Aman, Aishwarya, Ashishrao Rane descend on Hampi

Hampi, 14 October 2021: Himalayan Hero Aman Prabhakar Pawde of Nagpur, the inaugural Overall winner of the Rally of Himalayas astride a KTM EXCF450, along with FIM World Cupper Aishwarya Pissay, who made a triumphant comeback after an injury-layoff, Dakar Indian Ashishrao Rane will spearhead the challenge at Rally de Hampi, the first Round of the fmsci MRF Mogrip National Rally Championship 2021 for 2-wheelers, the final event of the Utsav de Hampi 2021, here on Sunday.

Prominent international Cross Country rider Ashishrao Rane of Pune, will be the cynosure of all eyes as he makes a rare appearance in the Indian rally circuit. The Dakar rider could not go to Rallye du Maroc last week but will be looking to get back to form for the toughest rally in the world next year.

“Organised by Motorsports Academy of Vijayanagar and enthusiastically backed by Karnataka Tourism, the record number of 81 entries from all over the country and their team members will enjoy the scenic sights, in the true spirit of “One State, Many Worlds,” that Karnataka heritage sites and the rally route offers. The Department of Youth Empowerment and Sports (DYES), TVS Apache and hospitality partners Hotel Royal Orchid have joined with title sponsor MRF to make the two-wheeler National championship an attractive affair to both the riders and the fans as well,” said Promoter Shyam Kothari, a 7-time National champ in three different motorsports disciplines. Kothari heads GodSpeed Racing, the promoters of the 6-round INRC 2w Nationals and Supercross Nationals.

Four-time successive National 2w Rally champion in the women’s category, Miss Pissay, of TVS Racing, is the 2019 FIM World Cup Baja champion but her 2021 WC campaign came to an abrupt halt due to a major incident at the Baja last March but the gritty champion recovered from multiple surgeries and is back to her winning ways beating many ‘Big Boys’ on the foothills of Himalayas last Sunday for a creditable Overall fifth among 75 bikers and a sweet victory in her own class. Apart from the 8 girls, Pissay on her TVS Apache RTR will be eyeing the INRC Overall honours as she prepares to get back to the tougher international cross-country rallies. “After seven months, I was raring to get back into true competition mode and I feel better now after the Himalayan rally and hope to begin my fifth season on a positive note,” said the 7-time racing and rally National champ.

Team TVS Racing will be descending, as usual, with three other defending National champions R Nataraj, Samuel Sajan Jacob and Pinkesh Thakur. R Natarajan will have to do with teammates Rajendra RE, who won the last round here in Hampi and Abdul Waheed Tanveer, who missed the Rallye Maroc. Though there are only three entries in the Group A, the Super Bike Pro-Expert class is expected to have tough competition among the three TVS wards, all on TVS Apache RTR.

Team Hero MotoSports’ Yuva Kumar of Bengaluru and Sathyaraj Arumugam of Coimbatore along with other National champions Kochi’s Sinan Francis, Asad Khan (Chikmagalur), Jatin Jain (Nagpur), Badal Doshi (Vashi), Sachin D (TVS Hosur) racing champion Ryhana Bee (Chennai) and youngster Tanika Shanbag (Satara), who showed a glimpse of her rally prowess at the Himalayas, will all be raring to go in the other classes. Karthik, Syed Asif Ali of TVS Racing and Elango of Erode will fight in the Scooter class.

“This is the first round of the National 2w rally championship. All safety aspects are taken care of with trained marshals and, safety officers will make sure that all COVID19 protocols are strictly adhered to. Doctors and ambulances will be on standby along with a dedicated team of HAMs. I wish all the participants a safe rally,” said GS Joshy, the Clerk of the Course (CoC) and a rally champion himself. He will be ably assisted by home club’s Deputy CoC Rohit Gowda, another noted rider of yesteryears.

“The rally consists of five Special Stages (SS) of 57.85km, which are held on roads closed to traffic. There will be two physical stages, Jumbo and Hampi, 12.05km and 10.8km long, respectively. While Jumbo is run thrice, the riders will take the dirt track of Hampi SS, twice, all in the forward direction, for an overall distance of 115.42 kms including a liaison or transport section of 57.57 kms,” said Santosh HM of Motorsports Academy of Vijayanagar, the organising club. Bhaskar Gupta, CK Chinnappa and Abhijeet Pai will be the stewards (judges). Anagha J Bharadwaj will be the Secretary of the Meet.

The Star of Karnataka with five entries will be a support class. Following are the Championship classes where winners will get a trophy and split prize money of around Rs.2 lakh. More importantly they garner championship points and the table toppers in the below classes will be declared National champions.

Class 1: Super Bike-Pro Expert (Group “A” Single class irrespective of engine capacity. Sub classes may be formed if sufficient entries are received.

Class 1A: Super Bike (Expert) Group A;

Class 2: Super Sport 130 Group B;

Class 3: Super Sport 165 Group B;

Class 4: Super Sport 260 Group B;

Class 5: Super Sport 400 Group B;

Class 6: Super Sport 550 Group B;

Class 7: Group “B” (S0 to S3 Scooters up to 210CC);

Class 8: Group “B” Ladies Class (Open Indian M/c);

Class 9: Star of Karnataka.