FMSCI curtails INRC 2020 for 4-Wheeler season to 3 rounds

Chennai, 5 Feb 2020: The Rally Commission of the Federation of Motorsports Clubs of India (FMSCI) announced on Friday that the 2020-21 Indian National Rally Championship stands concluded after penultimate Round 3 in Coimbatore as the minimum criteria for the Championship to hold was three rounds taking into account the Covid-19 pandemic.

The points accumulated in each category over the three rounds will help in deciding the respective winners, according to a press release by the FMSCI.

Rally Commission chairman Farokh Commissariat revealed that the Council deliberated at length the circumstances and issues that had developed in the last few days.

“But due to unavoidable operational and non-operational issues it became virtually impossible to even consider postponing as that would adversely affect next year’s calendar, which has to begin shortly.” it added.

It may be recalled the 2020 season had got severely affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing lockdowns across the country.

“Despite all hiccups all our prime National championships for 2020 were completed. The INRC also seemed to be on course but due to unforeseen circumstances all 4 rounds as planned before launch, could not be completed within the stipulated time frame,” the Chairman Rally Commission said.

Champions of INRC 4w 2020 (Provisional)

With the cancellation of the K1000 round, the fourth and final round of the Indian National Rally Championship 2020 for four-wheelers, the following emerged as champions from the points they garnered after the three rounds. The first two back-to-back rounds were held at Itanagar on Dec 16 and 17, and Dec 19 and 20. The third round was held in Coimbatore on January 30 and 31.

Gaurav Gill, who swept all the three rounds winning with much to spare, emerged as a deserving champion as he conquered the INRC for the 7th time to join all-time legends club along with Naren Kumar as he surpassed another giant N Leelakrishnan’s number of 6 Driver Championship titles. His Co-driver Musa Sherif too is on seventh heaven with his 7th title.

In INRC2, Sahil Khanna emerged as the champion in INRC2 ahead of Dean Mascarenhas (77) and Rahul Kantharaj (65).

In INRC3, while Fabid Ahmer with 98 points from three rounds won the class, Aditya Thakur (90) and Maninder Singh Prince (84) finished second and third respectively.

Defending champion Vaibhav Marathe became champion in the INRC4 class garnering 67 points with Mujeeb Rehman second with 61 points and Mysore’s Rohit Iyer third with 58 points as the three leg 1 points helped him to edge out Khyati Mody who did not take part in the third round.

As per Final Audited Points Table:

Champion Drivers: INRC: 1. Gaurav Gill; 2. Karna Kadur; 3. Fabid Ahmer. Co-Drivers: 1. Musa Sherif; 2. Nikhil Pai; 3. Eldo Chacko.

INRC2: 1. Sahil Khanna 78; 2. Dean Mascarenhas 77; 3. Rahul Kantharaj 62; Co-drivers: 1. Vidit Jain 83; 2. Shruptha Padival 77; 3. Vivek Bhatt 66;

INRC2 Team: 1. Snap Racing; (Sahil Khanna 117; Lakshay 24) Total=141;

INRC3: 1. Fabid Ahmer 98; 2. Aditya Thakur 90; 3. Maninder Singh Prince 86; Co-drivers: 1. Eldo Chacko 98; 2. Virender Kashyap 90; 3. Vinay Kumar Padmashali 86;

INRC3 Team: 1. Snap Racing; (Maninder 77; Amer Beg 7; Arjun Rao 7) Total =91.

INRC4: 1. Vaibhav Marathe 68; 2. Mujeeb Rehman 65; 3. Rohit Iyer 55; Co-drivers: 1. Suhan MK (68); 2. Goutham CP (65); 3. Manjunath (62); (Corrected restoring Goutham to 2nd)

Junior INRC Drivers: 1. Harikrishan Wadia 77; 2. Pragathi Gowda 70; 3. Rohit Iyer 49;

Gypsy Challenge (No National Championship Status): 1. Sanjay Razdan 90; 2. Daksh Gill 74; 3. Mohd. Kaif Khan 64;

Gypsy Co-drivers: 1. Karan Aukta 90; 2. Mrinmoy Saha 82; 3. Arjun Dheerendra 68.

Editor’s note: Rankings were corrected with official rankings released on 19feb2021 by official time keeper VGoNext; Results will be provisional and only treated as final post 25 Feb 2021 after 5pm.