Satish, co-driver Savera pair raring to go at home event: 3 round TSD Nationals

Bangalore, August 15: Bharat Raj , the patriarch of Karnataka Motor Sports Club (KMSC), was at his usual best at the Press Conference organised at the Press Club on the Independence Day. He introduced the senior-most member of the club Satyavrath and other seniors like Bhaskar Gupta and then asked Balakrishna and Shivu Shivappa, the secretary and president to take over. Both Satya and Praneet Perumal were missing for the first time in many years.

Veteran navigator, Sujith, who started 25 years back, recalled how KMSC promoted the sport and introduced and encouraged youngsters. He began on bikes and gave up active rallying last year but still takes part in this TSD events which teach safety and discipline for the beginners. Bangalore driver Chidanand pairs Sujith and are current champion in the stock class and will drive for Team Tata Motors.

Shivram explained the safety features of the present day rallies, especially the `Roll Cage’, seat belts and helmets provide virtually a complete safety net but the organisers are taking all precautions not to become complacent.

Media officer Vivek Phadnis adds: It is going to be a weekend bonanza for motorsport lovers in Bangalore. The Karnataka Motor Sports Club will conduct the Rally of Bangalore 2014, the third round of the Indian National TSD Rally Championship (INRC-TSD), and also the third and final round of the KMSC Green Run Rally 2014. Both events will be conducted simultaneously and on August 16 and 17. Both events are being conducted under the aegis of the FMSCI and will be under the `Time, Speed, Distance’ format.

The events are being sponsored by India Mines Group, Horizon Marketing, Cornerstone Properties, Overdrive magazine, iGateway GPS Systems, 108 Ambulance, Torque Premium Car Accessories and www.rallynrace.com.

Entries have been received from Erode, Chikmagalur, Coimbatore and of course the host city. For the Rally of Bangalore, entries have been received from as far away as Kolkata and Hyderabad. All safety precautions have been taken and medical teams will be present.

As of now, 20 entries have been received for the Rally of Bangalore. The three categories in which prizes will be awarded are Overall driver and navigator, Pro Expert driver and navigator and Pro Stock driver and navigator. There is also a Pro Stock Ladies’ Class.

The team to beat is the husband-wife combo from Bangalore: Satish Gopalkrishnan and Savera D’Souza. They have won the first two rounds of the Championship (in Chikmagalur and Jaipur) in the Pro Expert Class and have 50 points in their kitty. They will be driving a Maruti Suzuki Swift.

To challenge them will be the entrants from Team Tata Motors. Bangaloreans M Chandrashekar-Srikanth Gowda (tied for second with 28 points with Ajgar Ali-Mohammad Musthafa) and Amol Satoskar-Nirav Mehta will take part in the Pro Expert class, while Chidananda Murthy-BS Sujith Kumar and Saurav Chatterjee-Ashoke Kumar Basu have entered in the Pro Expert class. They are also expected to field a fifth car. Murthy and Sujith Kumar have 31 points, while the leaders in the Pro Stock category are Ravindra Kumar BV-Kumar M with 33 points.

The total distance of the Rally will be 195Km with two sections. The Rally will be conducted towards Bangalore South areas and is a mix of dirt and tarmac. Challening technically, 70 tarmac and 30 dirt.  The Rally will be flagged off from The Club on Mysore Road and will conclude at the same venue. The top five finishers in the Pro Stock and Pro Expert categories will get, apart from trophies, Rs 40,000, Rs 30,000, Rs 20,000, Rs 10,000 and Rs 5,000 respectively. The Pro Stock Ladies’ Class finishers will receive Rs 20,000, Rs 15,000, Rs 10,000, Rs 5,000 and Rs 2,500 respectively and trophies. Trophies will be given to the top three Overall places.

After two very successful rounds of the Green Run Rally, it is now time for the third and final one. It will be held concurrently with the Rally of Bangalore but the total distance will be approximately 100Km with one section. Till now, 20 entries have been received in the two and four-wheeler classes combined. Of that, 10 entries have been received from Team Torque and this only shows their enthusiasm towards the event and what it stands for.

The aim of this rally is to increase awareness about environmental issues like reducing emission of harmful gases from vehicles and also increasing awareness about safety on the road.

The categories in which prizes will be awarded are driver and navigator in Pro Expert and Pro Stock in the four-wheeler and Rally Rider and Rally Navigator in the two-wheeler category.

The prize money in the Pro Expert and Pro Stock four-wheeler classes is Rs 10,000, Rs 7,500 and Rs 5,000 respectively for the top three places. Trophies will be given to the top five finishers in both classes. In the two-wheeler category, the prize money is Rs 6,000, Rs 4,000 and Rs 2,000 for the top three places, plus trophies.

The idea of such TSD rallies is to give a chance for everyone to participate in motorsports. In TSD rallies, the cars run at speeds that are much lower than in stage rallying. This makes it safe for anyone to participate and no modifications are needed on the vehicle. Only a valid driver’s licence is needed to participate. The team that records the least penalty time at the end of the day will be the winner.

Many drivers have gone on to the Indian Rally Championship (IRC). In fact, nine drivers who used to take part in the Picnic Rally, as it used to be called earlier, have gone on to the INRC.

Clerk of the Course J Balakrishna said: “We are taking the FIA Road Safety concept very seriously and demonstrating it in this weekend’s events. The idea is to educate people about safe driving. For the events, safety has been taken care of and two ambulances will be readily available on the route.”

About the sponsors

India Mines Group: IMG is a mining company that is headquartered in Bangalore and headed by Mr R Bharat Raj. They have been one of the biggest promoters and sponsors of motorsport in India.

Horizon Marketing: Horizon Marketing has been one of the major suppliers of farming equipment, various agricultural and horticultural products to the Government of Meghalaya since its inception in 1991 and is headed by Mr Ashok Agarwal. They have the dealership rights for VST Tillers and Tractors Ltd., USHA International Ltd. and National Seed Corporation, etc. for the State of Meghalaya. Mr Ashok Agarwal is a veteran rally driver who has won many events like the Himalayan Raid and Desert Storm.

Horizon Marketing is headed by Mr Ashok Agarwal and his son Mr Hemanth Agarwal. They have been magnanimous in being the title sponsor for the Green Run Rally 2014 and Rally of Bangalore.

Torque Premium Car Accessories : TORQUE Premium Car Accesories , located in Rajarajeswarinagar, deals in high end automobile accessories and performance kits for cars. The passion for starting TORQUE (the brainchild of Mr Prasad & Ms Pratibha).dates back to the fact that TEAM TORQUE was into motorsports since a long time and setting benchmarks in various modes of competition like autocross, rallies, TSD events etc and achieved podiums in various national events such as Maruti Suzuki Dakshin Dare, Desert Storm, Raid de Himalaya etc. Team TORQUE sports some of the best drivers and navigators in the field and also nurtures young talent. TORQUE also specializes in vehicle adaptations for the physically challenged.

Cornerstone Properties: Cornerstone is a leading property group that has partnered with some of Bangalore’s top developers to become a significant part of the development ecosystem.  Regarded as a pioneer in land holding, today, Cornerstone is one of the largest owners of real estate in Bangalore.

Cornerstone is now forging ahead into the development business through an exciting array of offerings at prime locations across Bangalore comprising Residences, Gated Communities, IT Parks, Commercial Developments and IntegratedTownships. With focused capabilities and unmatched competencies, Cornerstone’s vision is to deliver vibrant, new living and working environments that are “Beyond Standards”.

iGateway: iGateway will be providing the GPS systems for the cars that will enable the organisers to track them. It is a company that provides GPS systems to all kinds of vehicles. It is an Indian company and manufacturing is also in India. Products are provided to the private and government sector. For sports, with GPS, RFID and photoelectric sensors are integrated to provide accurate time and speed for race cars to the control room. It is done live and down to the second. iGateway also provides driver analysis report, both on the road and track. For KMSC, iGateway maintains the www.kmsc.org website that will host info about the sport, including competitor documentation. The www.kms.club, for members of the KMSC, is also handled by iGateway.

www.rallynrace.com will be the official online partners for the event.

108 Ambulance: The ambulance service has saved the lives of countless people and they will be supporting us during the event with their vehicles in case of any incidents.

Overdrive: This is one of the leading automobile and motorsport magazines in the country. They are supporting us as the media partners for the Rally of Bangalore and Green Run Rally.

eom/Vivek Phadnis/KMSC press release