Rajendra favourite for title; Tanveer takes the fight to final round

Nashik, 4 Feb 2023: Petronas TVS Factory rider Rajendra RE begins as hot favourite, as the fight goes to wire with teammate and defending champion Abdul Wahid Tanveer on Sunday for the Overall National Rally title. The Rally of Nashik, the sixth and final round of the MRF MoGrip fmsci National Rally Championship is flagged off here on Saturday and the three competitive stages will be run on Sunday.

With Champions already decided in many classes, the entries fell to 49 (including two ladies) and there are only four factory bikes in the Super Bike Pro-Expert Class here making it a family affair. However, the compact field has high competition with Rajendra, the 2019 National champion, leading by eight points and he needs to just finish ahead of Tanveer.  But the reigning champion, who began with a win this year, could only garner three second place in the next three rallies (all TVS riders did not participate in Round 2). Thus to win the title, Tanveer not only needs to win the rally outright, but hope that Rajendra finishes third or behind.

In four classes, champions were decided before the final round here. They are Sarath Mohan, Sasikumar K, Imran Pasha and VS Naresh.

Sarath Mohan, Expert class National champion

Sarath Mohan from Kerala, who met with a serious accident in the 2021 Chikmagalur round, made a stunning comeback with a clean sweep of all the first four rounds. Having garnered an unbeatable lead and winning the title  in the Super Bike Expert (Group A) Class 2 by fourth round itself, the aggressive rider skipped the next two rounds opting to train in the dunes of Dubai preparing for bigger Rally Raid international events.

165cc National champ is Sasikumar

Sasikumar K also became the National champion in the Super Sport 165 Group B Class with a round to spare. He took an unbeatable 47-point lead over second-placed Francis PV. Both these top riders are not present in Nashik and the class has only four entries.

Imran Pasha bags Class 4 title – 260cc Group B

Imran Pasha, another Petronas TVS Racing team rider, has pocketed the Super Sport 260 Group B Class 4 title on his RTR 200 with 100 points beating his nearest rival Adnan Ahmed who has only 70 points. He won all the four rallies he took part.

Naresh is 550cc Group B champion 2022

VS Naresh, also captured the National crown astride a Himalayan in the the Super Sport 550 Group B Class 6.

Aishwarya all set for 6th consecutive title

In other classes, Aishwarya Pissay looks set to lay her hands on the sixth consecutive National crown in the Ladies class. The Women in Motorsports campaign reduced from 8 lady riders in ‘Round 1 to only two in the final round. (Read a detailed report here).

Veteran rider and the oldest among the lot in the entire 2W rally field, is locked in a tough battle with Hansraj Saikia of Assam in the Super Sport 400cc Group B class 5. Despite missing Round 2, he garnered 73 points, the same as the Saikia. Amog Nag in third has 64 points and has an outside chance to sideline the top guns.

In the Scooter class 8, Shamim Khan on an NTorq has a slender lead of three points from Aprilia riders Pinkesh Thakkar (77) and Subramanya T (58).

The MRF Rally of Nashik will have a 17.5-Km Special Stage (SS) run thrice from Nandgaon Kolikharwal, all in forward direction, for a combined competitive distance of over 52.5Km, mostly broken tarmac. Along with a transport section of about 70Km, the total rally distance will be 122.5Km.

The six-round MRF Mogrip fmsci National Rally Championship for two-wheelers 2022 promoted by GodSpeed Racing is one of the 12 Nationals conducted in various motorsports disciplines by fmsci, the National Federation.

Start Order for the final rally:

#	BIB No	RIDER	VEHICLE	CONTEST	TEAM
1	1	RAJENDRA RE	RTR450	CLASS 1		HOSUR
2	2	ABDUL WAHID	RTR450	CLASS 1		HOSUR
3	3	SAMUEL JACOB	RTR450	CLASS 1		HOSUR
4	4	NATRAJ R	RTR450	CLASS 1		HOSUR
5	5	IMRAN PASHA	RTR 200	CLASS 4		HOSUR
6	6	SACHIN D	RTR 200	CLASS 4		HOSUR
7	7	BANTEILANG JYRWA	RTR 200	CLASS 4		HOSUR
8	8	BADAL S DOSHI	KTM 500 EXCF	CLASS 1A		NAVI MUMBAI
9	9	TABISH RIZVI	EC 350F	CLASS 1A		MUMBAI
10	10	VENU RAMESH Kr	DUKE390	CLASS 5		COIMBATORE
11	11	HANSRAJ SAIKIA	KTM DUKE 390	CLASS 5		GUWAHATI
12	12	GS AMOGH NAG	KTM 390 DUKE	CLASS 5		BENGALURU
13	13	RUSSELL JOSSY	DUKE 390	CLASS 5		NAVI MUMBAI
14	14	AISHWARYA P M	RTR200	CLASS 7		HOSUR
15	15	CHALASS K BOSE	STUNNER	CLASS 2		KOTTAYAM
16	16	ANOOP MANJAPPA	STUNNER	CLASS 2		BENGALURU
17	17	NIRAJ WANJALE	IMPULSE	CLASS 3		PUNE
18	18	JEEVARATHINAM J	APACHE RTR 180	CLASS 4		BENGALURU
19	19	MUZAFFAR ALI	IMPULSE	CLASS 3		BHOPAL
20	20	RAHUL S MOKASHI	IMPULSE	CLASS 3		PUNE
21	21	SAMPATH GOWDA C	APACHE RTR	CLASS 3		BENGALURU
22	22	YOGESH KAGALE	DUKE 200	CLASS 1A		KOLHAPUR
23	23	NADIR KHAN	YBX	CLASS 2		BHOPAL
24	24	HITESH S GHADGE	HIMALAYAN	CLASS 6		PUNE
25	25	NILESH Y THAKARE	HIMALAYAN	CLASS 6		NASHIK
26	26	SANTOSH SARKALE	HIMALAYAN	CLASS 6		NASHIK
27	27	SHAMIM KHAN	NTORQ 124	CLASS 8		HOSUR
28	28	PINKESH THAKKAR	APRILIA SR 150	CLASS 8		PUNE
29	29	SUBRAMANYA T	APRILIA SR 150	CLASS 8		PUNE
30	30	GOUTHAM N	APRILIA SR 125	CLASS 8		PUNE
31	31	KARTHIK N	NTORQ 124	CLASS 8		HOSUR
32	32	SYED ASIF ALI	NTORQ 124	CLASS 8		HOSUR
33	33	VENKATESH SHETTY	APRILLA SR 150	CLASS 8		MUMBAI
34	34	AAKASH SATPUTE	APRILIA SR 150	CLASS 8		PUNE
35	35	HITEN THAKKAR	SR150	CLASS 8		NASHIK
36	36	SABARISH R	RTR200	CLASS 9		BENGALURU
37	37	GOUTHAM RAO R	RTR 200	CLASS 9		BENGALURU
38	38	ABHIMANYU RAY	XPULSE	CLASS 9		PUNE
39	39	TANAY S KASERA	ADVENTURE	CLASS 9		NAVI MUMBAI
40	40	ROHIT TIWARI	HIMALAYAN	CLASS 6		PUNE
41	41	LOKESH A BHOSALE	XPULSE	CLASS 10		PUNE
42	42	AMARENDRA SATHE	XPULSE 200	CLASS 10		PUNE
43	43	KAUSTUBH MACHHE	XPULSE 200 4V	CLASS 10		NASHIK
44	44	SURYA K TATINENI	XPULSE 2004V	CLASS 10		NASHIK
45	45	PURSHOTTAM MATE	XPULSE	CLASS 10		PUNE
46	46	SHRIDHAR PANDEY	XPULSE RALLY	CLASS 10		PUNE
47	47	TANYA S SINGH	XPULSE 2004V	CLASS 7		PUNE
48	48	GAURAV PATHARE	GLADIATOR	CLASS 2		MUMBAI
49	49	HARSHAL KADBHANE**	XPULSE	CLASS 10		NASHIK