Hat-trick of wins for TSI Racing's Dean and Gagan

Dean Mascarenhas and co-driver Gagan Karumbaiah delivered another commanding drive to tame the long and punishing stages of the iconic K1000 Rally, completing a hat-trick of wins and sealing a dominant one-two finish for TSI Racing alongside teammates Aditya Thakur and Virender Kashyap in Round 4 of the Blueband Sports FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) at Gubbi, near here on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Bengaluru’s Pragathi Gowda created history by becoming the first woman driver to win a rally round in the INRC2 class. She rose to prominence after winning the FIA Asia Pacific Cup talent hunt in 2022 and missed a drive in the Junior WRC by a whisker, but returned to form alongside experienced co-driver Chandramouli M in the INRC as she moved to INRC2 this season. The duo won the class and finished 11th overall, emerging as the only finishers in INRC2.

Mangalore’s Mascarenhas and Kodagu co-driver Karumbaiah once again demonstrated pace and precision over the demanding terrain to emerge winners, while the Himachal pair Thakur and Kashyap ensured maximum points for TSI Racing. A standout performance came from Shashank Jamwal and co-driver Raghuram Saminathan of Chettinad Sporting, who punched above their weight to place their INRC3-spec Volkswagen Polo 1.6 an impressive third overall, in addition to winning their class.

K1000 Rally 2025 produced a star in Athira Murali of Kottayam. Representing Chettinad Sporting, she competed on equal terms with the leading male drivers and skilfully navigated the treacherous terrain. Athira and navigator Arun Chakkalakkal guided their Polo to a creditable sixth overall, beating dozens of male drivers and clinching the Women’s Class honours.

The rally proved exceptionally punishing. After defending champions Karna Kadur–Musa Sherif and former champions Amittrajit Ghosh–Ashwin Naik retired on Saturday, the two runs of the 27-km Thirtharama Special Stage took a heavy toll on the field. Of the 60 cars that started, only 28 finished, underlining the severity of the conditions. Top drivers like Philippos Matthai, Harikrishan Wadi and Fabid Ahmer fell to the treacherous stages today.

Hyderabad’s Naveen Puligilla, fresh from a WRC3 podium finish, continued his strong run of form by winning the INRC3T class with co-driver Santhosh R. Thomas. In other categories, Siddartha Santosh–Sawan Sathyanarayan lifted the Classic Challenge Cup, while Sachin Singh–Supreet Sagar topped the Gypsy Challenge.

Provisional final results:

Overall: 1. Dean Mascarenhas (Mangalore)/ Gagan Karumbaiah (Coorg) 1hour, 46min, 27.3secs; 2. Adithya Thakur / Virendar Kashyap (Both Himachal) 1:49:18.9; 3. Shashank Jamwal (Himachal)/ Raghuram S (Coimbatore) 1:52:13.7;

INRC2: 1. Pragathi Gowda/ Chandramouli M (Both Bengaluru) 02:05.44.0;

INRC3: 1. Shashank/ Raghuram S; 2. Vishak B (Kerala)/ Chiranth Jain (Karkala) 1:53:20.8; 3. Jenu Johnson (Mysore)/ Lenin Joseph (Erode) 1:55:42.8;

INRC 3T: 1. Naveen Puligilla/ Santhosh R Thomas (Both Hyderabad) 2:01:36.1; 2. Thejas S/ Ravindra Kumar (Bsoth Bengaluru) 2:05:57.6; 3. Ramcharan C/ Vignesh Mahalingam (Both Coimbatore) 2:12:49.1;

Junior INRC: 1. Abhin Rai (Kodagu)/ Moideen Jasheer (Chikkamagaluru) 1:59:02.7; 2. Abhimanyu Sajeevan (Calicut)/ Avinash CA (Bengaluru) 1:59:18.7; 3. Ajay Sanker/ Venu Rameshkumar V (Both Coimbatore) 2:12:29.9;

Women’s class: 1. Athira Murali/ Arun Chakkalakkal (Both Kottayam) 1:58:21.9; 2. Phoebe Nongrum Dale (Shillong)/ Sanath G (Palakkad) 2:07:20.6; 3. Tarushi Vikram (Chikkamagaluru)/ Vybhav Mukund Rao (Bengaluru) 2:41:12.8;

Classic Challenge Cup: 1. Siddartha Santosh (Bengaluru)/ Sawan Sathyanarayan (Channapatna) 2:16:31.0; 2. Pramod Raman/ Saravana Kumar (Both Bengaluru) 2:27:55.3;

Gypsy Challenge: 1. Sachin Singh (Hyderabad)/ Supreet Sagar (Bengaluru) 2:11:04.1; 2. Chethan Chengappa (Kodagu)/ Prakash Muthusaamy (Erode) 2:11:18.1; 3. Thomas Marattukalam/ Ashvin Gururaj (Both Bengaluru) 2:13:27.6.