Slideways Industries team dominates INAC Round 1 & Time Attack at Pune

Pune, 21 April 2023: Experienced rally driver from Team Slideways Industries, Maharashtra, Aniruddha Rangnekar won the Overall honours taking home the coveted “Fastest Driver” award in the first round of the 8-round fmsci* Indian National Autocross Championship (INAC) here on April 1 and 2.

At the Nanoli Speedway round in Pune, Slideways Industries, one of the largest teams in Maharashtra and one of the oldest teams in India, bagged 15 trophies and is the West Zone qualifier including in the Time Attack. All the zonal qualifiers will compete for the National Champion tag at the Grand Finale to be held in December. The finals are likely to be in Bengaluru once again but the venue is yet to be confirmed. The 15 trophies include the victories in the Support event.

Sponsored by Pune-based Pinnacle Group, Slideways, a household name in Indian Motorsport, won multiple National championships over the years. Supported by JK Tyre and Gaurav Gill Advanced Driving Academy (GGADA) in their preparations, the team put on a stellar show at the event. And Aniruddha Rangnekar, one of the founding members of the team, and currently the co-driver for Gaurav Gill in the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC), the longer version of rallying, taking the top honours is a bonus. Just like INRC, INAC is one of the dozen National Championships of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (fmsci) the governing body for the sport in India.

While the team has been a regular over at INRC, they are now also exploring other forms of motorsport. Trained and mentored by Arjun Awardee, the three-time Asia Pacific and seven-time National rally champion, Gaurav Gill, the team is growing from strength to strength. Since its inception in 2010, the Slideways Industries rally cars have been built by Coimbatore-based Chettinad Sporting, one of the leading Motorsport tuning houses in India led by Thiagarajan and Roshan, the driver-navigator pair in late nineties. The rally cars run on a 1.6-litre engine that has been upgraded according to the Sporting Regulations of the championship. Running on specially-designed 15-inch JK Rally tyres, the drivers acclaim the excellent grip on varied surfaces.

Shivani Parmar, one of the few female drivers in the National championship also had a good outing, winning in one category against experienced drivers and bagged a couple of other podiums in different classes. The biggest surprise of the weekend came in the form of rookies, Priyanandana Varma and Aditya Vikram Bose, who are fresh graduates from GGADA, bagging a class win and a couple of podiums over the weekend.

“Winning is a great feeling, but doing so on home turf is even more special,” said Aniruddha, who set the fastest time in the INAC, won as many as three categories and bagged multiple other podiums in Round 1. “It’s sad that we don’t have a round of INRC in Maharashtra anymore, but this is the closest we can get and we are glad to have taken home so many trophies from the weekend” added Shivani. Nashik used to be a regular round of the INRC for many years, until the clubs ran out of tracks where closed-road time Special Stages can be held.

“Being a rookie and entering the first event is always nerve-racking but the support from Slideways and GGADA made this event much easier for us,” said Bose, who bagged two podium finishes. “Training with Gaurav Gill and his team of experienced coaches has transformed my driving. It has not only made me a faster driver but safer and smarter too,” said a delighted Priyanandana Varma who won a class, apart from two other top-3 finishes.

*fmsci took a decision to write its short form in small letters a few years back.