook pole­sitter and his cousin Anant Pithawalla on Lap 2. With Anant holding off the pursuing cars, Biren made rapid ground to draw clear of the pack. Behind the pair,

DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024 autotrack.ind.in 13

Biren Pithawalla (90) on way to winning the Indian Touring Cars category race

pack. Behind the pair, championship leader Gurunath Meiyappan from Race Concepts, after surviving a contact with defending champion and team­ mate Arjun Balu who then retired, caught up with Biren who gave a fine exhibition of defensive driving to take the chequered flag. Meiyappan finished second with about 0.6 sec difference to stay on top of the leader board while Ritesh Rai from Arka Motorsports came in third with a further difference of over 3sec.

“It is a very special victory today because I won on the track. I had “won” the first race in the previous round, but that was because of penalties to the guys who finished in front of me. So, t h i s i s v e ry s p e c i al an d a culmination of nearly 12 years of hard work that my cousin Ananth Pithawalla and I had put

in,” said Biren.

IJTC In Race 1, behind the ITC cars on the combined grid, Deepak Ravikumar led a podium sweep for Performance Racing with Akkineni Anand Prasad and Srinivas Teja following him home.

Race 2 was no different Deepak finished on top with a lead of over 18sec over the second finisher Akkineni and Srinivas with further 7­sec difference finished third.

Superstock Mumbai's Zahan Commissariat drove well to take the honours in race1with a lead of 3 sec to snap a six­race win spree of TS Diljith from DTS Racing who finished second ahead of Jarshan Anand from DB Motorsport with over 1lap further difference.

Diljith was back in his winning spree in Race2 he finished on top

14 autotrack.ind.in NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2023

with a total time of 20min 56.57sec, Mumbai driver Manan Patel from Redline Racing finished second and Yokeshwaran K from Coimbatore representing Momentum Motorsports finished third.

MRF Saloons (Toyota Etios) The 28­year­old from Pune,

Meiyappan with his Tuner

Diana Pundole, a mother of two, won Race­1 from lights to flag after opening a sizeable lead in the early part of the 10­lapper to notch her maiden win in this category with a lead of over 2sec over Angad Matharoo from Chandigarh. Jai Prashanth Venkat from Coimbatore with

less than a second deficit settled for third.

In the next outing, she started from P5 on the reverse grid, but battled her way to the front and went on to achieve a double with a lead of over a second on the second position finisher Angad Jai Prashanth finished third with over 4­sec further difference.

Zahan Commissariat from Mumbai topped Race­3 following a time penalty to P1 finisher Matharoo. Zahan managed to keep Jai Prashanth behind him with a two second difference as Kalim Iqbal from Colombo with further less than a second difference finished third.

Formula LGB 1300 Diljith from DTS Racing was virtually gifted the win in Race­1 as pole­sitter Viswas Vijayaraj, leading by the proverbial mile, went off the track at Turn­1, damaging the nose cone besides losing brakes. Yet, the Nellore youngster re­joined the race and managed to survive the final two laps to come in second behind Thrissur's Diljith with a difference of 5sec. Chennai's Deepak Ravikumar from Ahura Racing was two seconds slower to finish third. Diljith later easily won Race­2 for a double managing to keep Bengaluru boy Tijil Rao from Momentum Motorsports behind him by over 9sec, Raghul Rangasamy from Mahabalipuram representing MSport just over half a second behind settled for third.

MRF Formula 2000 Aditya Swaminathan from Chennai, starting from pole, took the honours in Race 1 by clocking 16min 02.814sec for the 10 laps. Bengaluru boy Rohaan Madesh with about 0.6 second difference finished in second position as Chetan Korada from Chennai finished behind him with over 5­sec further deficit.

Without much ado but had to fight hard for the win in the next after starting from P5 on the reverse grid was Swaminathan finishing with about 0.6 second ahead of Arya Singh from Kolkata. Sandeep Kumar from

NATIONAL RACING

Chennai secured the podium in third position with over a second difference.

Championship leader Sandeep Kumar from Chennai salvaged his weekend by winning Race 3, edging out Kolkata's Arya Singh in a close finish, Rohaan Madesh also finished a very close third.

MRF F1600 Bengaluru boy Chetan Surineni won Race 1. Viswas Vijayraj from Nellore took second with just

over a second difference. Aman Nagdev from Noida finished third with a lap deficit.

Winner Mumbai's Veer Sheth managed to hold off Viswas Vijayaraj in Race 2 with about 5­ sec and Aman completed the podium.

The final race of this round once again belonged to Surineni for the second time he was able to finish very close ahead of Viswas and so did Sheth to finish third.

Pune's Diana Pundole

Viswas Vijayaraj, who took pole position in the Formula LGB 1300 category NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2023 autotrack.ind.in 15

Rajiv Sethu champion in Pro-Stock 301 to 400cc Open category

Rajiv Sethu, on way to winning the Pro­Stock 301­400cc Open race 1

Girls' title for Lani Zena Fernandez; Vignesh Goud tops Novice class

PHOTO BY: ANAND PHILAR

T

hough he was denied a ninth­straight win, Rajiv Sethu, the 25­year­old from Chennai, crowned himself champion in the premier Pro­ Stock 301­400cc Open category on debut as the fifth and final round of the MRF MMSC fmsci

Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2023 concluded at the Madras International Circuit on October 22.

Also clinching the National titles were Hyderabad's Vignesh Goud of Race'ists Motorcycle

16 autotrack.ind.in DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024

Club (Novice ­ Stock 165cc) and Puducherry's Lani Zena Fernandez of RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate (Girls ­ Stock 165cc). The championship standings in the Pro­Stock 165cc Open category were not declared pending settlement of

a disputed result in Round 4.

Pro­Stock 301 to 400cc Open class Sethu from RACR Castrol Power 1 Ultimate effectively sealed the championship in the very first race with his win­spree and

extended his lead to 97 points with one more race to be run on the final day and 25 points on offer. Hyderabad's Rahil Pillarisetty from KTM Gusto Racing and TVS Petronas Racing's KY Ahamed finished a distant second and third, respectively, after being outpaced in the four­lapper, reduced from scheduled six following a red­flag stoppage.

Meanwhile, pole­sitter Sarthak Chavan from Petronas TVS Racing retired due to engine issues on the out lap and did not take the start.

Even as Sethu, nursing an injured left shoulder, delivered a third­ straight rider championship to his team, RACR Castrol Power1, it was the young Pune rider Sarthak Chavan, the 16­year­old from the Petronas TVS Racing stable scripted a stirring win after starting from P17. He passed a flagging Sethu on the

last lap for the biggest victory of his blossoming National Championship career.

Finishing second behind Sarthak was his teammate, the16­year­ old Bengalurean Chiranth Vishwanath, after a good move on Sethu who settled for a third place. The P3 did not matter for Sethu as he had already taken an unbeatable lead in the points table going into the race.

Pro­Stock 165cc Open The day's big surprise result came in Race 1 that saw the 22­ year­old Senthil Kumar taking victory despite starting from P8 on the grid. He was running third towards the fag­end of the six­ lap race after some big names, including two Pacer Yamaha riders Prabhu Arunagiri and Mathana Kumar, besides Petronas TVS Racing's KY Ahamed and Jagan Kumar, dropped out of contention due to various reasons.

2W RACING NATIONALS

Senthil Kumar, winner of the Pro­Stock 165cc Open race 1

Rajiv Sethu ­ National champion in the Pro­Stock 301­400cc Open

Abdul Basim who took pole position in the Novice (Stock 165cc) category DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024 autotrack.ind.in 17

Sarthak Chavan ­ pole position in the Pro­Stock 301­400cc Open category

Chasing two teenagers from the Petronas TVS Racing team, Sarthak and Chiranth Vishwanath, Senthi, the Coimbatore rider, whose last win in the National championship was in 2018 in the Novice category, suddenly found himself in front as the two youngsters tangled and crashed at the last corner of the last lap.

However, both rejoined the race.

Chiranth was docked a 10­ second penalty for "causing an avoidable collision" and it dropped him to sixth while Sarthak moved up a spot to third behind Senthil Kumar and Bengaluru's Ullas Santrupt Nanda.

Sethu finished the season by winning the Race 2 in style despite starting from P10.

Sarthak and Chiranth took

second and third, respectively.

The race was reduced to five laps following a crash leading to a red flag and re­start. Both the rider and team championship was not declared due to pending enquiry.

Novice (Stock 165cc) category Savion Sabu finally took his first win of the season after a series of podium finishes, in the highly­ competitive race that had a grid of 23 riders.

Starting from P5 on the grid, Savion cut through the front­ runners by the end of Lap­1, building up a sizable lead that kept increasing as the race progressed. The Bengalurean eventually won by the proverbial country mile ahead of a fast­ finishing Chennai teenager Abdul Basim from Gulf Rockers Racing. Basim made

18 autotrack.ind.in DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024

considerable ground after a poor start from pole position. Another Bengalurean, Manvith Reddy from RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate completed the podium.

“Today, I was determined to win the race after having finished second or third in the previous outings. I pushed hard initially and did not look back. I wasn't sure how far behind the rest of the riders were until I turned back after crossing the finish line,” said the teenager.

Meanwhile in Race 2, Bengaluru's Savion Sabu gave a rousing finish to his season by achieving a double.But his winning burst did not stop Vignesh Goud from clinching the championship in this category.

Kaushik Subbiah Ganesan from AS Motorsports finished second and Vadodara rider Aadit Shah

from Axor Sparks Racing finished third.

Lani Zena Fernandez also finished the season on a victorious note, winning the Girls (Stock 165cc) race with ease. The race was reduced to three laps from the scheduled five following a stoppage due to pile­ up in the very first lap and was re­ started. It was her fourth win in nine starts. Nadine Faith Balaji from Alpha Racing and her teammate Adlin Seles both finished a distant second and third respectively.

Support Race – 301 to 400cc Novice Aldrin Babu from Thrissur representing RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate won followed

by Rajeswaran K from Chennai representing KTM Gusto Racing.

Rohith Prasad from Mandya,

representing PRN Motorsports, finished third.

Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup

Chennai's Kavin Quintal scored his sixth win in eight races to assure himself of the title in the NSF 250 Open category going into Sunday's final race of the

season. Another Chennai youngster, Rakshith Dave finished second ahead of Belagavi's Vivek Rohit Kapadia in the six­lap race.

In Race 2 it was Kavin Quintal on top followed by Johann Reeves Emmanuel also from Chennai in second. Mohsin P from Mallapuram finished third.

Petronas TVS One­Make Championship

Open (301 to 400cc, RR 310) Race 1: Bengaluru's Chiranth Vishwanath virtually clinched the title in the Open (RR310) category with his fifth win.

Chiranth held off a strong challenge from Coimbatore's Senthil Kumar C while Romario John from Chennai was placed third.

In Race 2, Bengaluru's Chiranth Vishwanath notched up his sixth win in nine starts holding off Romario John finishing second and G Balaji in third.

TVS e­Motorcycle Time Attack: Sarthak Chavan from Pune clocked the fastest lap in the Time Attack, posting a time of 01min, 47.304secs with a top speed of 186 Kmph. Chiranth Vishwanath from Bengaluru was second quickest in 01:48.066 doing a speed of 179.8 Kmph

2W RACING NATIONALS

while former Moto3 rider from Japan, Hiroki Ono was third best in 01:49.116 (196.8 Kmph).

Chennai girl Nadine Faith Balaji took the honours in the Girls Apache RTR 200 race for her first win that moved her to second spot behind Bengaluru's Nithila Das on the championship table.

Nithila, with three wins, emerged champion despite not participating in the final round.

Coimbatore's Aisvariya V finished third behind Pune's Saimah Baig in today's race.

Media (Apache RTR) In Race 1, the top three finished in the same second. Joel Kolathoor Raju from Thane was the winner followed by Alshin K Thomas from Pune in second and Ananya Awasthi also from Pune finished third. In Race 2, Alshin K Thomas won in a photo finish beating Joel Kolathoor Raju. Punya Prasun Sharma finished third.

Savion Sabu, winner of Novice (Stock 165cc) category race 1

Ryhana Bee who took pole position in the Girls (Stock 165cc) category DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024 autotrack.ind.in 19

MG ­ Unity in Diversity

TEXT: AKSHAYA M PICS. MG MOTOR

Empower Women

I

n our changing times, work lives are moving towards more alternative occupations. People are selecting unconventional jobs. Women are making progressive career choices. MG Motor has always been at the forefront with regard to diversity in the workplace. MG Motor, a 100­ year­old brand, has introduced many opportunities for diversification to empower women. They are also setting a record in the auto industry for a higher percentage of female employees in the workforce. With a workforce comprising around 3000 employees, they have achieved a 37% gender diversity within their workforce, the highest in 20 autotrack.ind.in DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024

the industry, and aim to attain 50% gender parity in the near future.

Equal Opportunity

MG Motor's plant in Halol employs enough women to provide accommodations in two hostels. The facilities are dedicated to providing safe, sanitized, and comfortable living spaces, ensuring our female employees' complete peace of mind and physical well­being. The offering helps enhance the diversity ratio and create a more robust ecosystem for the female workforce.

During the hiring process for the Halol plant,

MG forged inclusivity by inviting individuals of all genders to ensure equal opportunities to operate the heavy welding machines. The response was enthusiastic, with both women and men actively participating and showcasing their skills. The female candidates exhibited remarkable accuracy and precision in their work, highlighting their exceptional attention to detail. This observation affirmed the value of diversity in the workforce and demonstrated the unique strengths that women bring to traditionally male­dominated fields.

“Diversity and Inclusion is a key driver for a

“

MG promoted a notable initiative, the 'Drive Her Back' program offering a one­year returnee­ship opportunity for experienced women seeking to rejoin the workforce. Under this program, the selected women will gain access to coaching to help them regain corporate vigour and strike a work­life balance. They will also be assigned internal mentors to best adapt to the corporate environment and will also get access to networking opportunities and professional development. With networking and professional development prospects, 'Drive Her Back' has empowered over 60 women across various domains at MG Motor India, attracting more than 1,500 applications.

The MG Womentorship program, dedicated to empowering women entrepreneurs has made a significant impact on over 20,000 lives. The MG Changemakers initiative recognises and celebrates individuals who have been instrumental in driving positive societal change within their communities. Presently, MG's female associates are trained in all sections of automobile manufacturing operations.

Unconventional Calling

“

company's success. We believe that women empowerment boosts economic diversification, income equality, and other positive developmental outcomes within their families and communities. At MG, we have female associates working in entire automotive operations starting from supply chain to press shop, welding, brazing, spray painting, assembly activities, to sales and aftersales.

From being a 'good to have' aspect for the business, diversity has now become a competitive advantage for organizations by enabling enhanced innovations, diverse ideas, and a more sustainable organization”, says Yeshwinder Patial, Senior Director, Human Resources, MG Motor India.

At the MG manufacturing unit, they have a diverse group of

women contributing their expertise in various fields.

Kailash Shikari brings her expertise in door fitment to the Body Shop while also providing support to her family, Gayatri Bhoi, a single mother, demonstrates her skills in spray painting at the Paint Shop. Kajal Varia excels in e­mobility function checking and high chassis underbody axle fitment in the General Assembly shop, while efficiently managing her family responsibilities. Priyanka Bamaniya's proficiency in underbody quality testing adds significant value to the Quality Testing department.

“We believe that women empowerment boosts economic diversification, income equality, and other positive developmental outcomes within their families and communities. At MG, we have female associates working in entire automotive operations starting from supply chain to press shop, welding, brazing, spray painting, assembly activities, to sales and after sales”.

Yeshwinder Patial, Senior Director HR, MG Motor India

Women on shopfloor

Diversity in MG Motor India is more than just a balanced gender ratio, promoting diversity and inclusion represents people from various backgrounds, ethnicities, regions, religions, and genders.

They have instituted efforts to improve the representation of women across different levels and roles within the organization including hiring women at the various levels; Graduate Engineering Trainees (GETs), Diploma Engineering Trainees (DETs), Management Trainees (MTs), Post Graduate Engineering Trainees (PGETs) and Interns. In these roles, they have observed a boost in the hiring ratio of women, ensuring a strong and diverse talent pool.

DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024 autotrack.ind.in 21

They have developed inclusive policies that promote equal opportunities, non­ discrimination, and work­life balance and cater to the diverse needs of the employees. They regularly conduct employee surveys to gauge the effectiveness of diversity and inclusion initiatives. They value feedback from their employees and use it to continually improve their practices. They collaborate with external organizations, conferences, forums, and NGOs that specialize in diversity and inclusion. These partnerships enable them to learn from experts, share best practices, and contribute to the broader D&I community.

Future Leaders

The company has actively recruited women from various sectors beyond automotive, such as FMCG and E­commerce, acknowledging the value brought in from the perspectives and experiences of a diverse workforce.

Talent Pool

MGI is taking several steps to ensure an inclusive ecosystem and support the integration of diverse backgrounds. They are targeting the untapped potential with initiatives such as Drive Her Back, hiring fresh talent from campus, incentivising our

search partners, and gender­neutral job descriptions. They are investing in infrastructure to ensure that the workplace is accessible and inclusive for individuals with diverse abilities which includes implementing measures to accommodate individuals with disabilities and providing necessary resources and facilities. They have revamped their recruitment processes to ensure a diverse candidate pool and reduce biases along with establishing mentorship programs to support individuals from underrepresented backgrounds and help them thrive in their roles.

From empowering women in leadership positions to drive strategic decisions and foster organizational growth to leveraging their expertise and innovative thinking in technical roles, their commitment is to create an environment where women are given ample opportunities to thrive and excel. MG recognizes and harnesses their unique strengths and perspectives, contributing to their personal growth as well as the overall success of our company. They also upskill the current female employees for leadership roles.

“Our unwavering dedication and commitment drive us as we work towards this goal, fostering an inclusive environment that welcomes and embraces a diverse workforce”, concludes Patial.

‘Drive Her Back‘ initiative 22 autotrack.ind.in DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024

RALLY

COFFEEDAY

TSD RALLY

1300

2500

OO autotrack.ind.in AUGUST 2022

AUGUST 2022 autotrack.ind.in 00

Ever­ready for service

The Bengaluru based ReadyAssist made a revolution in automotive assistance

I

n the dynamic landscape of the automotive industry, innovation and adaptability are paramount. ReadyAssist, a provider of automotive assistance services has emerged as a transformative force, reshaping the way the facility is perceived and delivered. From its inception, the company has not merely responded to industry changes but has been at the forefront, driving innovation and setting new standards.

Vimal Singh founded the business after he lost a friend to a tragic accident. Intending to revolutionize emergency assistance, ReadyAssist started the platform as an accidental emergency vehicle assistance, connecting stranded motorists with nearby service providers.

The focus was not just on quick solutions but on delivering a seamless and reliable experience

in times of distress. This ethos laid the foundation for ReadyAssist to evolve beyond traditional roadside assistance.

"At ReadyAssist, our journey is marked by a relentless commitment to service excellence and a profound understanding of the evolving needs in the automotive industry. Witnessing our growth is not just a testament to our capabilities but also a reflection of the trust our customers and partners place in us.

Additionally, at our core, we also believe in the transformative power of upskilling and empowering our service network of mechanics across the country. They are the backbone of our operations and hold the key to catalyzing our vision of building a robust service infrastructure for the next generation of vehicles in India.

24 autotrack.ind.in DECEMBER 2023 / JANUARY 2024

Our commitment to their growth mirrors our commitment to shaping the future of automotive service as we expand our footprint, we remain dedicated to redefining the standards of vehicle assistance, setting the stage for a future where mobility is seamless and support is unwavering”, says Vimal Singh SV, Founder & CEO, ReadyAssist.

“At the heart of my entrepreneurial journey with ReadyAssist lies a deep­seated commitment to empower the b a c k b o n e o f o u r operations—the mechanic and assistance community.

Recognizing their pivotal role in ensuring the smooth functioning of our service network, we've undertaken significant initiatives to uplift and upskill these professionals. By providing comprehensive training programs, we aim to not only enhance their technical capabilities but also to elevate their status within the automotive service ecosystem.

Our vision extends beyond

business success; it encompasses a genuine dedication to the welfare of those who form the bedrock of our operations. Moreover, our commitment to road safety goes hand in hand with empowering our service providers. We understand that their proficiency and dedication directly contribute to safer roads. By fostering a community that is well­equipped, informed, and empowered, we aim to enhance the overall safety landscape. ReadyAssist's journey is not just about creating a successful business; it's about fostering a culture of support, empowerment, and safety within the mechanic and assistance community, creating a positive ripple effect for all stakeholders involved”, adds Mr Vimal Singh Improvement in Expertise While ReadyAssist began by addressing immediate breakdown concerns, it quickly recognized the need for a

holistic approach to vehicle care.

This realization led to the expansion of services into a full­ stack service provider that offers assistance during emergencies as well as comprehensive vehicle maintenance and repair solutions.

As the automotive landscape underwent a paradigm shift with the rise of electric vehicles (Evs), ReadyAssist proactively embraced this change. The company also had the foresight to recognize that there was a need for more skilled EV mechanics. To fulfil this need, they launched Mecademy, an in­ house training initiative.

Mecademy has played a pivotal role in upskilling mechanics, ensuring a workforce ready to cater to the evolving needs of the electric vehicle segment.

Innovation in Service Delivery

The company's commitment to innovation is exemplified by its seamless integration of technology. The company's app not only streamlines the assistance request process but also provides real­time updates to users. This approach enhances transparency, builds reliability and ensures trustworthiness, factors that are essential in a wholly customer­facing business.

ReadyAssist has forged strategic collaborations with top Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), strengthening its position as a preferred service partner. These partnerships go beyond traditional service models, often involving joint initiatives for skill development, infrastructure building, and contributing to the growth of the EV ecosystem.

Joining hands with new partners Omega Seiki, a pioneer in the electric vehicle industry, established a strategic partnership with ReadyAssist for all OSM's deployed three­

wheelers. Revamp Moto, a modular EV manufacturer forged an alliance with ReadyAssist for their electric two­wheeler roadside assistance. Other EV manufacturers such as Lectrix EV and Simple Energy have also partnered with ReadyAssist to offer round­the­clock emergency support to their 2­ wheeler customers. These collaborations aim to implement an unparalleled roadside assistance program and contribute to a seamless and satisfying customer experience.

merely adapting but actively contributing to shaping the future of mobility.

Future Roadmap Looking ahead, ReadyAssist envisions a future where vehicle assistance is not just a reactive service but an integral part of the overall vehicle ownership experience. The company is committed to furthering its efforts in skilling mechanics, embracing emerging technologies, and playing a

pivotal role in the widespread adoption of electric vehicles.

In conclusion, ReadyAssist's transformative journey is a testament to its resilience, adaptability, and commitment to quality. From being a platform for emergency assistance to evolving into a comprehensive vehicle service provider, ReadyAssist has not just kept pace with industry changes but has become a trailblazer, steering the industry toward a future of innovation and customer­centric service.

Industry Recognition The industry has taken note of ReadyAssist's transformative journey. The company's initiatives, including Mecademy, h a v e r e c e i v e d acknowledgement and appreciation. Awards such as the "Best Innovative CSR Project" for the MasterChef Initiative and the "Partner Engagement Award" for Mecademy at the 9th Edition Corporate Social Responsibility Summit and Awards highlight ReadyAssist's commitment to excellence.

ReadyAssist's commitment extends beyond business operations. The MasterChef Initiative, where employees contribute to charity through cooking, showcases the company's dedication to corporate social responsibility.

This initiative is not just about financial contributions but also about fostering a sense of community and shared responsibility among employees.

As the automotive industry faces challenges like the transition to EVs and the shortage of skilled mechanics, ReadyAssist has demonstrated an ability to navigate these hurdles. By addressing the shortage of EV­ trained mechanics through Mecademy and actively participating in industry discussions on topics like battery swapping, ReadyAssist is not

DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024 autotrack.ind.in 25

Samuel, Nataraj keep toppers Tanveer, Rajendra behind

PHOTO BY: GHANSHYAM A TIWARI

T

here were smiles on the faces of the riders as almost all of them had a positive and satisfactory event. For the first time, they had an opportunity to go flat out as the course helped them to try out their machines to the fullest of their capacity.

While the Stage 1 was technical, Stage 2 was too fast to handle. The stage, after a span of two decades, was in the menu for the 4th round of the MRF Mogrip FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship for 2­ wheelers (INRC). Organsied by KMSC, the K1000 Rally had about 64kms of stage distance from two stages which were run twice.

Samuel Jacob from Petronas TVS Racing spun a surprise by keeping his teammates and championship leaders behind him with close­to­a­ minute lead. He dominated three out of four stages and with a total time of 47min 33.455sec, he was the winner of the MRF Mogrip K1000 Rally, the fourth round of the MRF Mogrip FMSCI INRC held around Gubbi about 120 km from Bengaluru.

First runner­up Nataraj 26 autotrack.ind.in DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024

Privateer makes his way to the top three for the first time this season. It was none other than, Nataraj R, his ex­ teammate, now rallying for VM Sports Foundation. With a 52­sec difference Nataraj settled for second. He was also the fastest in Stage 2. The championship leader, Abdul Wahid Tanveer from Petronas TVS Racing, finished third with a further

difference of 3 sec.

Defending champion Rajendra RE, also from Petronas TVS Racing, with a further difference of 56 sec finished fourth. Imran Pasha was another 1min 11sec behind in fifth. While the three Hero Motosports team riders T Arun, Yuva Kumar and Karan Kumar finished in sixth, seventh and eighth positions respectively.

2W RALLY NATIONALS

Winner Samuel Jacob

T Arun was 8­sec behind to settle for sixth and Yuva Kumar from Hero Motosports was further 44­ sec adrift and his teammate Karan was 1min 18sec further down for 8th. Sachin D from Petronas TVS Racing finished ninth with a further difference of 9 sec which included 10­sec Liaison penalty. Pavan BK from VM Sports Foundation finished 10th.

Overall winners DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024 autotrack.ind.in 27

Imran Pasha winner of Super Sport 260 GroupB

Super Bike Pro­Expert Group A: Petronas TVS Racing riders dominated the class. Samuel Jacob won the class beating teammate Abdul Wahid Tanveer by 54 sec. Rajendra RE, also from the TVS stable, finished third another 55­sec adrift. Yuva Kumar from Hero Motosports was a distant fourth as he finished 2min 03sec behind.

Aishwarya PM, the only lady competitor participating along with men in this class, is also from Petronas TVS Racing and she finished fifth a further 5min 44sec behind.

followed by Yogesh P in second, 29sec adrift from the winner, which included 10­sec Liaison penalty. Varun Kumar A came third a further 50­sec behind.

Mahesh Chandu MN missed the podium and finished fourth within a second of the third­ placed rider. Francis PV, who made a comeback after recovering from a multiple leg fracture, had to settle for fifth, another 15­sec behind. Anoop Super Sport 500 GroupB winners

Super Bike Expert Group A: Nataraj R from VM Sports Foundation won with a total time of 48min 24.729sec beating Amog Nag, a privateer from Bengaluru, by 5min 24sec including a 10sec liaison penalty.

Kuttappa NS, who made his come back into rallying after a long gap, managed to finish on the podium in third position with a further difference of 1min 24sec. Venu Ramesh Kumar from Coimbatore came fourth another 1min 58sec behind.

Super Sport 165 Group B: Abrar Pasha won the class with a total time of 56min 09.002sec

260 GroupB first runner­up Arun T

Ladies class winner Tanika Shanbagh

28 autotrack.ind.in DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024

2W RALLY NATIONALS

Pro Expert GroupA winners

Manjappa finished sixth with a further difference of 2min 20sec which included 20sec Liaison penalty.

Super Sport 260 Group B: Petronas TVS Racing rider Imran Pasha, who also finished in the overall top­five, won the class with a total time of 50min 34.636sec. T Arun, from Hero Motosports, followed him in second position with a difference of 7sec while his teammate Karan Kumar finished in third position another 2min 2sec behind. Sachin D from Petronas TVS Racing with 10­sec

Ladies class winners

liaison penalty was about 8­sec adrift and missed the podium.

Pavan BK from VM Sports foundation settled for fifth, with a further 31sec difference over the Petronas TVS Racing rider Banteilang Jyrwa, who came sixth.

Super Sport 400 Group B: Russel Jossey from VM Sports Foundation won the class in 54min 30sec beating Rohit Shinde by 2min 58sec, which included 1min 10sec of liaison penalty. Aakash Aithal, also from VM Sports Foundation, came third with a further difference of

Expert GroupA winners

Super Sport 260 GroupB winners

Super Sport 500 GroupB winner Md Zaheer

Super Sport 165 GroupB winners DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024 autotrack.ind.in 29

24 penalties. Akash DL Gandhi with a further difference of 2min 11sec was fourth. He also had 10­sec liaison penalty. Prabhu Chandra Mohan was fifth a distant 11min behind.

Star of Karnataka

Scooter Class winners

Super Sport 550 Group B: Mohammed Zaheer from Bengaluru finished on top with a total time of 55min 48sec. He was followed in second by Sharath Kumar S, from VM Sports Foundation, with a difference of 3min 18sec.

Mahesh Kumarwith was in third a further 46sec behind. Abhijith Sarkar with 6min 23sec deficit was fourth and Naresh VS, also from VM Sports Foundation, took a distant fifth.

Scooter class up to 210cc Group B: Karthik N from Petronas TVS Racing won the class in 1hr 1min 39sec beating teammate Syed Asif Ali by 30sec. Asif lost over two minutes in the third stage as his scooter took a lot of time to restart after it was stuck in water.

Women's class Group B: Tanika Shanbhag, from Hero Motosports, the championship leader was unstoppable as she Pre Event Briefing underway

Scooter class winner Karthik N 30 autotrack.ind.in DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024

2W RALLY NATIONALS

won the class with a total time of 58min 46sec. Her teammate, Tanaya Singh, was 36seconds behind in second position and Remya Ravi was way behind in third.

Super Stock up to 450cc Group D: R Sabarish won the class in 56min 54sec defeating Eldhose P Benny by 2min 1sec. Goutham Rao finished third with over 2sec difference. Nikhil finished fourth another 44sec behind. Naveen Somashekar was fifth another 19sec adrift. M Uday Kumar settled for sixth with a further 9­ sec difference.

Star of Karnataka: T Subramanya from VM Sports Foundation became the Star of Karnataka clocking 1hr 14sec as he beat Madhusudan S, who finished second with a 16­sec difference.

Abrar Ahmed was third another 33­sec behind. Darpan Darshan came fourth taking another 1min 15sec more to finish the course.

Ashwin Anantha Raju and Mohammed Salauddin finished in fifth and sixth positions with a difference of 40sec and 6sec respectively.

SUPERCROSS NATIONALS

Shlok Ghorpade dominates 2 classes but misses the plum

DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024 autotrack.ind.in 31

Prajwal adjudged 'Best Rider of the Day' PHOTO BY: VIKRAM SUNDARAMURTHY

P

rajwal Vishwanath from Petronas TVS Racing came out triumphant in the SX1 class to be adjudged as the 'Best Rider of the Day' while privateer Shlok Ghorpade dominated two classes but missed the top slice by just a point in the SX1 in the fourth round of the MRF Mogrip fmsci Supercross National Championship promoted

by God Speed Racing at Bengaluru in November.

SX1:

Local rider Prajwal V won the top honours with 34 points while Privateer Shlok Ghorpade from Satara with a single point difference lost the top slot and he finished second with 33 points. The remaining three places were also bagged by Petronas TVS Racing riders, Ikshan Shanbhag with 31 points in third, Rugved Barguje with 30 points in fourth and CD Jinan took fifth place with 24 points.

Moto 1, the first race of the day began with a pileup in the first corner as the top­three TVS riders collided but their teammate Prajwal Vishwanath sneaked in to take the lead followed by Shlok Ghorpade in second and retained the positions till Lap 4. Rugved quickly recovered from the first corner crash and started catching up with the tail­enders and in no time, he was running third and was trying to close the gap on Shlok. At that point, Shlok, had gained a lot of ground and was catching up with Prajwal. With two laps left, Shlok was almost next to the leader and was successful in taking the lead. Shlok Ghorpade won the first Moto followed by four Petronas TVS Racing riders Prajwal Vishwanath, Rugved Barguj, CD Jinan and Ikshan Shanbhag, in that order from second to fifth.

Moto 2 turned out to be the thrilling race of the round with positions changing time and again. Shlok Ghorpade got off to a good start and held on to the lead for two laps but the Defending champion and the championship leader Rugved Barguje from Petronas TVS Racing closed in the gap admirably. But in the process, they came in contact with each other twice and on the third attempt Rugved managed to go squeeze past him. But it was never easy to defend his position as Shlok was on him to regain the position. But after trying twice, Shlok crashed before the table­top and could only finish fourth.

It was a very close battle for the third position between the TVS teammates, Ikshan Shanbhag and Prajwal Vishwanath. After some time all the three teammates were in a pack and Ikshan was fast gaining ground, and he tried going past Rugved but was unsuccessful.

However, with two laps remaining Ikshan took the lead even as Rugved started losing ground. Meanwhile, Prajwal was on his neck of Rugved and both were riding very aggressively. In the very last left­ hander on to the final jump, both crashed on to each other. Ikshan finished on top without any hiccups. Prajwal was first to recover and finished second behind Ikshan. Rugved got up and joined to take the third place followed by Shlok and CD Jinan in fourth and fifth, respectively.

Indian Expert Group C: Imran Pasha from Petronas TVS Racing won the Indian Expert Group C followed by Karan Kumar from Hero Motorsports in second. Banteilang Jerwa also from the TVS stable finished third while his teammate Sachin D came fourth. Shailesh Kumar a privateer from Erode was fifth.

Junior SX1: With a total of 40 points from two top finishes Sholk was the winner followed by Jinendra Sanghave in second. Wilmar finished third. Aleena with 24 points finished fourth and Ector with equal points came fifth.

32 autotrack.ind.in DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024

BEST RIDER PRAJWAL VISHWANATH

SUPERCROSS NATIONALS

DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024 autotrack.ind.in 33

40 points. Manikandan finished second while Amal Verghese came third. Ryan Haig finished fourth. All three had equal 30 points. Abdul Lathiff with 21 points was fifth.

Moto 1: Once again, it was a great start for Sholk Ghorpade from Satara as he won the class with over half­a­lap lead over the second finisher Ryan Haig from Kochi. Ryan lost ground from second lap onwards but was comfortably ahead of the third finisher Amal Verghese, also from Ernakulam. Amal had to fight hard with the fourth­placed Manikandan from Coimbatore.

Abdul Lathiff slowly parted away from top three and had to fight it Moto 1: Right from the start, the Moto was dominated by Shlok Ghorpade from Satara. He opened up a huge gap and won the moto with ease. But the real fight was for the second position between Jinendra Sangave from Khalkaranji and Wilmer Balentino from Kochi. Initially Jinendra was just behind Shlok for some time and had a considerable amount of lead over Wilmer but with about four laps to go, he started dropping down due to some issue with the bike and Wilmer went past him and started gaining ground.

With two laps left, Jinendra started to improve upon and reduced his gap but finally had to finish third behind Wilmer.

Bengaluru girl Aleena Shaikh put up a lot of resistance adding up to her talent to keep Shlok behind her while being overlapped for half of the lap and finished fifth behind Ector Ezak from Kochi.

Moto 2: It was a replica of Moto1 for Shlok as he had Jinendra behind him for two laps. And there on it was no looking back for him as he took the chequered flag for a facile victory. Similar situation as Moto1 was witnessed between Jinendra and Wilmer. With 2 laps to go Wilmer managed to overtake Jinendra and lead over him for some time.

But in the very next lap, Jinendra regained his position and finished second followed by Wilmer in third. Aleena Shaikh finished fourth and Ector Ezak was fifth.

Locals: It was a perfect start for Bengaluru's Mohammed Zaheer who managed to lead the way till second lap. Behind him, there was a tussle between Arun T, Yogesh P and Subramanya T. In the second lap, Arun T who was running third managed to go past Subramanya and started to close in on Zaheer. With 4 laps to go, he managed to overtake Zaheer and Arun T from Hassan was the new leader with three laps to go. And there on it was no looking back for Arun, who finish on top with aplomb. The fight for the second position began as Zaheer was a bit slow on the Whoops. That is where he lost two places as the two Bengaluru boys Subramanya and Yogesh overtook him together.

However, the fight for second position intensified and in the midway of the last lap, Yogesh managed to keep Subramanya at bay and finished second behind Arun. Subramanya took third place and Zaheer finished fourth. Arfaz Ahmed from Chamrajnagar came fifth.

SX2: Shlok Ghorpade won both the motos and won the class with

34 autotrack.ind.in DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024

Winners SX1 Indian Expert GroupC winners

hard till the last lap to secure fifth position.

Moto 2: Shlok was unstoppable as he headed for another big win with a very comfortable lead.

Manikandan finished in second position. Amal Verghese had to fight it out with Pavan BK till the last minute while Pavan had a fall, trying to overtake Amal and finished last. Ryan was fourth and Lathiff was fifth.

Junior SX2: Bhairav C with two straight wins accumulated 40 points to emerge triumphant in the Junior SX2 class followed by Chaitanya Joshi in second with 32 points. Sujan J with equal points was third. Darshit Chavan with 26 points came fourth and Svarunh AR with 22 points was fifth.

Moto 1: Bhairav C from Bengaluru never had a good start as he was stuck in fourth in the first corner. But just after that, he managed to close in on Chaitanya Joshi, and with two laps to go he took the lead over Joshi and was on Sujan's neck. In the same lap, he gained the first position and extended his lead to win in front of his home crowd.

Joshi put Sujan under pressure but by then the finish was too close. Sujan J from Coimbatore finished second and Chaitanya Joshi from Pune completed the podium in third. Darshit Chavan from Pune finished fourth and Svarunh AR from Coimbatore came fifth.

Moto 2: Chaitanya Joshi got off to a good start followed by Bhairav C. But after a few distance in the opening lap he was behind Bhairav. At the same time, the fight for third position between Darshit Chavan and Sujan J was on. With two laps left, Sujan managed to go past Darshit. Bhairav was the winner followed by Joshi in second, Sujan in third and Darshit

SUPERCROSS NATIONALS

finsihed fourth. Svarunh AR came fifth.

Private Expert Group C: Jayden WN from Shillong was the leader right from the first corner while Abhishek J from Coimbatore was just behind him in second. And after two laps, Yogesh P who was on his neck managed to overtake him into second. Meanwhile, Abhishek skid on a left hander and by the time he could recover Subramanya and Mohammed Zaheer both from Bengaluru went past him. But the battle for the top position went on till the last minute but Jayden managed to take a hard­fought victory.

Yogesh finished in second position while Subramanya T came third and Mohammed Zaheer, who was just behind him till last, had to settle for fourth.

Abhishek J finished fifth.

Novice Group C: Sachin D from TVS Petronas Racing got off to a good start but he had to fight off the challenge from Karan Kumar from Hero Motorsports, till the end. Jayden was running fourth and he managed to fight it out with Shailesh Kumar in the 3rd lap and went past him to take the third spot. With just one lap to go for the finish, Jayden had issues with his bike and had to pull out.

Thus, Shailesh was back in third position and the tussle for the top slot was decided on the finish point as all three podium finishers had ganged up. Sachin was the winner followed by Karan Kumar in second and Shailesh Kumar from Erode in third. Two Bengaluru boys, Subramanya and Mohammed Zaheer, finished in fourth and fifth positions, respectively.

Demo class: Zaem Abdullah from Kerala was the winner followed by Localite Vismay Ram in second and Sham Aditya from Coimbatore in third. Hani Emaad from Kerala finished fourth.

Junior Sx2 winners

Winners of Sx2 class

Novice GroupC winners

Junior Sx1 winners

DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024 autotrack.ind.in 35

KJ Jacob and Shanmuga triumph at Rally of Hyderabad

36 autotrack.ind.in DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024

NATIONAL RALLYING

Big guns topple as INRC returns to Hyderabad after 17 years

PHOTO BY: KRISHANU CHATTERJEE

K

J Jacob and co­driver Shanmuga SN from Arka Motorsports bagged their maiden big victory as they became the Overall winners of the Rally of Hyderabad, the fourth round of the Blueband Sports fmsci Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) 2023 which concluded at Sanghi Nagar, near Ramoji Film City, on Oct 29. INRC returned to Hyderabad after a gap of 17 years.

Thrissur's KJ Jacob, who made his debut in the INRC in 2015 at K1000 rally in Bengaluru, took his first Overall victory. Ably assisted by co­ driver Shanmuga of Bengaluru, the duo driving an INRC2 spec Volkswagen Polo 1.6 punched above their weight. Hyderabad's tough terrain and, the longest special stage among the current rally venues in, India, proved daunting as the top­three in both the INRC1 and INRC2 and many overnight leaders, fell by the way side in the final stage on Sunday. Of the eight premier class cars, driven by top guns in the country, only Younus Ilyas finished the punishing course.

Vishakh Balachandran and Anil Abbas and young turk Arjun Rajiv and Rohit Gowda, both driving the lower INRC3 spec Polo 1.6 cars finished Overall second and third, respectively. Jacob and Shanmugha also won the INRC2 class while Vishakh and Anil took the INRC3 victory.

Vivek Ruthuparna and co­driver Athreya Kousgi won the INRC4 while talented Pragathi Gowda and Trisha Alonkar bagged the Ladies class.

Baljinder Singh Dhillon and Goutham CP won the Gypsy class.

DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024 autotrack.ind.in 37

Day1: Aroor Arjun Rao, multiple title winner Gaurav Gill and defending champion Karna Kadur failed to finish on the first day. It was interesting to note that the top six Overall finishers of the day were all from lower INRC2 and INRC3 classes.

Top place of the day was held by the Chettinad Sporting driver Mangaluru's Aroor Vikram Rao along with co­driver AG Somayya, who were supported

by MRF, with a thin margin of 4sec over the Bengaluru pair of Chetan Shivaram and E Shivaprakash, who were supported by Yokohama. With a further difference of 20­sec, the Kerala driver Fabid Ahmer and co­driver Jeevarathinam, in JK Tyre colours, were place in third at the end of Day 1.

Jacob KJ along with co­driver

Shanmuga from Arka Motorsports shod on MRF tyres were in fourth position, 35sec behind. Vishakh Balachandran and Anil Abbas from Chettinad Sporting, were another 5 seconds behind in fifth position.

The Bengaluru pair of Arjun Rajiv and Rohit Gowda was in sixth position, with 22sec further difference.

Gaurav Gill along with co­driver Aniruddha Rangnekar, supported by JK Tyre, were leading the rally till stage two by over 40sec. But they fell prey in the final stage of the day after completing just about 15kms due to mechanical breakdown and there on, they decided not to take start on Day 2.

Championship leader Aroor Arjun Rao and Satish Rajagopal's SS1 performance was not to the fullest and in Stage 2 they had to pull out due to drive shaft issues.

Ladies class winners

Pragathi Gowda and Trisha Alonkar winners of Ladies class

First runner­up overall Vishakh Balachandran and Anil Abbas 38 autotrack.ind.in DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024

Prominent drivers like Philippos Matthai and PVS Murthy from Arka Motorsports, supported by MRF, had to pull out just after six kms from the start due to brake­ drum issues. Similar was the case of the Himachal pair of Aditya Thakur and Virender Kashyap from AART Motorsports. The duo supported by MRF had to pull out in Stage 2. Harkrishan Wadia along with Kunal Kashyap began the rally with his just­ procured VW Polo. They had coolant leakage issues along with engine overheating which forced him to pull out mid way of Stage 1. Amittrajit Ghosh from Kolkata along with Ashwin Naik from Mangaluru representing Arka Motorsports were going on well but a puncture and brake issues forced them to cut down their speed and they lost lot of time but still completed all the stages. The pair of Karna Kadur and Vivek Ponnusamy from Arka Motorsports supported by MRF was reeling with electrical issues in the last stage of the day and lost huge time and later had to follow the convoy which was taking the piled up vehicles to the finish. Jahaan Singh Gill and Suraj Keshava Prasad, supported

by JK Tyre, also fell prey in the final stage of the day due to ball joint and drive shaft issues.

NATIONAL RALLYING

Second runner­up Arjun Rajiv and Rohit Gowda

Day 2:

Jacob KJ from Thrissur and Shanmugha from Bengaluru representing Team Arka Motorsports extended the Day 1 lead of 5sec to 41sec in the last stage, and pulled up the top slot over the second finishing pair of Vishakh Balachandran and Anil Abbas from Chettinad Sporting.

Vishakh began the final day with a lead of about 22sec but the Bengaluru pair of the young Arjun Rajiv and Rohit Gowda also from Chettinad Sporting reduced the difference to 12sec on Day 2. But still, they fell short by 10sec and finished in third position.

Jahaan Singh Gill and Suraj Keshava Prasad first runner­up JINRC

The pair of Jason Saldanha along with Thimmanna UB began the day with about 1min difference to the winner. They finally managed to reduce the Day 1 difference by 6sec to secure fourth position. After beginning the day with over 1min 16sec difference, the pair of Yogeshwar Singh Gill and Venu Ramesh Kumar managed to finish fifth with a difference of 2min 32sec with the leader.

Overall winners

The pair of Ritesh Guttedar along with Suraj M began the day with

DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024 autotrack.ind.in 39

about 44sec further difference.

They were behind by 1min 37sec but secured sixth position.

Younus Ilyas, who made a comeback to rallying after a long gap along with Nitin Jacob, finished seventh with a difference of 3min 06sec with the leader. After beginning the day in second position, he ran out of luck with two punctures in both the stages and in the first stage of the day had to replace the tyre and their opportunity to crop up a surprise fizzled out and they finished seventh with a difference of 3min 33sec with the leader.

The Bengaluru pair of Pragathi Gowda and Trisha Alonkar from AART Motorsports, supported

by MRF, managed to climb to sixth position, up from Day 1, to finish ninth with a difference of 3min 58sec with the leader.

Yashas M Nayaka along with Sudhindra Gopalkrishna finished in tenth position with 5min 55sec difference with the leader.

Vikram Rao Aroor who began the day with a leading position, but it was short lived. In the final stage of the day, he had to pull out due to drive shaft issues.

Karna Kadur's Day 2 was no different. Once again the electrical issues cropped up and they had to pull out. Fabid Ahmer after starting third was unable to complete the first stage of the day due to drive shaft issue.

Nikeetaa Takkale and Saminathan first runner­up Ladies class

Philippos Matthai, who rejoined on Day 2, met the same fate of Day 1, as the Brake master cylinder snapped and with nil brake before the high­speed corner, he pulled out. Amittrajit Ghosh also had to pull out in the very first stage of the day due to

Chetan Shivram and Shiva Prakash second runner­up INRC2

puncture and re­occurance of the braking issues. Wheel nuts sheared off and wheel came off in the final stage for the pair Rahul Kanthraj and Vivek Bhatt forcing them to end their run.

Younus Ilyas along with Nitin Jacob were the lone finishers of the class, as seven from this class did not finish.

Day one leaders Vikram Rao aroor and AG Somayya 40 autotrack.ind.in DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024

INRC2: Only four of the total 12 INRC2 cars managed to finish the rally, while this class also managed to produce the overall winner.

Jacob and Shanmugha were the winners of the class with a difference of 2min 32sec over the pair of Ritesh Guttedar and Suraj M. The pair from Bengaluru Chetan Shivram and Shiva Prakash with 1min 01 sec further difference completed the podium. Deepak M along with Uday Kumar came in fourth position.

INRC3: Out of the 23 in fray in this class, nine competitors did not finish. Top two positions were bagged by the Chettinad

NATIONAL RALLYING

Snap Racing, finished second with a difference of 13min 37sec.

Junior INRC: The Bengaluru pair of Arjun Rajiv and Rohit from Chettinad Sporting were the winners while Jahaan Singh Gill along with Suraj Keshava Prasad from Snap Racing, supported by JK Tyre, came second. Vivek Ruthuparna along with Athreya Kousgi completed the podium in third.

Day one first runner­up Fabid Ahmer and Jeevarathinam

Sporting. Vishakh and Anil with a total time of 1:55.18 were the winners followed by Arjun Rajiv and Rohit in second position with a difference of over 10sec.

Jason Saldanha and Thimmu Uddapanda from Coorg representing Dark Don Racing with 36sec further difference stood third. Yogeshwar Singh Gill along with Venu Ramesh

Kumar from Ammyfied Rallying was fourth with a further difference of 8sec. Pragathi Gowda along with Trisha Alonkar from AART Motorsports finished in fifth position with 1min 35sec deficit.

INRC4: Vivek Ruthuparna from Chikkamagaluru and Athreya Kousgi from Mumbai with a total time of 2hr 11min 07sec won the

class followed by Safeekunddin and Arun V in second place, with over 10min 33sec difference.

Ladies Class: The Bengaluru pair of Pragathi Gowda and Trisha Alonkar both from AART Motorsports won the class with a total time of 1hr 58min 7sec. The pair of Nikeetaa Takkale from Pune and Raghuram Saminathan from Coimbatore, representing

Gypsy, a non­championship class, was bagged by Baljinder Singh Dhillon and Goutham CP with a total time of 2:26.23.

Meanwhile, Sanjay Lal and V Sekar from Coimbatore with 47sec deficit stood second and Abhishek Gowda and Dhiraj Manaewere, behind by 51sec, settled for third position.

Dr Akarsh Sundar from Chikkamagaluru and Ravi Kumar Reddy finished in fourth with 2min 24sec further deficit.

Sanjay Agarwal along with Mazdayar Vatcha never had a good rally. They had head gasket leakage issue on Day 1 and after fixing it, on Day 2 in the first stage, they had turbo issue to be sorted out. Once he took the start, he finally managed to finish fifth. Darshan Nachappa logged a DNF.

Abhinav Pratap and Arjun in action

DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024 autotrack.ind.in 41

Rivaan Dev Preetham, Aditya Patnaik, Ishaan Madesh, emerge National champions

PHOTO BY: SHAHJAHAN

A

ditya Patnaik from Mumbai, Ishaan Madesh from Bengaluru and Rivaan Dev Preetam from Chennai emerged champions in their respective categories as the fifth and final round of the Meco­ Fmsci Rotax Max National Karting Championship 2023 concluded at the Meco Kartopia circuit, Bengaluru.

Aditya Patnaik from Rayo Racing topped the Senior Max category with a tally of 408 points, just ahead of Bengaluru's Akshat Mishra with 396 of Peregrine Racing despite finishing fourth in both Pre­Final and Final races.

Pune's Arjun Chheda from Crest Motorsports was third in the championship with 387 points.

Ishaan Madesh from Peregrine Racing, who had dominated the weekend's outings, finished the

season with 439 points in the Junior Max category while fellow­Bengalurean and team­ mate Nikhilesh Raju ended up second, 26 points adrift, but only three ahead of Gurugram's Hunner Singh from Birel Art India.

Rivaan Dev Preetham from MSport took the title in the Micro Max category garnering a total of 413 points, just two clear of team­mate, Bengaluru's Darsh Nawalgaria while Mumbai's Zephaan Ardeshir from Peregrine Racing ended up third on 407.

The three National champions will represent India in the 23rd Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals 2023 scheduled to be held in Bahrain from December 2 to 9.

Earlier, Peregrine Racing made a clean sweep of all three Final

42 autotrack.ind.in DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024

races as Akshat Mishra, Nikhilesh Raju and Zephaan Ardeshir won in the Senior, Junior and Micro Max categories, respectively, on a day that witnessed close racing

Senior Max winners

up and down the grids.

In the 14­lap Senior Max race, Akshat Mishra nursed his P1 position to the finish while Mumbai's Rayo Racing pair of

KARTING NATIONALS

Junior Max winners

Micro Max action

Micro Max winners

was second and Mumbai's Hamza Balasinorwala (Rayo Racing) third. However, Hamza was docked a three­second penalty for false start and dropped to fifth. Consequently, Rivaan Dev Preetham moved up a spot to third. Zephaan did well

to shrug off a five­second penalty in the Pre­Final and fought his way to victory.

Championship leader going into Round­5, Darsh Nawalgaria was a distant seventh after receiving a five­second penalty for an infringement (front bumper).

Junior Max action Senior Max action

Raaj Bakhru and Raiden Samervel came in second and third, respectively. Aditya Patnaik was fourth. The top four had finished in the same order in the Pre­Final race held earlier.

Nikhilesh Raju did well to win a very close Final race ahead of Ishaan Madesh in the Junior Max Final race after being placed third in the Pre­Final.

Gurugram's Hunner Singh (Birel Art India) completed the podium.

In the Micro Max Final race, Zephaan Ardeshir took the honours, while Chennai's Rehan Khan (Momentum Motorsports) DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024 autotrack.ind.in 43

Double for Sandeep Kumar, Chetan Surineni in Formula races

Sandeep Kumar (18), winner of the MRF Formula 2000 race

Triple crown for Anand Prasad, Diljith; Meiyappan tops in Touring Cars

PHOTO BY: ANAND PHILAR

S

andeep Kumar in MRF2000, Chetan Surineni in MRF1600, Gurunath Meiyappan in Touring Cars, Akkineni Anand Prasad in IJTC and Diljith in Superstock dominated their respective classes in the second round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian

National Car Racing Championship 2023 which concluded at the Madras International Circuit, near Chennai, on September 24.

The other winners were Jai Prashanth Venkat, Chetan Surineni, Viswas Vijayaraj and Angad Matharoo in various

44 autotrack.ind.in DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024

categories.

MRF Formula 2000

Sandeep Kumar finished the weekend winning two of the three races. In Race 1, Sandeep Kumar, starting from P3, had to work hard for his success, holding off Bengaluru's Anand Swaminathan and pole­sitter

Arya Singh from Kolkata.

Chetan Korada from Chennai took the honours in Race 2.

Korada brought into play his 17­ year race experience to negotiate a slippery track following heavy overnight rains to win a raging battle against much younger opponents this

morning. The 36­year old Korada, thus became the first­ ever competitor to win a race with a prosthetic leg. It was also his first win in this category.

Sandeep Kumar from Chennai finished second while the youngest Rohaan Madesh from Bengaluru finished third.

Sandeep took his second win of the round with a closely­fought battle with Arya Singh and with over 4­sec difference, he managed to keep Korada behind him third.

MRF Formula 1600

Bengalurean, Chetan Surineni topped the race almost unchallenged as he managed a lead of over 11sec, over Veer Sheth from Mumbai. Suprej Venkat from Coimbatore finished third. Sheth claimed top spot in Race 2 beating Suprej by 5 sec. It was a second weekend win for Surineni, Sheth finished second and Suprej was third in Race 3.

Indian Touring Cars

Veteran Gurunath Meiyappan

NATIONAL RACING

from Race Concepts, who returned to racing last year after a long break, did as he pleased in winning the premier Indian Touring Cars race for a double this weekend as he jumped to the top spot on the points table with a 55­point lead over defending champion and team­ mate Arjun Balu, who opted out of the races after retirement due to electrical issues on Saturday.

Mumbai's Biren Pithawalla from Team N1 Racing took the honours in the Race­1 after pole­ sitter and defending champion Arjun Balu from Race Concepts retired when leading due to an electrical malfunction. Further, Pithawalla gained a spot after race winner Ritesh Rai slipped to second as he was docked 15­ second penalty following an incident involving Gurunath Meiyappan from Race Concepts who came in third. Balu decided to pack up for the weekend, skipping the remaining two races.

Women's class winners MRF Saloons race

Chetan Korada celebrating his win in MRF F2000 Race­2

Jai Prashanth Venkat (4) holding off Angad Matharoo (99) en route to winning Race­2 in the MRF Saloons (Toyota Etios) category

DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024 autotrack.ind.in 45

Viswas Vijayaraj winning Race­3 in the Formula LGB 1300 category ahead of Diljith TS

Later, Meiyappan scored a facile win, his second of the season, in Race­2 ahead of privateer Ritesh Rai from Chennai and Biren Pithawalla to move to the top of the points table. Race 3 belonged to Meiyappan as Pithawala finished second and Rai thrid.

Indian Junior Touring Cars

This class was dominated by Chennai drivers from Team Performance Racing. Akkineni Anand Prasad moved to the top of the championship table with the race1 win, Deepak Ravikumar finished second with over 10­sec difference. Hatim Shabbir Jamnagarwala finished a very close third. Prasad registered his second win in Race 2. Hatim finished second and Deepak finished third. It was a third straight win for Prasad who pushed Deepak to second.

Surat's Yug Italia from Team N1

finished third.

Superstock

It was a complete sweep for Thrissur's Diljith TS from DTS Racing as he won all the three races. In Race 1, he was followed

by Mumbai based Manan Patel from Redline Racing India with over 16sec difference and Jarshan Anand, a privateer from Chennai, finished third with further 10­sec difference. In Race 2, Diljith beat Jarshan to win the race and Justin Singh finished third. In Race 3, Justin Singh from Gurugram representing Redline Racing India finished second behind winner Diljith. Jarshan finished third.

Viswas Vijayaraj, winner of Race­1 in the Formula LGB 1300 category

Formula LGB 1300

Last year's champion DTS Racing's Viswas Vijayaraj from Nellore held off teammate Diljith TS in a close finish to also score a double in this category. He moved within seven points of

46 autotrack.ind.in DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024

Biren Pithawalla , winner of Race­1 in the Indian Touring Cars

NATIONAL RACING

championship leader Raghul Rangasamy, who had two podium finishes and a fourth in this weekend's triple header.

Viswas and teammate, veteran Diljith TS won a race each in the Formula LGB 1300 category.

Viswas took Race 1 easily from pole position start while Diljith surged to victory in the next race from the reverse grid.

Viswas with a difference of 6 sec won Race 1 over Raghul R a n g a s a m y f r o m Mamallapuram representing MSport. Diljith finished third.

Second race went Diljith's way followed by Tijil Rao from Bengaluru representing Momentum Motorsports.

Raghul finished third. Viswas won the third race followed by his teammate Diljith in second and Tijil Rao in third.

MRF Saloons

Race1, Angad Matharoo from Chandigarh with a comfortable margin of over 6 sec managed beating Mumbaikar Zahan

Gurunath Meiyappan, who scored a double in the Indian Touring Cars category

Commissariat. Pune­based Diana Pundole with a further 4­ sec difference finished third.

Meanwhile in Race 2, 36­year old Jai Prashanth Venkat from

Coimbatore ended the unbeaten run of Angad Matharoo. Zahan came third.

However, Matharoo bounced back in style by winning Race­3

with ease for his fifth success in six outings across two rounds.

Diana finished second with a 13­ sec difference and Zahan was further behind by 8sec in third.

Angad Matharoo winning the MRF Saloon Cars (Toyota Etios) race

DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024 autotrack.ind.in 47

Samrat Yadav-PVS Murthy pair bags Extreme class; Shivam wins Moto section

Season 3 of Rally of Himalayas passes Rohtang and Kaza through sceinic mountains

S

amrat Yadav along with co­driver PVS Murthy won the Extreme category and Shivam Thakur won the Moto category in the four­ day season three of the Rally of Himalayas held from Sisa with 7 stages in the menu, all cutting across the mountains right from Rohtang to Kaza. The event sponsored by VM Sports Foundation and Hero Motocorp concluded recently.

Day 1 was a complete tarmac stage of about 20km from Koksar to Rohtang and after a regroup it headed back to Sisa, Headquarters at

Sisa was 40km from Manali. Day 2 had two stages to be taken on the 48.36­km stage from Gramphu to Batal which had about 23km tarmac and the remaining was gravel. The 27­km Stage 2 of the day had gravel from Batal to Lossar covering the Kunzum Temple. There on it was a 57km transport towards Kazza to end the day.

Day 3 had a 38.79­km stage starting from Kazza gate via Demul which was run twice. The final day had two similar stages to be run twice as Day 2 from Kaza to Gramphu in reverse direction. Since the rally was 48 autotrack.ind.in c

RALLY

running late, the final stage of the rally from Gramphu to Rohtang which was about 13km was cancelled.

Extreme

The pair of Samrat Yadav and co­driver PVS Murthy won with a total time of 5hr 4min 13sec. In his debut rally, Aaryak Rana and Aditya Sharma took second place with a difference of 1min 18sec. Harpreet Singh Bawa and Vikram Thakur with 6min 4sec further deficit finished third. Robin and Arvind Dheerendra came fourth finishing another

10min behind. Daksh Gill and Dinky Varghese K with 13­sec further difference stood fifth. The pair of Manoj Kumar and Puneet were another 7­min adrift in sixth.

T1 2WD / X1 Open The pair of Amol Satoskar and Nirav Mehta drivng a Mitsubishi Cedia won the class in 6hr 41min 49.400sec, which included about 19min of road penalties as they had to extend their service time to change the suspension after completing the stage at Batal. Leg 1 leaders Aditya DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024 autotrack.ind.in 49

Thakur and Virender Kashyap, driving a VW Polo, lost over 3hrs 27min in Leg 2, as they had to fix the fuel filter which snapped midway. By the time they sorted it out, they were left with 2km to the finish. They had a Gypsy blocking the road which resulted in high penalty but they managed to complete the stage and were also the fastest in the class in Stage 3. They settled for second position with a difference of 3hrs 27min. Neil Nain and Arjun Dheerendra, driving a Honda Brio, had to pull out 10km before the finish of the final stage due to a blown engine.

T1 4WD / X2 Below1350 cc Robin, a local driver making his debut, along with Arvind Dheerendra from Bengaluru, driving a Maruti Gypsy topped the class. Despite breaking issues in Stage 1 on Day 2, they managed to catch­up three cars.

Day 3 was no different. From the very first stage of the day, they had to run with a broken front differential and clocked 5hr 22min 23.400sec. Manoj Kumar, along with Puneet, finished second with 8min 47sec difference. Dheeraj Malik and Asha Malik came third with a further difference of 39min 53sec. The pair of Mohan Lal and Rajiv Katoch was in fourth another 28min 21sec behind.

Capt Jaydeep Singh and Capt N Shekhawat were fifth.

T1 4 WD / X3 Over 1350 cc up to 1850 cc The pair of Samrat Yadav and co­ driver PVS Murthy, apart from topping the class with a total time of 5min 04min13sec, was also the overall winners. They dominated Leg 1, 2 and three, and in the final leg of the rally they had sufficient lead and decided to nurse the Gypsy back to the finish without taking any additional risk.

Pankaj Dutt and Vignesh Mahalingam were 1hr 30min behind and had to settle for second position. Sanjay Razdan, along with co­driver Karan Aukta was further adrift by 2min 20sec to complete the podium. Last year winners, local driver Hem Raja, and Sagar Mallappa from Bengaluru, were running second in the class and third overall till they had to pull out in Leg 2, 12km before the leg finish.

Similar was the case of the pair of Aman Preet Ahluwalia and Chandrashekar who had to pull out just 10 km before the finish due to engine breakdown.

T1 4 WD / X4 Over 1850 cc In his debut rally local driver

5O autotrack.ind.in DECEMBER 23 / JANUARY 2024

Aaryak Rana, along with Aditya Sharma, finished on top with a total time of 5hr 5min 31sec and they defeated the pair of Harpreet Singh Bawa and Vikram Thakur by 6min 35sec. Daksh Gill and Dinky Varghese with a further difference of 12min 9sec finished third.

T2 / X5 Below 1350 cc Lt. Col. AS Sidhu along with OK Singh was the winner of the class.

He managed to win with a difference of 12min 10sec over the pair of Deepak Sachdeva and Rajit Kadian Singh.

Moto Shivam Thakur riding in M2 251 to 450cc Group A class was the overall winner clocking a time of 4hr 21min 31.900sec for the six stages. Four of the up to 260cc Group B riders found their way into the top five. Rohan Sharma with a difference of 19min 1sec settled for second. Gagnesh with a further difference of 7min 45sec completed the podium.

Vijay Katoch missed the podium as he was another 3min 18sec behind. Santosh Bishnoi was a further 35sec adrift to take fifth position.

GROUP A M1 upto 250cc: Uday Ganguli with a total time of 5hr 17min 42.900sec was the lone finisher in the class.

M2 251 to 450cc: Shivam Thakur was the winner of the class with a total time of 4hr 21min 31.900sec. Dhritimaan Singh from VM Sports Foundation, who was fastest in the first two legs and in the final leg after completing 55km out of the 79­km stage, had crashed and pulled out.

M3 ABV 451cc: With a fastest class total time of 4hr 53min 28sec, Kanwaljeet from VM Sports Foundation, won defeating Happy Verma, also from VM Sports Foundation, by 2hr 31min 33sec. They lost time during Leg 1 Stage 1 as the rear

RALLY

tyre came off but pushed hard to see the finish line.

GROUP B: M4 upto 165cc: Gurjinder Singh was the lone finisher in the class.

He won it with a total time of 6hr 01min 59.800sec. Indersheesh Shayam did not finish and Hemant More did not take a start.

M5 upto 260cc: With a total time of 4hr 40min 33sec Rohan Sharma from VM Sports Foundation won defeating Ganesh, who clocked a total time of 4hr 48min 18.700sec for his second. Vijay Katoch with a timing of 4hr 51min 36.800sec came third. Santosh Bishnoi clocked 4hr 52min 12.700sec in fourth. Devilal Punjaram Lunja with a difference 41min 36sec came fifth. Captain Jaipreet Joshi did not finish.

M6 260CC to 550cc: Rahul Kumar won in 5hr 07min 58.900sec beating Avinash by 21min 16sec. Sumesh Reddiar with a 1hr 10min 22sec further difference came third.

GROUP C: M8 upto 165cc: Shadab Karim Chishti with a difference of 10min 44sec was the winner over Vishal Das who finished second.

Debasish H Dutta was 1hr 11min 34sec behind to settle for third position.

M9 160 to 210cc: Ishan Raspa from VM Sports Foundation made it to the top with a total time of 4hr 59min 58.200sec.

Manu TM finished second with 16min 44sec difference. Navneet Sangar was 20min 15sec further adrift to be on the podium in third. With a further difference of 4min 19sec, Pallab Raj Chaudhary, stood fourth.

Yogesh Kagale came fifth another 30min 43sec behind.

M11 211 to 415cc: Vinit Sharma won the class beating Manish Oraon by 15min 23.600sec.

Jayesh Joshi came third another 22min 21sec behind. Rohit

Kumar Jha finished fourth while Mahak Dixit stood fifth.

GROUP D: M12 166 to 550cc: With a total time of 4hr 58min 6sec Sonam Wangiyal won the class as Vinayak Mahur from VM Sports Foundation with 1min 22.900sec difference settled for second.

However, Mahur bagged the Youngest rider award. Ram Bikram Thapa with 2min 01sec further difference finished third.

Stanzin Namdol was another 13sec behind and came fourth.

Tashi Rana with 56.6sec difference came fifth and Sahil Negi was sixth another 9min

21sec behind.

Himalayan Sayak Mondal with 5hr 14min 51.600sec was the winner of the class followed by Mahin Ansari in second with a 1hr 18min 49sec difference.

Novice Open class Sonam Wangiyal won with a total time of 4hr 58min 06sec.

Stanzin Namdol finished second with 3min 37sec difference and Sahil Negi with over 10min difference secured third position. Prakash Mishra finished fourth and Manish Oraon was fifth.

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Himalayan Drive's challenging run to Umling La at 19,300 ft altitude

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very early morning start at 6.30am. The road was beautiful but for the usual traffic at Banihal pass due to tunnelling work. The drivers made it in good time for the exceptional lunch stop on the Dal Lake. After a sumptuous meal, it was a wonderful drive around Dal Lake, and after photo shoots, some adventurous souls even visited the Shankar Acharya Temple.

The mountain pass in Ladakh reminds the Himalayan Rally of the 80s

T

he 3rd edition in the series of The Himalayan Drive turned out to be the longest and most challenging for 9 days of exciting adventure and fun. The last two editions were to celebrate and commemorate The Himalayan Rally of the 80s and its founder Nazir Hoosein.

It was a deja vu experience for the ex­Himalayan Rally drivers and rally bugs who enjoyed the route of 1981 and 1982 events and they celebrated the 40th

Anniversary of a great event. An outstanding motoring adventure was on the cards this time in Ladakh, the land of high passes, and the attempt to go to Umling La, the highest motorable road in the world, near Hanle and Demchok villages on the Line­of­Control (LoC) border.

The flag­off by Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreyu was also witnessed by Peter Hiscocks and Colin Clarkson,

who came down from UK, specially to drive a rally­ prepared ex­Himalayan Rally 118NE.

The first day's run was to Jammu, a 367­km run in a time of 7 hours.

Fine weather and a nice highway route, except for the last 50Km, due to ongoing road work tested the patience of the drivers.

Next day's run was a long 337Km in the mountains with a driving time of 9 hours including a lunch stop at Srinagar, necessitated a

This route through Jammu and Sonamarg was not on the original route but when the floods took place at Manali with landslides and road closures, this was the only low­risk option left to take, the longer route into Leh. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise passing through the scenic Kashmir Valley, a lunch stop at Srinagar at the fine Radisson property by the lake and a drive­through beautiful Dal Lake .Getting into Sonamarg in the evening's snow­capped peaks below the two Radisson Hotels was a lovely sight to behold. It was Sonamarg to Leh via Drass, Kargil covering about 341Km in a time of 8 hours. The road was excellent, through Zojilla Pass, and a must­see stopover at the Kargil War Museum. It was an emotional moment to see the well­made Audio Visual and pay respects to our fallen brave hearts, who won

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the Kargil War for the country.

Then, the cars headed into Leh that evening.

Next day was a rest day for acclimatisation. But not for the hard working OT Team, who had to attend to puncture repairs, purchase of new tyres, getting the 118NE gearbox repaired, getting inner line permits for the foreigners and organisation of Fuel arrangements at Hanle which proved to be a nightmare leaving us no time to attend to the very critical aspect of the Local Taxi Union who have an allergy to self­drive vehicles going beyond Leh into the interior roads.

The next run was of 126Km to Diskit and Hunder of Nubra Valley of double humped camel fame. Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh Brig Mishra did the flag off honours and what was supposed to be a short run

through the mighty Khardungla Pass turned out to be a long and arduous day due to some elements of the Ladakh Taxi Union, who put roadblocks on the way. Then on, it was three days to Hanle. Khardungla Pass is just a short 40­km uphill drive from Leh with spectacular views of the valley and the Pass at 17,582 ft is snowbound most of the year. It's the gateway to Nubra Valley and Siachen as one comes down to Khalsar, and the road runs along Shayok River. It was one of the most­scenic routes of the entire drive.

Due to the delays, most of us reached only by evening and it was before sundown and some even went to see and take a ride on the double­humped­back camels. There were some who had left at the crack of dawn and went beyond Hunder to the PoK border of Gilgit Baluchistan.

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It was Day 6 of this magnificent drive and the destination for the evening was Man and Merak at Pangong Lake, a distance of 192Km to be covered in 6 hours with a lunch and refuel halt at Tangtse. This is the only Petrol Pump on the Leh­Pangong­ Hanle­Umling La axis. And if one is proceeding to Manali via Hanle, then the distance is a staggering 725km to the nearest Petrol Station.

The road travels along the Shayok River till Tangtse.

Pangong Lake, the highest saltwater lake in the world at a height of 4350M (14,272 ft) is famous for the 'Three Idiots' movie. Its close proximity to China border and high altitude sickness affects many people on their visit to this pristine beautiful lake tucked between snow­clad mountains. It is a photographers' delight,

especially the road to Merak Village, which runs for 14 Km along the edge of the lake.

Arriving at Pangong in the evening was a wonderful sight and as the light dropped it became cold with a chance of snow on the mountain tops.

A cold night with no connectivity in this area and everyone was just happy and relieved for an early morning start to Hanle for the next day's drive of 240 Km including a round trip to Umling La. The scenic route goes via Chushul plains where one of the many 1962 war battles was fought on this front. The Rezlang La War Memorial is in Memory of Charlie Company of 13 KUMAON Regiment, who died defending Rezlang La. It's worth a visit not only as tribute to our brave heroes but it's a surreal and emotional visit to a must­ see for every one visiting that

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area.

The road to Hanle is a grit road under repair which runs very close the LoC and on this section, the 118NE which was running so well had an off­road excursion trying to avoid an oncoming vehicle in the dust and suffered heavy damage. They made it to Hanle but the car was a DNF and the two rally enthusiasts from UK Peter and Colin were bitterly disappointed but they did manage to go to Umling La atop another vehicle.

Hanle is now famous for its astronomy tourism where one can see the Milky Way up close.

The road from Hanle to Umling La top is 65 km via a very scenic short cut through a river stream and to Nerbula Top. The scenery is like a Dakar Special, very spectacular and once you get to Nerbula Top it's a smooth narrow tarmac run to the highest motorable road in the world. A quick stop, photo op and one has to start the drive back within five minutes as 19,300 ft is a health hazard. This is higher than the Everest Base Camp.

This is back packers heaven, not for motorists like us who are used to star comforts but nevertheless the group put up a brave face and managed to rest it out for the cold night at minus­ 4C. The USP of the Himalayan Challenge was to go to Umling

La and Challenge the elements at Hanle and there was no other alternative.

The Last day's run was from Hanle to Tsokar through another pass at 4970M, Palchonkla (16,503ft) and to join the Manali NH at Debring, where the 12 Taxis were sent back to Leh. And the self drive cars were driven down from Leh and were exchanged in a ceremony reminiscent of a cold­war movie.

The drive to Manali was over four high­altitude passes with the most formidable being Bara La Cha La at 4850M (15,912 ft). It had witnessed some heavy snowfall a few days earlier. In fact, it was very providential that it was on the last day traffic was opened for a few hours to let our convoy through and the participants had another awesome drive through the snow­clad road. It was the icing on the cake to drive through the snow on the last day of this scenic, challenging spectacular drive which took us over 10 high mountain passes in excess of 12,000ft elevation.

ITC Hamsa at Manali was the venue for the farewell dinner with lots of stories, music and dancing late at night bringing down the curtains on one of the most challenging Himalayan Adventures, setting a record to get 60 plus cars to Umling La.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Winning debut for Sai Sanjay in his first GT Cars race

(Pit­Stop) race. Davies pulled well clear in the early stages for Racelab but due to an incident, the pair had to settle for a second. Competing in his first weekend in sportscars, the Indian showed that his Qualifying speed was no flash in the pan, pulling clear to take an emphatic team victory.

"Competing in the UK for the first time in a GT4 car has been an exhilarating experience. I was elated to know that I would've been in the Top­5 of British GT Championship with my time in Qualifying. Looking ahead, I'm planning to explore the car more at Silverstone as we had very limited track time prior to the race weekend," said Sai Sanjay.

Salem driver makes his international debut at England in style

I

ndian racing star Sai Sanjay made his international debut winning a race in the GT Cup Championship 300 finale at Snetterton (UK) in the GTH class .

During the weekend, Sai won two races and finished P2 in the second feature race. For his stellar performance, he was also awarded the 'Driver of the Day' in a grid of seasoned competitors.

On Day 1, teammate, Davies, put

the car on pole with a best timing of 1:55:744 and won the first Sprint race in 25:39.518. In the first Feature race of the weekend, Davies started as first driver and after the pit stop, Sai did a creditable job to keep the lead and finish the race with ease and grace. The Racelab pair clocked 51 minutes, 45.513 seconds in the 25­lap race. They clocked a best lap of 1:58.009.

On Day 2, Sai, who hails from

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Salem, proved the pace in the #13 Racelab McLaren Artura by putting in a storming 3rd lap with a timing of 1:55:472 to qualify 1.4s ahead of Hart's Morpheus Racing Mercedes­AMG GT4 in Group GTH. Sai won the 13­lap second Sprint race of the weekend from pole­to­finish in 25:40.512 and with more than 30­second gap. The team managed a second place with a time of 51:31.167 in the Feature

Jon Lancaster (Driver Coach) said: "It is an unbelievable start to his GT career. Sai adapted well making his transition from single seaters to GT cars. We had an open mind before the first test but just after five laps in Donnington, I was super excited.

He has been very professional and his feedback about the car has been good. He's been the fastest man all weekend and a very promising start indeed.”

The 20­year Mechatronics student of VIT, Chennai was driving in the GTH category for the first time. The Indian National champion of 2022 in the MRF Formula 2000 car was encouraged and supported by mentor Aditya Patel, who was instrumental in Sai making his international debut in UK. He was coached by Jon Lancaster, a seasoned race driver and qualified instructor.