Aishwarya wins again ahead of Tanika; Podium for Apoorva
By David Bodapati
Chikkamagaluru (Karnataka), 22 Nov. 2021: FIM World Cup Baja champion Aishwarya Pissay won the Ladies Class again in the two-day fourth round of the MRF MOGRIP FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) 2021 for two-wheelers that concluded at the picturesque Coffee Estates on Sunday.
Her main rival, young Tanika Shanbag from Satara, did well to reduce the gap between the champion progressing admirably in every round. Tanika finished second ahead of Apoorva B of Mangaluru. Anam Hashim, who got a podium in the previous round at Puttur, could only finish fourth here.
Aishwarya throttled through with a solid performance in the super special spectator stage on Saturday. The Motor Sports Club of Chikmagalur (MSCC) organises this stage in a private school ground, regularly at the INRC, to attract crowds . Well-versed with the terrain, Aishwarya controlled the pace and consistently made time. She won the rally and clocked a total stage time of 1hr 05min 12.915sec to stand 15th among 45 bikers, including 40 men. The defending champion from Bengaluru continued her strong form finishing well-ahead of competitors and improved from 20th overall in Round 3 to top-15 finish in Round 4.
An excited Aishwarya Pissay says: “It may not be a high-speed rally, like the other rounds, but the beautiful coffee estates’ terrain is technically challenging with plenty of tricky corners. It was fun taming my motorcycle through these demanding stages. My team at TVS Racing has done a commendable job in preparing Apache RTR 200 rally-built bike for this terrain.” Along with the
When queried about her progress, Tanika said: “Yes, I personally feel that I’m getting better every round and I’m happy that I’m improving myself by learning from my past mistakes. I had two wheel spins in two different corners in the Super Special Stage due to the slush. But today, I won two stages and made 20 seconds on the same stage where I lost huge time earlier. It gives me great satisfaction.”
Aishwarya began with a solid win at Hampi and went on to take another facile victory in Round 2 at Bengaluru, where she conquered the slushy terrain and after another win in Puttur, now leads the table in the woman’s category with her fourth consecutive win. Tanika is second on the table standings.
The final two rounds will be held on December 11 and 19 in Coimbatore and Nashik respectively, and the topper will be declared the National champion. With one hand on the trophy, the seven-time National champion supported by IIFL, Scott, Puma India, Sidvin, and GoPro is eyeing bigger cross-country desert rallies after the National championship.
Note: With inputs from a WordsWork Comm. press release. Added Tanika quote and other details.
