• Chikkamagaluru geared up to host 4th round of MRF FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship
• Amittrajit Ghosh, Gaurav Gill to renew battle for top honours
• 48 entries for Coffee Day India Rally 2018

Chikkamagaluru, November 27: The MRF FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship convoy rolls into the coffee town this weekend for the Coffee Day Rally which has attracted 48 entries. The action-packed event, sponsored by Coffee Day Group and organised by the Chikmagalur Motor Sports Club, will be held from November 30 to December 2. The thrill and excitement that motorsports garners in India especially amongst the youth fits well with Coffee Day considering the strong youth connect that the brand holds.

The Coffee Day India Rally, which is also the fourth round of the National Championship, will witness some of the best names in Indian motorsport battle it out for top honours. Over the past couple of decades, the three-day event, has grown in stature and popularity among both participants and spectators, thanks to Coffee Day Group’s significant support and constant involvement.

The Championship, promoted by the Ramakrishna Race Performance Management (RRPM), kicked off earlier this year in Chennai before moving on to Coimbatore and Arunachal Pradesh. After three rounds, Mahindra Adventure team’s Amittrajit Ghosh and co-driver Ashwin Naik head the leaderboard with 61 points, followed by team-mates Gaurav Gill and Musa Sherif (50).

Read more: Coffee Day Rally 2018 attracts 48 entries

Gurvinder, Vijay win Superbike Cups  as JKNRC ends on a high

New Delhi, Nov 18: On a day of dramatic twists and turns, the Chennai duo of Karthik Tharani and Raghul Rangasamy clinched the coveted Euro JK 2018 and LGB Formula 4 titles in the 21st JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship at the BIC here on an action-packed Sunday.

Over 35,000 delighted fans roared as the Euro JK began shortly after a mind-boggling stunt show led by UK’s Terry Grant and Lithuania’s Aras Gibieza, with Tharani and Mumbai’s Nayan Chatterjee tied on 89 points and everything coming down to the last 10 laps.

A fitting finale was on the cards, with the reverse grid too coming into play and adding to the drama. Nayan and Karthik commenced from behind, from sixth and fifth position, making their task that much tougher.

Nayan, however, suffered a massive blow at the start of the second lap itself, colliding with Manav Sharma and pulling out of the race.

Read more: Chennai’s Karthik, Raghul claim Euro, LGB-4 titles

New Delhi, Nov. 17: Chennai’s Karthik Tharani and Mumbai’s Nayan Chatterjee won a race apiece on Day 1 of the Grand Finale of the 21st JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship, throwing open the Euro JK 2018 here at the BIC on Saturday.

The other stalwarts from Chennai, Vishnu Prasad in the LGB 4 and Joseph Mathew in the Suzuki Gixxer Cup, enjoyed a mixed day but still managed to hang on their leads.

Vishnu won one race and finished fourth in the second to amass 76 points, to be six points clear of the field. Joseph, on the other hand, lost the first race of his season, but was still comfortably placed on 60 points.

The International Asia Cup of Road Race that was run in tandem with the Suzuki Gixxer Cup saw India A’s Karthik Mateti making his mark, winning the race ahead of his Asian counterparts. Sri Lanka’s Hansika Abeysinghe claimed the second place while Australia’s Max Stauffer took the third.

Karthik began the weekend on a positive note, grabbing the pole position in the Euro JK on Friday evening. He made the most of his early advantage to win Race 1 in 20:36.010 gruelling minutes.

Nayan, who started from P3, put up an aggressive run, even recording the fastest lap time of 2:02:671 in the ninth. He attacked Karthik but just couldn’t find a way past him.

Ashwin Datta, who came into the finale as championship leader, began from P5 after a poor qualifying session. He couldn’t make up ground in the race either, finishing fifth and allowing Karthik and Nayan to catch up on him.

Read more: Karthik, Nayan throw open Euro Championship on Day 1 of JKRNC Grand Finale

Dubai, November 17: Five races and four winners accurately reflected the highly competitive grid of MRF Challenge as Belgium’s 20-year old Max Defourny achieved a splendid double while Andreas Estner (Germany) and Patrick Pasma (Finland) won the previous two races of the day at the Dubai Autodrome here on Saturday. 

For Defourny, the Round-1 of the MRF Challenge proved memorable as he won Race 1 and 5 apart from podium positions in the other three races. Defourny finished the Round 1 with 106 points, ahead of Great Britain's Jamie Chadwick (78) and Singapore's Danial Frost (70), winner of Race 2 yesterday. The MRF Challenge heads to Bahrain (Dec 6-8) for the next round before moving to Chennai (Feb 8-10) for the championship finale.

Defourny could have done even better, but he messed up his pole-position start in Race-3 where he lost track position by Turn-1 itself in the very first lap, but recovered to finish third. “I think, I could have done better and won a couple of more races. I made a few mistakes, but more important was that I picked up points at the start of the championship. My win in Race 5 was far more satisfying than that in Race 1. I won more comfortably and on tyres that I had used in the previous four races,” said Defourny.

Read more: MRF Challenge :   Grand double for Max Defourny; wins for Andreas Estner, Patrick Pasma