Dean Mascarenhas-Karumbaiah clinch Coimbatore Rally in a dream debut for Sidvin

The Mangalore-Kodagu duo of Dean Mascarenhas and co-driver KS Karumbaiah made a winning debut for Team Sidvin India Racing, clinching victory in the Blueband Rally of Coimbatore, the second round of the six-round Bluebandfmsci Indian National Rally Championship 2025.

Promoted by Blueband Sports and organised by Coimbatore Auto Sports Club, the National rally witnessed intense competition across the nine special stages over 116km of competitive distance.

Behind the wheel of a newly imported, left-hand-drive rally spec Peugeot 208, Mascarenhas started Sunday with intent, winning the first special stage and closely fending off a determined challenge from Bengaluru’s Karna Kadur, the defending overall champion. As the day progressed, Mascarenhas held his nerve, built on his overnight lead, and sealed victory with a total time of 1 hour, 29 minutes, and 09.4 seconds.

The battle for second place was a thriller, with Arka Motorsports’ Kadur and experienced Musa Sherif, into his 33^rd year of co-driving, edging out Sidvin’s Aditya Thakur and Virendra Kashyap by just 1.1 second. Thakur, the 2019 overall INRC champion, lost crucial time in the day’s second stage and eventually had to settle for the third position on the podium.

Fierce competition across INRC categories

In the INRC 2 category, Arka Motorsports’ Bengaluru pair Jason Saldanha and PV Srinivasa Murthy topped the timesheets with a strong finish at 1:31:16.4, holding off a spirited charge from Fabid Ahmer and co-driver Milen George of Chettinad Sporting. Arka’s consistent run continued with Philippos Matthai and Harish KN Gowda securing third place.

The INRC 3 class saw a solid win for privateer duo Sheshank Jamwal of Himachal, who combined with local co-driver Raghuram Saminathan, followed by Arka’s Jagbir Nirwan and Kranpreet Singh Mattu, while Chettinad’s Aniruddh Rangnekar and AG Somayya upped the pace today to get on to the podium.

The 3T category was won by Jeet Jhabakh and V Sekar, while in the Classic class, Siddartha Santhosh and Sawan Sathyanarayan led the field. The Gypsy class produced an exciting contest, with Aneesh Sangma and Dinky Varghese K emerging fastest as overnight leader Sanjay Agarwal and Dheeraj Manae had mechanical issues and finished second.

In the Women’s category, Anushriya Gulati and Karan Aukta delivered a composed drive to claim victory for Arka Motorsports while behind them rookie Tarushi Vikram of Chikkamagaluru did a commendable job and was just 9 seconds behind as she overtook Phoebe, into second place.

Meanwhile, in the Junior INRC division, Abin Rai and Moideen Jasheer stood out with the top time of 1:35:11.4, narrowly ahead of the Snap Racing pairs Abhimanya Sajeevan along with Vijay Anand with 55sec difference finishing second and  Aditya Kousgi along with Deeksha Balakrishna with 1min 54sec finishing third.

Junior INRC: 1.Abin Rai/ Moideen Jasheer (pvt.) (01:35:11.4); 2. Abhimanya Sajeevan/ Vijay Anand (Snap Racing Team) (01:36:06.8);3. Aditya Kousgi/ Deeksha Balakrishna (Snap Racing) (01:38:00.1).

Classic: 1. In his first debut season in rallying Off-roader Siddartha Santhosh from Bengaluru along with Sawan Sathyanaray an developed a very healthy lead of 3min 52sec over the pair of Satish P and Rishikesh KR from Bengaluru representing R Tech Motorsports. The accumulated a additional lead of 3min 20sec on the final day from the day one lead of 22sec.

 Gypsy:

The pair of  Aneesh Sangma and Dinky Varghese K spun a surprise on the final day as they were not in the top three during the day one finish and they managed to climb to the top. The day one leader Sanjay Agarwal and Dheeraj Manae from Benglauru were comfortabally placed on top with a lead of over a minute on Kariappa melted down to second with a difference of 1min 13sec on the leader. Kariappa Mekerira along with Abhinav Ganapathy from Osprey Race Team from Kodagu slided down one position from  day one to finish third with a difference of 1min 9sec but the lead was extended by 8sec from day one and held on to the podium.

We are proud to see such close competition and high-calibre driving from all the teams,” said Premnath K, promoter of Blueband Sports. “This season is shaping up to be one of the most thrilling in recent memory, and Coimbatore lived up to its reputation as a rally that tests both skill and strategy.”

Provisional unaudited final Results:                           

INRC Overall:1. Dean Mascarenhas/ KS Karumbaiah (Team Sidvin India Racing) (01hour, 29 minutes, 09.4 seconds);2. Karna Kadur/ Musa Sherif (Arka Motorsports) (01:29:37.1); 3. Aditya Thakur / Virendra Kakshyap (TSI Racing) (01:29:38.2);

INRC2:1. Jasaon Saldanha/ PV Srinivasa Murthy (Arka Motorsports) (01:31:16.4);2. Fabid Ahmer/ Milen George (Chettinad Sporting) (01:31:33.0);3. Philippos Matthai/ Harish KN Gowda (Arka Motorsports) (01:33:00.6).

INRC 3:1. Sheshank Jamwal/ Raghuram Saminathan (Privateer) (01:33:08.6);2. Jagbir Nirwan/ Kranpreet Singh Mattu (Arka Motorsports) (01:33:46.1);3. Aniruddh Rangnekar /AG Somayya (Chettinad Sporting) (01:34:42.2).

INRC 3T:1. Jeet Jhabakh/ V Sekar (pvt.) (01:33:49.1);2. Dr Akarsh Sundar/ Arjun SSB (pvt.) (01:38:50.5); 3. Ramcharan C/ Vignesh Mahalingam (Falkon Motorsports) (01:39:42.3).

Women’s class: 1. Anushriya Gulati/ Karan Aukta (Arka Motorsports) (01:38:14.9);2. Tarushi Vikram/ Vybhav Mukund Rao (Chettinad Sporting) (01:38:23.8); 3. Phoebe Nongrum/ Nash Ross (Chettinad Sporting) (01:38:52.4).

Junior INRC: 1.Abin Rai/ Moideen Jasheer (pvt.) (01:35:11.4); 2. Abhimanya Sajeevan/ Vijay Anand (Snap Racing Team) (01:36:06.8);3. Aditya Kousgi/ Deeksha Balakrishna (Snap Racing) (01:38:00.1).

Day One:

Team Sidvin’s Mascarenhas-Karumbaiah Dominate with New Peugeot 208

Coimbatore, 26 July 2025: In sparkling new outfit, Dean Mascarenhas and co-driver Karumbaiah, made the debut of their Team Sidvin India Racing a memorable one with a near flawless drive to take the lead on Day 1 in the Blueband Rally of Coimbatore, the second round of the six-round Blueband Sports fmsci Indian National Rally Championship 2025, at the dirt stages near Kari Motor Speedway, here on Saturday. The final two stages will be run on Sunday.

Behind the wheel of a newly imported, left-hand-drive Peugeot 208, Dean Mascarenhas and Gagan Karumbaiah — the talented duo from Mangalore and Kodagu — delivered a commanding performance for Team Sidvin India Racing. They clinched victory in five of Saturday’s six special stages, establishing an 18.3-second lead over their teammates, former National Champion Aditya Thakur and co-driver Virendra Kashyap from Himachal Pradesh.

Defending champion Karna Kadur, paired with veteran Musa Sherif for Arka Motorsports, ended the day in third position. Kadur faced a setback in the opening stage due to a hose pipe issue, costing him nearly 45 seconds — a margin that proved difficult to recover.

“This is a fantastic car, and the combination with MRF tyres is just perfect,” said Mascarenhas. “I loved driving it. It’s all new to me (left-hand drive), so there’s a steep learning curve, but the learning never stops. Huge thanks to Sidvin for bringing this car from Europe and for the professional setup they’ve created.”

Mohan Nagarajan, Chairman of Sidvin, expressed satisfaction with the team’s first day in office. “I’m glad the team is learning fast. Both drivers are immensely talented, and we are committed to supporting them with the best machinery available.”

In the other categories:

• INRC2: Jason Saldanha and co-driver PV Srinivasa Murthy (Arka Motorsports) hold the lead.

• INRC3: Sheshank Jamwal, with Raghuram Saminathan as co-driver, heads into Sunday with an edge in the category.

• Ladies Class: Anushriya Gulati, partnered by Karan Aukta, emerged as the leader after Saturday’s stages.

With only two special stages remaining on Sunday, all eyes will be on the final dash to the podium in what promises to be a thrilling finish.

Provisional Leg Results (Saturday):

INRC Overall: 1. Dean Mascarenhas/ KS Karumbaiah (Team Sidvin India Racing) (01hour, 00 minutes, 53.2 seconds); 2. Aditya Thakur / Virendra Kakshyap (TSI Racing) (01:01:11.5); 3. Karna Kadur/ Musa Sherif (Arka Motorsports) (01:01:21.8);

INRC2: 1. Jasaon Saldanha/ PV Srinivasa Murthy (Arka Motorsports) (01:02:04.6); 2. Fabid Ahmer/ Milen George (Chettinad Sporting) (01:02:09.9); 3. Philippos Matthai/ Harish KN Gowda (Arka Motorsports) (01:03:13.6).

INRC 3: 1. Sheshank Jamwal/ Raghuram Saminathan (Privateer) (01:03:10.1); 2. Jagbir Nirwan/ Kranpreet Singh Mattu (Arka Motorsports) (01:03:12.5); 3. S Ajay Sankar/Venu Ramesh Kumar V (Falkon Motorsports) (01:03:52.7).

INRC 3T: 1. Jeet Jhabakh/ V Sekar (pvt.) (01:03:14.8); 2. Navin Puligilla/ Santosh Thomas (Chettinad Sporting) (01:04:55.8); 3. Dr Akarsh Sundar/ Arjun SSB (pvt.) (01:06:27.5).

Classic: 1. Siddartha Santhosh/ Sawan Sathyanarayan (pvt.) (01:07:44.6); 2. Satish P/ Rishikesh KR (R Tech Motorsports) (01:08:06.7);

Gypsy: 1. Sanjay Agarwal/ Dheeraj Manae (pvt, Bengaluru) (01:07:44.6); 2. Kariappa Mekerira/ Abhinav Ganapathy (Osprey Race Team, Coorg) (01:08:45.5); 3. Kavan Kariapa KG/ Gaurav Aiyappa (Osprey Race Team) (01:11:29.5).

Women’s class: 1. Anushriya Gulati/ Karan Aukta (Arka Motorsports) (01:05:05.1); 2. Phoebe Nongrum/ Nash Ross (Chettinad Sporting) (01:06:03.8); 3. Tarushi Vikram/ Vybhav Mukund Rao (Chettinad Sporting) (01:06:39.7).

Junior INRC: 1. S Ajay Sankar/Venu Ramesh Kumar V (01:03:52.7); 2. Abhimanya Sajeevan/ Vijay Anand (Snap Racing Team) (01:04:37.6); 3. Abin Rai/ Moideen Jasheer (pvt.) (01:0440.9).