November - December 2021

MRF 2W RACING RAJINI BOUNCES BACK

INDIA’S FIRST DOMESTIC MOTORSPORTS & OFF-ROAD MAGAZINE

NOV / DEC 2021 | Rs. 60

Youngsters

Shreyas and Sarthak

HEMANT MUDDAPPA BREAKS DRAG RECORD

dominate in Onemake races

Aishwarya Pissay

heading for a 5 National title IN MRF 2W NRC th

KYLE, RUHAAN AND ADITYA FRONT RUNNERS IN ROTAX NATIONALS

With a triple win

NAZIR HOOSEIN

TRIBUTE - MEMORIAL DRIVE

PLUS

Ruhaan DOMINATES ON DEBUT IN JK TYRE NOVICE CUP

RALLY OF HIMALAYAS: AISHWARYA SILENCES CRITICS MRF 2W RALLY: SEASON OPENER IN HAMPI REVIEW: MARUTI SUZUKI NEW CELERIO SPRINT: YUVA KUMAR ON TOP HDFC AUTOCROSS: JAHAAN SHINES POWER GLOBAL: CLEAN ENERGY SOLUTIONS IN INDIA TECH TALK: MG ASTOR

EDITORIAL / IMPRINT

IMPRINT Editor S. Ashok Kumar Tiwari

Hi, Our New Look.

AUTO TRACK is on a new track...

I

t is been a very good and busy season, as most of the championships are flowing in full swing and finally the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) for four-wheelers found its way to the calendar, and it is expected to close by March. The only two championships stretching up to March are INRC (4W) and MRF Mogrip Supercross. The six Supercross rounds shall be held back-to-back in the following week-ends thrice. The INRC promoter announced one event every month commencing from December. The season begins with a tarmac rally running across the coast-line of Visakhapatnam and the season will end in March.

Dakshin Dare which was scheduled this December finds itself moving into the January calendar as the dates were clashing with the first round of INRC for 4 wheelers.

In Bengaluru, the Race to the Clouds returns after a span of over 4 years. Hill Climb is scheduled for the final weekend of the year. Once the Vizag round was confirmed life became busy, as it was considered normal earlier. This short season will be a starter for the upcoming season, as teams are busy testing their cars and pulling up their socks. The two creamy layers of the Indian Motorsports, INRC and Supercross will run till the end of the season providing a breather for the speedloving community to watch the fastest two-wheelers in the air and the stable machines on dirt.

The upcoming thrill will be to watch the three free-ticket winners at the Rotax Max World finals to be held in Bahrain.

Ruhaan Alva, Kyle Kumaran and Aditya Suresh Kamat will represent India. They have the talent to bring laurels to the country.

The wait and watch news shall be the Maruti Baleno entering the INRC this season. With Arjun Rao Aroor deciding to replace his Volkswagen R2 Polo, his struggle since six years to complete the rallies might come to an end with this new induction.

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

Concept and Design: S. Ashok Kumar Tiwari Staff Photographers: Nirav Mehta Prakash Rawat Director / Correspondent: Roopa A. Tiwari General Manager Circulation & Sr. Correspondent: S. Nithyanand Correspondent: K. Manjunath Ghanshyam A Tiwari Spl. Correspondent: David Bodapati Western Region: autotrack.west@gmail.com Mob 09757176958 Northern Region: autotrack.north@gmail.com Mob 09871765886 Editorial Office: Auto Track 7/3-1, Lalitha Engineering Building, Subbanna Garden Main Road, Vijayanagar, Bangalore-40 autotrack.editor@gmail.com www.autotrack.ind.in For Subscription, contact: 9845296190 For Advertisement, E: ashok.autotrack@gmail.com The Publisher makes every effort to ensure that the magazine’s contents are accurate. However, he accepts no responsibility of any effects arising therefrom. Printed at Raj Hans Enterprises, Rajajinagar Industrial Town, Bangalore-560044.

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

VOLUME 15, ISSUE 1 O1 autotrack.ind.in NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021

CONTENTS

NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021

NEW DELHI

34 06

50 32 JK Racing: 06 Rally de Hampi: 14 MRF Racing 2W: 20

20 22

34 12

TVS One make Racing: 23 Drag R2: 24

MRF 2W Rally, Puttur: 34

Rotax Karting: 26

Autocross 4W: 40 Chandigarh Sprint: 42

15 40

Nazir Hoosein Drive: 46 Rally of Himalaya: 50 Automotive news: 54

60

46 08

50 30

04 26

O2 autotrack.ind.in NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021

56

Too many wet events this year Yes, it is a blessing in disguise. You hardly get an opportunity to ride or drive in a wet conditions. As this season of INRC witnessed, back-to-back similar conditions of terrain were witnessed but at least on one occasion, it was too harsh.

Bengaluru round was the first to be affected, as it was purely technical and slushy in the first stage. The second stage was pretty dry after the first run but the Stage 1 gave up with two soil-filled patches that made the movement of the bikes challenging. But a majority of them loved to ride on this terrain. As depression continued and rain lashed across India, Puttur was never left behind. The new addition of the route which was part of the stages this time posed a real challenge to the participants in the first run, as a few streams were

flowing in full capacity.

Overnight rains made things worse but it could never break the morale of the participants. Every one took it on, as it was a bright sunny day and the stage started drying up. But the final stages of the rally once again witnessed heavy rains. Once the event concluded, there on it was water pouring everywhere. Though the Chikkamagaluru round was held after a two-week break, it was the same fate here too.

Overnight rains created havoc, in the melee one stage was cancelled and the remaining two stages were run four times under bright sunshine and after two stage-runs it began to be a dry race and once the event was over rain gods surfaced once again to fulfil the previous day's deficit. But these kind of events will always help carry over good memories and experience to face any kind of upcoming challenges, which were earlier faced a decade ago.

Two wheeler riders demands honoured With too many pending decisions remaining for the two-wheeler rallies, some were seen addressed this season, for example food, GoPro, safety concerns and organising conditions.

Onboard cameras were banned since years as it had a few threats like mounting on the head, chest and handle.

Now after looking into the

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essential part of it, the camera position has been designated just below the handle. The second main hurdle was the food during the event which was sorted out as one additional person along with the rider was served with food and other basic facilities. As months are passing by, many upgraded facilities are being availed by the riders which were denied earlier.

It was a yes-yes no-no kind of a situation for the four-wheelers Y e s , t o o m a n y postponements and rescheduling of events put the testing activity on a stand

still for INRC 4 wheelers. But all of a sudden once the calendar is finalised very one is waking up to the situation and upgrading in a short period of time. Especially the tarmac rally poses a very challenging path. The previous year tarmac rally in Arunachal Pradesh was more or less similar with a fast track like the one in Vizag.

While this track looks like it may demand straight-line speed, as very few mild curves are part of the stage and thus it is expected that straight line speed may win the rally. But look out for the artificial chicanes, that the organisers are planning to put up for safety reasons.

RACING

NATIONALS

Triple for Ruhaan

and a double each for Sohil and Anish Guru-shishya pair, Vishnu and Amir, share honours

B

engaluru racer Ruhaan Alva had a clean sweep winning all the three races while Bengalurean Sohil Shah could only clinch a double in Formula LGB4 as Vishnu won the Race 2 in the Round 1 of the JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship held in Coimbatore. Hubbali's Anish Damodara Shetty topped both the two-wheeler races.

The LGB Formula 4 category Race 1 saw Sohil use his nerves

as he waited for the right opportunity to step on the pedal.

He clocked 23:26.923 to win a very-closely fought Race 1 by a difference of 0.165 seconds. He managed to keep Arya Singh from Kolkata behind in second position beating him by 0.098sec. Diljith TS from Thrissur completed the podium.

Vishnu Prasad from MSport used the reverse grid to his advantage in Sunday's first race. The Kari Motor Speedway was bathed

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in sunshine after heavy overnight showers. Once again, like Saturday, the race was affected by an interruption after a car went off the track.

With the safety car in play for two laps, it boiled down to drivers staying calm. This is where the fierce competition between Vishnu Prasad and Amir Sayed came into play. Vishnu mentored Sayed to Novice Cup overall win last year.

Even though Amir had overtaken

Vishnu twice early on, when it came to the final tilt, Vishnu showed that experience matters.

Vishnu clocked 22:45.828 seconds and won the Race 2.

The gap between him and the second position finisher, Amir from Kottayam, was 3.908 seconds. Bengalurian Chirag Ghorpade from Momentum Motorsport, making the transition from karting to Formula racing, finished third with a difference of below-four

R1, COIMBATORE seconds.

Sohil by clocking 19:01.088 was the winner of Race 3 too.

Vishnu with just over a second difference stood second, Sandeep Kumar from Chennai representing Dark Don Racing with further behind by over a second difference as he finished third.

Speaking about Amir, who now races for Ahura Racing, Vishnu said he was happy with the competition. "Amir did overtake me a few times early on and I am happy for him," he said.

For Amir Sayed, making the transition from the Novice Cup to the harder category in the reverse grid was a good learning experience. "It's very different from the last season and I am thankful to my mentors and coaches," said Amir.

"I am happy to start the season with a win, though it was not easy. I was in the lead but once the safety cars came out, there was a lot of bunching. The net effect is the lead which you had in time and distance gets shrunk.

I waited for the right moment in the final lap and won," said Sohil.

JK Tyre Novice Cup Teen sensation Ruhaan Alva from Bengaluru, well known for his exploits since the age of seven, began the proceedings with dominance. Competing for MSport, Ruhaan showed poise and purpose after the first race

JK Tyre Novice Cup action

was red flagged.

After restart Ruhaan was fully focussed, not letting the brief stoppage affect him. On a pleasant and sunny afternoon, the young lad raced without any glitch, virtually, as he timed 14 minutes 22.061 seconds in the 10-lap race with a best lap time of 1:18.001, which was good considering it was the first race of the season. Aadithya Parasuram from Chennai with over three seconds deficit stood second and Gaurav Kochar from Coonoor a further nine seconds behind came third.

Later in the evening, there was a dramatic twist as Jaden R Pariat

Winner Race 2, Formula LGB4

Winner Race 3, Formula LGB4

JK Tyre presents RE Continental GT Cup in action

Winner Race 1, JK Tyre Novice Cup NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021 autotrack.ind.in 07

R1, COIMBATORE

RACING NATIONALS

JK Tyre presents RE Continental GT Cup in action

from Guwahati, who was trailing by two laps in the first race, eventually staged a superb comeback in the second race. He managed to finish in second position behind Ruhaan, who was struggling to keep himself ahead due to gear box issues with just 0.305sec difference.

Aasthiya came third, another second behind.

Front runner Ruhaan was supposed to start eighth on the grid, as per reverse order start.

But he decided to change the gear box for the final race of the day and had to undergo a fiveplace grid penality. So he started from 13th position and Jaden took a start at 17th on the grid.

The final race of the round witnessed a car spin-off in the initial stages of the race, forcing the safety car to come in. Later down the lane, two cars made contact, forcing the organisers to ensure the race was completed with the safety car in front.

Ruhaan had scaled down from 13th to first with a total time of 21:48.110. Chetan Surineni from Bengaluru representing Quest Motorsports with 0.604 sec difference finished in second position and Jaden was third another 0.875 seconds behind.

"I am happy to have begun with a

win. Once a race is red-flagged, it's very important to remain focussed. I was happy with my start to the championship,” said Ruhaan, who took to karting at the age of seven. A keen follower of Formula 1 he idolises legend Ayrton Senna.

Heading: JK Tyre presents Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup The maiden Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup presented

by JK Tyre saw Anish Damodara Shetty from Hubbali become the inaugural winner with a double at the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore recently.

Shetty clocked 14:07.754 winning the Race 1 while Thrissur rider Allwin Xavier finished very close with a difference of 0.105seconds in second. Jayanth Prathipati from Hyderabad a further one second behind stood third.

For the second time in a row Anish, finished on top timing 13:57.731 in Race 2. Allwin looked a bit slower with a deficit of nine seconds and settled for the second position again. Anfal Akdhar, also from Thrissur, took another two seconds to finish third.

"I hammered it down after the first lap. I was shaving off almost half a second in each lap," said

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an excited Anish. The margin between him and Allwin was 8.643 seconds, which looked pretty magnified to the naked eye gauging the gap between them.

"It was a great challenge to win the maiden race and the last lap was electrifying," said Anish after the first win. Speaking about the close second spot, Allwin took it philosophically. "It's a new race on a new bike. There is speed and also your legs feel tired handling the weight. I am happy to come second," said Allwin.

Speaking about his podium in Race 2, which was again a second place finish, Allwin was philosophical. "I had problems with my front brake and am happy to finish here," he said.

Anfal Akdhar, who did well during the testing phase, finished third.

Winners Race 1, LGB Formula 4

Winners - Race 2 JK Tyre presents RE Continental GT Cup

RACING

NATIONALS

Ruhaan dominates on debut in Rookie class Diljith, Tijil and Amir notch-up wins; Anish, Anfal share 2W honours PHOTO BY: SHAHJAHAN

R

uhaan Alva swept three straight wins in the Rookie class. Diljith TS, Tijil Rao and Amir Sayed notched up wins in their class each in the four-wheelers section while Anish Damodara Shetty and Anfal Akdar won a race each in two wheeler Continental GT races held along with Round 2 road races of the 24th JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship at the Kari Motor Speedway in Chettipalayam, near Coimbatore recently.

Formula LGB4 Race 1 was a field full of superstars from Dark Don Racing and Team MSport. But, Amir Sayed outclassed them all to finish on top of the podium for his new team, Ahura Racing, on the opening day with a total time of 26:03.085.

It wasn't easy for the youngster from Kottayam. He had to battle hard to stamp his class. Starting fourth on the grid, he pulled off to a great start. Pole sitter Arya Singh was right up there and so

1O autotrack.ind.in NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021

was Sandeep Kumar and Tijil Rao, all from Dark Don. The safety car, which came out thrice, further added to his pressure but he withstood it all to take the chequered flag ahead of Tijil and Sandeep.

“It is such a great feeling to win with a grid full of champions. It really means a lot to me,” said an elated Amir.

In Race 2, the Dark Don Racing boys did not enjoy a great Saturday but bounced back strongly to wrest the top three

slots on the podium in both the races. The premier event of the championship not only brought the best out of the drivers but also found new winners.

It was Diljith who clinched the prime spot on top of the podium in the opening race for the day. It wasn't an easy affair for the everenergetic star from Thrissur as championship leader Vishnu Prasad was right behind him for most part of the race but the youngster defended well.

Even as Vishnu was trying hard to

R2, COIMBATORE

Ruhaan Alva in JK Tyre Novice Cup action

pass, the Dark Don stars Tijil Rao, Sandeep Kumar and Arya Singh were pressing the pedal hard.

That put the pressure on Vishnu, who swiftly switched to the safety mode and focussed on his second position. He left Diljith alone and concentrated on defending his position. But he was unable to hold them behind towards the end as Tijil and Sandeep made the most of it to finish second and third respectively leaving behind the former champion.

In Race 3, Tijil Rao did one better in his class finishing ahead of his teammates Sandeep and Ashwin Datta. With a total time of

21:34.441 he was the leader.

Sandeep was two seconds slower while Ashwin was too close till the finish with a difference of 0.188sec and finished third.

as he always does, to win the race from lights to flag.

If he is able to win consistently, it is clearly because he has learnt to adapt and think in his car with a total time of 14:33.431. He was the topper while his teammate Jaden R Pariat from Guwahati was three seconds slower and settled for second position.

Aadithya Parasuram from Chennai representing Hasten Performance a further six seconds behind and completed the podium in third.

“The race was really hot. I did not push hard as I did not want the tyres to overheat too much.

That's just the way I take care of my car,” said Ruhaan.

In Race 2, Ruhaan completed another grand double as there is no one to beat the youngster in his debut season. His teammate Jaden from Guwahati seems to get better with every race and quite deservedly finished second with less than a second difference. Joel Joseph from DTS

JK Tyre Novice Cup For MSport's Ruhaan Alva of Bengaluru, it was another memorable day as he finished on top of the podium in all the three races.

Race One, the 15-year-old who started on pole, cracked into the lead straight away before the race was red-flagged in the very first lap. He did not allow that to bother him and kept a cool head, Winners Race 1 - LGB Formula 4

Winners Race 3 - LGB Formula 4

JK Tyre presents RE Continental GT Cup in action NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021 autotrack.ind.in 11

R2, COIMBATORE

RACING NATIONALS

Action from JK Tyre Novice Cup

Winners Race 1 - JK Tyre Novice Cup

Racing was 19 seconds slower and settled for third position.

In Race 3, it was a win again for a triple triumph. Ruhaan clocked 21:08.051 as he beat Jaden to second position by four seconds.

Gaurav Kohar with half a second further difference finished third.

JK Tyre presents Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup Anish Damodara Shetty of Hubli ruled the roost on two-wheeler Royal Enfield bikes. The first round winner on the big bikes dominated the practice and the qualifying sessions under the morning skies but not the race as Allwin Xavier of Thrissur came on to the track with confidence and a clear plan and implemented them nicely. He knew he had the ability and the skill to challenge Anish and he did that creditably well when the race began.

In Race 1, after playing a waiting game at the start, Allwin went full throttle and even went on to catch up with Anish. The former

hung on for two solid laps before the latter surprised him with an overtaking move in the first curve of the final lap. Allwin gave his all but it was Anish who had the last laugh with a lead of less than one second. Anfal Akdhar also from Thrissur with a further five seconds behind in third.

In Race 2, Anish Damodara Shetty (Hubli) did cross the flag first but a 30-second penalty for overtaking under the yellow put paid to his hopes of a grand double. Thrissur boys Anfal Akdhar and Allwin Xavier, who finished second and third, were deservingly elevated to the first and second positions respectively while Coimbatore's Raj Kumar moved one slot up as well to finish third as the leader was punished for his silly mistake.

“It was a 10-lap race and I had to conserve the tyres and the brakes. So, I had to stay a little calm initially,” said a relaxedlooking Anish after the tight fight in race one.

Winners Race 2 - JK Tyre Novice Cup

Winners Race 3 - JK Tyre Novice Cup

Winners Race 2 - JK Tyre presents Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup 12 autotrack.ind.in NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021

Winners Race 2 - LGB Formula 4

RALLY

NATIONALS

Rajendra claims overall honours Sarath wins Super Bikes class; Aishwarya begins title defence PHOTO BY: GNANARAJ

T

he season opener of MRF Mogrip FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship for 2W - 2021 was held in Hospet, as part of the Hampi Utsav. There were 81 participants who exhibited their competitive skills in the two Special stages named Hampi and Jumbo. Stage one was the repeat of the previous year with a few changes. The second stage was more greenish passing through a few sugarcane fields and they cut across scenic canals.

Organised by Bengaluru-based Motorsports Academy of Vijayanagar (MAV) and supported by Karnataka Tourism, the riders went through five Special Stages (SS) of

57.85km, in and around the heritage site, Hampi, that are closed to traffic. The two physical stages, Jumbo, 12.05km long, and Hampi, (10.8), were run in the forward direction thrice, and twice, respectively for an overall distance of 115.42 kms including a liaison or transport section of 57.57 kms.

Rajendra RE from TVS Racing was unstoppable as he dominated the rally right from the first stage. In the final stage he was 12 seconds slower but he gained the top slot with a total time of 1:01.39.474 and a lead of 31 seconds over his teammate Samuel Jacob. Abdul Wahid Tanveer, who represented TVS Racing in Dakar, without any

14 autotrack.ind.in NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021

prior test riding had to directly take a start with minimum personal bike setting, managed to finish third with a further difference of 13 seconds. The fourth TVS Racing rider in the top

four was Imran Pasha withcc a further difference of four seconds. Sarath Mohan from Kerala a further 53 seconds behind finished fifth overall.

Sachin D was the fifth TVS Racing

PAVANBK FIRST RUNNER-UP, SUPER SPORT 165 GROUP B

HOSPET rider in the top-six as he took another 32 seconds to complete the course.

In the Super Bikes Pro-Expert Group A, Rajendra RE with a difference of 43 seconds over his teammate Tanveer was the winner of the class. Goutham Rao from Bengaluru finished third with a difference of 9 min 27 sec. Nataraj R had a DNF after his vehicle stalled in the third stage.

Super Bikes Expert Group A Sarath Mohan, a privateer from Mallapuram, with a total time of 1hr 03min 22.563 seconds won the class. Asad Khan from Chikkamagaluru was slower by 2 min 4 seconds and settled for second position. Badal Doshi from Mumbai was further slower by 1 min 9 seconds as he completed the podium. Ashish Rao Rane from Pune, another Dakar hero, with less than two minutes difference was fourth and Shoeb Khan from Mysuru finished fifth with over a minute deficit behind fourth. Jatin Jain from Nagpur came another 38 seconds behind for sixth.

There were three DNF's in this class.

Super Sport 130 Group B Keralite Ajin Abraham was the winner of the class with a total time of 1:10.45.998. Nitesh G Poojari from Mangaluru with 2min 41sec difference stood second and Deepak Naidu from Bengaluru completed the podium by clocking 1:14.12.420.

Dilipraj from Chikkamagaluru clocked 01:16.02.630 for fourth.

Patteeswaran from Pollachi, and Durgesh from Bengaluru with a further difference of 24 seconds and 52 seconds respectively were in fifth and sixth positions in that order.

Super Sport 165 Group B Sasi Kumar from Coimbatore bagged the top honours in the class as he clocked a total time of 01:07.12.705 while Pavan BK from Bengaluru timed 1:07.55 and settled for second position.

Stephan Roy from Kushalnagar was slower by a further 3 min 16 sec gap and took third on the podium. Abrar Pasha from

SARATH MOHAN WINNER SUPER BIKE EXPERT GROUP A

Shimoga and Rohith RS from Mysuru finished in fourth and fifth positions respectively.

Super Sport 260 Group B Samuel Jacob from TVS Racing clocked 1:02.12.993 to win the class followed by his teammate Imran Pasha with 17seconds difference in second place.

Sachin D also from the same team managed to hold on to podium with a further difference of 1min 24sec. Yuva Kumar from Hero Motosports with came fourth another 37sec behind.

Teammate Sathyaraj Arumugam finished in fifth and Trinesh from Hoskote took sixth.

Super Sport 400 Group B Senior rider and riders' representative, Venu Ramesh Kumar from Coimbatore clocked 1:12.15 to win the class. Sajeesh Reghunathan from Bengaluru managed to clock some better timings in stage 3 and 5 but fell short by 11 seconds and had to settle for second position.

Saravan Kumar Kuttoor from Hyderabad was slower by 8min 19sec and finished third.

Super Sport 550 Group B Mohammed Zaheer from Bengaluru won the class in 1:09.52 as he managed to hold on the lead right from the first stage with a difference of 4min 28sec. The Bengaluru rider and the defending champion of this class Sharath Kumar stood second. Naresh VS lost about

VENU RAMESH KUMAR V WINNER SUPER SPORT 400 GROUP B

SHAMIM KHAN WINNER SCOOTER CLASS

SASI KUMAR K WINNER SUPER SPORT 165 GROUP B NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021 autotrack.ind.in 15

RALLY

NATIONALS

WINNER LADIES CLASS AISHWARYA PISSAY

SAMUEL JACOB WINNER SUPERSPORT 260 GROUP B

16 autotrack.ind.in NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021

HOSPET 8 minutes in third stage due to gearbox issues and had to settle for third position.

Scooter Class 210 Group B This class was wholly dominated by the riders from TVS Racing as they occupied the full podium.

Shamim Khan with a total time of 1:09.31 was the winner. Karthik with a difference of 4 seconds took second as he managed to clock better timing than Shamim in stage 2 and 4 But he fell short and had to be happy with second position. Syed Asif Ali with a difference of 42 seconds in spite of having a puncture stood third. Subramanya and Elango G, both privateers from Bengaluru and Erode, managed to finish in fourth and fifth positions respectively. Abhijith Shetty and Venkatesh Shetty both had to pull out midway and hence had a DNF. Ladies Class Group B Ladies participation was seen in full strength. For the first time eight riders took part in the rally. Aishwarya Pissay from TVS Racing was the winner with a total timing of 1:10.20 and was fastest in all the stages. Tanika Shanbhag, the youngest of all,

from Satara took 3min more. She managed to finish second despite a leg sprain after hectic three weekends of motorsports.

Ryhana Bee from Chennai with a 12-second further difference finished third. Anam Hashim from Pune with 12 min 37 sec difference was fourth and Sushmitha from Bengaluru was fifth. Soundari Sindy from Chennai was sixth. Sneha CC from Thrissur and Priyanka Dutta from Pune finished in seventh and eighth positions respectively.

Star of Karnataka Nadeem Ahamed from Mysuru was the winner of the class.

He clocked 1:11.54. Mohammed Israr, also from Mysuru, was slower by 7min 38sec to finish second. Vinay Channarudaraiah with 3min 36sec difference was third. Syed Kaleem and Raghavendra Hedge both from Bengaluru were fourth and fifth.

Sarath Mohan, said: “We initially thought second stage was very dicey and Stage 1 was sufficient but it proved us wrong. Stage 2 was very challenging as it became very technical due to the slush. But I really enjoyed it."

R2, KANAKPURA

RALLY NATIONALS

Runner-up Adbul Wahid Tanveer

Second straight win for Rajendra RE Aishwarya, Tanika only ladies to finish the tough course PHOTO BY: SRIHARSHA NADIGER

I

t was a second straight win for Rajendra RE from TVS Racing, as route opening was never easy in this terrain which was slush-filled due to two days of continuous rains. Though marshals were present at the heavy slush points, it was a real challenge to overcome. As things turned worst on the soft red soil in Stage 1 as slush did not recede. Stage 2 was drying up and looked fast but a call was taken to cancel the last two runs.

Sarath Mohan from Mallapuram finished second with a difference of two seconds. He managed to clock the fastest time in Stage 2. Samuel Jacob from TVS Racing a further 18 seconds behind finished third. Two of his

teammates finished behind him.

Abdul Wahid Tanveer finished fourth with a difference of six seconds and Imran Pasha was further slower by 25seconds to finish fifth. Asad Khan from Chikkamagaluru finished sixth.

Super Bike Pro-Expert Group A Rajendra RE inspite of loosing time in second stage as stage opener (first bike to start the rally) and found himself caught in thick slush but managed to lead with a total time of 36:29 while his teammate Abdul Wahid Tanveer with only 27 second difference finished second. Nataraj R had a DNF for the second time in a row due to technical issues in the very first stage.

Super Bike Expert Group A Climbing up the order of performance was privateer from Mallapuram, Sarath Mohan. He not only won the class but also was first runner-up overall, with a total time of 36:31. Asad Khan from Chikkamagaluru with a difference of 1min 54seconds finished second. Badal Doshi a further 4min 21sec behind completed the podium. Jatin Jain from Nagpur with a difference of 4min 9sec finished fourth while Aman Prabhakar Pawde also from Nagpur had to pull out in fourth stage.

Super Sport 130 Group B Chalass K Bose from Kottayam won the class clocking 48:00.

Being the fastest in all the stages,

Winner Rajendra RE

NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021 autotrack.ind.in 17

RALLY

NATIONALS

Asad Khan runner-up Super Bike Expert Group A

Durgesh from Bengaluru with 1min 19sec difference finished second. Nitesh G Poojari a driving school instructor from Mangaluru stood third with a further difference of 4min 12sec.

Prashanth R from Bengaluru was a further slower by 1min 50sec to finish fourth. Raghavendra Rao and Rakesh Kumar V both from Bengaluru finished in fourth and fifth positions respectively.

Super Sport 165 Group B The Coimbatore rider Sasi Kumar K with a total time of 42min 44sec finished on top of the podium. Bengalurian Pavan BK with 1min 5sec difference was

second and Rohith RS from Mysuru with 4min 38sec difference came third. Vishnu Sachin Jith from Thrissur and Vikram Sekhar from Coimbatore finished in fourth and fifth positions respectiely while Varun Kumar from Bengaluru stood sixth.

Super Sport 260 Group B Samuel Jacob from TVS Racing and two of his teammates dominated the podium. Samuel with a total time of 36:50 was the winner followed by Imran Pasha in second position, a deficit of 32 seconds. Sachin D was further slower by 1 min 8 sec to

complete the podium. Sathyaraj Arumugam the lone Hero Motosports rider finished fourth in spite of a crash, with a further difference of 37 seconds including Liaison penalty of 30 seconds, Arun T from Bengaluru and Hanson Thomas Sam from Thiruvalla finished in fifth and sixth position.

Super Sport 400 Group B Sajeesh Reghunathan from Bengaluru won Super Sport 400cc class in 55:13 which included a 1min 50sec liaison penalty finished on top. Veteran Venu Ramesh Kumar from Coimbatore with a difference

Devraj Venkatesh runner-up Star of Karnataka

of 54seconds, Sravan Kumar Kuttoor from Hyderabad did not finish, dropped out in the very first stage.

Super Sport 550 Group B It was a second straight win for Mohammed Zaheer from Bengaluru as he timed 43:21 to win the class. Naresh VS with 2min 35sec difference finished second as he managed to be fast in the 4th stage but had lost a lot of time in Stage 1 and 3. Sharath Kumar from Bengaluru stood third with 2min 9sec, including 1min liaison penalties. Abhijith Sarkar, Vijay Jagadish and Kanagavel all from Bengaluru

Sanjay Somshekar winner Star of Karnataka

Sajeesh Reghunathan winner Super sport 400 Group B 18 autotrack.ind.in NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021

R2, KANAKPURA

Shamim Khan winner Scooter class

finished fourth, fifth and sixth in order.

Scooter 210 Group B Shamim Khan from TVS Racing clocked 48:14 to win the class. He began with a good first stage timing but lost some time in Stage 2 and 3 but regained ground in fourth stage. Karthik his teammate was slower by 21seconds to settle for second position, Subramanya T from Bengaluru managed to be on the

podium with 9min 5sec difference including 30sec liaison penalties. Elango from Erode, Abhijit Shetty from Bengaluru and Syed Asif Ali from TVS Racing did not finish.

Ladies class Group B This would have been the most difficult moment to handle for the ladies. But still Aishwarya Pissay from TVS Racing and Tanika Shanbhag from Satara managed to complete the event.

Aishwarya finished first with a timing of 47:07 while Tanika with a 2min 21sec difference stood second. Sneha CC from Thrissur and Anam Hashim from Pune had to pull out in stage three after losing lot of time trying to come out of slush. Soundari Sindy and Ryhana Bee both from Chennai dropped out in the very first stage.

Star of Karnataka Sanjay Somshekar clocked 39:34 to become STAR of Karnataka.

Devraj Venkatesh, also from Bengaluru, was slower by 4 min 28sec to finish in second position. Mohammed Israr from Mysuru a further deficit of 6min 44sec finished third. Nilesh Dhumal, Goutham Rao R and Amogh Nag GS all three from Bengaluru finished in same order of fourth, fifth and sixth.

Sarath Mohan winner Super Bike Expert Group A

NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021 autotrack.ind.in 19

RACING

NATIONALS

Rajini Krishnan bounces back, double for KY Ahamed Hat-trick of wins for Ryhana Bee; Alwin Sundar claims third success in Novice class PHOTO BY: SRINIVASA KRISHNAN

A

ce rider Rajini Krishnan (RACR Castrol Power Racing) came into his own to script a fine win while TVS Racing's KY Ahamed completed a double as the third round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2021 concluded at MMRT track, near Chennai, on October 10.

Gusto Racing's Rahil Pillari Shetty, who missed the 2020 season due to family business commitments, rode a near flawless race on a KTM 390 starting from his maiden pole position in this category to beat a high-quality field. Except for

running wide in the penultimate lap to drop to second, Rahil dictated the pace for much of the six-lap race. Rahil, who had held out promise as a teenager, made a decisive pass on Rajini Krishnan, who had started from P6, at Turn-9 on the last lap for a deserving win. It was a straight fight between the trio Rahil, Rajini and Deepak in the Premier Pro-stock 301 to 400cc class.

The 23-year old Rahil marked his comeback after a season's absence with a superb win in the race one ahead of veteran Rajini Krishnan from RACR Castrol Power Racing, the championship leader in this category, and TVS

2O autotrack.ind.in NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021

Racing's Deepak Ravikumar.

Rajini Krishnan, 41, diced with Race-1 winner Hyderabad's Rahil Shetty and Deepak Ravikumar before winning the thrilling battle in Race 2, with less than a second covering the trio. Rahil finished in second position while Deepak completed the podium. The win, was his fourth of the season from six starts, helped Rajini (118 points) to maintain his top position in the championship table with Rahil 17 points adrift.

Pro-stock 165cc Open Local ace KY Ahamed from TVS Racing scored resounding victories in the two premier Pro-

stock categories on an actionpacked day. Ahamed, who had lost the championship to his team-mate Jagan Kumar last season by just a point, survived a contact with pole-sitter and teammate Deepak Ravikumar on the very first lap of Race 1 but staged a remarkable recovery to move to the front of the pack.

Thereafter, Ahamed by clocking 11:44.563 held off Ravikumar with 0.134sec in second position and Jagan with 0.494sec difference finishing third.

Later, local challenger Ahamed kept his nerves to record his second win of the weekend with team-mate and defending

R3, CHENNAI

Stock165 Ladies Class winners

Pro-stock 300-400 Race 2 winners

champion Jagan Kumar delivering a 1-2 finish for TVS Racing while Rajiv Sethu from Idemitsu Honda SK69 Racing was third. Early leader, Deepak Ravikumar from TVS Racing crashed heavily exiting the last corner in the fifth lap and he was fortunate to fall outside the track on the grass allowing Ahamed, Jagan and Sethu, besides rest of the field to zip through. Jagan continues to head the points table with 126 points, followed

by Ravikumar (85), Sethu (83) and Ahamed (77).

Youngster Rockstar Racing's Anfal Akdhar from Thrissur, registered his second win of the season in the Novice Stock 165cc category that had a massive grid of 38 riders.

In a battle between two riders Anfal Akdhar snatched a thrilling, last-gasp win over Allwin Xavier from Sparks Racing, with just 500th of a second separating the two on the finish line after trailing the leader for much of the six-lapper. Finishing some four seconds behind the pair was Hubbali's Sarvesh Balappa from Sparks Racing.

Starting from P4 on the 38 bike grid, Akdhar cut his way through to tuck in behind polesitter Alwin Sundar from AS Motorsports before moving to the front. On the last lap, the two made contact and Sundar

slammed into the tyre barrier while Akdhar carried on, but his bike lost the drive. Xavier then gave a hot chase to Akdhar who held his nerve to win the race.

One of the top rides of the day, however, was from Chennai collegian Alwin Sundar from AS Motorsports, who started P3 and won the race two, his third of the season. Sundar is currently placed second in the championship in the Novice class with 103 points to leader Anfal Akdhar's 113. Sarvesh Balappa finished second while Allwin finished third.

With this win it was the third this season for Ryhana Bee from RACR Castrol Power Racing in the Girls Stock 165cc category.

She managed to keep Ann Jennifer from Sparks Racing behind in second position with just over 14-seconds difference.

Jagruti Penkar also from Sparks Racing with a further twosecond deficit stood third.

Ryhana heads the Girls table with 75 points, well clear of Mumbai's Jagruti Penkar of Sparks Racing with 45.

“It was a tough race. Rahil is extremely fast, like he was yesterday. I also had an eye on the championship points and didn't want to make any mistakes like in the previous round when I crashed,” said Rajini.

Pro-stock165 Race1 winners

Pro-stock165 Race1 KYAhmed and DeepakRavikumar Stock165 Novice Race1 AnfalAkthar in action

Stock165 Race 2 winners NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021 autotrack.ind.in 21

RACING ONE MAKE

Sarthak Chavan tops Honda Talent Cup Wins both races with ease astride an NS 250R, the fastest bikes on the track PHOTO BY: SRINIVASA KRISHNAN

I

t was no looking back for the young talent Sarthak Chavan from Pune, as he won both the races in Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup- NSF 250R. In Race 1, Sarthak clocking 11:10.598 was the winner followed by Kevin Quintal from Chennai in second (11:10.751).

Mohsin Peramban from Malappuram timed 11:12.621 for his third place. Sarthak dominated Race 2 also. This time he won with a greater margin of over-seven seconds. He clocked 14:46.889 and Kavin finished second while Mohsin finished third again.

Satara rider Ikshan Shanbhag clocked 13:10.362 to win Honda Novice CBR150 class Race 1.

Prakash Kamat from Bokaro Steel City came second in

13:10.401. Theopaul Leander from Chennai clocked 13:19.412 to settle for third. In Race 2, Prakash Kamat stood first clocking 13:10.827. Ikshan with less than three-seconds difference came second and Theopaul finished third with a further difference of 13 seconds.

Honda Hornet 2.0 race was dominated by riders from Chennai. Race 1 was won by Kevin Kannan from Chennai in a time of 13:24.412. Alwin Sundar clocked 13:25.148 to finish second and Ullas Santrupt Nanda clocked 13:25.661 to complete the podium in third.

The six-lap Race 2 belonged to Ullas who clocked 13:20.440.

Alwin came second in 13:20.867 while Prabhu V from Chennai finished third with a time of 13:21.107.

22 autotrack.ind.in NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021

CHENNAI

Young Shreyas steals the hearts Bengaluru Rookie dominates on a TVS Apache RTR200

Y

oung Shreyas Hareesh from Bengaluru dominated the TVS Rookie Apache RTR200 Class by winning both the races. By clocking 12:50.036, Shreyas managed to stay on top while Vignesh Goud from Hyderabad clocked 12:50.143 to finish second. Jinendra Kiran Sangave from Kolhapur clocked 12:50.220 to settle for third in the closely-fought battle. Shreyas clocked 12:53.089 to win Race 2.

Jinendra managed to climb one position up to finish second by clocking 12:53.628. Vignesh came in third with a photo finish by clocking 12:53.660.

It was a double win for Jagadeesh N from Bengaluru in the TVS Open Apache RR 310. In the six-lap Race 1, Jagadeesh clocked 11:47.095 to stay on top while Aditya Rao came second from Bengaluru clocked

11:48.755. Navaneeth Kumar S from Puducherry clocked 11:50.591 to settle for third.

In Race 2, Jagadeesh was a bit faster than in Race 1. He clocked 11:46.122 to win the Race. Venkat Prabhu from Chennai by clocking 11:49.456 finished second and Yashas RL from Bengaluru came third in 11:49.969.

Rakshita Dave from Chennai clocked 11:21.032 in the five laps of the TVS Girls Apache RTR 200 Class. Adlin Seles, also from Chennai, clocked 11:21.720 to settle for second while Aditi Krishnan from Bengaluru took third in 11:22.140.

TVS Media Apache RTR 200 five-lap race was won by Soham Thakur from Mumbai as he clocked 11:37.219. Manaal Mahatme from Mumbai came second in 11:47.104 and Ajinkya Lad from Mumbai clocked 2:04.009 to finish third.

NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021 autotrack.ind.in 23

DRAG NATIONALS

‘Lightning’ strikes MMRT as Hemanth Muddappa breaks Drag record Coorgi extends streak as fastest Indian on a motorcycle Text: DAVID BODAPATI, Photos: SRINIVASA KRISHNAN

S

even-time National Drag Champion Hemanth Muddappa of Mantra Racing stormed to a National record, breaking his own mark with a triumphant double gold in the two ribbon events of the second round of the MMSC FMSCI Indian National Drag Racing Championship at the Madras Motor Race Track. Touching a top speed of 231 kmph, he extended his Championship lead in the premier 4-stroke Above1051cc Class at the 303-metre Madras Motor Race Trust's track, the Day 2 of the races.

Another Bengalurean Mohd Rafiq had a double on Day 1.

The 31-year Coorgi, based in Bengaluru, nicknamed Lightning R1, did his magic once again as he dashed to a gold beating his own National record in the 4stroke 850 to 1050cc Super Sport Class set in 2019.

Thus, the reigning National champion proved his critics wrong, extending his streak as the fastest Indian on a motorcycle. Astride a black Suzuki Hayabusa, he overcame fellow Bengalureans Hafizullah Khan, beating him by 0.335th o f a s e co n d, an d V i gn e s h Purushotham came behind Khan by another 0.351th deficit finishing third.

Muddappa, who also holds the

24 autotrack.ind.in NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021

National drag record in the top Super Sport Above-1051cc Class, later, won in the Super Sport 851-1050cc Category, riding a BMW S1000, ahead of Mohd Riyaz from Hyderabad and Bengaluru's Sugan Prasad.

“I am so happy to set the National record in this category.

Seven National titles won't come by luck. We have put in hard work and practised hard, testing and improving after every run. I dedicate this gold to my friend Riyaz's mom, who is on a ventilator. Despite that he came here and clocked an eight. Hats off to him,'' said a delighted Hemanth, who runs 1Up Nutrition, a popular Nutrition

supplement for sportspersons.

In one of the rare losses that he suffered in Round 1, it was his arch-rival on track, Riyaz who beat him. However, that brought out the best from the fitness freak in this round, as he not only bounced back to win Round 2 with authority but also broke his own two-year-old record.

"Every loss pumps me up to work harder, and to get that performance of a fraction of a second, we need to sacrifice a lot and sweat it out for many months, toiling daily in crowded gyms and on lonely tracks with only my tuner as company,'' revealed the champion.

“Winning is in the DNA of Mantra

R2, CHENNAI Racing from 1954. We have been tuning Muddappa's bikes for all his National titles and I am glad he got the much-awaited record today. We brought some upgrades but it was the hard work and practice he put in at the air strip that brought him success,” said Sharan Pratap of Mantra Racing, who tunes the champion's bikes.

Hemanth astride a green #93 BMW s1000rr was lightening quick to post a stunning 7.914 to beat the National Drag record in this class despite being a fraction of a second slower reaction at the start to Hyderabad's Moh'd Riyaz, who did 8.058 seconds.

Sugan Prasad, also from Bengaluru, clocked 8.421 to take the bronze.

In the top class of 4-stroke Above-1051cc Super Sport, riding a black Suzuki Hayabusa, Hemanth clocked 8.061sec. ”With others posting only in 8s, I took it easy and won at a relaxed pace,” the passionate bodybuilder added.

Another Bengalurean, Aiyaz Rem by clocking 12.368 won the Super Sport Indian 361-550cc category run, Yogeshwaran form Speed Up Racing, Chennai bagged the second spot with a timing of 12.620 and his teammate D Annish Samson with .038seconds deficit finished third.

Chennai riders dominated the 226 to 360cc Super sport Indian class, Bharath Raj by clocking 12.427 was the winner fo the class followed by Mohammed Shakir in second position by

clocking 12.655 while Yogeshwaran clocked 13.014 to settle for third position.

S Madhan Kumar bagged the Upto 165cc Super sport Indian class by clocking 13.826, by clocking 13.990 Kevin Kannan stood second, while Kannan S was slower by nearly half a second to settle for third position.

Day 1: On Saturday, Bengaluru's Mohd Rafiq dominated the opening day's proceedings with a grand double while local challenger, Soundari Sindy topped the Girls category.

Rafiq was in imperious form as he won in both 2-Stroke 165cc and 130cc categories quite comfortably. After a disappointing practice run, he clocked 12.761 seconds in the Final Run of the upto165cc 2Stroke class ahead of Chennai's Prashanth who finished second by clocking 12.817 and Aiyaz Rem clocked 12.969 finished third.

Earlier, Rafiq took the honours in the 130cc 2-Stroke category with 12.962 seconds, followed by two others from Bengaluru, Touheed by clocking 13.438 finished in second and Abdul G finished third by clocking 13.513.

Sindy emerged triumphant by clocking 16.462 in a three-way battle in the Girls category 4-Stroke upto165cc as she overcame fellow-Chennai competitors, Lani Zena Fernandez clocked 16.522 to finish second as Nivetha Jessica was slower by over half a second to settle for third.

4S - ABOVE 1051cc Podium

4S - 361 to 550cc Podium

4S-165cc Girls Podium

2S -131to165cc Winner Mohd Rafiq

4S - 851 to 1050cc Podium NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021 autotrack.ind.in 25

KARTING N AT I O N A L S

Kyle Kumaran, Nikilesh and Abhay secure top slot Meco FMSCI Rotax Max Karting Nationals attract better senior grid PHOTO BY: SHAHJAHAN

K

yle Kumaran, Nikilesh Raju and Abhay M secured top slots in Round 1 of the Meco FMSCI National Karting Championship Rotax Max Class (RMC) 2021 held at Meco Kartopia in Bengaluru recently. Round 1 and Round 2 were held in the same weekend. The number of drivers taking part in the championship increased substantially for this round, especially in the senior class.

Senior Max Kyle Kumaran from Peregrine Racing with a best lap time of

55.366 and a total lap time of 16:52.066 made it to the top in the 18-lap race while his teammate from Coimbatore K Suriya Varathan clocked a best lap time of 55.591 and finished second with a difference of 5.453seconds. Ameya Bafna from Rayo Racing with a further difference of over one second managed to hold on to the podium.

Nirmal Umashankar from MSports with over 2seconds difference finished fourth and MR Rishon further behind by only 200th of a second finished

26 autotrack.ind.in NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021

KYLE LEADING IN SENIOR MAX ACTION

R1, BENGALURU his teammate Arafath Sheikh was fourth another 0.068sec behind. Vedha Vishnu with a further difference of over 0.500sec finished fifth as Shrili Mistry from Erda's Racing was sixth.

Earlier in Pre-finals, Aditya had won followed by Arafath Sheikh in second and Nikhilesh Raju in third. Anuj A and Vedha Vishnu finished fourth and fifth respectively.

Junior Max RUHAAN ALVA IN THE LEAD IN JUNIOR CLASS

fifth followed by Parth Ghorpade from NK Racing Academy in sixth with a further difference of less than a second in deficit. Two others, Raaj Bakhru in fourth lap, and Shahan Ali Mohsin in third lap, had to pull out.

Earlier in the pre finals 15-lap race, Kyle with a total time of 14:116.007 qualified for top position. Ameya Bafna from Rayo Racing managed to hold on to the second position with a difference of 1.174 sec. Shahan Ali Mohsin was third followed by Nirmal Umashankar and Raaj Bakhru in fourth and fifth positions respectively. Parth qualified in sixth.

Micro Max Nikhilesh Raju from Birel Art India with a best lap time of

MICRO MAX ACTION

1:01.315 and a total time of 12:25.315 was the winner of the class. His teammate Aditya Suresh Kamat with 0.186sec difference settled for second position. Anuj A from MSport with a further 7-sec difference settled for third position while

SENIOR MAX WINNERS

Abhay M from Birel Art India clocked a best lap time of 55.516 in his total time of 14:50.971 to win the 15-lap race. Ruhaan Alva from MSport with a 0.309sec difference came second position. He managed to keep third place finisher Rohaan Madesh behind him with an advantage of 3.6sec. while Ishaan Madesh from Peregrine Racing missed the podium by a little over 4seconds. Jaden R Pariat from MSport with a further 4sec deficit finished fifth and Akshat Mishra finished sixth with a difference of 0.360sec.

Earlier in Pre finals, Ruhaan had made it with a difference of 3.262 as Jaden followed him in second.

Rohaan Madesh with 0.280 sec difference was third. Raiden Samervel and Akshat Misra stood in fourth and fifth position in that order.

WINNERS GROUP PHOTOGRAPH NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021 autotrack.ind.in 27

KARTING N AT I O N A L S

Kyle Kumaran, Ruhaan Alva and Anuj A shine PHOTO BY: SHAHJAHAN

S

enior racer Kyle Kumaran, Ruhaan Alva in Juniors and Anuj A in Cadet class took the overall honours in Round 2 of the Meco FMSCI National Karting Championship 2021 in the Rotax Max class held at Meco Kartopia in Bengaluru recently.

Senior Max Kyle Kumaran from Peregrine Racing with a best lap time of

1:09.998 in the 18-lap race topped the class with a total time of 21:14.900. Ameya Bafna from Rayo Racing came second taking another 3sec to finish the course.

MR Rishon from Birel Art India a further 5sec behind completed the podium.

Raaj Bakhru from Rayo Racing was fourth in further three seconds deficit and Parth Ghorpade from NK Racing Academy was fifth, a second slower. K Suriya Varathan from Peregrine Racing was running

28 autotrack.ind.in NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021

second but had a collision with Mihir Suman Avalakki and dropped down to sixth finished in the same position with 0.380sec difference to his immediate karter.

Pre-final saw Kyle once again on top as his teammate Suriya finished second with 0.753sec difference. Ameya with overtwo-seconds difference was third. Mihir was fourth while Rishon was fifth. Raaj came sixth among a grid of 14, the highest seen for some time now.

Micro Max Anuj A from MSport triumphed with a total time of 15:44.645 including a best lap of 1:16.125 in the 12-lap cadet race. Aditya Suresh Kamat from Birel Art India had to settle for second position with a difference of 1.342sec while his teammate Nikhilesh Raju was further slower by three seconds and gave Birel ART India two podiums by finishing third.

Arafath Sheikh and Veda Vishnu, both from MSport, settled for fourth and fifth positions

R2, BENGALURU

SENIOR MAX ACTION SENIOR MAX WINNERS

respectively, and Shrili Mistry from Erda's Racing finished sixth.

In the Pre-final, Arafath won the 10-lap race while his teammate Vedha Vishnu fell short by 0.326 seconds and settled for the second spot. Kamat finished third and his teammate Nikhilesh was fourth. Rohaan and Anuj were in fifth and sixth in that order. Aditya Suresh Kamat was penalised three seconds for a false start.

Junior Max Ruhaan Alva from MSport won the 15-lap Final race with a total time of 17:51.526 and a best lap time of 1:09.092. But it was Veer Sheth from NK Racing Academy who stole the fastest lap of 1:08.943 as he settled for second position with a deficit

MICRO MAX ACTION

of 0.519sec behind Ruhaan.

Abhay M from Birel Art India with further a difference of 18 seconds completed the podium.

Rohaan Madesh from Peregrine Racing was fourth and Jaden R Pariat from MSport stood fifth.

Raiden Samervel from Rayo Racing came sixth.

In the Pre-finals, Ruhaan won the 12-lap race with a comfortable lead of over 13seconds over Veer Sheth who finished second followed by Abhay in third with a further difference of 0.600sec.

Rohaan Madesh with over a second difference was fourth and Anshul Sai came fifth another seven seconds behind.

Raiden was sixth. Jaden was disqualified on the grounds of technical deviations.

JUNIOR MAX WINNERS

MICRO MAX WINNERS NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021 autotrack.ind.in 29

KARTING N AT I O N A L S

Kyle Kumaran continues to dominate Rohaan Madesh wins junior class honours; Aditya tops Round 3 cadet class PHOTO BY: SHAHJAHAN

K

yle Kumaran, Rohaan Madesh and Aditya A dominated their respective classes in Round 3 of the Meco FMSCI National Karting Championship 2021 Rotax Max Classes held at Meco Kartopia in Bengaluru recently. It was a second straight win for Kyle in the back-to-back rounds.

Senior Max Kyle Kumaran from Bengaluru representing Peregrine Racing with a best lap time of 55.962 and total time of 17:02.325 was the deserved winner.

Ameya Bafna from Mumbai representing Rayo Racing was slower by 1.805 seconds and had

to settle behind him in second position. K Suriya Varathan from Coimbatore also representing Peregrine Racing completed the podium with a difference of 0.589sec.

Raaj Bakhru from Mumbai, racing for Rayo Racing missed the podium with a deficit of 0.428sec and finished fourth.

Two Bengaluru boys from Birel Art India, Mihir Suman Avalakki and MR Rishon, came fourth and fifth respectively.

In the Pre-finals, Kyle with the best lap time of 55.987 finished on top as teammate Suriya finished second a second slower.

Ameya was a further second slower in third. Raaj and Rishon

3O autotrack.ind.in NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021

WINNERS GROUP PHOTOGRAPH

R3, BENGALURU Kamat from Birel Art India won the Final race with a total time of 12:35.033. Anuj A from Madurai representing MSport clocked the best lap time of 1:01.822 with a difference of over three seconds he finished second. His teammate Arafath Sheikh from Pune finished third a further over three-seconds difference. While the Chennai Karter Vedha Vishnu also from MSport finished fourth, two Bengaluru Karters Nikhilesh Raju from Birel Art India and Rohan Reddy from Peregrine Racing finished in fifth and sixth respectively.

Shrili Mistry from Vadodara representing Erda's Racing was disqualified on Technical grounds.

MICRO MAX - ADITYA SURESH KAMAT IN LEAD

were fourth and fifth respectively with Tarun claiming sixth position. Nirmal was penalised with a 10-second penalty for causing avoidable collusion.

Junior Max Bengaluru boy Rohaan Madesh from Peregrine Racing won with a total time of 14:20.599 in the 15-lap race. Abhay M from Bengaluru from Birel Art India was slower by one second and had to settle for second position.

Ruhaan Alva also from Bengaluru representing MSport clocked the fastest lap time of the race with 56.407sec but had to settle for third position after a rare loss on this circuit. Two of his teammates Jaden R Pariat from Guwahati and Sai Shiva Makesh from Pune could only secure fourth and fifth positions respectively. Ishaan Madesh from Bengaluru of Peregrine Racing was awarded a 10second penalty for a jump start.

He crossed the chequered flag third but was ranked only sixth after the penalty was applied.

Akshat Misra was also penalised with 10 seconds for causing an avoidable collusion.

In the Pre-finals, Rohaan took a

well-run race clocking 11:25.659 ahead of his younger brother Ishaan who clocked the fastest lap time of 56.312 but could only finish second. Abhay M was slower by five seconds and finished third. Ruhaan, Anshul

and Sai Shiva finished in fourth, fifth and sixth in that order.

Anshul was given a three-second penalty for the false start.

In the Pre-finals, Anuj secured top slot with a total time of 10:34.527 as Shrili after locking the fastest lap time of 1:01.053 stood second and Aditya was slower by a second to finish third. Vedha, Rohan and Arafath finished in the same order from 4th to 6th.

Micro Max Bengaluru boy Aditya Suresh

JUNIOR CLASS ACTION NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021 autotrack.ind.in 31

RALLY

ABU DHABI

Joaquim Rodriques rd

finishes 3 to gear up for Dakar 2022 Hero MotoSports Team completes Abu Dhabi Rally on a high

H

ero MotoSports Team Rally, the motorsports team of the world's largest manufacturer of motorcycles and scooters, Hero Moto Corp, has completed the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge on a high with the team achieving a prestigious podium position in its last rally before Dakar 2022.

Joaquim Rodrigues finished in third-place in the overall rankings. Pushing through multiple challenges in the final stage of the rally, including the failure of his navigation equipment, he delivered a fantastic fifth-place finish on the stage, just seven minutes behind the leader.

The third-place finish marks the first podium for Rodrigues in the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship, and the second for the Team including Franco Caimi's third-place finish at the Silk Way Rally.

With this, Joaquim Rodrigues has finished in the 32 autotrack.ind.in NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021

fourth position in the Cross-Country Rallies World Championship, while Franco Caimi finished in eighth and Sebastian Buhler in 12th positions.

The last stage of the rally tested the riders with another 216kms of racing, taking the total race distance to over 1350kms in five days.

Next for the team will be the Dakar 2022, which will take place in Saudi Arabia, from the 2nd to the 14th of January 2022. The team will use this period for their final preparations, to ensure they hit the ground running, with both man and machine at their peak performance.

Wolfgang Fischer, Team Manager, Hero MotoSports Team Rally: “First of all, we would like to wish Sebastian a speedy recovery, and we hope to have him back soon. Hearty congratulations to JRod for a well-deserved podium finish. It was also great to have the full team here as CS

DESERT CHALLENGE

Santosh joined us, signalling his speedy recovery. Overall, we have had an exciting season, during which we have improved a lot and the growth is evident from the podium finishes. Our focus will now be on ensuring readiness for the Dakar Rally. Thanks to the entire team for their great work.”

Joaquim Rodrigues, Rider, Hero MotoSports Team Rally: “I had a failure on my navigation system on the stage,

but I am happy that I was able to finish. A podium in this rally is a great result for the team, and good motivation just before the biggest race, the Dakar. This is my first podium in the championship and the fact that this is the same race where Paulo scored his first Podium in 2012 makes this result that much more special for me.

I want to once again wish my teammate Buhler a speedy recovery, and thank my team and fans around the world for their constant support.”

NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021 autotrack.ind.in 33

RALLY

NATIONALS

Abdul Tanveer

bounces back to an overall win MRF Mogrip National Bike Rally Round 3 challenges riders PHOTO BY: GYANRAJ bdul Wahid Tanveer from TVS Racing riding a TVS APACHE RTR won the Overall honours in Round 3 of the MRF Mogrip National Rally Championship for two-wheelers (2W) 2021 held at Panja in Puttur, the Malnad region of Karnataka.

A

Rally De Mangaluru began with 60 participants as riders from

across India in fray for the two stages named Karambi of 5.2kms, and Karikala of 15.1kms, run thrice each. Full Kudos to the local crowd and the private property owners on which the rally was run. They kept the morale of the participants and spectators high despite the continuous overnight rains.

Stage 1 was a bit fast and with a few bad slush patches Stage 2

34 autotrack.ind.in NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021

was slippery and tricky.

Tanveer with a total time of 40min 55.728 seconds was the topper while privateer Sarath Mohan from Mallapuram in Kerala was at his best and fell short by six seconds and had to settle for second position. Imran Pasha from TVS Racing was 14seconds slower and managed to complete the podium in third.

His teammate Samuel Jacob with about 25 seconds further deficit was fourth and another TVS Racing rider Sachin D finished fifth another two seconds behind, Local rider Adnan Ahmed from Mangaluru, finished sixth with a further deficit of 1min 2sec.

Super Bike Pro Expert Group A Tanveer topped the class and his

R3, PUTTUR Expert Group A class with a total time of 41min 2sec. Nagpur rider Aman Prabhakar Pawde took another 3min 22sec and had to settle for second position. Asad Khan from Chikkamgaluru came third another 1min 4sec behind.

Jatin Jain, also from Nagpur, was fourth a further 1min 35sec in deficit to the third. Rakesh Nagaraja from Bengaluru was fifth with a further difference of 3min 50sec while Pravith Pavithran from Thrissur logged a DNF. Super Sport 130 Group B Ajin Abraham, a student from Kerala clocked 49min 44sec to win the class followed by Dilip Raj from Chikkamgaluru in second position with a difference of 4min 16sec. Prashanth R from Bengaluru was further behind by 1min 32sec and had to settle for third position. Chalass K Bose from Kottayam with 3min 54sec further difference was fourth while Rahul Shriyan from Mangaluru finished fifth.

Super Sport 165 Group B Pavan BK from Bengaluru won the class with a total time of 45min 30sec. Sasi Kumar K from Coimbatore finished second as he fell short by 1min 26sec to secure the top slot. Abrar Pasha from Shimoga with a further 1min 55sec deficit was third. Anoop Manjappa from Bengaluru settled for fourth position.

Ceremonial Flag off by Rajith Bhat

Sarath Mohan winner of Super Bike Expert Group A

Naresh VS winner of Super sport 550 Group B

teammate from TVS Racing, Nataraj R, who had two DNF (Did Not Finish) in the earlier two rounds, managed to finish second with a difference of 3min 23sec. Goutham Rao R from Bengaluru took another 5min 07sec to claim third.

Super Bike Expert Group A Sharath Mohan from Mallapuram won Super Bike NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021 autotrack.ind.in 35

R3, PUTTUR

RALLY

by Francis PV from Chikkamgaluru in second position with a difference of 4min 48sec. Bharath P from Bengaluru finished third with a further difference of 3min 45sec.

Nadeem Ahamed from Mysuru, Mohammad Ibrahim Bawa from Mangalore and Sarath PS from Bengaluru stood in fourth, fifth and sixth positions respectively.

NATIONALS

Syed Asif Ali winner Scooter class

Super Sport 260 Group B Top four slots in this class were taken by TVS Racing riders, who dominated the show. Imran Pasha won with a total time of 41:16. Samuel Jacob with 25sec difference was second and Sachin D with 1min 21sec further difference stood third. Trinesh V from Hoskote finished fourth while Anand Jaya Krishnan JC from Trivandrum finished fifth.

Super Sport 400 Group B Sajeesh Reghunathan from Bengaluru with 54:11of total time secured first place in the class. Venu Ramesh Kumar V from Coimbatore came second with a difference of 2min 53sec and Sravan Kumar Kuttoor from Hyderabad was third a further 3min 21sec behind.

Super Sport 550 Group B Naresh VS from Bengaluru managed to break the Jinx after experiencing gear box issues in the previous two rounds. He managed to finish on top with a total time of 51min 02sec. Championship leader Mohammed Zaheer from Bengaluru finished second with a difference of 1min 26sec. Devraj Venkatesh also from Bengaluru with a further difference of

2min 41sec was third. Defending champion Sharath Kumar was fourth and Abhijith Sarkar was DNF. Scooter 210 Group B Syed Asif Ali from TVS Racing riding a TVS N TORQ won with a total time of 50min 05sec followed in second by Karthik, also from TVS Racing, with a difference of 35sec. Shamim Khan a further 1min 04sec behind came third. Subramanya from Bengaluru was fourth while Abhijit Shetty had to pull out in the very first stage.

Ladies Class Group B It was a third straight win for Aishwarya Pissay from TVS Racing with a total time of 50:38.849. Tanika Shanbhag from Satara with 53sec difference was in second position. Anam Hashim from Pune stood third with a further difference of 17min 35sec.

Apoorva B from Mangaluru finished fourth as Sneha CC from Thrissur came fifth followed by Sushmitha from Bengaluru in sixth.

Star of Karnataka class Localite Adnan Ahmed clocked 44.05 to win the class followed

36 autotrack.ind.in NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021

Ajin Abraham winner of Super sport 130 Group B

Pavan BK winner of Super sport 165 Group B

Adnan Ahmed winner of Star of Karnataka

R4, CHIKKAMAGALURU

RALLY

NATIONALS

TVS Racing's Samuel Jacob wins Third straight win for Aishwarya Pissay in Ladies class PHOTO BY: SRIHARSHA NADIGER

S

amuel Jacob's continuous efforts paid off as his superb performance took him to the top in the Rally de Chikmagalur, the Round 4 of the MRF Mogrip FMSCI National Rally Championship for 2-Wheelers 2021 held in Chikkamagaluru recently.

Bikes roared off in the Coffee estates after a gap of six years as INRC returned to Chikkamagaluru. The whole

rally run within a few coffee estates with the collective efforts of Coffee planters and Organisers saw a successful return of two-wheeler rallies into the Coffeeland. The three-stage rally was cut short to two, right before the start due to excessive unseasonal rains caused by depression. But this did not hinder the morale of the organisers and participants as rain gods blessed the rally pausing intermittently till evening.

Ajin Abrham winner Super sport 130 Group B

NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021 autotrack.ind.in 37

RALLY

NATIONALS

Samuel Jacob from TVS Racing with a total time of 53:56.069 was the overall winner as five of his teammates finished in top six.

Abdul Wahid Tanveer from Mysuru missed the top slot and had to settle for second position with a difference of six seconds.

Imran Pasha J from Mysuru a further 38 seconds behind managed to be on the podium.

Privateer from Nagpur Aman Prabhakar Pawde was 2min 19sec slower to settle for fourth position. Nataraj R from Kanakpura in Bengaluru after two dropouts in the first two rounds managed to complete the rally for the second time this championship in fifth place with a further difference of ten seconds. Sachin D from Bengaluru with a total time of 57:45.051 finished sixth.

Super Bike Pro Expert Group A Adbul Wahid Tanveer from TVS Racing dominated the class right from the beginning as his main in-house competitor Rajendra RE had mechanical issues right from the start. Tanveer clocked a total time of 54:02.134 to win the class beating another teammate Nataraj R who managed to complete for the second time in a row this season and take second place, 3min 08sec behind the leader. Goutham Rao R, a privateer from Bengaluru, managed to take the final place

on the podium in third. Even he was slow in a few of the stages due to mechanical issues but managed to finish13min 08sec further behind second.

Rajendra ran out of luck for the second time in succession this season as it was his second DNF after leading on Day 1 after SSS. Day 2 for him began with vows, in the very first stage he was slower by 15minutes and managed to clock the fastest timing in second stage but in his second repeat on Stage 4, he had to pull out due to mechanical issues with the bike.

Super Bike Expert Group A Aman Prabhakar Pawde from Nagpur with a total time of 57minutes won the top spot beating Chikkamagaluru's Asad Khan by 2min 45sec. Nagpur rider Jatin Jain was a further 2min 19sec behind in third position.

Sarath Mohan from Mallapuram ran out of luck in the seventh stage as he crashed at the finish and had to pull out. At that stage he was just three seconds behind the overall leader Samuel.

Super Sport 130 Group B Ajin Abraham, a Student from Kerala, clocked 1:03.38.165 to win the Super Sport 130cc Group B class. He gained the first slot right in the first stage of the Day 2 after he finished third on Day 1 due to a spin in the sixth righthander in SSS. He dominated the class right

Akash Ithal winner of Super sport 400 Group B 38 autotrack.ind.in NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021

from the start of the stages and held on till the end. Chalass K Bose from Kottayam finished second with a difference of 2min 05sec. Nitesh G Poojari from Mangaluru was further slower by 1min 26sec to finish third.

Durgesh J from Bengaluru took another 1min 09sec to finish fourth and Chikkamagaluru's Dilip Raj settled for fifth behind by a narrow 0.360sec.

Super Sport 165 Group B Pavan BK from Bengaluru was the winner of the class with a total time of 1:00.40.843. After a not-so- impressive start in SSS, he managed to climb up the leader board with fastest stage timings in all the stages of the class. Sasi Kumar K from Coimbatore had a good run in Super Special Stage (SSS) but spun very badly 300 metres before the finish line and lost time and finished third in SSS on Day 1. But on stages he was consistently clocking second best timing in the class and managed to finish second after the final stage on Day 2.

Adnan Ahmed winner of Star of Karnataka

Abrar Pasha form Shivamogga was unable to hold on to his SSS lead on Day 2 but finished third with a 35-second deficit to second. Anoop Manjappa from Bengaluru was another 8min 53sec behind and settled for fourth position.

Karthik N winner of Scooter class

Super Sport 265 Group B In Super Sport 265 class Group B, the top-three positions were dominated by TVS Racing riders.

Samuel Jacob won in 53:56.069 beating Imran Pasha J, who was fastest in the class in SSS. But Pasha couldn't capitalise on the short lead as he was behind the leader in second position right from Stage 1 start and held on to it with 45 seconds difference.

Sachin D was losing time right from the start and managed to be on the podium a further 3min 03sec behind second. Prabakaran S from Chikkamagaluru was further slower by 44min 30sec and finished fourth in the order.

Super Sport 400 Group B Puttur rider Aakash Aithal who entered the championship midway retained his 2015 position being on top of every round, he with a total time of 1:06.46.204 was the winner followed by the defending champion Venu Ramesh Kumar V from Coimbatore in second position with a difference of ten seconds, Sajeesh Reghunathan from Bengaluru was further slower by 10min 34sec to finish third. Vetran Sravan Kumar Kuttoor from Hyderabad finished fourth with further 2min six seconds deficit.

R4, CHIKKAMAGALURU

Samuel Jacob winner of Super sport 260 Group B

Md Zaheer winner of Super sport 500 Group B

Super Sport 550 Group B Pulling out heavy machines like the Himalayan bikes in the slushy terrain on steep windings was never easy. Bengalurean Mohammed Zaheer was back in the top slot after falling back in Round 3. He clocked 01:05.32.247 to win the race.

Naresh VS finished 2min 32sec behind the leader and Vijay Kumar from Chikkamagaluru was third taking another 32min 21sec.

Pissay as she dominated right from SSS and won with a total time of 01:04.00.857. Satara rider Tanika Shanbhag with a difference of 4min 28sec could only finish second despite being fastest in two stages. Apoorva B from Mangaluru was further slower by 18min 58sec to finish

Aishwarya Pissay winner of Ladies class

Pavan BK winner of Super sport 165 Group B

third. Anam Hashim from Pune came fourth as she took 8min 43sec more to complete the course.

Star of Karnataka Adnaan Ahmed from Mangaluru with a total time of 00:59.34.414 was the star followed by localite

from Chikkamagaluru Francis PV with a difference of 04min 06sec.

Chikkamagalurian Suraj N with a further difference of 8min 30sec finished third. Purab J also from Chikkamagaluru was fourth, Nadeem Ahamed from Mysuru was fifth while Sarath P from Bengaluru came sixth.

Scooter 210 Group B TVS Racing riders dominated the class with Karthik N winning in 1:06.12.915 beating teammate Syed Asif Ali by 1min 17sec.

Shamim Khan was further slower by 14 seconds and took third place. Subramanya, a privateer from Bengaluru, was fourth another 2min 41sec behind.

Ladies class Group B It was a fourth straight win for TVS Racing rider Aishwarya NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021 autotrack.ind.in 39

AUTOCROSS

Rookie Jahaan

clinches Amateur honours Mazdayar, Dhruva, Nikeetaa shine at Accelerate Time Attack

H

yderabad's Mazdayar Vatcha and Dhruva Chandrashekar from Bengaluru shared honours along with Nikeetaa Takkale, who sparkled in Ladies class, in the HDFC Bank Accelerate Time Attack 2021 held in Pune recently. The two-day event saw over 182 participants in fray in the 1.2-kms purpose-built track.

Day One: Professional class Mazdayar clocked 03:13.3 to win the Open class followed by Dhruva Chandrashekar from Bengaluru in second position.

Young Jahaan Singh Gill who trained at Chetan Shivram Motorsports finished third with

a five-second difference to second.

In the upto 1100cc class, Abhinay Vikrud was the topper with 03:39.3 time while Pradeb Biswas was two seconds slower and had to settle for second position.

Iftheqhar Ahmed finished third another fraction of a second behind.

In upto 1400cc class, Ravinder Singh Assi clocked 03:21.6 to bag the class while Shivani Parmar a lady driver came second 16 seconds behind edging past Abhinay Vikrud by 0.200sec.

Upto 1600cc belonged to the 19year Jahaan Singh Gill as he clocked 03:19.8. Mazdayar was eight seconds behind him in second and Ravinder was third

4O autotrack.ind.in NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021

another five-second difference.

Upto 2000cc class, Jahaan clocked 03:20.5 to win the class, Dhruva from Bengaluru finished in second position with less than one second deficit, Mazdayar with further four seconds difference finished in third position.

Ladies class was won by Nikeetaa Takkale in 03:37.7 while Shivani Parmar came second taking another three seconds. Khyati Mody with less than a second in deficit finished third.

Rally Car class By clocking 03:18.6, Dhruva won the class followed by Jahaan with six-second difference in second.

Lady driver Khyati took another five seconds to settle for third.

Amateur class Iftheqhar was the winner of upto 1100cc class. Tejas Chandrakant Hanjankar finished second as he was 11 seconds slower and Pratik Desai took another second to finish third.

Jeet Tapaswi won the upto 1400cc class by clocking 03:38.5 beating Samrudhha Patil by three seconds. Patil settled for second position and Freddy Elavia finished third with 11second gap to the second.

Upto 1600cc class belonged to Jahaan as he clocked 03:26.6. Sai Giridhar Chintamaneni with nine seconds difference finished second. RajKumar R Bhandari was third taking another six seconds to finish the course.

PUNE

Khyati Mody in action Ladies class winners

Jahaan bagged the upto 2000cc class as he clocked 03:33.4 defeating Sagar Dalvi by 13 seconds. Freddy took another 33 seconds to finish third.

Nikeetaa Takkale was the winner of Ladies class clocking 04:20.9.

Riya Rohatgi and Sanjana Sanjay Takale had a DNF.

Day Two: Professional class Dhruva dominated Day 2 in the Open class by clocking 03:07.1 while Jahaan was three seconds slower behind him in second position. Mazdayar was third a further eight seconds behind.

Rally Cars class, also belonged to Dhruva with a timing of 03:06.8 while Jahaan with less than four seconds difference finished second again. But it was Khyati Mody who took third with a 16second difference.

Pradeep A Nair won the SUV Open class with a timing of 03:23.5. Sanjay Lall was ten seconds slower to finish in second position while Nikeetaa Takkale was third another 16 seconds behiind.

Diesel Cars class, was won by Pradeep who recorded 03:22.4.

Nikeetaa Takkale finished second with a mere 0.200 sec difference while Mazdayar was third a further 0.300sec behind.

Ravinder was the fastest to win the upto 1100cc class by clocking 03:29.2. Iftheqhar with a margin of one second was in second in position and Abhinay came third taking four more

seconds.

Upto 1400cc class, Jeet Tapaswi won with a timing of 03:30.0 followed by Abhinay who finished one second behind in second. Sanjay Lall was third with one more second difference.

Amateur Class Iftheqhar won the upto 1100cc class by clocking 03:30.3 as Tejas with 11-second difference stood second and Pratik Desai finished third, losing second by just halfa-second difference.

Pratik won the upto 1400cc class by clocking 03:36.0. Jeet was a second slower to finish in second position. Freddy was a further eight seconds behind in third position.

In upto-1600cc class Jahaan was the dominant driver again clocking 03:19.5 ahead of Nikeetaa who managed to finish second with a difference of three seconds. Warun was further slower by eight seconds to finish third.

Jahaan continued his dominance in upto 2000cc class also with a time of 03:22.9 followed by Warun in second position with a time of 03:27.6. Zahaan Irani was slower by two seconds to secure third position.

Ladies class once again belonged to Nikeetaa with a time of 03:29.5 ahead of Sanjana Sanjay Takale who failed to finish on Day 1, made amends and managed to finish the run on Day 2 clocking 03:47.6 for her second position. Ankita Mittal finished third taking another 24 seconds.

Open class day two winners

Open class day one winners

Upto 2000cc class winners NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021 autotrack.ind.in 41

SPRINT NATIONALS

Yuva Kumar takes overall honours Vinit, Badal, Muzaffar and Sathyaraj win their classes PHOTO BY: MANANVEER SINGH BARNALA

H

ero Motosports Yuva Kumar won the day's honours with a best time of 7 minutes, 33.9 seconds to become the fastest driver of the day, in the round 5 of the Indian National Rally Sprint Championship held in Chandigarh, also the qualifying round for the Northern region .

Bullet Class Vinit won the Bullet class with a time of 09:01.300 beating Hitesh Ghadge to second by 16 seconds. Shivam Wani was another 24 seconds behind and completed the podium. Nilesh Yashwant Thakare from Nashik came fourth taking another 15 seconds.

Group A upto 600cc Badal S Doshi from Mumbai was the quickest in the class with an 08:03.00 time. Jatin Jain from Nagpur was behind by 17 seconds to finish in second position while Aman Prabhakar Pawde also from Nagpur, finished third, a further eight seconds later. Hemant More took another 10 seconds to claim fourth. Tanika Shanbag came home in fifth another 22 seconds behind.

131 to 165cc class Muzaffir Ali with a timing of 08:28.800 won the class followed

by Hitesh Ghadge in second with a difference of seven seconds.

Anuj Siddu with a further 52-sec difference finished third. Nilesh

42 autotrack.ind.in NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021

Yashwant Thakare came fourth with another 1min 16sec deficit.

166 to 260cc class Sathyaraj won the class by clocking 07:52.000. Santosh Vishnoi was three seconds

behind and settled for second position. Sourab Handa was a further 42 seconds behind in third. Kaustab with a further difference of 1min 16sec finished fourth.

Rajan Sandhu runner-up Zonal Star

R5, CHANDIGARH

Vinit winner Bullet class

Santosh Vaishnoi winner Zonal Star

261 to 400cc class Vinit clocked 09:00.700 two win the class beating Rehan Khan by five seconds. Shivam Wani came third clocking 09:26.200 to complete the podium. Hitesh Ghadge was slower by a minute and 12 seconds to finish fourth while Nilesh Thakare came fifth another 18sec behind.

Group B Upto 130cc By clocking 08:56.700 Muzaffir Ali was the topper in the class followed by Saif Khan in second with a difference of 38sec. Rehan Khan posted a DNF (Did not finish).

Group D upto 260cc Yuva Kumar from Hero Motosports won with a timing of 07:33.900 beating teammate Sathyaraj who clocked 07:54.500 for his second position. Santosh Vishnoi was a further 14sec behind in third. Karthik S and Jagadish finished in fourth and fifth positions respectively while Shivam Thakur came sixth.

Upto 600cc Open class Badal S Doshi won the class with

a time of 08.00.800 beating Jatin Jain by 19sec. Sourab Handa finished third with 12-second difference. Hitesh Ghadge fell into the 9-minute band with a 09.00.400 time for his fourth place and was followed by Hemant More in fifth who took another two seconds to finish the course.

Scooter Class Rana Pratap clocked 09.02.500 to win the scooter class beating Muzaffir Ali to second. Ali was 26seconds behind. Saif Khan finished third with a further eight-seconds difference. Hitesh Ghadge was forth while Nilesh Thakare finished sixth.

Zonal Star Santosh Vishnoi was the leader with 8 minutes and Rajan Sidhu with a 45-sec difference stood second and Karthik S by clocking 08:50.200 finished third. Rehan Khan and Laban David finished in fourth and fifth places respectively.

Ladies class was won by Tanika shanbhag.

Tanika Shanbhag winner Ladies class

Badal Doshi winner upto 600cc Group A

Sathyaraj winner 166 to 260cc class Group B

Jatin Jain runner-up upto 600cc Group A NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021 autotrack.ind.in 43

SPRINT NATIONALS

Yuva Kumar wins North Zone Sprint qualifier too

Regional qualifier at Chandigarh provides locals a shot at the Goa Nationals PHOTO BY: MANANVEER SINGH BARNALA

Y

uva Kumar from Hero Motosports was the winner of the Round 6 of the 2W fmsci Indian National Rally Sprint Championship (INRSC), North Zone qualifier held at Chandigarh recently.

He won with a timing of 07:25.400 followed in second by Aman Prabhakar Pawde from Nagpur who took just over a second more than the leader.

Sathyaraj fell short by two seconds and had to settle for third position. Badal Doshi, a further three seconds behind, came fourth while Santosh

Pawde won the group with a time of 07:26.900 beating Badal Doshi from Mumbai by 28 seconds. Jatin Jain with a second deficit stood third. Tanika Shanbag from Satara was 29seconds behind third and settled for fourth place followed

by Hemant M-ore in fifth as he took another 56 seconds.

131 upto 165cc Group B Muzaffir Ali was unstoppable as he continued his winning-spree from the previous round. He won the class beating Hitesh Ghadge by a second. Anuj Siddu was behind 59 seconds and took the third place on the podium.

Nilesh Thakare finished fourth a further 13 seconds behind.

166 to 260cc Group B Sathyaraj from Hero Motosports won the class by clocking 07:27.400 beating Santosh Vishnoi by 10 seconds. Sourab Handa was 24 seconds behind in third place followed by Kaustab in fourth.

261 to 400cc Group B Vinit was the winner of this class followed by Shivam Wani in second with 28-seconds difference. Hitesh Ghadge finished third another 39 seconds behind. Nilesh Thakare finished fourth followed by Rehan Khan in fifth.

Upto 130cc Group B Muzaffir Ali clocked 08:45.600 to win the class followed by Saif Khan in second as Saif took another 15 seconds to complete the stage. Rehan Khan was 35 seconds behind in finish third.

Vishnoi came fifth taking another seven seconds.

Bullet Class Vinit once again dominated the Bullet class with a time of 08:43.600 followed by Hitesh Ghadge who came second taking 11 seconds more. Shivam Wani with a timing of 09:20.800 finished third. Nilesh Yashwant Thakare finished in fourth position with a 17-second deficit while Santosh Sarkele was another 1min 8sec behind and finished in fifth position.

Upto 600cc Group A Nagpur rider Aman Prabhakar

44 autotrack.ind.in NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021

Rana Pratap winner Scooter class

R6, CHANDIGARH

Ritesh Ghadge winner upto 600cc open class

Upto 260cc Group D Yuva Kumar from Hero Motosports was the fastest driver of the day with 07:25.400 as his teammate Sathyaraj was behind by 24 seconds. Santosh Vishnoi came third a further five seconds behind. Karthik S was fourth and Shivam Thakur was fifth. Jagadish finished in sixth position.

Upto 600cc Open class Badal Doshi from Mumbai was the winner of this clocking 07:30.800 to defeat Jatin Jain from Nagpur by 40 seconds.

Hitesh Ghadge was slower by 47 seconds to complete the podium. Hemant More and Nilesh Thakare finished in fourth and fifth positions respectively.

Scooter Class Rana Pratap clocked 08:55.000

to win the class followed by Muzaffar Ali in second position with a difference of eight seconds. Hitesh Ghadge finished third a further seven seconds behind. Saif Khan and Nilesh Thakare from Nasik finished in fourth and fifth positions respectively. Santosh Sarkele finished sixth.

Zonal class Santosh Vishnoi was the topper in the Zonal class with a timing of 07:40.400 while Jagadish came second 46 seconds behind as he pipped Karthik S by 0.400sec.

Karthik had to be content with a third place. Pradeep finished fourth another 51 seconds behind. Rehan Khan was fifth and Laban David was sixth.

Ladies class was bagged by Tanika Shanbag from Satara.

Vinit winner Bullet class

Tanika Shanbhag winner Ladies class

Jagadish runner-up Zonal class

Overall winner Yuva Kumar NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021 autotrack.ind.in 45

DRIVE

Nazir Hoosein Memorial drive digs in nostalgic memories

Over 100 participants, and some old beauties, successfully complete the 5-day memorial drive

46 autotrack.ind.in NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021

GREATER NOIDA

T

he Nazir Hoosein Memorial Drive, was flagged off from Greater Noida by the Chief of Army Staff, General MM Manoj Mukund Naravane in November. The first car to be flagged off was a retrofitted Mahindra Thar driven by Col (Retd) SS Sekhon, and over 100 participants were in motion to trace the original route of the 1981 Himalayan Rally.

The second, a similarly retrofitted car commemorating the original Himalayan Rally was driven by Surinder Thatthi, Vice President for Sport, FIA. Mahindra have also provided 15 support vehicles for the drive.

Manjeev Bhalla, a former winner, along with Flory Roothaert in the original Himalayan Rally, praised the care taken to put together an event that is a 'fitting tribute to a man who revolutionised motorsport in this country'.

After the night halt at Mussoorie, the participants were flagged off

by Satpal Mahraj, PWD, Tourism, Culture & Irrigation Minister and Ganesh Joshi, Minister of Soldier Welfare, Industrial Development, MSME, Khadi & Village Industries.

The cavalcade went from Mussoorie via Kempty Falls, Katthaptthar and crossed over into Himachal Pradesh to end the day's journey at Kufri.

The cars made their way down to Kempty Falls, via Kalapatthar, Peonta Sahib and entered Himachal Pradesh. This, arguably one of the longer stretches of the drive itself treated everyone to idyllic scenery and humbling roads.

Driving through Solan, Kalaghati and Chail surrounded by beautiful Deodhar forests, it was a treat for the eyes, even the drivers' eyes at all times were locked on the road. It was also a

great eye opener for what lies ahead and a chance for all to get acclimatised to drive in the mountains.

The Jalori Pass is widely regarded as one of the most-challenging roads on the Himalayas. It sits on the way from Khanag towards Shoja and is closed for the later months of the year due to heavy snowfall. After Shoja, the climb was steep and narrow. The cars climbed an elevation of 668m in under 6 km and the demanding roads tested the driver acumen to the limit.

After a picturesque and memorable drive from thereon everyone got their first glimpse of the snow-clad peaks of the Upper Himalayas. The Savoy Inn, is one of the hosts of the original Himalayan Rally, 40 years ago.

The hotel itself is a landmark, boasting within its property one of the oldest post offices in the country.

At the dinner, renowned author Ruskin Bond recalled his memories from the Himalayan Rally when interacting with NHMD participants. He pointed out that urbanisation and largescale development have changed many things along the route, sometimes even for the better. “In those days metalled roads were almost non-existent and therefore the rallyists were pioneers, charting new ways. Today it's different but nonetheless, for many participants it will be a novel experience. Driving in the mountains makes you appreciate the journey, not crave the destination.”

The fleet of cars reached Manali, via Auth and Kulu to take in a well-deserved break from hard mountain driving over the past few days. The drivers then proceeded to Koksar, via the Atal Tunnel, before they were allowed a free run to Rohtang and a return to Manali, for the final day of the Drive.

NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021 autotrack.ind.in 47

GREATER NOIDA

DRIVE

keeping with it, many classic cars had registered for the event, not just for the pageantry, but the adventure itself. All five classic cars (1963 VW Beetle, 1968 VW Beetle, 1963 Fiat Select 1100, 1957 Fiat Elegant and a 1972 VW Westfalia) that registered for the event, completed the drive successfully.

Hassan Hussein, a vintage car collector who bought and restored his 1972 VW Westfalia four years back, said that from the moment he heard about the drive he knew he wanted to test his van in the mountains. "To be honest, the van has actually never driven anywhere more than 100km at a stretch," he grinned. "It always used to claw at me. I think the purpose of this iconic vehicle has always been to serve its owners with long comfortable journeys, and finally I can say that having come up to the Himalayas, it has served its purpose."

Hussein's co-driver Rhea Suresh Rao admitted that while they hadn't anticipated some small

The Memorial Drive culminated in Manali, after a five-day journey and on the final day, drivers were allowed a free run to Khoksar via the Atal tunnel, towards Sisu, to take in the sight of snow-clad mountains and serene mountain scenery. Lunch in the valley was followed by a farewell dinner in Manali.

Speaking after the completion of the event, Rajan Syal expressed his gratitude to everyone who participated in the event and paid special tribute to an extensive team of volunteers who helped put it together.

"The overwhelming generosity witnessed in the last few days is a testament to the success of this event. We are glad to have put together something to commemorate the memory of a great man and look forward to doing it again in the coming years."

The main theme of the drive itself has been nostalgic and in 48 autotrack.ind.in NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021

problems of the terrain and the journey, overall, she never doubted the car's capability to negotiate arduous climbs. "The cold and the general lack of temperature control was a bit rough on us, but that is a great lesson for next time.”

"And hey, it's all worth it, when we look back at what we've done," Hussein quipped.

"Someday I'll tell my kids what a cool thing we did in the mountains, and we will have all these beautiful pictures shot by the organisers, to prove it."

The successful negotiation of this sometimes-arduous event prompted not just applause but encouragement to many drivers who expressed interest in doing it again in the coming years.

Darshan, a vintage car collector from Kolkata, who took part in the drive with two friends, said he'd been sceptical when he saw the 'classics' at the starting line.

"But now I swear, it's given me confidence. Maybe next year I'll get my MG (Magnette, 1955) for this event," he quipped.

RALLY

OF HIMALAYAS

5O autotrack.ind.in NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021

MANALI

Aishwarya silences critics with stunning show Aman Prabhakar Pawde triumphs in bike section

C

ross Country FIM World Cup Baja winner Aishwarya Pissay, who returned to the track courageously once again, after a serious accident that saw fractures on both her wrists, silenced all her critics with a stunning resilience that made the connoisseur sit-up and take notice as she beat many of the male riders to clinch a creditable overall fifth place and a second on the podium in her M2 Class of 250 to 450cc bikes in the inaugural FMSCI approved Rally of Himalayas that concluded at Manali in October.

For the record, the Rally which brings back the Himalayas as a terrain after Raid de Himalayas is off the Indian rally calendar saw

about 100 participants, with about 30 taking part in the bikes category. Aman Prabhakar Pawde won the overall bikes category in 2 hours, 55 minutes and 21.100 seconds over three days of tough terrain in KulluManali region.

But it was the ladies who caught the eye, and as one focuses on the South Indian lady riders.

Special mention of the young Tanika Shanbagh, who excelled beyond expectations to finish in the top-10 in her first attempt at the mother of all rallies and one of the highest-altitude rallies in the World. Tanika Shanbagh from Satara, the daughter of former rider Sanket Shanbagh, will be looking to consolidate her new-found love from here on

and if nurtured well has a bright future.

The other lady-pair from South, Dr Shivani Pruthvi and co-driver Deeksha Balakrishna too successfully completed the rally beating many a male driver in the Cars section.

Moto section Jatin Jain was the winner of upto 250cc GroupA class by clocking a total time of 03:11.05.800. Shoeb Khan finished in second position with a difference of 18min 58sec.

Group A 250 to 450cc class was won by Aman Prabhakar Pawde with a total time of 2:57.09 followed by Aishwarya Pissay in another 11min 38sec.

Sinan Francis finished third with a further difference of 4min 28sec.

Invitational class Group A was won by Happy Verma who clocked a total time of 03:12.49 ahead of Nakul Malik, who finished 44min 37sec further behind in second position.

Dhanan J Pawar with a another 23seconds difference settled for third position.

Group B upto 250cc winner Santosh Vishnoi clocked a total time of 2:59.51 and kept Mohit Thakur behind him with a difference of 2min 20sec.

Saurabh Handa with further 8min 9sec difference was third.

Prithvi Singh finished fourth a further 10min 21sec behind

NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021 autotrack.ind.in 51

RALLY

OF HIMALAYAS

Nitish Bhardwaj winner upto 550cc Group D

while Nitinjit Bawa Singh and Leon Lhendup finished in fifth and sixth positions respectively.

29sec finished fourth while Ishan Negi and Mobin Ahmed Shah finished in fifth and sixth positions respectively.

Suhail Ahmad with a total time of 03:04.50.8 was the winner of 250 to 500cc Group B class followed

by Pradeep Kumar who was 14min 35sec behind in second position. Sreekant Kormana took another 05min 25sec to claim third. Rehan Khan finished fourth with another 14min 44sec deficit while Ashwini Kataria and Sumesh Reddiar stood in fifth and sixth positions respectively.

Lady competitor Tanika Shanbag won the 165 to 210cc Group C with a total time of 03:11.49.500.

Samuel Abraham was slower by 4min 04sec to finish in second position. Dias Jacob was a further 2min 27sec behind in third.

Satinderjit Singh, Naveen Singh Yadav and Shivam Thakur finished in fourth, fifth and sixth positions respectively.

Shabuddin won the above 130cc Group C with a total time of 03:27.48, with a difference of 3min 21sec to Rajan Sidhu who took second position. Muzafar Alli was a further 19.48sec slower in third position. Uday Ganguli with a further deficit of 11min

Shardul Sharma conquered the 210 to 410cc Group C with a total time of 03:13.14.300 beating Umang Saxena by 19min 59sec to second position. Nilesh Yashwant Thakare a further 27min 04sec behind completed the podium in third. Vishal Das

52 autotrack.ind.in NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021

Shoeb Khan runner-up upto 250cc Group A

Jatin Jain winner upto 250cc Group A

MANALI and Nitish Bhardwaj finished in fourth and fifth positions in that order while Rana Pratap finished sixth.

slower by 5min 47sec in fourth position. Ghanshyam navigated

by Robin Sharma with a 11min 32sec deficit finished fifth.

Rana Pratap dominated the 550cc Group D as he managed to lead Vikas Thakur who finished second taking 5min 16sec more.

Abhikshek Dakha was third another 5min 52sec behind while Rupinder Singh and Karthik S came in fourth and fifth positions respectively.

Harvinder Bhola along with Chirag Thakur clocked the fastest overall time of 03:11.49.

Harpreet Singh Bawa and Vikram Thakur fell short to cover the same distance by 2min 01sec and settled for second position.

Debajyoti Nath and Soumen Mondal were 12min 1sec slower to complete the podium. The Day 1 leaders Aabhishek Mishra and PVS Murthy slid down to fourth with 6min 27sec further difference. They lost about 15min time on Day 2 as they started having issues with the suspension but managed to cut down the difference at the end.

Royal Enfield Upto 660cc Group D class was bagged by Hitesh Ghadge with a total time of 3:21.54 followed by Rohan Sharma in second position with a difference of 3min 24sec. Vineet Sharma with further difference of 35sec finished third. Shajeer Ishmail came fourth and Jeemon Antony secured fifth position.

2WD The lone pair of Ajgar Ali and Sagar with a total time of 04:33.59.900 won the Open class.

CARS: Group T1 4WD Sanjay Razdan along with Karan Aukta clocked a total time of 03:14.27 to win the below 1350cc class. Himanshu Arora navigated

by Vikrender Kashyap consumed 03:22.300 more time than the winner to settle for second position. Deepak Chaudhary along with Atul finished third with a difference of 1hr 01min 18sec. The pair of Divyaraj and Akhil Sharma finished fourth while Suchi Thakur and Shahid Salman combo suffered a DNF.

Group T2, below 1350cc class, the pair of Mohan Lal and Rajeev Katoch clocked 04:14.48 to win the class. Dheeraj Malik and Asha Malik were slower by 12min 46sec and settled for second position. Subir Roy navigated by Nirav Mehta lost lot of time on Day 1 and finished third.

Suhail Ahmed winner 250 to 550cc Group B

Subir Roy and Nirav Mehta third in below 1350cc 4WD T2 class

Yogesh Thakur and Amardeep Rana winners 1350 to 1850cc 4WD T1 class

The pair of Yogesh Thakur and Amandeep Rana were the winners of 1350 to 1850cc class by clocking 03:14.04.200. Nikhil J along with Arjun Dheerendra, were a further 08min 39sec behind in second position. The ladies pair of Shivani Pruthvi, navigated by her new navigator Deeksha Balakrishna, completed the podium taking another 16min 41sec. Pankaj Dutt along with Vignesha were further Harvinder Bhola and Chirag Thakur winners above 1850cc 4WD T1 class NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021 autotrack.ind.in 53

FEATURE

MoU with Rap Eco Motors

Power Global on a mission to improve access to clean energy solutions in India

P

ower Global (PG), a leading provider of high-performance clean energy and mobility products for everyday applications has embarked on a mission to improve access to clean energy solutions in India.

Founded in 2019, PG is also improving global access to modern clean energy technologies across emerging markets in the U.S., Asia and other regions that are disproportionately affected by climate change through its lowcost and high-performance light mobility, battery swapping and energy storage solutions. For India, PG introduced its first mass market product, the eZee 54 autotrack.ind.in NOV / DEC 2021

swappable battery for light mobility vehicles.

PG's eZee offers auto-rickshaw drivers a simple, low-cost path to EV adoption. While traditional EV products carry a high upfront cost of ownership, Power Global solves this problem through their affordable energy-as-aservice membership program.

Through this unique subscription service, drivers receive a swappable eZee battery module backed by Power Global's zeromaintenance lifetime service guarantee. Drivers can either recharge the module at home or swap at PG's convenient kiosks for a fully charged battery in less

than a minute. Power Global's eZee battery module is available by subscription pre-order, with initial distribution in Greater Noida, on the outskirts of New Delhi.

“We are on a mission to improve access to clean energy solutions in India and other emerging markets by sharing our collective years of expertise in bringing affordable battery technology to market,” says Pankaj Dubey, cofounder and CEO of Power Global's India subsidiary. “While the eZee will give light mobility vehicles new life, it also represents a path to help build local economies with direct and indirect job creation, while

supporting evolving regional environmental goals, such as India's FAME II mandates.” The company's first facilities include its in-country battery production plant, located in Greater Noida and its R&D lab and battery manufacturing facility in Pasadena, California, which will focus on new product innovations for electric vehicles

High performance swappable Li-ion battery

SOLUTIONS FOR CLEAN ENERGY and stationary storage applications.

“The demand that we see in emerging markets is greater than those experienced by the United States, as millions of drivers are limited by options to affordably switch to electric mobility,” says Porter Harris, CEO and founder of Power Global.

“With our team's breadth and depth of experience, there is a major opportunity to bring

strategy from the beginning so that countries like India, which are now on the path to electrification, have a chance to leapfrog those challenges and advance quickly and more sustainably”, opines Pankaj Dubey.

In regions like India, most electrified three-wheelers are powered by lead-acid batteries or lithium-ion batteries imported from China. To support

Building toward a fully sustainable and equitable battery economy through strategic partnerships, responsible manufacturing practices and product lifecycle management

affordable, high-performance electric vehicle technology to these communities to serve new markets while helping these regions improve air quality and ultimately their quality of life.” In September 2021, PG also announced two new MOUs with stationary storage integrator PositivEnergy and battery recycling processor Redivivus.

“Despite the significant benefits lithium-ion batteries have over incumbent energy sources like internal combustion engines (ICE) or lead-acid, there are key gaps in the supply chain – namely lifecycle and recycling – that are only now being addressed in the early markets in developed nations. Our goal was to bake those aspects into our

India's in-country battery manufacturing capabilities, Power Global, in tandem with local cell manufacturers, will develop a 100% made-in-India electric battery module. In addition to powering EVs, PG has partnered with PositivEnergy, a renewable energy solutions company that provides end-toend system design and service for commercial energy storage and EV charging infrastructure, to develop stationary storage solutions that support projected grid demand from electrification and enable the renewable energy transition in diverse global markets. The full solution will be integrated by PositivEnergy and backed by their bankable performance guarantee, reducing the barriers

to entry for renewable energy adoption in all markets.

Power Global CEO and founder Porter Harris adds, “We've gathered a lot of good momentum, and this is just the start of our journey. By applying the lessons learned from developing energy storage solutions over the last few decades, and creating strategic partnerships with industry innovators, we're better equipped in the long run to mindfully and responsibly create a sustainable and circular battery value chain.” Recently, PG entered a strategic partnership to supply its eZee swappable lithium-ion battery technology to auto-rickshaw manufacturer Rap Eco Motors for its massmarket electric three-wheeler product line RANIE, which includes a passenger autorickshaw, delivery van and cargo vehicle. Following an initial product launch in April 2022, the companies will partner to manufacture 50,000 electric auto-rickshaws over the next five years. Rap Eco Motors delivers premier e-rickshaws nationwide and Asia, Africa, Europe and South America. The partnership with PG marks the Hyderabadbased company's first step

toward developing a comprehensive 360 solution for the OEM's electric autorickshaws, RANIE, which is built upon Power Global's 48-volt swappable eZee battery module.

In an ever-evolving autorickshaw market like India, Power Global's engineered solution allows Rap Eco Motors to leapfrog the costly and timeconsuming process of developing an in-house electrification solution.

“For India to successfully capture a bigger market share of the light e-mobility sector, we need to onshore all components of electric auto-rickshaw manufacturing in-country. Rap Eco Motors has already dominated the regional market through its ambitious business strategy and shares our mutual vision for 'made in India' electrification solutions. We feel privileged to help chart their course toward national growth, and we believe our companies' close collaboration will deliver a cleaner, more cost-effective electrified solution for autorickshaw drivers everywhere and strengthen our local economies.

As we like to say, 'Made in India, for India.”, concludes Pankaj Dubey.

AT 1 Power Global partnership with Rap Eco Motors

NOV / DEC 2021 autotrack.ind.in 55

FEATURE

MG Motor's new mid-sized SUV, the Astor offers top luxury and tech-oriented features

56 autotrack.ind.in NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021

MG ASTOR The electric ORVM enables the driver to adjust or control the mirror from inside the vehicle cabin.

Tyre Pressure Monitoring System -

E

ver wondered what makes luxury cars so desirable? It's the add-on features in a luxury car that make them an enviable and aspirational asset for so many car enthusiasts. Those days are history when mere touchscreen infotainment in a car was perceived by one and all to be an impressive feature, far above the realms of the budget.

Everyone wishes to see some of the advanced features in their cars, which will make their drive on the roads of India comfortable and safer. There are many luxury car features for regular cars that we wish were present in the car. MG has been in the Indian market for some time now and has only been launching SUVs in the market.

Recently, MG launched its midsize SUV Astor to capitalize on the hottest selling segment in India. This is MG's 4th offering in India after Hector, ZS EV & Gloster and yet again they have come up with another industry

first in segment AI-enabled car.

Let's check out a list of some luxury features Astor provide to make itself a premium one in the segment.

Power adjustable front seats with memory -

360 Degree Parking Camera -

Since a powered seat allows for minute adjustments, it helps the driver get into a better position than a manually adjustable seat can. Powered seats can also be offered with a memory function where the seats can be programmed to get into a specific adjustment level at the touch of a button.

If you drive mostly in the city, you'd be familiar with the pains of parking a car in tight spots.

The availability of a 360-degree parking camera with its bird's eye view can give a huge boost to a driver's car positioning skills.

It sure is an expensive feature as it requires multiple cameras (minimum 4) and software to stitch these images together but it takes the convenience and luxury factor up a notch. Apart from MG Astor, this feature is only available on cars from

The sunroof in a car has gone from being a luxury that a few could afford to a feature that many car buyers are now actively considering or seeking when buying their new car. The biggest reason why sunroofs are getting popular is that they give the vibe of luxury cars, they can also be used for ventilation as well, and that can improve AC performance too. MG Astor provides the largest sunroof in the mid-size SUV segment.

Under-inflated tyres not only impact fuel efficiency but braking as well. A tyre pressure monitoring system provides real-time details of all the tyres to the driver on the instrument cluster.

Sun Roof

premium brands in India such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi and Jaguar Land Rover.

Panoramic Sunroof -

ORVM

Safety with ADAS Level 2 – From April 2019 onwards, the government has mandated all new cars on sale, including entrylevel vehicles, to have dual front airbags and ABS as standard.

Here Astor provides the ADAS package which brings Level-2 autonomous driver assistance features, such as adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking, blind-spot detection and lane-keeping assist and lane departure warning. Other safety features on the MG Astor include up to six airbags, ABS, EBD, brake assist, ESP, traction control, hill start and hill descent control.

Adjustable seat with memory

Auto-Dimming ORVM An auto-dimming ORVM (outside rear-view mirror) is a feature that should be available in cars irrespective of their prices.

It is offered only in premium cars.

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AUTOMOTIVE

New norms require closer collaboration between Tyre & Raw Material Industries: ATMA

T

yre Industry's flagship event, ATMA Partners Summit 2021 (Second Series) emphasized on meeting futuristic mobility challenges through sharper focus on sustainability in the entire tyre industry value chain. Organised

by Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association (ATMA), the Partners Summit offers a platform for the Tyre Industry and its Raw Material partners to interact, ideate, discuss and jointly work towards developing a less carbon intensive ecosystem.

Held virtually, Partners Summit 2021 was focussed on reinforcement materials used in the tyres including Nylon Tyre Cord Fabric, Polyester Fabric, Steel Tyre Cord and Bead Wire.

Reinforcement materials provide stability and flexibility to a tyre.

“The concept of a circular economy is gaining traction worldwide. In the case of the Tyre Industry, the circular economy begins with raw materials itself.

To fulfill new norms of low rolling resistance etc, Tyre Industry needs close cooperation from the raw material partners”, said Gaganjot Singh, Vice Chairman ATMA. “Much like the Auto sector, Tyre Industry is also beset with futuristic mobility challenges and the need to ensure that carbon footprint is lower with every passing year. And that calls for intense research both at the end of the Tyre Industry and Raw Material manufacturers with a scope for joint research as well”, Singh added.

Technological influx is going to intensify in the Auto sector in the years to come. Tyre industry

58 autotrack.ind.in NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021

needs to keep pace with all new technological advancements.

Collaboration between Tyre Industry and raw material partners therefore has become increasingly important especially in the backdrop of the concept of sustainable mobility which has become de rigueur for the Auto sector internationally, he added.

The event witnessed two high profile presentations one each on Steel Tyre Cord by Srikanth Chakravarthy, VP Global Strategy - RR and MD, Bekaert and another on Bead Wire by Anurag Pandey, Executive Incharge- Global Wires Tata Steel.

Srinivasu Allaphan, Convener, ATMA IPEA Group presented an Overview of Indian Tyre Industry: Current Outlook and Future Challenges. Ravin Kurian, Chairman ITTAC & Convener

ATMA TESS Group presented an expert talk on the subject of Changing Requirements of Reinforcement Materials by Tyre Industry: Focus on New Vehicle Types.

A panel discussion on Nylon and Polyester Fabric had top level representation from leading Indian and International companies including Century Enka, Hyosung, Junma, Madura Industrial and Performance Fibers.

According to Pravin Tripathi, Convener ATMA Supply Chain & Resources (SCR) Group, the Indian economy was picking up pace and gradually coming out of the shadow of the pandemic.

There is revival in manufacturing and consumer demand is also improving. That augurs well for the Tyre Industry as well as the raw material partners.

AUTOMOTIVE

NEWS

Indian Oil inks an MoU with NTPC for collaboration on renewable energy

I

ndianOil and NTPC signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate and mutually explore opportunities in the field of renewable energy. The MoU was signed today at New Delhi in the presence of Mr Shrikant Madhav Vaidya, Chairman IndianOil and Mr Gurdeep Singh, Chairman & Managing Director, NTPC. Dr SSV Ramkumar Director R&D and P&BD, IndianOil and Mr C K Mondol, Director Commercial, NTPC, were also present on the occasion. This is a first-of-itskind initiative by two leading Public sector energy majors of India to support the country's commitment to achieve renewable energy targets and

reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Shrikant Madhav Vaidya, Chairman, IndianOil, said, "As a global energy major, environmental priority is being weaved into every business aspect of IndianOil, and now, we intend to use green energy to power new projects and refinery expansions."

Mr Gurdeep Singh, CMD, NTPC, said, "NTPC is taking various steps to make its energy portfolio greener by adding significant capacity of renewable energy sources & plans to have

60GW capacity through renewable sources by 2032, which will constitute nearly 45% of its overall power generating capacity.

IndianOil and NTPC have come together for the generation and storage of renewable energy or other cleaner forms of energy, including gas-based power, primarily to cater for IndianOil Refineries or other installations.

IndianOil has plans to scale up its portfolio of renewable energy with solar, wind, etc., for refinery operations, thereby reaffirming its commitment towards environmental sustainability and reduction of carbon footprints.

IndianOil plans to meet 85% of the power requirement for new projects in its refineries primarily from renewable sources in the near future. IndianOil is also well poised to leverage India's sustainable commitments through multiple green initiatives, including increased use of natural gas in all refineries, ethanol-blended Motor Spirit, sale of Compressed Biogas (CBG) and production of biodiesel using cooking oil as feedstock.

IndianOil's R&D team has undertaken various pilot projects in the field of solar power, solar thermal and solar hydrogen and has been leading India's foray under the Government of India's National Green Hydrogen Mission.

NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021 autotrack.ind.in 59

DRIVE

ALL - ROUNDER We recently drove Maruti Suzuki's new Celerio and found that it satisfies our expectations in performance on all areas. Here is our take on the new car.

TEXT: ARVIND SHOBHA with inputs from SM BOOTHEM PHOTO BY: ARVIND SHOBHA AND SM BOOTHEM

60 autotrack.ind.in NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021

NEW CELERIO

Hatch-back with a bang

A

s we know that taking f u e l p r i c e a s perspective, the Indian market is obsessed with fuel efficiency and it's a no brainer that Maruti has come up with India's most fuelefficient car, the all-new Maruti Suzuki Celerio, the new generation Maruti Suzuki Celerio is majorly focused on higher fuel efficiency, better shoulder room, better legroom and loads of boot space. By incorporating the latest technology and new design elements Maruti Suzuki has come up with Celerio with ARAI-certified efficiency of 26.68 kmpl.

Exterior: The first generation Maruti Suzuki Celerio was known as AStar, which had curvy exteriors with a little bit of body lines next generation of A-Star was released with the new badging as Celerio. Celerio had straight lines at the front grills and even the side profile including headlamps and tail lights. The new 2021 Celerio design elements are curvaceous. From the front the headlamps are lot bigger, a single Chrome line on

the front grill cuts through the headlamps and it looks refreshing. The lower bumper has large black cladding with circular fog lamp housing. The side profile with curvy body lines across the wheel arches looks pretty neat, dark grey 15-inch alloy adds zing to the design and the rear looks Baleno-esque.

been changed. Making it entirely a new engine with 67hp and 89Nm unit is actually 1hp and 1Nm down on the old Celerio's unit.

Handling: Celerio does feel at home when traversing through the city, manoeuvring is very easy all thanks to a short turning radius

Interior: Maruti has worked extensively to get the refreshing interiors and added loads of elements to it. 7inch infotainment with Apple Carplay and Android Auto, steering mounted switches, Electric ORVM, wider AC vents, the speedometer along with the dashboard looks pleasing.

Performance: Under the hood, the engine specifications are similar to the outgoing model but Maruti has worked on the new K10 engine which has been improved to deliver higher efficiency. It is done by reducing the frictional losses, improved combustion efficiency and volumetric efficiency, reduced other losses.

In order to achieve, various equipment have been put like dual-injector, VVT and integrated exhaust manifold, cooled EGR. The valve-train has NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021 autotrack.ind.in 61

NEW CELERIO

DRIVE

and responsive adjustable steering wheel. The Heart-tec platform makes the vehicle sturdier with better safety. The auto stop-start feature does make the Celerio fuel efficient but it can be cumbersome sometimes, the power supply is linear hence it gets tricky when on Highways overtaking the other vehicles, ending up downshifting the gear to get that extra power. Suspension does take care of the undulations thrown at it thanks to extra

10mm ground clearance, does feel a bit tacky dealing it while turning the vehicle in corners, brakes with ABS do its job to lower down the speed. Hill Hold Assist, first in its segment works well.

Targeting young customers The company started offering an exclusive accessories package with two distinct personalisation options to attract young buyers.

The company provides

62 autotrack.ind.in NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021

customers with over 100 plus accessories and various colour options to boost their car's active and stylish stance. They are perfectly designed to enhance the elegant exterior and energetic interiors of the new Celerio. All accessories are available and can be accessed online through the Maruti Suzuki genuine accessories website and configurator at the dealerships.

Conclusion: Maruti Suzuki has worked really hard to woo the first-time

buyer, the design elements do please the young and the old generation altogether. Airbags with ABS comes as standard safety precaution across the range. With a larger boot space, added 60:40 split seats, improved technology, better ergonomics and above all the highest fuel efficiency at 26.68kmpl makes the Celerio worth every penny one would spend, with starting price of 4.99 lakhs.

AUTOMOTIVE

Royal Enfield's

NEWS

anniversary edition

R

oyal Enfield sold 120 units of its limitededition anniversary edition Twins motorcycles in under 2 minutes. collector's edition, launched in celebration of Royal Enfield's

Nexzu's

rich and storied legacy, the 60 Interceptor INT 650's and 60 Continental GT 650's garnered an overwhelming response from motorcycling enthusiasts across the country.

new electric bicycle, Roadlark

N

exzu Mobility's new Roadlark the e-cycle offers 100 km mileage and a top speed of 25 km/hr. The Roadlark is equipped with 2 powerful batteries – inframe (5.2AH) and

detachable (8.7AH). A BLDC 250w 36v motor gives life to the EV while Dual Disc brakes with EABS ensure a safe ride. The ecycle in peddle assist mode offers an unparalleled 100 km range.

Magenta in partnership

with Omega Seiki Mobility

M

agenta, a leading Indian Charge Point Operator (CPO) company, announced the deployment of 100 Electric Cargo vehicles under its EVET (Electric Vehicle Enabled Transport) brand in Bengaluru, in partnership with Omega Seiki Mobility (OSM). Magenta, which has

been developing unique EV charging solutions under their “ChargeGrid” brand, launched their e-Mobility platform under the “EVET” brand earlier this year. Under EVET, Magenta is already operating over 110 electric cargo transport services using the electric mobility platform.

Kia's new Carens K ia India has teased sketches of Kia Carens, the company's highlyanticipated model due for its world premiere. With luxurious interiors, smart connectivity features, bold exteriors and generous space for all occupants

including even the third row ones, the Kia Carens is all poised to create a new class of recreational vehicles in India. The Kia Carens has been designed keeping in mind the evolved, unmet needs of modern Indian families who want to enjoy commuting together.

NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021 autotrack.ind.in 63

AUTOMOTIVE

Indian Army concludes the Swarnim Vijay Varsh

NEWS

T

MG Astor's proud owners narrate their experience

M

G Motor's recently launched MG Astor, India's first personal AI assistant and first-in-segment Autonomous (Level 2) technology equipped midsize premium SUV, is now seen zipping on Indian roads.

With cutting-edge

technology and design excellence, Astor customers who have chosen their car from among variants - Style, going up to Super, Smart, and the top-of-the-line Sharp; all get to experience their fair share of tech-laden industry-first features. A few of the customers, after

having covered a few kilometres of their journeys in the new MG Astor, exclaimed - Santosh Yadav who added Astor as the third car in his fleet he owned, said “It's my third car and search ended when I did a test drive of MG Astor which is loaded with features and I loved it.”

he year 2021 is being celebrated as Swarnim Vijay Varsh to commemorate the victory of Indian Armed Forces in the 1971 Indo-Pak War. As a part of the year-long celebrations, Jawa Motorcycles partnered with the Indian Army to organise commemorative rides throughout the country to celebrate the valour of our servicemen. The latest one in the series was the ride to Longewala, a border town in the Thar Desert in the western part of Jaisalmer district, Rajasthan. The Battle of Longewala played an important part in the victory of 1971 war. The rally kicked off from Koteshwar, the western most point of Gujarat and proceeded to Longewala covering a total of 1,495 km over eight days.

EV Roadmap H

yundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) announced its roadmap to drive the electric mobility revolution in India with the expansion of its lineup to 6 Battery Electric

Renault Kwid new milestone

R

enault, which is in its 10th year of operations in India, handed-over the keys of the brand-new Attractive, Innovative and Affordable gamechanger Renault KWID to the

4,00,000th Customer. With this, the it has crossed the groundbreaking landmark of 4-lakh sales milestone in India, and continues to be a major disruptor in India's mini-car segment.

64 autotrack.ind.in NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021

Vehicles (BEV) for the Indian market by 2028. Further, Hyundai will also introduce its dedicated BEV Platform – E-GMP in India, showcasing its commitment towards smart Indian customers.