Vikram Mathias-Sujith Kumar take Overall win, save face for MRF

By George Francis/Scorp News

Nashik, 10 June 2001: The second round of the Motorsports Association of India’s (MAI) Indian National Rally Championship (INRC), the WISA’s Taj India Rally was held here on June 9 and 10. At the conclusion of the first leg, Team MRF was sitting pretty, with the top six places safely tucked away. But there was an amazing revelation on Day 2. Six of the seven `Red-and-white’ cars left in the fray were disqualified after a late evening scrutiny session at the completion of the first leg. That left only the No.8 Esteem of Vikram Mathias and co-driver BS Sujith Kumar, flying the Red-and-White Flag.

Organised by the Western India Sports Association (WISA), the rally was held over 424km of broken, rough tarmac, through the plains, several small hamlets and over the dry brown hills that surround the city of Nashik. The first leg comprised 210km with three challenging Special Stages. The second leg, the next day, was a repeat of the previous day’s route and Special Stages.

The event attracted 20 entries from all over the country. Eight of these were from Team MRF and 10 are part of the Rally Star Cup. All the top Indian riders were present, vying for valuable championship points. A couple of new faces, the 18-year-old Philippos Mathai from Delhi and co-driver SN Shanmuga from Bangalore, also took part. Another pair making its INRC debut was Along Aier and Thongde Imlong, who had come all the way from Nagaland to get a feel of the National-level rallying.

The first stage, which ran over 24.12km, passed through a couple of small ghat sections, which threw up some sharp `U’ turns that the drivers had to negotiate. Running over 22.19km, the second Special Stage had a particularly tough section of about 2km which was more rough dirt than tarmac. As for the third Special Stage, which ran over a distance of 16.17km, the first 2km was very rough and prompted the organisers to cancel that particular section.

For the new entrants, the Honda City and Suzuki Balenos, though packed with extra power, things were not very bright. “This route is really bad for the Baleno which is even lower than the Hondas, especially with out new suspension set-up,” said MRF’s Vijayanth Chaudhry.

One the competitors know what they had in store, they were anxious to get on with it. “We fancied our chances in the first and the second stages but were not very hopeful about the third. We wanted to finish, but at the same time, we did not want to leave without a placing,” said PG Abhilash, who along with co-driver, Sangeeth Kumar, competed in an Esteem. The reigning champions, Naren Kumar and co-driver D Ramkumar admitted that they had to make up on their championship points as they missed the first round of the INRC at Coimbatore. The duo was also battling for the Asia Zone Rally Championship points at the same event.

The opening day turned out to be a pleasant one, perfect for the start of the first leg. Naren and Ramkumar were the first to be flagged off at the Taj Residency Nashik. But it was Leelakrishnan and Farooq Ahmed who clocked the fastest time in the first Special Stage. Everyone expected the powerful Honda City or Suzuki Baleno to blitz the outdated Esteems, but last year’s sensational find, Vikram Mathias and co-driver Sujith Kumar, had an amazing run.

Naren Kumar and Ramkumar who many expected to be among the forerunners, made some uncharacteristic mistakes and ended the day in the fourth position. For Arjun Balu and co-driver R Kumar, their dismal show of the season continued when they crashed out. PG Abhilash and Sangeeth Kumar had a major crash in the third Special Stage. Fortunately the pair escaped with minor injuries but the car was severely damaged and they had to discontinue.

At the completion of the first leg, the cars returned to the Taj and then the drama unfolded. Technical delegates Asif Haidery had noticed that the MRF cars looked a little low. The cars were summoned for scrutiny. Six of the seven cars were found to be running about 20-25mm lower than the prescribed regulations and were disqualified.

There were only 12 cars left for the second leg. Surprisingly, the fastest time in the first Special Stage was clocked by Sohrab Zorabian and co-driver Raymond Kapadia, competing in the RSC category. The pair drove daringly to accomplish this feat, considereing the fact that they did this without brakes. This took them from the eighth place, at the end of the first leg, to the third spot in the RSC category. But the second leg belonged to Vikram and Sujith all the way. Starting the leg in the lead, the pair lost some time, owing to an electrical problem in the first stage, but they kept their cool and proceeded at a conservative pace in the final two stages, well aware that they could hand on to the lead. “I hardly slept last night. This was the first time we were leading in a rally. Besides there was a lot of pressure on us, being the only MRF car left in the fray,” said an overjoyed Vikram at the finish. Debutants Phillippos Mathai and SN Shanmuga finished in second place. “I came here hoping to at least finish the rally. I never dreamt that I would finish second,” said Mathai, a Class XII student. Pervinder Saundh and former group D motorcycles National champion Paritosh Kohok did extremely well to take the third spot.

In the RSC category, Jiby Maliakkal and his co-driver Rohan Rego drove consistently to finish first. Anil Kumar and Amit Kumar followed in second while Sohrab and Raymond finished third. Vikram and Sujith led the table with 22 points followed by Leelakrishnan and Farooq with 16 points.

Provisional Results (with times after SS6):

Overall: 1. Vikram Mathias/BS Sujith Kumar (Team MRF) (1hour, 34minutes, 0seconds); 2. Philippos Matthai/SN Shanmuga (1:40:00); 3. Parvinder Saundh/Paritosh Kohok (1:41:09); 4. V Shamsunder/PV Srinivasa Murhty (1:44:02); 5. Jiby Maliakkal/Rohan Rego (1:47:08).

Rally Star Cup: 1. Jiby Maliakkal/Rohan Rego (1:47:08); 2. Anil Kumar/Amit Kumar (1: 48:52); 3. Shorab Zorabian/Raymond Kapadia (1:49:52); 4. Ashish Doshi/Bhavin Shah (1:52:12); 5. Lohith Urs/MK Bopanna (1:52:13).

Championship standings – after two rounds:

Overall: 1. Vikram Mathias/BS Sujith Kumar (Team MRF) 26 points; 2. Jagat Nanjappa and Anita (Team MRF) 15 points; 3. Philippos Mathai/SN Shanmuga, 9 points.

RSC standings: 1. Jiby Maliakkal/ Rohan Rego 14 points; 2. Anil Kumar/ Amit Kumar 8 points; 3. Sohrab/Raymon 7 points.