Indian National Rally Championship
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (August 2022) |
Category | National Rally Championship |
---|---|
Country | India |
Inaugural season | 1988 |
Tyre suppliers | JK Tyres, MRF, Yokohama, Birla Tyres |
Drivers' champion | Karna Kadur (2022) |
Co-Drivers' champion | Nikhil Pai |
Official website | www |
Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) is a
Rally formats
Prior to the inception of INRC,[3] Motor Rally in India was run on TSD (Time, Speed, and Distance) format. During 70's and 80's the TSD events ran into several states with distances covering several days and distances exceeded over 1000 miles.[4]
TSD endurance format
Up till 1988, the TSD format was modeled on endurance format with Popular Rally starting in
Stage rally
Since 1988,
Over a period, the Stage Distance became shorter and overall Rally was conducted in a few closed stages, closed to traffic. Since 2000 under MAI, the Rally ran as per FIA regulations in a format of a one Day Recce, Two Day Rally and the results were announced by the end of the day. Also stage Marshall Training was conducted by hiring FIA nominated personals by both FMSCI and MAI. Spectator and competitor safety became prime factor in event management. Also during the MAI years night rallies were stopped as well as Two Wheeler rallying.
Event equipments and communication
Computers were used since 1988 rallies for tabulating penalty points, while
Teams
The ITC sponsored Scissors Action Rally Team, based out of Coimbatore having strong links to the Coimbatore Auto Sports Club, was the first in establishing a professional rally team in late 80's, eventually winning the inaugural rally in the INRC year 1988. This team had several top title contenders like L. Gopalakrishnan, DPF Krishnakumar and the two were leading the championship points at times during the 88 and 89 seasons.
After the introduction of INRC championship title format, several new teams entered into Rallying. The notable entry was by JK Tyres, who in 1992 signed an agreement with S. Karivardhan for Motor Rallying as well as Racing activities. JK Motorsports since then managed by Sanjay Sharma had been in Motor Rallying and Track racing in a major way by sponsoring drivers to international competitions. In 1993 another new team emerged from Irinjalakuda, named Team Paarel which also won the 1993 Karnataka-1000 driven by Vinil Varghese. In 1995 Chetinnad Cements sponsored Chettinad Motorsports started competing in the stock Group N category. So did other Teams like Kari Sports, Kumci Sports etc.
There were other private entrants who mostly filled the rest half of the field.
The MRF rally team continued to flourish under the leadership of Antony Rodrigues and Soman Joseph and several of their drivers set many records during the period. The main drivers and navigators where; Naren Kumar/D Ram Kumar, Karandip Singh/Jaidas Menon, Arjun Balu/Kumar ramswami, Lohit Urs/Chandramouli. Meanwhile, Gaurav Gill of JK tyres joined MRF Tyres co-navigated by Musa Sherif and won many titles.
In recent years, Red Rooster Racing, a new Team based out of Bangalore entered the INRC in 2008 with N. Leelakrishnan as their Technical Director and went on to win the Championship in their debut year. This triggered a fierce battle between Red Rooster Racing and Team MRF Tyres for the next two years and was the highlight of the INRC in recent years. Red Rooster Racing however closed down at the end of 2010 due to financial difficulties but by then, they had won the championship 2 out of the 3 years they entered the INRC.
Two of the Team Drivers, Amittrajit Ghosh & Karna Kadur left to be part of another new outfit, Team RRPM with support from MRF Tyres and went on to win the Group N championship in 2011 and the INRC in 2012 & 2013.
In 2012, another new Team called Slideways Industries joined the INRC with the support of VW and JK Tyres with drivers like Karamjit Singh and Vikram Mathias.
In 2016, Team Karna Kadur (Driver) and Nikhil Pai (Co-driver) became the INRC Champions.
In 2017 and 2018, Gaurav Gill (Driver) and Musa Sherif (Co-driver) of Team Mahindra Adventure won back-to-back INRC Championships.
In 2019, brothers Chetan Shivram (Driver) and Dilip Sharan (Co-driver) from Team Akshara won the INRC championship.[7]
Four wheelers
Ambassadors and Premier Padminis dominated the rallying scene till early '80s. The Group A(II) IND Premier Padminis continued in the INRC years till late '90s. Sipani Dolphins was a preferred choice for Vicky Chandhok and others who were dominant between 85 and 88 years. Hindustan Contessa Classic and Premier 118NE made brief appearances of which the later was driven by K. D. Madan and Kamlesh Patel, winning the 1987 Karnataka K-1000 Rally.
Maruti 800 also had a significant presence as they were already competing in the Sholavaram 800CC class. The INRC's inaugural rally in 1988, Scissors Master Action Rally in Coimbatore was won by L. Gopalakrishnan and Mahendran, driving a Group A(II)IND Maruti 800 for the Scissors Action Rally Team.
Maruti Gypsy era
Post INRC, most top drivers switched to the
Maruti Esteem era
In 1996
Maruti Baleno and Honda City era
By 2000, with the launch of
Rally Star Cup
MAI launched a new "Rally Star Cup" for novices as a "Pay and Drive" package deal with service as per MAI's arrangement with a few teams. The cars were the older carburrated Maruti Esteems. This new programme was to encourage new and young drivers into rallying without the burden of spending huge money for cars and service crew.
Mitsubishi Cedia
With the introduction of the much powerful Group N & N+ Mitsubishi Cedia with a power over 230 BHP in Group N+ trim, most top runners switched to it.
The Maruti Gypsy again made appearances in
Currently Mitsubishi Cedia is the most powerful car dominating the Indian Rally Scene. In 2013, the Volkswagen Polo made its debut and is making its presence felt in the INRC as a strong contender for being the most dominant car.
The FMSCI has in the recent past since 2012 made quite a few changes to the INRC. It stopped the highly modified Group N+ category and followed the FIA Group N regulations for all its classes. The Junior Indian National Rally Championship (JINRC) to promote young talent was also introduced thereby stopping the Rally Star Cup.
The other class that it created is the Indian Rally Championship which is open to foreign nationals as well as Indians in imported cars conforming to the FIA Group N category. With this, Indian rally fans have been able to see cars like the
In 2012, the Gypsy class was stopped and in 2013, the FMSCI created a SUV class running as per the FIA T1 & T2 regulations. The
FMSCI years
FMSCI was the governing body from 1988 till 1999. During this period Two Wheelers were also included in the Championship. It was then known as FIRDC Championship and was sponsored by Castrol. The international sports governing body FIA reverted the governing and sanctioning rights to FMSCI in October 2008, and since 2009 season INRC is governed by FMSCI.
MAI years
Between the years 2000 and 2008 MAI (Motorsports Authority Of India) was approved by FIA to administer and govern the National Championship. In 2008, the sanctioning and governing authority was reverted to FMSCI.[9]
Champions
Season | Driver | Co-Driver | Team | Car | Tuner | Governing Body |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1988 | Farad Bathena | Raj Bagri | Team MRF | Maruti Gypsy Group II (A)* (IND)
|
Mohinder Lalwani | FMSCI
|
1989 | Farad Bathena | Raj Bagri | Team MRF | Maruti Gypsy Group II (A)* (IND) | J.Anand | FMSCI
|
1990 | N. Leelakrishnan | C V Jaykumar | Team MRF | Maruti Gypsy Group II (A)* (IND) | N. Leelakrishnan | FMSCI
|
1991 | N. Leelakrishnan | N Mahindran | Team MRF | Maruti Gypsy Group II (A)* (IND) | N. Leelakrishnan | FMSCI
|
1992 | N. Leelakrishnan * | N Mahindran | Team MRF | Maruti Gypsy Group II (A)* (IND) | N. Leelakrishnan | FMSCI
|
1993 | N. Leelakrishnan | N Mahindran | Team MRF | Maruti Gypsy Group II (A)** (IND) | N. Leelakrishnan | FMSCI
|
1994 | Hari Singh | Gurinder Singh Mann | JK Rally Team | Maruti Gypsy Group A-1-A (IND) | S.Karivardhan
|
FMSCI
|
1995 | Hari Singh | Gurinder Singh Mann | JK Rally Team | Maruti Gypsy Group A-1-A (IND) | S.Karivardhan
|
FMSCI
|
1996 | Hari Singh | Gurinder Singh Mann | JK Rally Team | Maruti Esteem Group A-1-A (IND)
|
PNR Satish | FMSCI
|
1997 | Hari Singh | Gurinder Singh Mann | JK Rally Team | Maruti Esteem Group A-1-A (IND) | WSRF | FMSCI
|
1998 | N. Leelakrishnan | Farooq Ahmed | Team MRF | Maruti Esteem Group A-1-A (IND) | N. Leelakrishnan | FMSCI
|
1999 | V. R. Naren Kumar | Farooq Ahmed | Team MRF | Maruti Esteem Group A | N. Leelakrishnan | FMSCI
|
2000 | V. R. Naren Kumar | D Ram Kumar | Team MRF | Maruti Baleno Group A | N. Leelakrishnan | MAI |
2001 | N. Leelakrishnan | Farooq Ahmed | Team MRF | Honda City Group A | N. Leelakrishnan | MAI |
2002 | V. R. Naren Kumar | D Ram Kumar | Team MRF | Honda City Group A | N. Leelakrishnan | MAI |
2003 | V. R. Naren Kumar | D Ram Kumar | Team MRF | Honda City Group A | N. Leelakrishnan | MAI |
2004 | Vikram Mathias | Sujith Kumar | Team MRF | Honda City Group A | N. Leelakrishnan | MAI |
2005 | V. R. Naren Kumar | D Ram Kumar | JK Rally Team | Maruti Baleno Group N
|
N. Leelakrishnan | MAI |
2006 | V. R. Naren Kumar | D Ram Kumar | JK Rally Team | Maruti Baleno Group N | N. Leelakrishnan | MAI |
2007 | Gaurav Gill | Musa Sherif | Team MRF | Mitsubishi Cedia Group N
|
J.Anand | MAI |
2008 | Vikram Mathias | PVS Murthy | Red Rooster Racing | Mitsubishi Cedia Group N+ | N. Leelakrishnan | MAI |
2009 | Gaurav Gill | Musa Sherif | Team MRF | Mitsubishi Cedia Group N+ | J.Anand | FMSCI
|
2010 | V. R. Naren Kumar | D Ram Kumar | Red Rooster Racing | Mitsubishi Cedia Group N+ | N. Leelakrishnan | FMSCI
|
2011 | Gaurav Gill | Musa Sherif | MRF | Mitsubishi Cedia Group N+ | J.Anand | FMSCI
|
2012 | Amittrajit Ghosh | Ashwin Naik | RRPM | Mitsubishi Cedia Group N | B.Rajan | FMSCI
|
2013 | Amittrajit Ghosh | Ashwin Naik | RRPM | Mitsubishi Cedia Group N | B.Rajan | FMSCI
|
2014 | Gaurav Gill | Musa Sherif | Mahindra Adventure | XUV 500 | N. Leelakrishnan | FMSCI
|
2015 | Lohith V Urs | Srikanth GM | MRU Motor Sport | Mitsubishi Cedia Evo8 | Mohamed Rafiq Udaya | FMSCI
|
2016 | Karna Kadur | Nikhil Pai | Team Yokohama India | Volkswagen Polo Group N | N. Leelakrishnan | FMSCI
|
2017 | Gaurav Gill | Musa Sherif | Mahindra Adventure | Mahindra XUV 500 | N. Leelakrishnan | FMSCI
|
2018 | Gaurav Gill | Musa Sherif | Mahindra Adventure | Mahindra XUV 500 | N. Leelakrishnan | FMSCI
|
2019 | Chetan Shivram | Dilip Sharan | Akshara Racing | Volkswagen Polo | Fazil Khan, FRK Racing | FMSCI
|
2020 | Gaurav Gill | Musa Sherif | JK Tyre Racing | Mahindra XUV 300 | N Leelakrishnan | FMSCI
|
2021 | Aditya Thakur | Virender Kashyap | Chettinad Sporting | Volkswagen Polo | R Thiagarajan | FMSCI
|
2022 | Karna Kadur | Nikhil Pai | Arka Motorsports | Volkswagen Polo | N Leelakrishnan | FMSCI
|
2023 | Aroor Arjun Rao | Satish Rajagopal | Mandovi Racing | Maruti Baleno | Mohan, Falcon MS | FMSCI
|
Notes
* Denotes Vehicle Class Group II (A)IND. This class has unrestricted Vehicle Modifications. Extreme Engine Porting, Multiple Carburetors (Twin SU's or Webber's), etc. This class was outclassed/Banned by the end of 1993 season.
** Denotes Vehicle Class Group II (A)IND. In this year the winners car has Rally tuned Electronic Fuel Injection. As were its rival car.
* 1992 Four Wheeler Title – N. Leela Krishnan and N. Mahindran won the tie beaker and the title was awarded to them against Farad Bathena and Farook Comsariat.[10]
Four wheelers drivers
- Gaurav Gill – New Delhi – 7 times Champion.
- V. R. Naren Kumar – Coimbatore – 7 times Champion.
- N. Leelakrishnan – Coimbatore – 6 times Champion.
- Hari Singh – Chandigarh – 4 times Champion.
- Farad Bathena – Mumbai – 2 times Champion.
- Vikram Mathias – Bengaluru/Masinagudi– 2 times Champion.
- Amittrajit Ghosh – Kolkata – 2 times Champion.
- Karna Kadur – Bengaluru – 2 time Champion.
- Lohith V Urs – Mysore – 1 time Champion.
- Chetan Shivram – Bengaluru – 1 time Champion.
- Aditya Thakur - Solan, Himachal Pradesh - 1 time Champion.
- Aroor Arjun Rao - Mangaluru, Karnataka - 1-time champion.
See also
- Formula Manipal
- Madras Motor Sports Club
- Kari Motor Speedway
- Force India
- Buddh International Circuit
References
- ^ "6 of the best rally championships in India". Red Bull. 1 July 2021. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
- ^ "2024 APRC Calendar". FIA APRC. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
- ^ "INRC - 2019 Indian National Rally Championship". www.sportskeeda.com. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
- ^ Castrol K1000 Rally 1998, retrieved 23 December 2023
- ^ "Ham Radio in INRC". Zee News India. 2011.
- ^ "Support of Coimbatore Amateur Radio Club and Kodaikanal Amateur Radio Society". The Times of India. 2011. Archived from the original on 5 April 2012.
- ^ "Borthers Chetan Shivram and Dilip Sharan, 2019 INRC National Champs; Gill, Musa win Popular Rally". INDIA in F1. 22 December 2019. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
- ^ Motorsports, Indian (1 February 2021). "Indian National Rally Championship". www.INDIAinF1.com. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
- ^ "FMSCI gets upper hand in the power struggle". DNA Newspaper. 2008. Archived from the original on 1 January 2013. Retrieved 22 October 2012.
- ^ "INDIAN RALLY HALL OF FAME : The Super Special Stage - Page 2 | Rally India - the Home of Indian Rallying". Archived from the original on 8 January 2013. Retrieved 21 October 2012.