Karna Kadur & Nikhil Pai raring to go: 4w INRC Round 3
By David Bodapati
Coimbatore, 25 Jan 2021: Karna Kadur and Nikhil Pai, make a rare combination. It is a rare species! If I may call it so, an endangered species! Two of the most-talented and skilled drivers and co-drivers in the country, arguably best in their class. It is difficult to say, if the navigator is better because of the driver or the Driver is better because of the co-driver.
If we leave top guns, like Ram Kumar and Kumci Kumar, and the legendary Farooq Ahmed, currently not rallying in the season, Nikhil Pai, one of the senior most, if you put aside the Kasargod king, Musa Sherif, is a class in his own. Both have their unique features and respect each other. Musa is a veteran of over 200 rallies in INRC. Musa’s story is another great story, we must tell in these pages. Watch out!
Today, it is Nikhil Pai, a sound engineer, cool, calm and composed! For the first time, I was able to hear his speed, sound and watch the moon at the same time. It was Karna Kadur who produced the sound, but the man who directed the show was Pai. Both are made for each other. One is as good as the other. A co-driver worth his salt, Nikhil Pai was a joy to watch at Arunachal Pradesh, as always. Karna came into his own after a reluctant run and excelled with controlled aggression and with the exception of the likes of Gill, a Speed demon, there is none that can stop the duo. INDIAinF1 rated them as the best in their class and next only to Gaurav Gill, as we have to take notice of their class, car and the machine. It is a VW Polo INRC NA.
Yours humbly, (I am) is a big fan of Karna Kadur. All I have for the co-driver, Nikhil Pai, is #Respect. Besides, National Championship titles in other classes, they were crowned as Overall Champions in the Indian National Rally Championship 2016, a great honour to enter the list of National INRC Champions. They achieved it in a Volkswagen Polo in Group N and the unsung hero but for whom the victory may not have been possible is the duo’s mentor – a friend, philosopher and guide, N Leelakrishnan, who tuned the machines and coached them.
In 2010, I was sitting with the tribals under the foothills of Sahayadri mountain ranges in Western Ghats, in front of a right hander, leading into a tricky bounce before they enter a straight. Here, Karna, who graduated to a bigger machine in Mitsubishi, after Red Rooster Racing identified him as a precious talent and gave him a powerful Cedia.
The triple somersault and the safe exit, was baptism by fire. Pai was not his navigator then. The genial giant, Karna, never looked back, missing his first National title in 2012 but went on to win multiple National titles in every class he entered.
And soon he had Nikhil Pai, giving the calls and the sound engineer, sound and steady in his performance, ever smiling and willing to enhance the show by his driver with impeccable prep, hardwork and disciplined attitude, and what it takes to beat the best… When they first became the National champions both were together.When they first won a National title for Polo, they were together. No driver misses the advantage of such a navigator. I love Karna, I admire Nikhil. Both are good and complement each other. It was also the dependable duo, who brought the first National title for VW Polo, winning their overall National Title in 2016.
The other driver I admire and follow is Dean Mascarenhas, who faded away after a stunning debut as a 18-year teenager. But in Itanagar, he had a mature drive and proved that he still can hog limelight, only if sponsors back him up. Wish talented drivers are nurtured and sponsored!
Karna on the other hand is already moulding youngsters and is good at managing teams. Karna, born into a sporting family, is a talented and hardworking driver, nay a thinking driver! And he is made of champion stuff, as he excelled in many forms of motorsports, a teacher in the mould of his guru, Leela, the 6-time National champ, an impeccable master of holistic driver development!
“It is not fair to compare drivers, or for that matter co-drivers of different eras,” he told this reporter recently. But `we journalists’ end up writing good (and sometimes bad) without much thought. So, I may have missed some greats from the past, in the glorious 33-years (including 2020) of INRC… May Their Tribe increase!
The third round of the Indian National Rally Championship 2020 (INRC) for four-wheelers is scheduled to be held at the Kethanoor windmill farms near here from Jan 29 to 31. Promoted by Champions Yacht Club and organised by Coimbatore Auto Sports Club (CASC), under the aegis of fmsci, the governing body of motorsports (FIA ASN) in India, the top drivers in their class Karna Kadur and Nikhil Pai are raring to go in their (the magic behind the car with legendary Leelakrishnan at work) VW Polo shod on MRF tyres, expect some fireworks on Karna’s favourite gravel terrain, the patchy, pebble-filled windmill farms.
“It’s rally week! While Karna (Kadur), me (Nikhil Pai) and everyone at Arka Motorsport , MRF Racing and Volkswagen Motorsport India are busy getting our car ready, here’s a little peek at the last two rounds of the Rally of Arunachal where we finished 2nd and 3rd overall respectively. Hoping to better that performance this weekend at Coimbatore, the 3rd round of the INRC. See you there!,” say the champion duo.
See you in Kethanoor! Happy Rallying!!
Watch the Arunachal Pradesh INRC Round 1 & 2 short Video here!
Editor’s Note: David Bodapati, has been following INRC from 1988 as a sub-editor in Indian Express and has been covering at least one round (read K1000) from 1996, except an year or two, and did research for over 10 years to compile INRC Hall of fame.
This article has been last updated on 28 Jan 2021 at 12.12pm
