Overwhelming response for INRC 2w Nationals: MSCC all set for season opener

By David Bodapati

Chikkamagaluru, 13 May 2022: Overwhelming response from riders across India with nine ladies in the fray, makes Rally of Chikmagalur, the opening round of the MRF MoGrip fmsci Indian National Rally Championship  2W 2022 (INRC), a grand affair with the Motor Sports Club of Chikmagalur (MSCC) leaving no stone unturned as they prepare to kick-start the 2022 Rally Nationals for two-wheeler in the picturesque Coffee lands on the foothills of Sahayadri hills here on Saturday and Sunday.

The recce will be on Saturday morning and the eight Special Stages will be run on Sunday.

With a few new recruits, TVS will be gunning for glory again and will be the team to beat as they mount the challenge with a new nomenclature as Petronas TVS Racing, the colours which were recently revealed in the Supercross Nationals they dominated in Nashik and Pune.

Hero has two riders, the stalwart in Yuva Kumar and Sathyaraj Arumugam while there will two more team entries. Jawa Automobiles fielded Hemanth Gowda and Bharath L while Aprilia JB Racing too has two entries Muzaffar Ali and Pinkesh Thakkar, the 2020 scooter champ, who will be astride an Aprilia this time around. Subrahmanya T too another experienced rider who made a team entry as Rebel Motorsports will join the field. The Scooter class will have mega clashes this season between the two giants.

The 10-member team will be lead by Overall defending champion Abdul Wahid Tanveer and FIM 2019 World Cup champion Aishwarya Pissay, both of whom are raring to go after training abroad ahead of the season. The team also boasts of Karthik Naidu, the Scooter Champion 2021 and Samuel Jacob who won the 2021 title in the Super Sport 260cc Group B with a round to spare. Karthik won his maiden title by a narrow margin in the last round on his NTorq and is expected to have tough competition this year too.

In response to INDIAinF1.com’s query, defending Overall champion Tanveer said: “My goals for 2022 are as simple as 1.2.3. One is to continue following my passion. Second is to thoroughly enjoy myself while chasing my goals. And third – to scale great heights, one step at a time. To shed some light on the bike, it is a lean, mean machine that is the epitome of strength and a rider’s dream. I am excited for this one!.”

When asked about his training stint abroad: “I was fortunate enough to fly to France to be trained by a fabulous mentor, Michael Metge. We rode through the various terrains and really pushed our limits, but my favourite part was getting in touch with my inner strength. Thanks to my mentor who made the training eventful and really helpful.”

But Samuel will be moving to the higher class, the Group A 450cc astride an RTR450. As a defending champion, though he lost the title to teammate Tanveer in 2021, he retained the championship in his class and he will be the one to watch out for as he moves to Group A.

Apart from these four defending champions, Petronas TVS Racing team will be spearheaded by old-timers and former champions Rajendra RE, Nataraj and Imran Pasha and will have hardworking sprinter Sachin D, Shamim Khan and Asif Ali in the ten-riders that registered for Round 1. While Rajendra, the 2019 champion who began well winning at the first round in Hampi, he failed to recreate the magic as the season saw some treacherous terrain. Likewise, talented Sachin D was the receiving end despite some good show on the track as he lost the Sprint Nationals and will be looking to redeem his fortunes in the bigger Rally Nationals this year. Back in the fold as a factory rider will boost his confidence and the humble giant needs to switch gears and make his bike do the talking.

Young Ajin Abraham, Asad Khan, Pavan BK, Sajeesh Reghunathan and Md Zaheer, the heavyweight are the privateers who put in all their efforts and money to get noticed once again. But Ajin, who is into a new career path, will begin his title defence only from Round 2, in a new class, the SS 165cc Gr B. As the defending champions in their classes, they are ones to watch out for. Experienced Jatin Jain, Francis Sinan, Suhail Ahmed will be the others who can upset the apple-cart of any star in their class. Amidst all these young and new there will be one guiding star, the Riders Representative, Venu Ramesh Kumar, full of two decades of experience in both 2w and 4w INRC. He will be riding in Class 5, the Super Sport 400cc Group B. Sinan, the double Sprint National champion in 2020 and 2021 will be looking to bag the Rally Nationals in SS550 GrB class on a KTM 450excf with State mate Sarath Mohan in the same class.

The Ladies Class will have nine entries with with TVS factory rider and defending champion Aishwarya Pissay leading the field with current Racing National champion Ryhana Bee from Chennai and Tanika Shanbhag from Satara being the regulars. This year the 2021 Sprint champion Deeksha Srivastava from Pune will be joining the hunt along with other talented riders, including Fazeela from Kerala, who will be a dark horse, who has the capacity to beat the stars on her day. “I have just completed one training abroad and will undergo another round of training in June 2022. I am sure these trainings will be very useful for me. I am looking forward to riding in a few international rallies (this year) which are yet to be confirmed,” said Aishwarya Pissay. Meanwhile, Tanika Shanbag just informed INDIAinF1.com that she would not be taking part in the Ladies Class but will be moving up to the prestigious Superbike Expert Group A, Class 1A with an eye to take part in International rallies for exposure. So it makes 8 lady entries and we wish Tanika all the best in her future endeavours. “I want to participate in at least one international rally this year and in preparation, I want to get accustomed to the handling and the speed of the bike. Becoming faster on it is the goal,” is what the speed maestro, Tanika, texted.

Sarath Mohan from Mallapuram, who trains with Harith Noah, is another rider to watch out for. Last year he won the first three rounds in Class 6, the Super Sport 550 Group B before his unfortunate life-threatening accident which damaged his liver but the strong-willed rider is in form and back to mount his challenge. Watch this space for a special article on this Kerala talent.

“All the arrangements are complete and the track is ready. We had some rains in the last few days but the forecast is bright and we are hoping for some good action. One stage which we did last year will not be there. We got a very good response with 93 entries and all safety aspects are taken care of with a team of trained volunteers and experienced officials,” said Abhijeeth Pai BH, the Clerk of the Course.

There will be two Special Stages, Vasanthcool (8km) and Thippanahalli (6km) in the famed coffee estates. The two physical stages will be run four times in the same direction with slight changes in the tulip that ran last year and with one stage removed from the road book. The total Special Stage rallying distance is 56 km and with a transport of another 53.76 km, the total rally distance is 109.76 km.

2021 Champions: fmsci Indian National Rally Championship for two-wheeler!

Class 1: Super Bike Pro-Expert Group A: Abdul Waheed Tanvir 122 points;

Class 1A: Super Bike Expert Group A: Asad Khan, 94;

Class 2: Super Sport 130 Group B: Ajin Abraham 110;

Class 3: Super Sport 165 Group B: Pavan BK 136; (Won with 1 round to spare)

Class 4: Super Sport 260 Group B: Samuel Jacob 143; (Won with 1 round to spare)

Class 5: Super Sport 400 Group B: Sajeesh Reghunathan 133

Class 6: Super Sport 550 Group B: Mohammed Zaheer 129;

Class 7: S0 to S3 Scooter 210 Group B: Karthik 122;

 Class 8: Ladies Class Group B: Aishwarya Pissay 125 (Won with 1 round to spare);