Athira Murali tops Talent Hunt as CYC selects 10 Lady drivers for INRC

Bengaluru, 31 March 2021: Athira Murali, a popular Malayalam Auto vlogger, who made her INRC debut at Coimbatore in January winning the ladies class and taking a well-deserved 5th among 12 INRC4 drivers, is expected to become a regular feature in the Indian National Rally Championship, thanks to promoters, who conducted a Drivers’ School and a selection camp to pick up talented lady drivers for the upcoming season beginning with the APRC round at Chennai from April 23.

Soon after her topping the selection trials among 25, Athira was picked up by Team JK Tyre, and the Kottayam lass will be taking part in the first round of INRC in Yellow colours. “I am so glad to be sponsored by JK Tyre and excited to wear the yellow colours. I will give my best in the upcoming round in chennai,” said Athira.

The Champions Yacht Club (CYC) FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship 2021 will see over 10 women drivers and co-drivers line-up for the start for the first time after coming out on top in a nation-wide Talent Hunt conducted here at the Unite Off-Road Track.

The one-of-a-kind selection and training programme was conducted by 2019 INRC champion Chetan Shivram. The Talent Hunt was supported by promoter Vamsi Merla.

“We believe that Chetan Shivram Motorsports can be the architect and backbone of motorsports in the years to come, as long as we have support from promoters, the way Mr Vamcy Merla promotes and encourages talent. We would be happy to train and support enthusiasts entering motorsports irrespective of age or gender, as bringing more talent to the National level is our priority,” said Shivram.

Twenty-five talented but unheralded women racers were shortlisted from across the country and were given beginners’ and advanced training in rally cars by ace rallyists Suhem Kabeer and Dhruva Chandrashekar before the ultimate shootout. The winners were judged on the basis of their lap timings in the final selection round which was supervised by an FMSCI jury team.

Athira Murali of Kottayam emerged the winner and will be co-driven by her city mate George Varghese, with whom she made the debut in Coimbatore winning the Ladies Class. She would have also taken a podium in INRC4 but a slow car ahead of her prevented her from going further up.

Renuka G of Andhra Pradesh who will have Chandni Kotian of Mumbai as co-driver came second in the selections with Ojasvi Mehta of Mumbai taking third place. Ojasvi along with Belgaum’s Isha Sharma are expected to make their debut in Chennai. Anupma Bindra of Gurgaon came fourth and she will go with co-driver Pallavi Yadav of Mumbai, and mother-daughter duo from Mumbai Shivani Parmar and Dr Vani Parmar will be the other ladies’ pair to get selected. Shivani came fifth in the selections.

The will be accorded a fully-sponsored ride by the promoters of INRC which includes entry fee, rally-prepared car, rally tyres and accommodation.

Renuka G, a software engineer from Vizag, stepped into rallying for the first time, thanks to the encouragement by Promoter Vamsi Merla. She first took part in the Ameo Cup in 2018 and has been a biker taking part in the Nationals. “It was a very exciting two days as I learned a lot about rallying. This is the first time for me in a rally car and it is very challenging to shift from tarmac to dirt tracks. I learnt a lot from handling the car to cornering from experienced drivers and it was a new driving style. I thoroughly enjoyed it and am looking forward to the Chennai round,” said Renuka, who became freinds with Chandni Kotian and picked her up as co-driver. Renuka was all praise for Chetan, Dhruva and Suhem for the training and said that it was very useful to make the switch from racing to rallying.

“I have experience in F4 cars and karting, but getting into a rally car is a new experience. I learnt many new things, the judgement when you take into corners and to handle the peculiar shifts… It was a new thrill for me to experience and all it happened because of Vamcy Merla,” said Chandni Kotian, a Mortgage Analyst from Mumbai.

“The training and experience on the dirt track was awesome. It is the first time I ever stepped into a rally car  and am really happy to grab the great knowledge as a co-driver under the guidance of ace rallyists Suhem Kabeer and Dhruva Chandrashekar. I am looking forward to the INRC round, waiting for that moment to come. This is a great initiative by the FMSCI as women never get much opportunities to rally. I thank Vamsi Merla for bringing more talented women into Indian Rallying and I really enjoyed the two-day training under champion Chethan Shivram,” said Isha Sharma. She will pair up with Ojasvi. “It is a wonderful opportunity to take part in the Women in Motorsport Talent Hunt as I could meet 25 amazing women. The 2-day training and shootout were exceptional and life changing too. So glad to finish 3rd and get a shot at the INRC. From track-walk to understanding the basics of the car, I don’t think I could have got a better experience…, thanks to Vamsy Sir for giving us a chance to showcase ourselves and a huge shootout to Chetan Sir, Dhruva and Suhem for teaching us from the basics. Eagerly waiting for the first round to begin,” said Ojasvi Mehta, a 23-year MBA student from Mumbai.

 “My commitment towards supporting existing and upcoming `Women in Motorsports’ made me launch this initiative.  We had planned this last year as well but unfortunately due to the pandemic we could not go ahead with the camp. But with normalcy finally getting restored in the country we finally conducted the Talent Hunt this year and now here we are with 10 talented women finally getting the platform and the support they deserve,” Vamsi Merla said.

Last year, the promoter paid the entry fee for six Lady drivers and also helped provide 50 per cent subsidy for transport of cars to over 15 drivers who needed it. “This is the first event of its kind in INRC and we have plans to make it a yearly affair. I am really looking forward to seeing these ladies on the track and hopefully this will mark a new beginning for women in Indian Motorsports,” Vamsi signed off.

The first round of the INRC kicks-off with the South India Rally on April 23-25 in Chennai which also doubles up as the Asia round of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC).

Note: Updated with driver quotes on April 7, at 1.42pm.