Indian Motorsport update: iSporter Dr. Balakrishna Jayasimha takes a look back at the 2010 Indian National Rally Championship titles that were won by Red Rooster Racing.
The FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) pits cars and drivers in a series of three-day events against some of the toughest, and most varied, conditions in the country over surfaces ranging from smooth tarmac to boulder-strewn rocky tracks.
The INRC is now firmly established as the only premier Championship in Indian Rallying. The quality of events and the level of competition continue to grow from strength to strength. Top drivers from across the country battle it out through the season to be crowned the 'Indian National Rally Champion' and the INRC circuit has produced winning drivers in the APRC (Asia-Pacific Rally Championship) and in the Production - World Rally Championship (P-WRC). It may come as no surprise if an Indian is soon seen on the World Rally Championship (WRC) stage, a la F1 in racing.
Established in its current format in 1999, in 2010 drivers and manufacturers battled it out for the annual drivers' and manufacturers' championship trophies from a total of 5 rallies across India. The INRC is promoted by IMG SPORTS/PSP and sponsored by SPEED from Bharat Petroleum.
The opening round at Nashik saw Speed devil Gaurav Gill and co-driver Musa Sheriff begin with a bang and put Team MRF on the top winning the event. Red Rooster racing's Vikram Mathias, the last year's winner here, was in second place in his Mitsubishi Cedia with co-driver PVS Murthy. Kolkata's Amittrajit Ghosh and Ashwin Naik also of Team Red Rooster Racing took the third place on the podium in the inaugural event.
In the 2000cc N category, Girijashankar Joshy and co-driver Chandramouli won the first title of the season for Team Ovion in its debut rally. Teammates Sujay Suresh and Varun Sathyanarayan made it a one-two for the team while Sirish Chandran and Nikhil Pai of Overdrive came in third. Rahul Kantharaj with Vivek Bhat in the 1600cc notched up an authoritative win over Shailender Hegde, co-driver Shiraz Ahmed.
Dr Bikku Babu and co-driver Gerorge Varghese of Kerala won the 1400cc class while Byram Godrej co-driver, Anjay Kapadia came second. The pair of Monish and Jeeva took third place.
Amrinder Brar and co-driver Himanshu Pareek put paid to the hopes of Sachin Singh/Adhiraj Bhardan pair in the Gypsy class while Shakti Bajaj and Dharmesh finished third.
In the Rally Star Cup category, the Mysore pair of Phalguna V Urs and Anoop Kumar made sure of their first title of the season edging out the Coimbatore pair of Venkatapathy M.R./Santosh Kumar.
In the 2nd round at Coimbatore, veteran war-horse and local pride Naren Kumar of Red Rooster Racing won with controlled aggression. With Ram Kumar navigating in the Mitsubishi Lancer Cedia, the duo turned the tide for Red Rooster Racing with a facile win. Teammates Vikram Mathias and co-driver PV Srinivas Murthy finished second, ahead of Team MRF's Arjun Balu, co-driver Sujith Kumar BS. MRF's Gaurav Gill crashed out in the first leg, but came back in the second leg gunning for the leg points in vain.
Team Ovion Racing's Sujay Suresh and co-driver Bharath SM in a Mitsubishi Lancer Cedia turned the tables on their team mates and won the 2000cc N category. Vikram Devadasan co-driver Shivaprakash, finished second ahead of Chethan Shivaram and Roopesh Kholay.
In 1600cc N category, Shailendar Hegde (Sheraz Ahmed) brought home their Maruthi Baleno to victory. Dr Bikku Babu and co-driver Bonnie Thomas won the 1400cc class while Phalguna Urs co-driver Anoop Kumar took home the Rally Star Cup.
The Army Adventure Club duo of Maj Amrinder Brar and Himanshu Pareek pushed back Shakti Bajaj, co-driver Dharmesh Singh to the second place and won the Gypsy class comfortably.
The 3rd round at Jodhpur, saw come-back king Naren Kumar, keep his cool for his second successive victory to firmly entrench Team Red Rooster Racing on top of the leader board for manufacturers. Teammate Vikram Mathias finished 2nd.
Rahul Kantharajj and Vivek Bhatt pipped arch rivals Shailendar Hegde and Sheeraz and took the honours in the 1600cc class. The Kerala pair of Dr Bikku Babu and Bonnie Thomas won the 1400cc class and finished overall 8th ahead of all 1600cc cars. Byram Godrey and Anjay Kapadia were second in 1400cc category.
Venkatapathy MR and Santosh Kumar won the Rally Star Cup while Maj Amrinder Brar and Lt.Col Himanshu Parek from the Army Adventure Wing came out triumphant in the Gypsy class.
Bangalore was host to the 4th round with the legendary K1000 rally where, team MRF made a stunning comeback with Arjun Rao Aroor, co-driver Satish K Rajagopal making sure of the title and in the process opened up possibilities of making himself a contender for the Championship for 2010.
Arjun Aroor was faster than teammate Lohit Urs, co-driver Srikanth Gowda who gained some time with a blazing run in the last stage but could only finish in the second place. Defending champion Gaurav Gill, co-driver Musa Sherif who failed to finish leg-1 managed to garner three leg points in the 2nd leg to keep their battle for the championship alive.
Bangalore brothers Balaram and Raghuram in the 1400 cc finished a creditable third overall, followed by Ratan Gangadhar and Nikunj, who were second in the 1400 cc class. The Army teams of Amrinder Brar, co-driver Himanshu, Shakti Bajaj, co-driver Dharmesh Sinha finished 1-2 in the Gypsy class ahead of Harpreet and Hardvinder in third.
In the final round, Gaurav Gill of Team MRF overcame the jinx of 2010 on his favourite tarmac surface to comfortably win the Misty Meadows Rally of Kerala, while Naren Kumar of Red Rooster Racing despite finishing third took the title as the INRC came to a close in the winding ghat roads of the mountains of Sahyadri.
With this win Naren Kumar added 8 points to his 30 to take the championship with 38 points. Vikram Mathias (PVS Murthy) kept their second position overall with 33 points. Gaurav Gill co-driver Musa Sherif earned 15 points to third place in the standings with 31 points. Amittrajit Ghosh (Ashwin Naik) and Arjun Rao Aroor (Srikanth Gowda) with 29 and 26 points respectively took the 4th and the 5th place.
In the 2000N category, Ovion Racing's Chikmagalur-Bangalore pair of Girijashankar Joshy and Chndramouli M showed controlled aggression to climb to the top, while staunch rivals Sujay Suresh and co-driver Bharath SM, topped the Championship Standings. Sirish Chandran (Nikhil Pai) of team Overdrive was third.
In the 1600cc class, Bangalore pair of Rahul Kantharaj and co-driver Vivek Y Bhat won the Rally ahead of Shailendra Hegde, Ranjit Gopinath and Suresh Babu finished third. Thus, Rahul and Vivek took a narrow victory in the Championship with 45 points.
In the 1400 cc class, with local stars Dr Bikku Babu, co-driver Vinod Gowda and Bonnie Thomas, co-driver Jeevarathinam out of the rally, Byram Godrej, co-driver Anjay Kapadia edged out Bangalore brothers Balram and Raghuram to take the top honours. Anirudha Ranganathan and Halley Prabhakar finished third.
The formidable Army teams in the Gypsy class, Amrinder Brar (co-driver Nilesh) sealed the issue with a comfortable win and won the championship in the Gypsy class. Shakti Bajaj and Dharmesh were second.
Venkatapathy MR with co-driver Santosh Kumar won the the Rally Star Cup over Championship winners Phalguna Urs and Anoop Kumar who finished second here. Harikesav N and Somayya finished third.
With a Championship fought so closely right till the end, can't wait but for the start of the 2011 season, so keep watching this space folks!
Dr. Balakrishna Jayasimha (BK) is the secretary of the Karnataka Motor Sport Club and will try and bring iSporters closer to the sport of Rallying.
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