Naren-Ram pip Arjun-Kumar by 4 seconds to win Popular Rally

By George Francis, Scorp News

Cochin, 20 Sept 1999: The 17th edition of the Maruti Popular Rally 1999 will go into history as it met with a spate of accidents that ruined an otherwise popular rally. The bad management of the logistics also affected the name of the organisers the Kerala Auto Sports Club (KASC). Naren Kumar with D Ramkumar navigating for the prime MRF Team pipped teammates Arjun Balu and Kumar Ramaswamy by a mere four to win the Popular Rally, the fifth round of the Castrol Indian National Rally Championship 1999.

A pet event of most of the Indian rallyists because of the greenery and the country-side beauty of Kerala, which boasts of an excellent sponsor in the Kuttukaran Group of companies which runs Popular Automobiles, the KASC should have done some homework before dishing out “the exotic timberlands on the outskirts of Cochin, in God’s own Country”.

The Recee was organised on September 16 followed by the pre-event scrutiny of the competing vehicles, competitors briefing on 17th and one special Stage in the City at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium for cars and motorcycles. Twelve more Special Stages were run for motorcycles on 18th and for cars on 19th, at Bhoothathanketty, about 60km away, near Kothamangalam. A 15.08km smooth tarmac stage was run six times, and a forest, dirt track stage near Malayatoor of 7.30km was run four times. The Rubeer plantation stages next to forest dirt tracks made up for another 3.72km stage run twice. This was the 17th Maruti Popular Rally 1999, in short with 130km of Special Stage and 200km of transport distance, totalling to 330km.

An ever-willing sponsor, a close-by Special Stage routing which makes logistics comfortable, with 18 cars and 40 motorcycles should have put the Popular Rally on top this year’s rally calendar, but for the pestering accidents and organisational lacuna. On the Recee day itself, the charm of the motorcycles event was lost. Castrol National Rally Championship for Motorcycles leader, Rohitaaz Kumar was run over by a truck, lost all flesh on the right foot and was hospitalised. Rohitaaz Kumar, prime MRF Tyres sponsored entry, and top swing rider for Pacer Yamaha, should have consolidated his lead, in the motorcycles championship and shifted to cars for the next events, but the accident put a spanner in his plans.

Two horrifying accidents on September 18 saw one of the competitors, Balaram, injure his spine and he could be paralysed below his waist for the rest of his life. The other competitor Shakeel is safer with a head injury. The fact that Shakeel’s, possibly unstrapped, helmet flew off his shoulders when he hit a rock, and Balaram’s helmet broke into two, should get the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) to sit up and make a more thorough means of checking the reliability of these safety measures. It is a well known fact that the competitors down the line keep using the same helmet after they have suffered a fall with the same. It is but reality that a helmet which has saved one’s head in a crash, becomes weak and has to be replaced.

With the fall out of Rohitaaz, it is a fact that Pacer Yamaha has lost a winning rider for the rest of the season. Pacer’s nemesis TVS Suzuki had lost their prime rider Zubin Patel in the earlier rally at K1000 when he was thrown off the bike during the recee. Both Rohitaaz and Zubin will sit out during the rest of the 1999 rallying season.

Fear of the Yamahas scoring the Group D (unmodified) class should have made Team Suzuki to scout for new talent, and work hard at Shaolin, to compete with the 135cc Yamahas. The hardwork put in hurriedly by Suzuki, showed, as the factory Shaolins definitely showed improved performance for the earlier rally. Added to this was the entry of Gaurav Gill from New Delhi, who astride a Suzuki Shaolin thundered across the stages of the Popular Rally with the ease of a professional.

The 39 starters of motorcycles started the day at the Special Stages, two hours lage, with unrelenting timber contractors refusing to keep their trucks out of the Bhoothathankettu stage. Organisers fell on their feet trying to resolve the crisis, and finally started the first Special Stage of the day two  hours late. This set the trend for the day, and by the time the rallyists did the forest stage, the first time, Shakeel and Balaram had fallen, and the rally got further delayed by four hours. The remaining riders were tired and sick and totally disoriented due to the delay and were scared because none of them were prepared for a night ride. A representation signed by most competitors (except reportedly the Pacer Yamaha competitors conspicuously) requested for a cancellation of stages to avoid night riding. The unrelenting organisers cancelled only the forest and plantation stages (only 3) to run the Bhoothathankettu stage 4 times to make up the stipulated 125km of Special Stage distance to stay in the National Championship. Riders rode with all sorts of lights, parking lights, fog lights, etc. and some hit straying bisons in the Bhoothathankettu tarmac stage which runs through a thick jungle.

Amar Sandhu of Team MRF was excluded for taking service outside the designated area, and K Prasad (MRF) trailing behind him took over the reins to complete the rally on top. It was a treat to watch the riders give in their best performance, despite the problems of the night. In fact, the animals of the jungle would have been puzzled to see these queer two legged monsters roam the forest at high speeds.

The two wheeler `dare devil’ returned to Parc Ferme in the midnight hours. Team MRF Tyres won the overall and Group C top position with K Prasad on a Pacer Yamaha tuned Yamaha 135 in 1hour, 34minutes and 49seconds. Two minutes and 34 seconds slower (1:37:21) was TVS Racing competitor Amol C Talpade, on a works Suzuki Shaolin. One should grant it to Amol, who not bothered by the bad finishes, devoted his 1998 season to Suzuki to test the Shaolins in rallying conditions. It is this R&D that helped the TVS Factory to quickly perfect the Shaolins, when the Yamahas invaded the rally of 1999. RH Vikram, on a Pacer Yamaha tuned RX 135, once again blessed with MRF Tyres sponsorship, finished 3rd in Overall and Group C, 37 seconds behind Amol (1:38:08). TVS Racing followed in 4th Overall and Group C with Nipendar Jessy, a Motocross rider, who has improved his rallying performance tremendously this season. But the sweet victory came for the  TVS Racing Team in the form of Gaurav Gill, who placed 5th Overall and first in Group D (unmodified class). Gaurav, who won his maiden rally said: “It is very enjoyable”. Incidentally, Gaurav is also a Motocross rider. Rallying, Racing and Motocross legend Shyam Kothari once said: “Rallying is a combination of racing and motocross”. Maybe, this is what is helping Nipender and Gaurav. Kudos to Pradeep Kumar and Madhu S, who finished second and third respectively in Group D. Pradeep is a localite from Kottayam and Madhu is a navigator turned rider.

The organisers (KASC) who reached the Ernakulam City late, did not sleep over their problem. They worked hard to ensure the smooth running of the second leg for cars.

On September 19, 18 cars including Maruti 800 flagged off into the Special Stages, on the dot. It was once again a Battle Royale between Team MRF (the Reds) and the JK Tyre Rally Team (the Yellows) and Team Chettinad Sporting (the Blues).

JK Tyre Rally Team, who won the K-1000 Rally in August, and Team MRF Tyres, who won the South India Rally in July (in the IMSA Court), were keen in consolidating heir championship leads.

The service teams of all the cars were ready with spare wheels and suspensions to encounter the famous forest dirt stages.

The seven cars (4 group Ns and 3 Group As) from MRF Tyres were running quite smoothly through the thick of the rally, while the 4 cars (2 Group As and 2 Group Ns) of JK Tyre Rally Team did not seem to like the terrain very much. The two cars from Chettinad Sporting (Group N) were valiantly fighting a lost battle with the Esteems.

The performance of the various leaders in the Popular Rally 1999 stages among cars gave a clear indication that modern day rallying in India is not one person’s forte. Hari Singh and Gurinder Singh Mann (JK Tyres) who had an early lead over the others in the first Special Stage at Ernakulam, fought hard to lead the rally. Unfortunately, they did not return any more fastest times in the rest of the 12 stages. Team MRF Tyres VR Naren Kumar and D Ramkumar drove their heart out to lead in all the first five stages of the 2nd leg. JK Tyre Rally Team’s prime entry from Malaysia Karamjit Singh and his navigator Vivekanandan did equal five stages, fastest.

While all the modified (Group A) cars were eating the best part of the cake, the performance of Manik (Group N) and MRF Tyres Sagar Muthappa (Group N) is to be lauded as both led one stage each.

Now, the Maruti 800, after a couple of rolls decided to call it quits. Jiby Maliakkal and navigator Charan Rao, and Ashok P John and navigator Senthil Kumar gave up the rally with NK Ramesh and navigator RG Vishnu Kumar. It was interesting to see Leelakrishnan (MRF), Hari Singh (JK Tyres), Nikhil Taneja (JK Tyres) and Navaz Bathena (Chettinad) fight their way until their cars could not last. While all of them retired with mechanical problems, Hari Singh and navigator Gurinder Singh Mann suffering a puncture, desperately drove fast on a right hander, in the Bhoothathankettu stage, lost control and crashed into a tree. Luckily only Gurinder suffered a minor cut near his left eye.

When consolidation process took shape, Team MRF’s VR Naren Kumar and D Ramkumar had won the Maruti Popular Rally 1999 followed by teammate Arjun Balu and KR Kumar who were just 4 seconds behind. Karamjit Singh and P. Vivekanandan (JK Tyres) saved some pride for their team, finishing 3rd. The fourth, fifth, sixth and ninth placings went to the 4 Group N cars entered by MRF Tyres. Karandip Singh of Team MRF Tyres navigated by Jaidas Menon, won his maiden Group N title, followed by Sagar Muthappa and Sandeep S Rao (MRF) and Vijayant Chowdhry and Satish Kumar (MRF) finishing 4th, 5th and 6th overall respectively. JK Tyres Manik Raikhy and Shivu Shivappa (9th) and JK Tyres Upkar Dicky Gill and Aaditya Singh Jaiswal (10th) were the other finishers in cars.

With 6 out of 10 finishers from Team MRF Tyres, Antony Rodricks, Corporate Advertising GM and Team Boss said: “We won the rally only on tactics and not on car preparation.”

“The going was good as long as it lasted,” added Gurinder Singh Mann of JK Tyres.

The Castrol National Rally Championship for cars and motorcycles 1999, is poised precariously after the 17th Maruti Popular Rally. MRF Tyres sponsored 25 year old VR Naren Kumar, who leads the Championship table with 55 points, in the Overall category has teammate Arjun Balu breathing down his neck with 53.57 and another teammate Leelakrishnan with 47 points. Interestingly, sharing seats with various top drivers in the JK Tyre Rally Team has put P Vivekanandan on top of the overall navigators’ championship with 55.25 points. Just 0.25 points behind is D Ramkumar (MRF) followed by teammates Kumar Ramaswamy (53.75) and Farooq Ahmed (47).

In the Group A category Team MRF holds the first three leading positions. Leelakrishnan (30), VR Naren Kumar (28.50) and Arjun Balu (27.50). Among the Group A navigator Team MRF Tyres once again leads with Farooq Ahmed (30) followed by D Ram Kumar (28.50) and Kumar Ramaswamy (27.50).

The story is different in the Group N category. JK Tyres Rally Team Manik Raikhy (33.75) lead the Group N drivers championship, followed closely by Team MRF Tyres Vijayant Chowdhury (33.50) and Karandeep Singh Sandhu (23.50).

Interestingly, it was P Vivekanandan of JK Tyres Rally team who lead the Group N navigators’ championship also (27.50) followed by MK Chander (MRF – 26) and Jaidas Menon (MRF 23.50).

In the Castrol National Rally Championship for motorcycles, Team MRF Limited leads the first four placings in the overall category. Rohitaaz Kumar (75), K Prasad (52), RH Vikram (48), and Zubin Patel (41.25). The same riders lead Group C category Rohitaaz Kumar (37.50), K Prasad (26.50), RH Vikram (24) and Zubin Patel (22). It is interesting to note that Rohitaaz, Prasad and RH Vikram rides Pacer Yamaha tuned Yamaha 135s while Zubin Patel rides a TVS Racing prepared Shaolin.

In the Group D  category, Team Pacer Yamaha leads the pack with R Srinivas (32.50) and G Prasad (24.25), Rohan Rego (20.75) from Team Zen runs third, followed by Kunal Singh (18.50) of TVS Racing.

The 17th Maruti Popular Rally 99 taught a few lessons to the Kerala Auto Sports Club. None of the KASC Officials visit the other rallies in India to update themselves on organisational developments. KASC should now plan out to send their 15 life members, as officials to the various Indian National Rallies, and run as many smaller events as possible to keep their Marshalls brushed up, on the latest rules. “We had a seminar for the Marshalls, conducted by C Sridhar, the secretary of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI),” said the secretary of the meet George Tharakan. They did everything perfect during the training examination, but failed miserably during the actual rally,” he added.

Further, one of the major changes that has to happen is the Mr John K Paul, who is one of the prime factors in the sponsorship of the Kuttukaran Group to KASC, should start looking at KASC as the MD of Popular Automobiles, and not as an ex-competitor. Said Mr Paul: “We are planning to change the venue of Popular Rally in the Millennium and may opt for North Kerala. We are happy that Maruti Udyog has promised about one-third of the sponsorship.”

The Coimbatore Auto Sports Club’s Cotton City Rally in October 1999, has an aggregate of 1.75 for both cars and motorcycles. Winning or losing Cotton City should measure the road to the Castrol National Rally Championship.

Provisional Results:

Cars Overall: 1. Naren Kumar/ D Ramkumar (Team MRF) (1hour, 45min, 12sec); 2. Arjun Balu/ K Ramaswamy (Team MRF) (1:45:16); 3. Karamjit Singh/ P Vivekanandan (JK Tyres) (1:45:48); 4. Karandip Singh /Jaidas Menon (MRF) (1:48:07); 5. Sagar Muthappa/ Sandeep S Rao (MRF) (1:48:58).

Cars Group A: 1. Naren Kumar/ D Ramkumar (Team MRF) (1hour, 45min, 12sec); 2. Arjun Balu/ K Ramaswamy (Team MRF) (1:45:16); 3. Karamjit Singh/ P Vivekanandan (JK Tyres) (1:45:48); 4: Upkar Gill /AS Jaiswal (JK) (2:03:22).

Cars Group N (Unmodified): 1. Karandip Singh /Jaidas Menon (Team MRF) (1:48:07); 2. Sagar Muthappa/ Sandeep S Rao (Team MRF) (1:48:58); 3. V Chowdhry/ S Kumar (MRF) (1:50:14); 4. Manik Raikhy/ Shivu Shivappa (JK) (1:51:32); 5. PG Abhilash/ CK Chinappa (Chettinad) (1:51:32).

Cars Unseeded class: 1. Karandip Singh /Jaidas Menon (MRF) (1:48:07); 2. V Chowdhry/ S Kumar (MRF) (1:50:14); 3. PG Abhilash/ CK Chinappa (Chettinad) (1:51:32).

Cars Tuner Prize

Group N Tuner Trophy (Unmodified cars): J Anand

Group A Tuner Trophy (Modified cars): N Leelakrishnan.

Bike Results:

Overall: 1. K Prasad (Team MRF) (1:34:49); 2. Amol C Talpade (TVS) (1:37:21); 3. RH Vikram (Team MRF) (1:38:26); 4. Nipender Jessy (1:38:26); 5. Gaurav Gill (TVS) (1:39:56).

Bikes Group C (Modified): 1. K Prasad (Team MRF) (1:34:49); 2. Amol C Talpade (TVS) (1:37:21); 3. RH Vikram (Team MRF) (1:38:26); 4. Nipender Jessy (1:38:26); 5. Akash Ithal (Team Nanjappas) (1:40:31).

Bikes Group D (Modified): 1. Gaurav Gill (TVS) (1:39:56); 2. Pradeep Kumar (1:42:05); 3. Madhu (1:43:19); 4. CD Jain (1:44:37); 5. R Srinivas (Pacer Yamaha) (1:44:58).

Best Novice Entry: Pradeep Kumar.

Best Tuner Prizes:

For Group D Unmodified: Arvind Pangoankar

Tuner for Group C Modified: Sekhar Bhojana.

ends