Naren Kumar lifts third National crown with Ram: Rally championship

Bangalore, 13 October 2002: Former double champion, Coimbatore’s VR Naren Kumar of Team MRF became the National Champion winning the Rally Royal Orchid Park Plaza de Bangalore, the fourth round of the Motorsports Association of India’s (MAI) National rally championship taking the title with a round to spare here on Sunday. It was Naren’s fourth successive win in the 1,600cc category after wins at the Coimbatore, Nasik and Goa rounds, and thus he became the National Champion for the third time after his wins in 1999 and 2000.

Naren and his trusted co-driver D. Ram Kumar finished the 11 special stages in a time of 1:43.46 minutes and they covered 120.6 kms of stage distance. “There was slush everywhere and the conditions were rough. We had to struggle to keep the car on road and I am glad the car survived the ordeal,” said Kumar.

Talented Arjun Balu and navigator Ramaswamy Kumar, who also represent Team MRF, had to be content with a second place as they had to bridge a huge 87-second deficit that they conceded on Saturday to the leaders Naren and Ram. They found the going tough as they had to stall 500 metres from the finish and the problems compounded.

“A couple of bends away from the finish, my engine stopped. I lost two minutes before it started again,” Balu said. But he did manage to keep his second place clocking 1:47.47 minutes.

Another talented youngster Vikram Mathias with co-driver BS Sujith Kumar, also of Team MRF suffered a one-minute penalty on Saturday for checking in a minute early. However, Mathias came third in 1:47.45 minutes, despite the penalty.

When all the Team MRF drivers are having a smooth sailing, Karandip Singh and co-driver Jaidas Menon met with an unexpected obstacle as they hit a tree in the very third stage and had no other option but to retire in the final stage. “I lost the power when I was taking the turn I coule not avoid the crash,” said Singh.

In the 1,400cc category, Jiby Malliakal and co-driver Nikhil Pai won in 1:57.19 minutes. The driver couple had an amazing run, winning their fourth successive round pipping V Sham Sundar and PV Srinivasa Murthy at 2:03.53. Jiby and Nikhil won the 1400cc championship with a round to spare.

Lohitt V Urs and co-driver MK Bopanna clinched the Rally Star Cup and it was two-in-a-row achievement. They were timed at 2:00.49.

Provisional results:

1600cc category: 1. Naren Kumar and D. Ram Kumar (Team MRF) (1 hour, 43 minutes, 46 seconds); 2. Arjun Balu and Ram Kumar (Team MRF) (1:47.47); 3. Vikram Mathias and Sujith Kumar (Team MRF), (1:48.45).

1,400cc category: 1. Jiby Malliakal and Nikhil Pai (Gulf Oil) (1:57.19); 2. Sham Sundar and Srinivas Murthy (Blue Lines) (2:04.13); 3. Rahul Kantharah and Vivek Bhat (SK Patil) (2:15.03).

Rally Star Cup: 1. Lohitt V Urs and MK Bopanna (SK Patil) (2:00.49); 2. Parvinder Singh Saundh and Paritosh Kohok (2:02.02); 3. Ram Prasanth and G. Satish, (2:02.41).