Vizag to kickstart INRC 2021 season on scenic beach tarmac

Visakhapatnam, 10 Nov 2021: Popular as INRC, the MRF FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship for Cars will kick-start the delayed 2021 season with Vizag hosting the first round next month, announced Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao, Minister of Sports, Andhra Pradesh, here on Wednesday along with the Promoters.

“This is the first time we are bringing a high-profile motorsports event to Vizag, which last hosted a National karting event in 2012. While karting is an entry level sport, the historic National rally is a flagship discipline in motorsports and we are expecting huge crowds as an array of stars and fast race cars will be seen in action,” the minister added.

The Minister on behalf of the Promoters also released the four-round Calendar for 2021 season at a Press Conference here. “The Jewel of the East Coast will host the first round on the high-speed tarmac roads on the scenic Beach road from December 17 to 19. Many National rally champions including multiple Asia Pacific Rally champion and Arjuna Awardee Gaurav Gill have entered the fray,’’ said Merla Vamsi, the Promoter of Champions Yacht Club, which will jointly organise the Vizag round along with the Karnataka Motor Sports Club (KMSC), which runs the famous Karnataka-1000, the oldest rally in the 34-year history of INRC, that got the National status in 1988. The other rounds will be Bengaluru (K1000) in January, Coimbatore in February and Nagaland in March. A fifth round, the contender round is also expected in Hyderabad, subject to clearance from FMSCI.

The Federation of Motor Sports Clubs in India (FMSCI), the National Authority that governs motorsport and promotes safe, sustainable and accessible mobility for all road users across India, is affiliated to the Indian Olympic Association and the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA). FMSCI runs 12 Nationals in different motorsports disciplines like Rallying, Road Racing, Super Cross and Karting.

The beautiful Vizag-Bhimili beach road from Ramakrishna Beach to Kalinga, where the Special Stages will be held may not see Dolphins in the sea nor spotted deers crossing the road like they did in eighties when Navy used to conduct the Hill Climbs and TSD treasure hunts for motorsports lovers in this region, but the speed maestros like Gill, Karna Kadur, Dean Mascarenhas or Amittrajit Ghosh will be literally flying on the smooth tarmac, with road humps providing a visual treat to the crowds. “To cut the high-speeds we are creating artificial chicanes with soft tyres or tubes and the Stages will be cancelled if average speeds cross 110-kmph. But we are retaining the speed-breakers which will be negotiated with ease and the car jumps will provide a thrilling spectacle at high speeds for the crowds. Also the Police department is kind enough to provide over 400 police and we have trained marshals and local village safety volunteers to guard the route. The roads will be closed for traffic with windows to release the piled up traffic in intervals between the stages. A team of over 35 rally experts and 40 HAM station operators from KMSC Bengaluru, and 10 FMSCI officials will monitor the safety of the rally,” informed Vamsi.

The rally will have 12 Special Stages, eight to be run on Saturday and four on Sunday. The ceremonial start at Ramakrishna beach will be on Friday, Dec 17. All the cars from teams like MRF, JK Tyre, Mahindras, Yokohoma, Arka Motorsports, Chettinad Sporting, Snap Racing, among others will arrive on Thursday for scrutiny. Many lady drivers, who are provided free entries, will compete on equal footing with men. Bhaskar Gupta will be the Clerk of the Course and every car will have a co-driver who will give navigational calls to the driver based on the Road Book (tulip) provided by the organisers and the notes of the driver prepared during recce (reconnaissance), a practice run which is allowed at normal roads speeds on Thursday or Friday. The actual rally will be on Saturday and Sunday.