Hari Singh-GS Mann win Desert Rally; Leela-Farooq clinch National Championship

INDIAinF1 Desk December 28, 1998

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Jaipur, 28 Dec 1998: Defending National Champion Hari Singh and co-driver Gurinder Singh Mann of JK Tyres Rally Team chalked out a facile win to take the Overall honours in the Castrol Desert Rally, the eighth and final round of the Castrol National Rally Championship which concluded here on Sunday.

The four-time National Champions, Hari Singh and GS Mann, were followed in second place by teammates Satkiran Pal Singh and co-driver CK Chinappa while Nikhil Taneja and navigator Sandeep Lal finished the podium sweep by JK Tyres taking the third spot in the Overall honours. While Hari and Mann also won the Group A Modified Cars class, Satkiran and Chinnappa clinched the victory in the Group N Unmodified class in the final round.

Team MRF, who already sealed all the top spots in the National Championship did not take part in the rally. N Leelakrishnan and co-driver Farooq Ahmed stopped the juggernaut of Hari Singh and won the championship despite not taking part in this rally. Thus the four sucessive wins of Hari Singh came to a halt. It was Hari Singh who stopped the winning run of Leelakrishnan in 1994, after Leela won four titles in a row. So it was a sweet revenge for Coimbatore driver, who regained the National title. However, it is navigator Farooq Ahmed who gave the calls to Leela this year and also bagged his maiden Navigators’ National Championship.

A BADLY ORGANISED RALLY – Report by George Francis/Scorp News

`Torture’ and `tiring’ were the two words uppermost in the minds of the motley crowd of rallyists who took the Desert Challenge. Set on sandy terrain on the river beds of Rajasthan, the Desert Challenge was badly wanting in organisational skill.

The reconnaissance trip ofr the Desert Challenge was fixed on Christmas Eve. Six Maruti Esteems, one Maruti 1000, and five Maruti Gypsys totalled the 12 competing four-wheelers, while 16 Suzuki Shoguns, 11 RX-100s three RXG-135s, two KB-125s and one TVS Supra made up the 33 two-wheelers.

While the fog of Jaipur put the fear into the rallyists, they took the recee to be the rally itself and were reportedly speeding as they liked, forgetting that they were in an organised recee, where they are supposed to travel in single file. The tiring day ended at 7 pm when they returned to Jaipur.

Among the participants were very few well-known names. The best were Hari Singh and Gurinder Singh Mann, National Champion Driver and Navigator from 1994 to 1997, driving for JK Tyres. Next came Nikhil Taneja and Sandeep Lal, Group N National Champions for JK Tyres in 1996, to be followed by JK Tyres sponsored BS Pruthvi and Shivu Shivappa, the most consistent performers this year. Navaz Bathena and Anita Nanjappa were driving for Team Chettinad Sporting, the new non-automobile (business) team that’s come in from 1997. The young turks of Hyderabad, Nihar Kiran Mody and Nikhil V Pai and the JK Tyresw sponsored Satkiran Pal Singh and CK Chinappa were also there. Six privateers, some of them entering for the first time in a National event, were also in the fray. Mention should be made of the father and son team of N Bhasin and Vinod Bhasin, who were in the Maruti 1000. Indian Oil had sponsored this team.

Among the two-wheeler riders Kunal Singh was the most well-known. Incidentally, he is a Jaipurian. Kunal, who has been in the circuit for the past two years, had not taken part in any rally this year due to an appendicitis operation. Vikram Singh from Thane, running second in the Group D Castrol National Rally Championship and D Udayakumar of Bangalore, running third were the other well-known entrants. But, on pre-event scrutiny day D Udayakumar had a mishap and ended up in hospital with leg injuries. The giant, Team MRF Tyres, was conspicuous by its absence.

Performance Cars Racing Trust was the organiser of this rally, the final round of the Castrol National Rally Championship. None of the Championship top spots were open, Team MRF Tyres having sealed the various classes, and overall placings, except Group D Bikes un-modified class which was take by Paritosh Kohok.

Even before the rally started, the first Special Stage, Labana-Tel Mod, was cancelled due to refusal of permission by the State Government.

There were now five stages to be run, namely Kalighatti to Armada, Gugli Mod, Shiv Mandir to Hanuman Mandir, Hanuman Mandir to Dhaull, and Van Vibhag to Barrage. These five stages set on the river beds on the sides of the Jaipur-Delhi highway, were to be run twice in the same direction except the first one which was run in the opposite direction when the rallyists ran throught the second time. This was on Day 1.

On Day 2, all the stages were to be run once, except the first stage, which was run in the opposite direction once more. In effect, in the two days 290.63km of transport and 125.13km of Special Stage distance, totalling to 415.76km were to be run. The maximum average speed expected was 42.45kmph, while the least was 9.91kmph.

When the rallyists arrived at Kalighatti, Hari Singh, who was flagged off first, had enough time to go into the stage in a tractor and confirm, that the sand was too dense. Navaz Bathena had remarked, “if anyone can go through the first kilometre in the stage, then they can finish the rally.” The organisers, who heard the Esteem drivers’ pleas, shifted the start Time Control (TC) to firmer ground. But, when the actual rally began, photographers had hell. Cars and motorcycles came from all directions and one had to repeatedly take evasive action. For the first time in a Special Stage rally, the route was not marked by tapes, and other vehicles moved around freely. Even Children were seen playing an flying kites on the route. “We saw a dozen kids playing on the stage hardly metres away from us. My driver, Nihar, asked me what to do. I said keep going and honking, they should move. Say your prayers first,” said Nikhil Pai.

“The problem of driving in sand is to keep going with the pace. If one stops, they will get bogged down,” said Satpal Kiran Singh of JK Tyres.

“Only if you are in four-wheel drive, could you go peacefully,” said Chinnappa, Satpal’s navigator. With 14 tractors creating havoc on stage one (some of them trying to race with the competing cars), the rally had to be stopped and delayed many a time.

The last two stages were cancelled for bikes, for want of time. Shramik Masturlal, the FMSCI president and the Chief Steward, C Sridhar, the FMSCI Observer, and other stewards felt that the rally should not be continued on the second day, if the organisers did not arrange for safe running.

Things were better on the second day as police were seen at all stages, blocking the route for local vehicles. The marshals too, were better informed about their jobs.

The major dropouts during the rally were BS Pruthvi of JK Tyres, who blew his Esteem’s Engine, Nihar Kiran Modi, who found one of his Esteem’s wheels coming off, and Vikram Singh, who found his Shogun chain giving way.

There were two protests, one in the cars’ section and one among the bikes. Nawaz Bathena had porotested that one of the Gypsy entrants had missed a Time Control and checked into the next. The other protest was against Kunal Singh who used MRF Train Tyres. Many competitors felt that the tyres were not available in the open market.

Nawaz’s protest was turned down. But Kunal was given his prize, and told that the availability of Trail Tyres would be checked with MRF Limited and if they were not available, he would have to forgo his prize.

“These tyres are available freely, at least in the Southern part of India. These are production tyres, and I was riding a TVS Suzuki factory-prepared machine (shogun). TSL had put the tyres, which they bought from Bangalore,” said Kunal. TVS Suzuki tuner Rajaram said: “Two championship events have been won on these tyres. In 1997, Amar Sandhu, used it, and this year we used it in the Cotton City Rally at Coimbatore. Jagat Nanjappa has been using it for two years. Last year’s Championship was won on MRF Trail Tyres. We have been using it for a long time.”

The results of the Desert Challenge were as expected, that is if one discounted the ones who pulled out due to mechanical problems. JK Tyres’ Hari Singh and Gurinder Singh Mann won the rally Overall and topped the Group A Modified cars section hands down. Behind them were teammates Satpal Kiran Singh and CK Chinappa in a Group N unmodified car, winning the group and placing second Overall. Third placed was again a JK Tyre Team, Nikhil Taneja and Saneep Lal. One JK Tyres car did not finish the event.

Kunal Singh won the Group C modified bike class and the Overall top spot. The second-placed in Group C was Anil Gautam, Secretary of the SAAHAS (Society for Adventure Awareness, Humanity and Automobile Sports) in Jaipur. Amar Dev Singh was third. It is interesting to note that all the three (the only ones who finished in the group) were on Suzuki Shoguns.

Mohan Lal Sharma finished second overall and first in Group D unmodified bikes class. PS Jasana and Capt VK Bhatti finished second and third, respectively.

Asked about his victory and the rally, Hari Singh, who runs an adventure tourism business in Chandigarh said: “I am happy but thank God, the rally is over.”

Satpal Kiran Singh said: “It was a real torture. I am happy that I won, and this my first major victory.” Satpal, who runs a real estate business, and a farm on the outskirts of Ludhiana, entered rallying only a year back. This year he did not take part in the earlier rallys due to a wrist injury.

Kunal Singh, who runs a hotel inJaipur, and als deals in jewellery, was a happy man. He said: “I have been waiting for this for a long time. It definitely gives one an advantage to rally in his or her hometown. I was also fortunate to get a works prepared Suzuki Shogun Bike. I thank my tuner Rajaram and KS Motors, Jaipur, who have been supporting me for the past three years. They used to prepare my bike and give me six to seven thousand rupees for every event, which would cover a part of my expenses. I would have relished this victory more, if I could competition from the MRF bikers. The only thing I could do was to compete wit the Group A modified cars, to give myself some competition. After the two legs, I have finished at least eight minuts ahead of Hari’s timings. This is the first time any Group C bike has finished a rally ahead of Group A Overall car. This is taking into account only the stages run by cars and bikes, and dropping the stages which only cars ran.” When one checks the time chart, out of 14 stages (eight on Day 1 and six on Day 2) run by both cars and bikes, Kunal has been faster than Hari Singh in 10 stages.

Mohanlal Sharma, the Group D winner, is another Jaipurian. He makes bearings. “I have been in rallying or the past three years, doing local rallys. I am keen on coming for the other events but there is no sponsorship,” he lamented.

Team Avalanche from Shimla came with a sponsorship from Indian Oil. Six riders on Suzuki Shoguns, Yamahas, Supra and KB-125, formed the team, and for the first time a KB finished a National event. The team of young enthusiasts have applied for affiliation of their club to the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) and plan many events in Shimla. They have already organised a dirt race only for Shimla riders last October. They got 25 entrants and a massive crowd for the event.

It is interesting to note that only one car driver, two bikers, and one navigator have done all the rallys that constitute the Castrol National Rally Championship for Cars and Motorcycles, 1998. Navaz Bathena of Team Chettinad Sporting, and Anita Nanjappa (who also navigates for her husband Jagat Nanjappa in an MRF sponsored car) her navigator in the Desert Challenge are the driver and navigator. Vikram Singh (who pulled out due to chain problems) and D Udayakumar, who entered, but could not start the rally, due to the road accident, are the bikers. It is high time that FMSCI brings in a rule, that all competitors who want to be eligible for the National Rally Championship, should participate in all the rallys. This will ensure that the organisers of the final few rallys of the year are not taken for a ride.

This year, the Castrol Deccan Rally suffered with JK Tyre not participating, and the Castrol Desert Challenge suffered from the absence of Team MRF.

The PCRT should be pulled up for not making the route, as is the rule in Special Stage Rallys, for not ensuring Zero Traffic in stages, and for the errors in the Tulip Chart given to run the event. They should be lauded for locating new rallying terrain, but not disclosing the surface to the competitors before the races (because it is totally new and different) had created problems. Many would have come better prepared, if they knew that they were to go through thick sand. The race also should have been run to regulations, ensuring that no competitor speeded up. In fact, it is reported that Tutu Dhawan, the chief of the organisers, had announced that if anyone could not make it to the organised recee or went off route, they could do it the same evening. When one of the service team members pointed out that when there is an organised reccee, no practice is allowed later, Dhawan corrected himself. One major fact seems clear. The PCRT does not seem to know the dos and don’ts of Special Stage Rallying. It is still in the age of Competitive Stage Rallys.

Looking back at the rallys of 1998, Castrol Cotton City seems to have been the best, taking into account the routing, perfection in timing, the service park provided with equipment and media support.

Provisional Results Cars:

Overall: 1. Hari Singh/GS Mann (JK Tyres Rally Team) (2hours, 11minutes, 50seconds); 2. Satkiran Pal Singh/ CK Chinappa (JK Tyres Rally Team) (2:23:49); 3. Nikhil Taneja/Sandeep Lal (JK Tyres Rally Team) (2:34:42); 4. Sandeep Sharma/Kulbir S Daliwal (3:11:38); 5. Navaz Batheena/ Anita Nanjappa (Team Chettinad Sporting) (3:17:09).

Group A Modified Cars: 1. Hari Singh/GS Mann (JK Tyres Rally Team) (2:11:50); 2. Nikhil Taneja/Sandeep Lal (JK Tyres Rally Team) (2:34:42);

Group N Unmodified Cars: 1. Satkiran Pal Singh/ CK Chinappa (JK Tyres Rally Team) (2:23:49); 2. Sandeep Sharma/Kulbir S Daliwal (3:11:38); 3. Navaz Batheena/ Anita Nanjappa (Team Chettinad Sporting) (3:17:09).

Castrol National Rally Championship for Cars -1998: Final Standings:

Overall – Drivers

1. N Leelakrishnan (Team MRF) 115 points;

2. Arjun Balu (Team MRF) 80.25 points;

3. Sagar Muthappa (Team MRF) 72 points;

4. Naren Kumar (Team MRF) 60 points;

5. Jagat Nanjappa (Team MRF) 48.5 points.

Overall – Navigators

1. Farooq Ahmed(Team MRF) 95 points;

2. KR Kumar (Team MRF) 80.25 points;

3. MK Chander (Team MRF) 80 points;

4. Sandeep S Rao (Team MRF) 72 points;