Arjun Maini makes his maiden victory at the Buddh International Circuit
15-year-old Maini wins Race 1 in JK Racing India Series
Sarosh Hataria maintains his stranglehold in the FLGB Formula 4
September 28, Greater Noida: Thousands of motorsports fans got their fill as they witnessed top-quality racing as the Round 3 of 16th JK Tyre Racing Championship got underway in right earnest at the Buddh International Circuit under clear blue skies. For the first time this year, the country’s premier most racing championship brought together India’s best young racing talent to the 5.14km Formula One track much to the delight of fans and the public.
Those who braved the hot and humid conditions were rewarded with high-speed action, precision driving, breathtaking overtaking manoeuvres and edge of the seat fights for track positions. The 60 drivers from across the country taking part in this speed fest put their best foot forward.
The highlight of the day, of course, was the newly introduced JK Racing India Series, which uses international spec FB02 cars built around Mygale chassis and powered by 1.2-litre BMW engine. All eyes were on young Mahavir Rangunathan, who claimed pole in the qualifying races held earlier in the day by a mere 1/100th of a second ahead of Arjun Mani and championship leader Vishnu Prasad among other.
As the five red lights went out, Mahavir made a clean getaway with Arjun, Vishnu and the rest of the pack in hot pursuit. The Chennai driver managed to keep Maini behind him for a couple of opening laps, but “in an epic overtaking manoeuvre” Maini overtook the pole man. Once ahead, the 15-year-old racer of Bangalore controlled the pace brilliantly ahead even as Vishnu and Karminder, who started from third and sixth place on the start grid made their moves on Mahavir.
“It was quite frustrating to be stuck behind Mahavir for the first few laps, but then I would say it was an epic moment when I finally managed to overtake him. Once I got in front, I just kept my head down to string together as many consistent laps as possible. I am happy to win the first race of the weekend of the JK FB02 and my aim is to win the remaining two races on Sunday,” said Arjun looking back on his win in the gruelling 10 lap race, who also claimed the fastest lap of the race with the best time of 2:12:509.
Vishnu, who cleaned up the opposition by taking all three wins in the second round at Coimbatore, had to be satisfied with second place. “I did what I could, but Arjun had good pace and I couldn’t overtake him. Still I am satisfied with today’s result and it gives me motivation to better the result in the second and third races of JK FB02,” said Vishnu.
Despite finishing third, Karminder Singh, sported the biggest grin among the podium finishers. This was the maiden podium for Karminder in JK FB02 and to sweeten things, it came in front of home fans of the Delhi based racing driver. “I didn’t make the best of starts, but I realised that I needed to keep things clean and consistent. In the end, it paid off and I am thrilled that my first podium came on my home track,” said Karminder recalling his race.
In the JK Tyre Volkswagen Polo R Cup, South African driver, Jeffery Kruger, claimed the top step of the podium with a total time of 20:15.281. Mumbai-based Rahil Noorani finished in second place, while the last step of the podium was claimed by Angad Matharoo from Chandigarh.
In the FLGB Formula 4, it was a Saraosh Hataria show all the way. The Dark Don Racing driver from Coimbatore, who is leading the championship with 106 points, claimed the first golden three of the weekend. Sarosh first claimed pole and then went on to dominate the race and went further to post the fastest lap of the race. Sarosh took the eight lap race with a total time of 20:58:845. The remaining two places on the podium were also swept by Dark Don Racing drivers. Karthik Krishna claimed second place with a time of 21:00.035 and Advait Deodhar finished in third place. “It was a very satisfying victory for me. As a team we have been working very hard right from the start of the season, so when it pays off you feel very motivated and charged. This was a very good race for us as we claimed all the three places on the podium,” said Sarosh.
JK Racing India Series (JK FB02): Race-1: 1. Arjun Maini 22:15:289 2. Vishnu Prasad (22:18:835) 3. Karminder Singh (22:35:686).
FLGB Formula 4: Race 1: 1. Sarosh Hataria (20:58:845) 2. Kartik Krishna (21:00:035) 3. Advit Deodhar (21:00:827)
JK Tyre Volkswagen Polo R Cup- Race1: 1. Jeffery Kruger (20:15:281) 2. Rahil Noorani (20:26:251) 3. Angad Matharoo (20:27:352)
Round 3 of the 16th JK Tyre Championship comes to an exciting end
ArjunMaini makes it double in JK Racing India Series
SaroshHataria claims a hat trick of wins in FLGB Formula 4
Jeffery Kruger makes a clean sweep in the JK Tyre Volkswagen Polo R Cup
September 29, Greater Noida:The third round of the 16th JK Tyre Racing Championship came to a climactic finish in front of 35,000 vociferous crowds that packed the grandstand at the Buddh International Circuit. The day was marked by some breathtaking racing, high-speed action and exciting finishes.
Once again the two races of the JK Racing India Series and SaroshHataria’sdouble victory, which completed a hat trick of wins over the weekend in the FLGB Formula 4, were the high points of an exciting day’s racing.
In the second race of the JK Racing India Series, championship leader, Vishnu Prasad, asserted his supremacy by taking hard earned victory over the winner of the first race, ArjunMaini by a mere 1.3 seconds. MahaveerRangunathan, who was penalised 30 seconds in the first race for making a jump start, made good by claiming third position a further 6.8 seconds adrift of the race winner.
But it all came alive in race three of the series. Maini made a great start going into the first corner, but by the time pack of cars came around to complete the first lap, Prasad, jumped the leader and opened up lead of few car lengths. Behind the race leader, Maini and ChitteshMandody, who started from sixth position on the grid, managed to slot into third place by the end of the first lap, kept the pressure up on the race leader. Prasad looked like having the race under control for nine laps, but on the final lap going into the first corner, he made a small error for which he paid a big price by the time the leading pack reached the third corner.
Mainigrabbed the opportunity to dive on the inside of the hairpin leading to the 1.2km back straight managed to squeeze Prasad off the racing line. The pair made light contact but it was enough for Maini to take the lead. Even before Prasad could recover from the shock move, Mandody too pounced upon the chance to go past the Chennai driver. The top three drivers took the chequered flag in that order. It’s marked the second victory of the weekend for 15-year-old Maini setting up the championship for anmouth-watering finish in the final round in December.
“It was a very good weekend in which I managed to score very useful points and keep Vishnu in sight for the championship. I would have liked to make it three out of three, but I’ll try to achieve that in the final round,” said the race winner.
In the JK Tyre Volkswagen Polo R Cup, Jeffrey too made a clean sweep by winning both the races on Sunday. This means the South African driver recorded three victories from three races. In the second race, KarthikTharani and Lee Keshav Gupta finished in second and third places respectively. In the third race, Chennai-based PrashantTharani finished in second, while YatinMagu climbed into third place.
In the FLGB Formula 4, Hataria proved to be peerless. In the second race, which ran after a sharp spell of shower left the track in wet condition, the Coimbatore driver delved deep into experience to provide a masterclass of driving in slippery condition. Despite spinning and losing the track position, Hataria, clawed back into lead by the time the chequered flag was shown. AmeyaBafna, who was in second place till the penultimate lap spun at the last corner in front of the main straight, lost a position to AdvaitDeodhar but still had enough lead over the rest of the field to claim a third place finish. In the third race of FLGB Formula 4, it was Hataria show all the way, with AmeyaBafna and Kartik Shankar completing the top three.
With this hat trick of wins, Hatariavirtually sealed the championship. “I have not looked at the final points yet and how I’m placed, but this great weekend has certainly helped me to move into a stronger position,” said Hataria.
The weekend of round three of the 16th JK Tyre Racing Championships saw the Buddh International Circuit coming to life with thousands of racing fans from all across Delhi & NCR coming to witness the motorsport extravaganza. The weekend also saw some exceptional stunts being performed by German stuntman and world record holder Ronny Wechselbergerwho performed his Guinness Record breaking 360 degree parking at above normal speeds which got the crowd to the edge of their seats and thrilled to bits.
Results:
JK Racing India Series (JK FB02)
Race 2: 1. Vishnu Prasad (22:09.439) 2.ArjunMaini (22:10.747) 3. MahaveerRangunathan (22:17.591).
Race 3:1.ArjunMaini (22:03.289) 2. ChitteshMandody (22:03.882) 3. Vishnu Prasad (22:05.958)
FLGB Formula 4
Race 2: 1.SaroshHataria (21:54.27) 2. AdvaitDeodhar (21:55.655) 3. AmeyaBafna (22:05.033)
Race 3: 1. SaroshHataria (19:55.854) 2. AmeyaBafna (19:56.688) 3. Kartik Krishna (19:57.196)
JK Tyre Volkswagen Polo R Cup
Race 2: 1. Jeffrey Kruger (23:26.631) 2. KarthikTharani (23:32.563) 3. Lee Keshav Gupta (23:33.540)
Race 3:1. Jeffrey Kruger (20:09.109) 2. PrashantTharani (20:31.577) 3. YatinMagu (20:31.706)
Erodes Karthick Maruthi, co-driver Anand Shankar S. regained supreme
Nashik, 29 September:
Erodes Karthick Maruthi, co-driver Anand Shankar S. regained supreme in the Red FM presents, Express Inn Rally of Nashik 2013, first round of Indian National TSD rally, organized by Western Indian Sports Association. Defending Pro Expert champion Satish Gopalkrishnan, co-driver D’souza Savera and defending stock pro champoion Chidhananda Murthy and Sujit Kumar were surprisingly shocked as they along with ten other entrants were disqualified for finishing the rally outside the maximum permitted lateness.
The pair of Karthick Maruthi and Anand Shankar S. performed excellently, taking a meager 56 seconds penalty. 54 seconds behind the leader, Babno Machiah C., co driver Rajanna Natrajan G won the second place. Girijashankar Joshy, co driver Gowda Shrikant bagged the third place with 2:03 penalties.
In all ten entrants finished the race out of time, including defending champion in the Pro expert category Satish Gopalkrishnan, co driverD’souza Savera, Stock pro’s defending champion pair Murthy Chidhananda and Sujit Kumar. Seven out of these failed to understand the tulip near the 11 time control at the 94.51 kms distance.
All the Stock pro competitors were non finishers.
In the regional category, that was run of 106 kms route, Amitkumar Kalya and Arun Iyer bagged the title, with 19:07penalties. The husband and wife pair of Pro. Prachi and Manesh Pisolkar took second place, they were 5:22 minutes behind the leader. Ramakant and Askhar Patil took third place, they got 40:37 minutes penalties.
Paritosh Kohok and Nitin Nagar bagged the title in two wheeler category. They took 37:27 penalties. Prashant Mohadkar and Prathmesh Pathak bagged third place.
Rajini to race in 2014 QSBK 10 time national racing champion becomes 1st rider from India to get full sponsorship.
MOTOREV INDIA RACING would like to announce that its rider, Rajini Krishnan has been
just awarded a fully sponsored run in the 2014 QSBK, by the QMMF (Qatar Motor &
Motorcycle Federation). He will race in the seven round superbike championship(1000cc)
that starts on Oct 23, 2013 at the LOSAIL International Circuit, Qatar.
This unprecedented development will make the fastest Indian rider, the ?rst from India, to be awarded a fully sponsored run in an International racing championship.This comes in the wake of his performance in the 2013 LOSAIL Asian road racing series(600CC), that saw him create history, by winning the championship.For the 2014 QSBK, Rajini would be racing a SUZUKI GSX-R1000 motorcycle, competing against experienced riders from across the world.The Championship consists of 7 rounds that take place at the LOSAIL International
Circuit, Qatar beginning from Oct 2013 up-to May 2014.
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2014 QSBK (QATAR SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP) CALENDAR
ROUND 1 OCTOBER 4th, 2013 LOSAIL CIRCUIT, QATAR
ROUND 2 NOVEMBER 22nd, 2013 LOSAIL CIRCUIT, QATAR
ROUND 3 FEBRUARY 14th, 2014 LOSAIL CIRCUIT, QATAR
ROUND 4 MARCH 27th, 2014 LOSAIL CIRCUIT, QATAR
ROUND 5 APRIL 11th, 2014 LOSAIL CIRCUIT, QATAR
ROUND 6 MAY 16th, 2014 LOSAIL CIRCUIT, QATAR
ROUND 7 MAY 30th, 2014 LOSAIL CIRCUIT, QATAR
Jeffery Kruger wins Race 1 of Round 3 of Polo R Cup 2013
• Jeffrey Kruger led Race 1 of Round 3 from start to finish winning his 3rd win out of 5 races of the season
• Rahil Noorani finished in 2nd while Angad Matharoo rounded off the podium by clinching the 3rd spot
Greater Noida, September 28, 2013 – Jeffrey Kruger capitalized on his pole position to maintain a gigantic lead throughout and finished the race by winning it. He put up a stellar performance yet again by winning with a lead of 10.970 second, claiming his 3rd win and 5th podium in 5 races of this season. Mumbai driver Rahil, started and finished 2nd, stood on the podium for the 4th time this season. The Chandigarh boy, Angad Singh Matharoo, who started 4th on the grid for this race, finally made it to the podium after finishing 4th for three times in the previous 4 races.
As soon as the race started, Jeffrey took off and never looked back. His racing line was perfect and with no competition he won easily. Rahil had an action-packed lap 1 when he was overtaken and lost 2 spots. He drove hard and within few seconds he reclaimed his 2ndposition and this time he maintained it till the end. Angad Singh Matharoo had his best race of the season. He had a good qualifying and started the race at the 4th position on the grid. His 2 years of Polo R Cup experience showed when he was able to move up to the 3rd spot during the race and successfully ward off competition that was vying for his place throughout the race. Surprisingly, in the past 4 races he had finished 4th, 3 times and only this time he made it to the podium.
Prithviraj Siddappa, Head of Motorsports, said, “The races on Buddh International Circuit are always special and exciting as this is a world-class Formula 1 track. The drivers are always looking forward to races here as the challenge and learning here is immense. Unlike last 2 rounds, this round comprises of 3 races where the second race will follow the reverse grid rule. For Race 3, the second best lap time of each driver from the qualifying session will be considered for the grid.”
Jeffrey Kruger, winner of Race 1, commented, “I was on podium here at the Buddh International Circuit last year and it’s great to be back. Last 2 podium wins made me hungry to win the race this time. I was confident of winning the race after I clinched the pole position earlier in the day. I was able to maintain the distance between myself and the rest of the pack. I am hoping to be on the podium for the next 2 races to be held here at the F1 track as it has proved to be lucky for me so far.”
Race 1 result:
Pos. Car No. Driver Name (City) Best Lap Total Time Gap
1 8 Jeffrey Kruger (Johannesburg) 2:32.013 20:15.281 8 laps
2 1 Rahil Noorani (Mumbai) 2:32.218 20:26.251 10.970
3 2 Angad Singh Matharoo (Chandigarh) 2:32.310 20:27.352 12.071
4 4 Kartik Tharani (Chennai) 2:33.122 20:33.115 17.834
5 10 Yatin Magu (New Delhi) 2:34.443 20:41:389 26.108
6 17 Hanoosh Surapaneni (Hyderabad) 2:34.394 20:42.547 27.266
7 6 Lee Keshav Gupta (New Delhi) 2:34.663 20:44.402 29.121
8 7 Samarth Jaiswal (Mumbai) 2:34.704 20:46.908 31.627
9 18 Niranjan Todkari (Aurangabad) 2:34.857 20:47.394 32.113
10 14 Anshul Shah (Nagpur) 2:36.391 21:00.681 45.400
11 3 M S Prince (New Delhi) 2:35.698 21:00.775 45.494
12 20 Gaurav Mehta (Pune) 2:36.575 21:03.826 48.545
13 12 Divijraj Thakran (Gurgaon) 2:36.667 21:08.046 52.765
14 5 Gowdham Raj (Coimbatore) 2:36.619 21:14.145 58.864
15 11 Shivjeet Malik (Gurgaon) 2:37.489 21:16.927 1:01.646
16 21 Adnan Lehry (Chennai) 2:36.717 21:18.568 1:03.287
17 16 Venkatesh Shreyas(Coimbatore) 2:42.399 21:54.717 1:39.436
18 15 Tanmay Ugale (Pune) 2:40.052 20:42.613 (7 laps) -
19 23 Rakesh Ramkunar (Chennai) 2:38.336 22:41.034 (7 laps) -
Jeffrey Kruger wins Race 2 of Round 3 amidst drama;
scores his second win this weekend
• Jeffrey overtook 7 cars in 5 laps to win this race
• Karthik Tharani clinched the 2nd spot after starting 5th
• Lee Keshav Gupta passes Samarth Jaiswal on the last lap to finish third
Greater Noida, September 29, 2013 – The phenomenon called Jeffrey Kruger rolled through Buddh International Circuit once more as this young lad from South Africa claimed his 4th and most commanding victory today. Jeffrey won the race by a margin of 5.932 seconds from Karthik and rookie driver Lee Keshav finished a brilliant third. It was Karthik’s 2nd podium but Lee Keshav’s first.
Mumbai lad Gaurav Mehta’s car toppled on lap 4 on the last corner which resulted in a safety car coming out from lap 5 to lap 7. At the end of Lap 7, safety car came in and the race resumed with Jeffrey, Karthik and Samarth in the top 3 positions. As soon as the safety car came into the pits, Jeffrey and Karthik held on to their positions and finished in 1stand 2nd spots respectively. Behind them the fight for 3rdspot ensued between Lee Keshav Gupta, Angad Singh Matharoo, Samarth Jaiswal and Rahil Noorani. On the last lap Lee Keshav made a move just before the race was about to end to take the last spot on the podium.
“The car was incredible. I believe this has happened as there is a lot of hard work that the Volkswagen technician and complete team have put in with me here today. It’s just a pleasure to drive it around this exciting track, says first time podium winner Lee Keshav Gupta.”
“It was a fantastic win,” Jeffrey Kruger said. “I had the pace and I am glad I capitalized on it. It doesn't matter how many times I win, how many times I repeat that win, every race I start from ground zero and it is always great to win.”
Race 2 of Round 3 result (provisional):
Pos. Car No. Driver Name (City) Best Lap Total Time Gap
1 8 Jeffrey Kruger (Johannesburg) 2:30.775 23:26.631 8 laps
2 4 Kartik Tharani (Chennai) 2:33.254 23:32.563 5.932
3 6 Lee Keshav Gupta (New Delhi) 2:34.401 23:33.540 6.909
4 2 Angad Singh Matharoo (Chandigarh) 2:33.600 23:34.121 7.490
5 1 Rahil Noorani (Mumbai) 2:33.893 23:34.186 7.555
6 7 Samarth Jaiswal (Mumbai) 2:33.910 23:36.126 9.495
7 9 Prashanth Tharani 2:34.866 23:36.201 9.570
8 17 Hanoosh Surapaneni (Hyderabad) 2:34.877 23:36.761 10.130
9 14 Anshul Shah (Nagpur) 2:36.956 23:38.335 11.704
10 3 M S Prince (New Delhi) 2:35.618 23:38.853 12.222
11 10 Yatin Magu (New Delhi) 2:37.014 23:39.821 13.190
12 5 Gowdham Raj (Coimbatore) 2:37.388 23:41.086 14.455
13 12 Divijraj Thakran (Gurgaon) 2:37.288 23:41.583 14.952
14 23 Rakesh Ramkunar (Chennai) 2:37.000 23:41.806 15.175
15 11 Shivjeet Malik (Gurgaon) 2:35.653 23:42.602 15.971
16 21 Adnan Lehry (Chennai) 2:37.478 23:45.317 18.686
17 18 Niranjan Todkari (Aurangabad) 2:37.769 23:45.669 19.038
18 15 Tanmay Ugale (Pune) 2:37.990 23:47.364 20.733
19 16 Venkatesh Shreyas(Coimbatore) 2:40.723 23:52.902 26.271
Not classified (12 Laps)
20 20 Gaurav Gupta (Pune) 2:37.177 15:41.972 (4 laps) 4 laps
21 19 Trivikram Toor (Chandigarh) DNC - -
Aditya finishes 7th
After an exceptionally tough weekend, India's Aditya Patel and Austrian Daniel Dobitsch ended their ADAC GT Masters campaign on a high here at Hockenheim in Germany.
After qualifying 14th for race 1 and 18th for race two, MS Racing Audi drivers Aditya and Daniel had a huge task ahead to come home with some points. Whilst race one provided a lot of action on track, both Aditya and Daniel kept clear of trouble and finished a steady 14th.
Race two on the other hand provided plenty of overtaking and some spectacular driving by both MS Racing Audi R8 LMS cars. Starting 18th, there was not much to lose for Aditya, who was fully charged to end the year on a high.
A brilliant first lap saw Aditya move up five places and then another three more over the first sting before handing the car over to Daniel in eleventh place. From there on, Daniel steadily worked his way up to a well deserved seventh place finish.
"It was a mixed weekend but in the end, it feels good to fight hard and bring the car home in the top ten! It was also a great experience working with Audi, MS Racing and Daniel through the year, and of course, none of this would be possible without the support of my sponsors, JK Tyres, Audi India and Amante."
BAD LUCK STREAK CONTINUES FOR ARMAAN AT FIA GT NAVARRA
BMW Sports Trophy Team India showed promising pace in early sessions despite fickle weather.
Was punted out of the qualifying race as soon as he took the wheel in the second stint.
September 30, Navarra (Spain): Bad luck continued to plague Indian racing driver Armaan Ebrahim and BMW Sports Trophy Team India at round five of the 2013 FIA GT World Series held at the Navarra circuit.
The weekend was slated to be a wet one as rains lashed the 3.9-km venue in northern Spain, but the team was positive about its chances given the pace it showed in the early sessions.
“We were decently quick in the wet, despite some tyre degradation issues, but the pace was there and we were banking on some good strategy for a decent result”, said Armaan.
But things didn’t go as planned during qualifying as Armaan teammate, Filip Sladecka wasn’t on the pace as expected. Having driven at Navarra before, he was expected to be set the pace in the team but it wasn’t to be.
This threw the team’s strategy awry but there was still hope of salvaging a good result despite a bad qualifying. Sladecka started the wet qualifying race and after 20-odd minutes, handed the car to Armaan. The Indian drove out of the pits on slick tyres as the rain was expected to abate and the team was poised to take advantage of the drying circuit.
“We took a call to go on slicks as rain was subsiding and we were hoping to gain an advantage later in the stint compared to cars which were on wet rubber”, confirmed Armaan.
But the Indian couldn’t get that far as he was forced off track on his out lap by another McLaren MP4-12C and the combination of slick tyres and a soaking wet run-off meant he was in the barriers before he knew it.“I knew I had to be extra careful during the opening few laps, as the tyres, the track everything was cold and wet and there was hardly any grip.
“But once I got squeezed off, it was like hitting black ice and I was a passenger until the impact”, he rued.The nature of the impact meant the car couldn’t be repaired in time for the main race, which meant the team couldn’t start the main championship race of the weekend.
“We had good pace, and expected a good result but once again we have no result to show for it. It is really disheartening”, concluded Armaan.
The season finale of the FIA GT Series is scheduled at the Baku Street circuit in Azerbaijan on 22-24 November, 2013.
Superb eighth place finish for Sailesh Bolisetti at Monza
29 September, Monza (Italy): Indian driver Sailesh Bolisetti rounded off the fifth outing of the 2013 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series at the Monza circuit with an eighth place finish – his best result of the season so far.
The first Indian to compete in the European Stock Car championship, Sailesh’s run up to the weekend at the legendary grand prix venue was far from ideal as mechanical issues once again ate into crucial track time on Friday.
Monza’s high-speed layout is extremely demanding on the brakes and some fading issues had surfaced during the practice sessions, along with clutch problems which meant the 25-year old did only seven timed laps before going into qualifying on Saturday.
“Given the start of the weekend, I am really happy that we managed a good result after a long time. I haven’t had the best of luck through the season so overall it was quite satisfying”, said an elated Sailesh.
The lack of track time manifested itself during the qualifying session when he could do no better than 16th on the grid, out of 22 drivers.
“Qualifying was quite difficult, we were still having issues and I was just focused on learning the circuit as we had hardly done any laps on Friday”, he revealed.
Starting near the back of the grid, the first race turned out quite eventful as the first chicane produced one of the traditional Monza pileups and Sailesh had to take avoiding action, which sent him over the bumpy run-offs.
By the time he rejoined the track after the melee he was dead last but started gaining lost ground soon thereafter. Some strong consistent pace and brave overtaking meant he was running seventh, just five laps from the finish.
But then the aforementioned brake issues surfaced once again, which meant he had to lift off and coast into the corners to nurse the overheating brakes – losing a significant amount of lap time in the process. As a result, he lost three places and eventually finished tenth.“It was a tough race, but the car worked well for the first half and I was able to put in some fast times and catch drivers ahead after the messy start. But the brake issues forced me to back off so I defended the best I could and held on to the finish”.
Race two saw Sailesh start 12th but the first corner turned out to be tricky once again as 22 stock cars tried to filter through, and left him towards the back of the field. In what seemed to be an exact replay of the previous race, he drove vivaciously to regain lost positions and a few more to finish eighth.He had a prolonged battle with the seventh placed driver throughout the final two laps, passing him several times only to be forced off the circuit each time, and the duo was finally separated by just 0.7 seconds at the finish line.“It was quite close battle, I could have finished a place higher if I had taken some more chances but I didn’t want to throw away a good result in the last two laps so I settled for eighth”, remarked Sailesh.
“We still haven’t been able to put together the perfect weekend in terms of practice, qualifying and race but today we did the best in the circumstances at such a historic venue, so it was good overall”, he concluded.
The season finale of the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series is scheduled at the Le Mans circuit in France on 13-14 October.
RAJ BHARATH ROUNDS OFF SEPANG WITH HARD FOUGHT FIFTH PLACE FINISHES
Lost track time early in the weekend due to a persistent mechanical issue.
DNF in the race one due to a broken suspension.
Finished race two and three in fifth place and lies fourth in the championship.
September 15, Kuala Lampur, Malaysia: Indian racing driver Raj Bharath rounded off a challenging Formula Masters outing at the Sepang International Circuit with a pair of fifth place finishes. The 5.5-kilometer venue also plays host to the Malaysian F1 Grand Prix and MotoGP rounds.
Supported by Bangalore-based Embassy Group and driving for Meco Motorsport, the start of the weekend was far from ideal for the 19-year old as he was stuck with a misfiring engine in the opening session of the weekend. The issue took the entire day to work through and cost him several hours of track time before it could be successfully diagnosed and fixed.
“I had done maybe three laps and the engine started to misfire and grew worse, so I pulled into the pits and that was the end of the day”, said Raj recounting his inauspicious start to the weekend.The reliability of the Volkswagen-powered Formula Masters car has been satisfactory throughout the season, but this particular outing proved to be a difficult one.
After several hours of troubleshooting, the issue was finally traced to a faulty fuel injector (which was clogged) that was not supplying enough fuel to one of the cylinders, leading to the misfire and subsequent loss of power.The injector was duly replaced and the car finally fired up normally, but Raj, a student of the Centre for Management Studies in Bangalore, India had lost two hours of track time by then, which given the mixed conditions was a major setback for the rest of the weekend.
As a result, he went into qualifying with only a handful of laps under his belt, and found himself off the pace compared to the frontrunners who had driven and done setup work throughout the day.“We went into qualifying without a clue of what we needed to work on with the setup and so on, and we were almost two seconds off the pace, which is miles off”, he quipped.
Luckily some other drivers had issues in qualifying as well, so Raj still managed to start seventh on the grid for race one. But lady luck had decided not to smile upon him yet and after a feisty few opening laps, Raj was tipped into an uncontrollable spin that ended his race in the gravel trap."The car was feeling different somehow in the race, not just the balance but the way it was responding which was a bit inconsistent between right-handed and left-handed corners”, revealed Raj.“It was raining hard as well, so I just thought maybe it was the track surface, but having driven in the rain at Sepang before and won here, I knew something was amiss”, he elaborated.
But he didn’t get much time to reflect on the issue as coming out of the long right-handed turn two, the car snapped into an uncontrollable spin and Raj was spitted into the gravel trap instantly.
“I got some oversteer at the exit of turn 2, which is normal and I corrected it, but then the car just came around so fast – I had never experienced anything like that before”, said Raj describing the incident.
The car was taken back to the pits and this time it was the left-rear damper that had given way, which had left the car with no compression damping when the car was loaded in right-hand corners. Given the torrential downpour, a complete loss of grip was imminent.
With the component replaced for the next two races, Raj managed to finish fifth in both after starting towards the rear end of the grid.His pace improved significantly as well, as he effectively did his practice laps and setup work after the second race – the first hard laps he had done all weekend.“Driving the in race with other cars around I realised I was losing out a bit in the long corners, because we had excessive understeer. Stuff like this we usually do in practice but that’s how it is sometimes”, he remarked.
With two fifth place finishes, Raj lies fourth in the championship with only the triple-header season finale at Shanghai International circuit remaining, the venue where he won in May earlier this year.
2013 FMSCI-MMSC Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship Round 3
September 14, 2013: Round 3 of the 2013 FMSCI-MMSC Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship kicked off at the Buddh International Circuit today with 4 races taking place. The highlight of the day was the wheel-to-wheel battle between India's top two riders Sarath Kumar & K Rajini Krishnan in the Honda CBR 250 category. Rajini got past Sarath on the final corner in the final lap to take the win by 0.0157 seconds.
The MMSC INMRC created history by becoming the first ever competitive bike championship to race at the BIC and included leading motorcycle manufacturers Honda, Yamaha & TVS participating this weekend.
First race of the day saw the TVS-Apache RTR180 in action and Mathana Kumar took the honours with a convincing win. He was followed across the finish line by Ananth P Raj, who finished 5.898 seconds behind. The battle for third went down to the wire with a three-way-battle between Arvind Ganesh, SK Prakash and Alwyn Jebaz. Arvind came out in front to take the final step of the podium.
The second race of the day, the Yamaha-Y2F R15, provided some more nail biting action with Shyam Shankar and Vivek Pillai trading placed all through the race. Shyam and Vivek came out of the last corner side-by-side with Shyam just edging ahead as they crossed the finish line 0.083 seconds ahead.
The action resumed with the CBR 250R with India's two top riders Sarath Kumar & Rajini Krishnan going head-to-head once again. Last time out in Chennai both collided and it looked like it might happen again but both riders put on a scintillating performance to show their class. Sarath, who started on pole, led off the line followed by Abhishek V and Rajini. Rajini soon passed Abhishek and had a race long battle with Sarath. At the start of the last lap it looked like Sarath had done enough but Rajini came hard at him and they were side-by-side coming into the fast corner. Rajini dived down the inside of Sarath and made the move stick and crossed the line in first place ahead of Sarath. Abhishek V finished in the third place.
The last race of the day saw the NRC Experts 165cc take to the track. K Jagan took a victory ahead of Harry Sylvester and Deepak R. Jagan started well and led from start to finish easily. Harry and Deepak behind him battled each other the whole race with almost nothing between them.
2013 FMSCI-MMSC Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship Round 3 Race Report from Buddh International Circuit.
September 15, 2013: K Rajini Krishnan stole the show with a win and runner-up place at Round 3 of the 2013 FMSCI-MMSC Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship at the Buddh International Circuit today. Both Honda CBR 250R and NRC Experts categories saw some close racing all weekend with a crowd of 15000 fans present in the grandstand at the BIC.
The MMSC INMRC created history by becoming the first ever competitive bike championship to race at the BIC and included leading motorcycle manufacturers Honda, Yamaha & TVS participating this weekend.
First race of the day saw the TVS-Apache RTR180 in action and Mathana Kumar took the honours with another convincing win to complete a perfect weekend for the young rider. The battle for second was a five-way scrap with Ananth Raj finishing in second just ahead of SK Prakash. Arvind Ganesh finished in 4th position ahead of Mizoram rider B Lalrutsanga.
The second race of the day, the Yamaha-Y2F R15, saw Arun Muthukrishnan crossing the finish line ahead of Ramesh by a mere 0.448 seconds. Race 1 winner Shyam Shankar finished in 3rd place ahead of Vivek Pillai. The difference in time between 3rd position and 7th position was 3 tenths off a second as they crossed the finish line showing how close the racing was.
The CBR 250R race once again was highlight of the day with 7 riders all in position to win for the entire race. There was frantic trading of places for the entire race. Sarath Kumar, who started on pole, lost out at the start to Race 1 winner K Rajini Krishnan. Rajini led for the first two laps with Sarath, Sumit Lucas Toppo, Harshit Rao, A Prabhu all following. Prabhu and Sarath took over the lead for a brief while before Rajini was back in front. Heading into the last lap Rajini led followed by Prabhu and Sarath. As they came out of the last corner Prabhu and Sarath collided with both crashing out of the race. Rajini held on for another great win with Sumit finishing in second and Harshit Rao in third place.
The last race of the day saw the NRC Experts 165cc take to the track. If the previous race was close the NRC Experts category provided even more action with some great wheel-to-wheel racing. Rajini was once again in the thick of things as he led from the start followed by K Jagan and Sumit Lucas Toppo. Right behind them was Deepak R and Vivek Pillai with all 6 riders in with a chance to win. In the end Jagan overtook race leader Rajini on the final lap to finish 0.183 seconds behind. Deepak R finished in 3rd place, 0.265 seconds behind. The top 5 were separate by 0.765 seconds at the end of the race.
YUDAI JINKAWA WINS THRILLER IN MRF 1600 AT MMSC NATIONAL RACING CHAMPIONSHIP
• LEELAKRISHNAN CONTINUES DOMINANCE IN ITC
• DILJITH WINS IN TOYOTA EMR TROPHY
September 14, 2013: Japanese driver Yudai Jinkawa won a thrilling MRF 1600 race ahead of Vikash Anand and Tarun Reddy (later given a jumpstart penalty) with the top 3 being separated by 3 tenths off a second at the chequered flag. The final round of the MMSC-FMSCI National Racing Championship took place at the Buddh International Circuit at Greater Noida with most drivers driving here for the first time. N Leelakrishnan held off reigning champion Arjun Balu to win by 3.030seconds in the Indian Touring Car category while Ananth Pitawala claimed his first ever win in the Indian Junior Touring Car category. Diljith won Race 1 while youngster Akhil Rabindra won Race 2 of the Toyota EMR Trophy.
The opening race, the Toyota EMR Trophy had Diljith, who started on pole position, lead from start to finish to take a dominant win. Akhil Rabindra managed to hold off Abhinay Bikkani to finish in second place, 7.716 seconds behind the leader. Varun Anekar finished in 4th place after a race long battle with Akhil and Abhinay.
In the ITC race, Leelakrishnan started on pole and had a good start off the line. Arjun Balu started slow but just managed to hold off a charging M Sivaramakrishnan behind him. Leelakrishnan pulled a 2 second lead in the first two laps and managed to keep the gap for the rest of the race. Arjun went faster as the race went on setting his fastest lap off the race on the second last lap. Sivaramakrishnan had a lonely race in third as he finished 13.317 seconds behind the leader.
The next race was the most exciting with the MRF 1600 on track. Yudai, starting on pole, had a great start and went into the lead with Tarun and Vikash right behind him. Tarun and Vikash had a great battle for the first 3 laps with the latter finally getting past in the mid-sector. Vikash then started to reel Yudai in bringing Tarun with him and was right on his tail with three laps to go. Vikash drove brilliantly and tried to pass Yudai several times but could not find a way past. The top three finally finished within a mere 0.307 seconds separating them. Tarun was later given a penalty for jumping the start and ended up in 5th place with Advait Deodhar moving up to the final podium spot. Adavit, Kizuka Hirota and Masaki Fujimura had their own battle trading places throughout the race.
The final race of the day was Race 2 of the Toyota EMR Trophy with Akhil Rabindra taking his first victory. It was the closest Toyota race with 1 second separating the top 4 at the chequered flag. Akhil and Diljith started in 7th & 8th position and worked their way through field. Akhil had a better start and was upto 4th position by lap 3. He then passed Varun Aneakr to move into 2nd place before passing Farhan Ahmed to take the lead. Diljith moved up to 3rd position and tried hard to pass Farhan for 2nd place but ran out of laps.
Results:
Race 1, Toyota EMR
1. Diljith
2. Akhil Rabindra
3. Varun Anekar
Race 2, ITC
1. N Leelakrishnan
2. Arjun Balu
3. M Sivaramakrishnan
Race 3, Indian Junior Touring Cars
1. Ananth Pitawala
2. VJ Senthil
3. Charen Chandran
Race 4, MRF 1600
1. Yudai Jinkawa
2. Vikash Anand
3. Advait Deodhar
Race 5, Toyota EMR
1. Akhil Rabindra
2. Farhan Ahmed
3. Diljith
VIKASH ANAND TAKES FIRST EVER WIN OF THE SEASON IN MRF 1600
AT MMSC NATIONAL RACING CHAMPIONSHIP
• MMSC DOLES OUT PRIZE MONEY OF OVER 60 LAKHS FOR NRC
• DILJITH CROWNED TOYOTA EMR TROPHY WINNER
• LEELAKRISHNAN CROWNED ITC CHAMPION
September 15, 2013: Indian driver won his first ever MRF 1600 race in style of the season ahead of 15yr old Tarun Reddy at the final round of the MMSC-FMSCI National Racing Championship at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida. M Sivaramakrishnan won the Indian Touring Car race after 2013 Champion and winner N Leelakrishnan was given a 15 second penalty for jumping the start. The BIC was bustling with 15000 fans present for the MMSC NRC special weekend for both cars and bikes. MMSC prize money of over 60 lakhs for the 2013 MMSC NRC is the highest of its kind for Indian motorsport.
The opening race, the Toyota EMR Trophy had Diljith, who started on pole position, again lead from start to finish win with ease. Akhil Rabindra was again his main competition finishing in second place, 6.686 seconds behind the leader. Dean Mascarenhas finished in a distant third, 13.187 seconds behind the leader.
In the ITC race, Leelakrishnan started on pole and convincingly led from start to finish. Arjun Balu startting in second, also had a good start and was followed by M Sivaramakrishnan and V Ramnarayan. Arjun managed to stay in second with Sivaramkrishnan all over him. On lap 3 Sivaramkrishnan made his move and passed Arjun with Ramnarayan also getting past a lap later. Leelakrishnan crossed the finish line in 1st place but was later given a 15 second penalty for jumping the start. He eventually finished in 3rd position while Sivaramakrishnan was adjudged the winner. Ramnarayan finished in third place to take the final step of the podium. Leelakrishnan was crowned 2013 ITC Champion with 2012 Champion Arjun Balu finishing in second and V Ramnarayan in third position in the overall championship standings. Newly crowned Indian Junior Touring Car champion Feroze Khan signed off in style with victory in the IJTC race. Charen Chandran finished in second place ahead of Race 1 winner Ananth Pitawala.
The MRF 1600 race was up next with Japanese driver Kizuka Hirota on reverse-grid pole position. Vikash Anand had a great start from fourth on the grid and was upto second place after the first corner behind Hirota. Behind him Yudai Jinkawa, Advait Deodhar and Tarun Reddy followed. Tarun passed Advait on the long straight to move into 4th place behind Yudai. Vikash started putting pressure on Hirota and passed him on lap 2 with a brilliant move around the outside on Turn 4 at the end of the long straight. Tarun passed Hirota and Yudai over the next two laps to move into second place. At the front Vikash continued to put in fastest laps and pull away from the rest of the pack. He crossed the line in first place to take a well deserved win. tarun finished in second place with Hirota in third after Yudai suffered a puncture. 2013 Championship winner Ashwin Sundar did not race and was crowned MRF 1600 Champion in the last round. Vikash Anand finished in second place with Tarun Reddy in third place in the Championship.
With the championship still on the line, the final race of the day was Race 4 of the Toyota EMR Trophy. Varun Anekar started on pole in the reverse grid race. Varun led from the start and took his first ever win ahead of Akshay Gupta and Binoy John Maddela. Diljith finished in 4th place but that was enough for him to be crowned the first ever Toyota EMR Trophy winner with Akshil Rabindra in second and Varun Anekar in third place in the standings. All the three will get the opportunity to race internationally in the Vios Cup that will take place in Thailand later this year, which is conducted by Toyota Racing Development (TRD) in Thailand.
Results:
Race 1, Toyota EMR
4. Diljith
5. Akhil Rabindra
6. Dean Mascarenhas
Race 2, ITC
4. M Sivaramakrishnan
5. V Ramnarayan
6. N Leelakrishnan
Race 2, Indian Junior Touring Cars
4. Feroze Khan
5. Charen Chandran
6. Ananth Pitawala
Race 3, MRF 1600
4. Vikash Anand
5. Tarun Reddy
6. Kizuka Hirota
Race 4, Toyota EMR
4. Varun Anekar
5. Akshay Gupta
6. Binoy John Maddela
CHAMPIONSHIP WINNERS FOR MMSC-FMSCI NATIONAL RACING CHAMPIONSHIP
INDIAN TOURING CARS
1. N Leelakrishnan
2. Arjun Balu
3. V Ramnarayan
INDIAN JUNIOR TOURING CARS
1. Feroze Khan
2. Charen Chandran
3. VJ Senthil
MRF 1600
1. Ashwin Sundar
2. Vikash Anand
3. Tarun Reddy
TOYOTA EMR TROPHY
1. Diljith
2. Akhil Rabindra
3. Varun Anekar
Rally Hokkaido, September 28-29
Rally Driver Sanjay Takale and navigator Sean Gregory
Sanjay Takale lifts FIA APRC Production Cup title
Braving the unforgiving conditions in Rally Hokkaido, Sanjay Takale came up trumps and won the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) Production Cup title amassing insurmountable points after an incident-filled weekend in Rekibetsu Island.
Driving his Subaru Impreza Dreams India car, Takale and his navigator Sean Gregory put up a solid show after having crashed out in the last round in Malaysia, to finish second behind Gaurav Gill of Team MRF. The penultimate round of APRC, however, was last for Takale as he had notified to skip season-ending China Rally at the start of the season.
In the five rounds, Takale came out empty-handed only from Malaysia, but scored points at every other rounds—Whangarei in New Zealand to New Caledonia, Queensland and Hokkaido in Japan—for an aggregate of 151.5. He needed to at least finish second in his class to steer clear of his main challenger Hiroshi Asakura as the Japan round was his final fling on the 2013 APRC.
Takale was home in 2 hours 56 minutes 50.8 seconds in his MRU Motorsports-backed Subaru. Gill was much faster and finished in 2:26.26.2. Though there were 10 more drivers between Gill and Takale, but all were either Asia Cup drivers or Japanese National championship competitors.
Asakura earned 30 points from Japan and now has a total of 74 and will be competing in the season-ending China Rally after having skipped the Round 2 in New Caledonia. But maximum he can earn there is 39 points, while the gap between him and Takale now stands at staggering 77.5. Hypothetically speaking, it would require two more rounds with full points to surpass Takale by half-a-point.
“It was a fight fair and square. We won the Production Cup title beating Asakura on his own home ground,” said an elated Takale after winning the title.
In the super special stage Takale beat Asakura by 6 seconds and then kept the Japanese under leash by constantly winning all stages ahead of him.“We were well-prepared for the Rally Hokkaido and decided not to commit Hara Kiri in Japan,” said Takale, who leapfrogged one place to No 2 in the APRC overall championship title race.
How it happened
Takale began the Stage 1 by beating Young and Asakura by half-a-minute when he completed the 29.11-km New Ashoro Long stage in 20 minutes 36.5 seconds. This was a riposte to Young who had beaten Takale in the Super Special stage, SS1, on Friday.
The SS3 at Yam Waka saw Takale extend his lead by over a minute taking the tricky Rikubetsu Long in 4 minutes 10.7 seconds. The contest went on so with Takale (2:12:47.4) extending his lead slowly but steadily to end Saturday being second behind Gill and roughly two minutes ahead of Young (2:14:38.1). Asakura (2:21:21.5) was further down by 9 minutes.
Sunday saw an ominous sign for Takale as Young went all out and won six stages ahead of Takale, but the Pune driver had enough gap to stay ahead in the overall classification. Two short stages remained and Takale decided to take on Young and won the penultimate SS17 and the final SS18 through the Satsunai river to stamp his class.
APRC Podium in sight
India’s Gaurav Gill lead the APRC overall race after he won the Rally Hokkaido. Gill has 117.5 points while Takale is second at 104 points after earning 29 points from Japan. New Zealand’s young driver Michael Young is No 3 at 92, while Gill’s teammate Esapekka Lappi, who crashed out in Japan after he broke suspension of his car in the SS9, is at No 4 with 78 points.
Having won Production Cup title, Takale will now keep an eye on how others are doing in China as he will not be in action there. Being No 2 being Gill means Takale has a mathematical chance of making it to the podium in the APRC Championship.
He leads Young by 12 points and Lappi by 26 points. The Team MRF’s Gill sits atop with 117.5 points and Takale’s podium entirely depends on Team MRF’s strategy. They are winning the overall championship after Gaurav Gill’s stupendous show. If Gill gets team orders to allow Lappi to win in China then the Finn would be able to surpass Takale.
Michael Young is also there in contention. With 92 points he is the only one who can overtake Gill, but the Kiwi driver will have to win and Gill to take no points, which is an unlikely situation.Also, according to the APRC website, “Young is unlikely to take part in the China rally.” Though no reasons have been put forward,
Back in Asia Cup
After drawing a blank in Malaysia, Takale earned 23 points to be back in contention for the Asia Cup title. He is currently fifth overall in Asia Cup with two drivers tied for the second place. Defending champion Yuya Sumiyama (46) and Young (46) are tied for second place behind Shuhei Muta (68). The third and final round of Asia Cup will be Rally Thailand set to be held on December 7-8 in north of Bangkok.
Championship standings after Round 5
Drivers: 1. Gaurav Gill (Ind) 117.5, 2. Sanjay Takale (Ind) 104, 3. Michael Young (Nzl) 92, 4. Esapekka Lappi (Fin) 78, 5. Hiroshi Asakura (Jpn) 53.
Production Cup Championship:
Drivers: 1. Sanjay Takale 151.5, 2. Hiroshi Asakura 74.
Co-drivers: 1. Sean Gregory (Mas) 151.5, 2. Takumi Takahashi (Jpn) 44, 3. Osamu Yoda (Jpn) 30.
Rally Hokkaido results: 1. Gaurav Gill and Glenn MacNeall (Skoda-Fabia) 2:26:22.2, 2. Sanjay Takale and Sean Gregory (Subaru Impreza) 2:56:50.8, 3. Michael Young and Malcolm Read (Toyota MTZ) 2:58:25.0, 4. Hiroshi Asakura and Takumi Takahashi (Proton Satria Neo) 3:06:25.8. Esapekka Lappi and Janne Ferm (Skoda-Fabia) DNF.
Suresh Rana and Amanpreet engaged in tough race on first day of Maruti Suzuki Raid-
De-Himalaya
X-Treme bikes, defender CS Santosh challenged by Austrian Helmut and German StephanManali, October 6, 2013: The competitive leg of the 15th edition of Maruti Suzuki Raid-De-Himalaya comprising three super stages, began from Shimla today morning. 153 cars and bikes commenced their tryst with the mighty Himalayas for the most coveted motorsports trophy.
Challenging the eight time winner, Manali’s Suresh Rana (Navigator Ashwin Naik), is Delhi’s Amanpreet Ahluwalia (Navigator Venuramesh) who won the Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare in August this year. Suresh/Ashwin have come together after their win in 2011 and are driving a Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara, while challenger Amanpreet/Venuramesh are competing in their Maruti Suzuki Gypsy.
In the Raid X-Treme Bikes and Moto Quad category, CS Santosh, the defending champion, has a tough fight from Austrian Helmut Frauwallner, the winner two years ago and German Stephan Rausch, both breathing down his neck today. Meanwhile, Raj Singh Rathore of Japiur driving the only moto quad crashed out during the first leg itself after fuel problems with his vehicle.
Earlier in the wee hours of morning, the X-treme cars and bikes started off from Shimla to head towards Manali, Luhri, Behna, Chimni, Khanag. Three competitive super stages were planned between Dalog and Chamola (33.41 kms), Luhri and Behna (21.32 kms) Chimni and Khanag (19.57 kms) totaling an overall 312 kms including transport stages.
The motorsport enthusiasts traversed the most beautiful and varying countryside, complete with Chir and Deonar trees sliced by streams and rivulets flowing through the rally tracks to join Sutlej and Beas rivers. The terrain was largely dirt with some parts suddenly turning rocky while the rally went through drops and rises from lowland scrub to alpine meadows. While it was very foggy in the morning and at times low lying rainfed clouds kissed the tracks, the drivers were lucky that rains did not mar the day.
Tomorrow, the second leg will start from Manali and head towards Kaza via Gramphoo and Losar. It will cross over Rohtang Pass in an iconic Himalayan adventure.
There are five competitive categories in the 15th edition of Maruti Suzuki Raid-De-Himalaya. Raid X-Treme (4X4) and Raid X-Treme (Motorcycles and Quads) are two all-out speed categories, Raid X-Treme (Alpine): This is a high-speed category for bikers competing for the first time in the Raid, Raid Adventure Trial follows the Time-Speed-Distance format and for the first time, Raid X-Treme (Scooters has been introduced to enable scooters to take on the rough mountain terrain.
Maruti Suzuki Raid-de-Himalaya is one of the two Indian motorsport events listed amongst the 12 off-road rallies calendar of FIA (Federation Internationale Automobile and FIM (Federation Internationale Motorcyclisme) Geneva, Switzerland. The six day mountain adventure began from Shimla and will traverse the difficult stretches of Kaza and the Monastery Necklace, Khardung La and Wari La, and the temperamental Nubra Valley. Enroute, the Raid will go through some of the highest motorable passes and human settlements in the world. These include Darcha (3360 m), Keylong (3440 m), Leh (3524 m), Kaza (3650 m), Dhankar (3894 m), Losar (4079 m), Rumtse (4300 m), Kunzum La (4551 m), Komik (4587 m) and Pang (4600 m). It will draw to a close at Leh on Oct 12.
013 FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship Round 4
October 05, 2013: After a highly successful Round at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida, Round 4 of the 2013 FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship returned to the MMRT in Chennai. The Championship includes leading motorcycle manufacturers Honda, Yamaha & TVS participating this weekend with over 20 races on display. Day 1 saw brilliant racing with more than 7 races being closely contested with great wheel-to-wheel action.
The first race of the day was the TVS MMSC One Make Championship. In the TVS Apache RTR 180 Novice category, Mizoram rider Lalrindika beat Mithun Kumar and S Kannan to take the first win of the day.
Race 2 saw the Honda MMSC One Make Championship display their CBR 150cc bikes where Ananthraj took the win. Dinesh Kumar and Sumit Lucas Toppo battled it out for second spot with Dinesh just finishing ahead.
In the Honda CBF Stunner Novice category, R Venkataraman crossed the line ahead of Akash Dingare and Saravanan with less than one tenth of a second separating the top 3.
Race 4 of the day saw the 165CC Group C bikes in action. K Jagan continued where he left off from the BIC to take a dominating win by over 15 seconds. Dinesh Kumar had a lonely race and finished in 2nd place. The battle for the final podium spot was a three way battle with A Prabhu clinching 3rd place ahead of Sumit Lucas Toppo and Vivek Pillai.
The Yamaha MMSC One Make Championship was next up with the YZF R15 Novice race. Muralidharan won his first race of the season in convincing fashion setting fastest lap after fastest lap along the way. Akash Dingare and Amit Topno were side-by-side as they headed into the final lap with Akash just pipping Amit by a mere two tenths off a second.
In the Group D 165cc Novice class, Meka Viduraj won his first race of the weekend ahead of S Sahay and Balaji in a closely contested race.
Next race of the day was the Apache RTR 180 open category, which is part of the TVS MMSC One Make Championship. Mathana Kumar took the win ahead of Thamarai Kannan and Allwyn Jebaz with a five second gap covering the top 5 finishers.
In the Group D 130cc Novice category, Chennai born KY Ahamed beat Sethu Babu on the final lap to take a brilliant win. There was a 4 way fight for 3rd position with A Venkatraman clinching the final podium spot.
The Honda MMSC One Make Championship displayed their CBR 250cc bikes in the next race of the day. Sarath Kumar bounced back from his disappointment at the BIC in the previous round to take a hard fought win over Sumit Lucas Toppo. The top two were separated by less than 2 tenths of a second as they crossed the finish line. Dinesh Kumar had a great last lap to move from 5th to 3rd and clinch the final podium spot.
In the second Group D 165cc Novice class race, S Sahay beat A Muralidharan by a close margin to take his first win of the day. R Harikrishnan finished in the 3rd place to take the final podium spot.
In the Yamaha MMSC One Make Championship in YZF R15 Open category, Vivek Pillai continued from where he left off from the last round to convincingly win ahead of Ananth Raj. S Padmanabhan managed to hold off a charging Mathana Kumar to take third place.
The final race of the day was the TVS MMSC One Make Championship, with the TVS Apache RTR 180 Novices on track for the second time. Mizoram rider Lalrindika made a memorable day with a second win of the day.He was followed across the finish line by Mithun Kumar and S Kannan.
2013 FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship Round 4
October 06, 2013: Round 4 of the 2013 FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship continued at the MMRT in Chennai today with a total 11 races taking place. The Championship includes leading motorcycle manufacturers Honda, Yamaha & TVS participating this weekend with 23 races on display. Day 1 saw brilliant racing and Day 2 continued just where it left off with some more great wheel-to-wheel action.
In the Group D 165cc Novice class, Balaji won his first race of the weekend ahead of A Muralidharan and S Sahay in a closely contested battle. The top 7 riders were extremely close to each other with 2 seconds separating them.
In the Yamaha MMSC One Make Championship in YZF R15 Open category, Ananth Raj took a comfortable win ahead of Mathana Kumar with S Padmanabhan finishing right behind in third place.
The TVS MMSC One Make Championship was up next, with the third TVS Apache RTR 180 Novice race of the weekend. Mizoram rider Lalrindika made it a perfect weekend by making it three out of three wins. S Sahay finished in second place ahead of Mithun Kumar.
Race 4 of the day featured the Honda MMSC One Make Championship with the CBR 150cc open category bikes on display. Sumit Lucas Toppo took a well deserved win after a race long battle with second place finisher Ananth Raj. Harshit took the final step on the podium ahead of Dinesh Kumar.
The Group D 130cc Novice category saw a repeat of the first race with KY Ahamed once again just managing to beat Sethu Babu on the final lap to take a brilliant win. There was a 4 way fight for 3rd position once again with A Venkatraman clinching the final podium spot.
Next race of the day saw the 165CC Group C bikes in action. K Jagan took his third win on the trot with yet another convincing win for TVS Racing. R Deepak finished in second place with Harry Sylvester returning to the podium in third place.
In the Honda CBF Stunner Novice category, R Venkataraman took his second win of the weekend taking a narrow win over Amit Topno. Both riders were separated by tenth of a second as they crossed the finish line. Saravanan finished in third place to take the final step of the podium.
The Honda MMSC One Make Championship displayed their CBR 250cc bikes in the next race of the day. Sarath Kumar was once again in sublime form as he comfortably won ahead of R Deepak and Shyam Shankar. Championship favourite Rajni Krishnan did not participate this weekend as he is away racing internationally.
The Yamaha MMSC One Make Championship was next up with the YZF R15 Novice race. Muralidharan took his second win of the weekend as he finished ahead of Lalrindika. Amit Topno challenged for second spot in the first couple of laps but could not get past Lalrindika and had to settle for third place.
Next race of the day was the Apache RTR 180 open category, which is part of the TVS MMSC One Make Championship. Mathana Kumar took another win ahead of S Prakash and Thamarai Kannan. Kannan just managed to finish ahead as he emerged from a 4 way battle to take the final podium spot.
The final race of the weekend was Race 3 of the Honda CBF Stunner Novice category in the Honda MMSC One Make Championship. Akash Dingare denied R Venkatraman a perfect weekend when he finished ahead in the final race of the day. The race saw a great three way battle for the lead throughout the entire race with Akash just edging ahead. Amit Topno clinched the final step of the podium with the top three riders separated by two tenths of a second in one of the closest races of the weekend.