Karthik Maruthi & Sankar Anand begin favourites
Techies Vs Doctors; Women in Motorsports matters
Bengaluru/Hospeta, 1 Oct 2021: The third edition of the Utsav de Hampi, a mega motorsports festival, will begin with the JK Tyre Indian National Regularity Run Championship (INRRC), before an exciting 4×4 off-road challenge a week later and will culminate with the MRF Mogrip Indian National Rally Championships (INRC) for 2-wheelers on October 17 & 18 at Hampi. The INRRC South Zone Round 1 will start in Bengaluru on Saturday with back-to-back 2nd round in Hampi on Sunday.
The National Championship round will kick-off with a Vintage car rally sprint for about 10-km where around 40 `Beauties of yesteryears’ will be paraded from Kanteerava Stadium to Vidhana Soudha and back.
Champion drivers Karthik Maruthi, and navigator Sankar Anand from Erode begin as favourites among the 29 entries with 58 drivers. The Women in Motorsport concept will be popularised by the lady doctor-pair from Davangere, Dr Shivani Pruthvi, and her navigator mom Deepthi. With the entry fee waived, 11 lady teams have entered the fray but all eyes will be on Dr Shivani, who just finished a successful Car Racing round at Chennai last week and it would be Bengaluru Techies Aparna Pathak and Lalitha Gowda who are all set to give a tough fight to doctors.
Organised by ProSports in Bengaluru and Motorsports Academy of Vijayanagar in Hampi, the TSD (Time, Speed and Distance) rallies are a popular format, returns as Nationals under the aegis of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) and backed by JK Tyre. Ordinary road cars can be used to race and rally in a safe environment and the TSD National, which was virtually forgotten and off the list of 12 National Championships is back with a new name, INRRC.
“Regularity Run is usually conducted on public roads, both clean tarmac and flat dirt tracks which don’t break the cars. Each team, has a driver and a navigator, and needs precise times and average speed on various segments of pre-defined but undisclosed route. A Tulip (route map) would be provided to the teams, but there would be about 20 to 25 undisclosed Time Controls (TC), that the navigators (co-driver) cannot miss as they guide the drivers and check-in their times. Speed is not permitted, as the maximum permitted speed would be 45-kmph and they should follow all traffic rules. Early comers log double penalty times” said said BS Sujith Kumar, a three-time National TSD Rally Champion and current FIM Asia Vice-Chief.
“Utsav de Hampi, is a popular annual motorsports festival, that is growing bigger by the year. This year four events are lined up to promote motorsports in the Heritage region of Hampi. The club has attracted national and international champions and top priority is given to all safety aspects. We are conducting the events following strict protocols of COVID19,” said Santosh HM of Motorsports Academy of Vijayanagar, Hampi.
Sanjay Sharma, Head-Motorsport, JK Tyre said, “Promoting motorsports at the grass-root level in India has always been a key priority for JK Tyre. Our idea endeavors to create an eco-system and provide racing opportunities to enthusiasts, as always. By launching the JK Tyre Prosports FMSCI India National Regulatory Run Championship, we hope to nurture the new generation of rally sport to represent India on a global map. Our activities and initiatives have further strengthened our leadership position in the segment and we continue our commitment towards building more professional rally drivers.”
“INRRC will have a Championship Class that will see National champions for 2021, one Navigator, a Driver and the team. A supporting event to promote TSD rallies will offer a Couple Class and a Corporate class for Ladies Cup 2021 and Zonal Champions,” said Rohit Gowda, Deputy CoC of MAV, Hampi.
