Harkrishan-Kunal duo emerges overall winners at Robusta Rally: INRC Ro5

Kodagu, 19 Nov. 2023: Displaying controlled aggression Delhi’s Harkrishan Wadia, along with Himachal’s Kunal Kashyap, of Arka Motorsports bagged their maiden overall victory as they emerged triumphant in the Blueband Robusta Rally of Kodagu, the fifth Round of the Blueband Sports fmsci Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) for four-wheelers here on Sunday.

The penultimate round organised by Robusta Adventure and Sports Academy, and promoted by Blueband Sports, offered a tough terrain, like the last rally in Hyderabad, with only one INRC spec car finishing in the top-10. With top guns faltering once again, like in Hyderabad, Wadia and Kashyap, unfurled their magic in a lower spec INRC2 Volkswagen Polo 1.6 to win the Overall honours in an INRC event. They also won their class, INRC2. Aroor Vikram Rao and co-driver Somayya, who were third overnight finished a creditable Overall second with young Jahaan Singh Gill and co-driver Suraj Keshav Prasad taking overall third.

“We are over the moon. This is our first overall victory and first INRC2 win. And our first stage wins, too. We are thankful to everyone who helped us in this journey. Especially, my father, who’s always been my No.1 supporter. Thanks to the whole team at Arka but for whom this sweet victory would not have been possible. They gave us the perfect car throughout the weekend. And Phil bhaiyya (Philippos Matthai) who’s helped improve my driving massively,” said a visibly delighed Wadia.

Chandigarh’s Jahaan Gill also won the INRC3 class while local star Abhin Rai and co-driver Aravind Dheerendra of Ammyfied Rallying won the INRC4 class. Privateers Mitchu Ganapathy of Gonikoppa and co-driver Venu Ramesh Kumar of Coimbatore won the Gypsy class.

A total of 23 cars of the 60 failed to finish the course (DNF). Of the 60 that took the start on Day 1 (Leg 1) only 52 finished and of the 52 cars that took the start on Day 2 (Leg 2) 15 cars logged DNF. Sixty one cars entered the fray but one car did not start the raly.

“We congratulate the winners of Robusta Rally, Coorg. We have received tremendous feedback on the course and the overall experience from the participants. We are grateful for the opportunity to organise and bring back the pride of motorsport back to Coorg,” said Somanna JJ, Founder Partner, Robusta Adventure and Sports Academy.

Final Provisional Results:

Overall: 1. Harkrishan Wadia/ Kunal Kashyap (Arka Motorsports) (1min, 45min, 07.2seconds); 2. Aroor Vikram Rao/ AG Somayya (Chettinad Sporting) (01:46:35.8); 3.Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad (Snap Racing) (01:46:51.3).

INRC2: 1. Harkrishan Wadia/ Kunal Kashyap (Arka Motorsports) (1:45:07.2); 2. Aroor Vikram Rao/ AG Somayya (Chettinad Sporting) (01:46:35.8); 3. Jacob KJ/ Shanmuga SN (Arka MS) (01:47:27.8).

INRC3: 1. Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad (Snap Racing) (01:46:51.3); 2. Sheshank Jamwal/ Aseem Sharma (Arka Motorsports) (01:48:25.4); 3. Daraious Shroff/ Shahid Salman (Chettinad Sporting) (01:48:32.8).

INRC4: 1. Abhin Rai/ Aravind Dheerendra (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:52:28.0); 2. Vivek Ruthuparna/ Athreya Kousgi (Snap Racing) (01:56:15.4); 3. Sefeekudheel/ Arun V (pvt.) (02:11:09.2).

Gypsy: 1. Michu Ganapathy/ Venu Ramesh Kumar (Pvt.) (02:03:30.5): 2. Abhishek Gowda/ Dheeraj Manae (pvt.) (02:04:09.7); 3. Jayanth Somanathan /R Rajashekar (pvt.) (02:04:13.0).

Ladies: 1. Anushriya Gulati/ Sherwin Dalmeida (Dark Don Racing) (01:55:20.8); 2. Shivani Parmar/ Arjun Dheerendra (Chettinad) (01:56:21.5); 3. Pragathi Gowda/ Trisha Alonkar (AART Motorsports) (02:00:06.3).

Junior INRC: 1. Jahaan Singh Gill/ Suraj Keshav Prasad (Snap Racing) (01:46:51.3); 2. . Abhin Rai/ Aravind Dheerendra (Ammyfied Rallying) (01:52:28.0); 3. Vivek Ruthuparna/ Athreya Kousgi (Snap Racing) (01:56:15.4)