INDIAN RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP

The 2013 season of the INRC, India’s premier rallying championship kicks off this weekend, with the AVT Premium South India Rally. After last year’s championship that was shortened to a mere two rounds, the FMSCI has chalked out an extensive plan for this year’s championship. The Chennai round has attracted as many as 37 entries, which is a big number. Chennai is one of the biggest hubs of motorsport in the country, and is home to several racing and rallying teams, not to mention some of the biggest racers and rallyists in the country. The entry list features some big names as well, multiple INRC champion and currently the only Indian to compete in the APRC, Gaurav Gill (co-driver Musa Sherif) will be spearheading the Mahindra factory team, which makes its debut in the INRC with its XUV500. Mahindra has gained accolades over the past year with its performances in cross-country rallies, and even bagged OVERDRIVE’s prestigious ‘Motorsport of the year’ award, and is entering the new SUV class of the INRC this year with three XUV500s. Partnering Gill in Mahindra’s assault will be Lohitt Urs (co-driver Bonnie Thomas) and Sunny Sidhu (co-driver PVS Murthy). Sanjay Agarwal (co-driver Shiva Prakash) will be competing in the SUV class as well, driving a Maruti Suzuki Gypsy.

The Chennai round will see the hugely popular Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X make its debut in the INRC at the hands of Delhi’s Samir Thapar (co-driver Vivek Ponnusamy), who is the lone entrant in the IRC (Indian Rally Championship). The IRC class is for four-wheel drive cars with engine displacement upto 2500cc. Volkswagen’s Polo will also make its debut in the INRC this weekend, with Slideways Industries’ Sirish Chandran (co-driver Nikhil Pai) behind the wheel, in the Group N 1600cc class. Arjun Rao (co-driver Satish Rajagopal) will be driving a second Polo in the same class, while Pune’s Rohan Pawar (co- driver Nitin Jacob) will be driving a third Polo for Slideways Industries, but in the Junior INRC class. Reigning Junior INRC champion Karan AM (co-driver SN Shanmuga) will also be driving in the Group N 1600cc class. Youngster Dean Mascarenhas (co-driver Shruptha Padival), who created a stir with his performances in the JINRC last year will make his debut in the Group N 2000cc class at Chennai. He will thus challenge reigning champion Amittrajit Ghosh (co-driver Ashwin Naik), along with seasoned drivers like Rahul Kantharaj (co-driver Vivek Bhatt), Bikku Babu (co-driver George Varghese) and so on.

The special stages will be held on the outskirts of Chennai city, while super special stage is expected to be a showstopper with the competitors having to go around the 3.2km long Madras Motor Race Track (MMRT) as quickly as possible. The stages have been tested by veteran race and rally driver Arjun Balu. The JINRC this year has attracted as many as 14 entries, while the Group N 2000cc and 1600cc class have nine entries each for the Chennai round. The MMRT will also act as service park and rally headquarters for the event.