Arka Motorsports’ Harkrishan Wadia and co-driver Kunal Kashyap won the South India Rally in Chennai, which served as the season opener for the 2024 Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) as well as the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) – Asia Cup.
With several title favourites retiring from the rally, the winner came from the INRC2 class. Out of the 51 cars that started the event, only 28 made it to the finish line, and only three of the nine participants in the APRC Asia Cup completed the rally.
- Aditya Thakur finishes second
- Karna Kadur, Aroor Arjun Rao, Pragathi Gowda retire
Gill withdraws from South India Rally
The 2024 South India rally covered a total distance of 446km, with the Madras International Circuit serving as the hub for most of the activities. The entry list included 2023 INRC champion Aroor Arjun Rao, former South India Rally winners Karna Kadur, Dean Mascarenhas and more.
But there was one prominent figure missing at the starting line. Seven-time INRC and three-time APRC title winner Gaurav Gill was part of the entry list, but he withdrew at the last minute due to a delay in getting his Ford Fiesta shipped from Dubai.
The rally caught out several experienced racers, many of whom even held the lead at some point. Title favourite Kadur and co-driver Musa Sherif retired on Day 2 due to gearbox issues. Aroor Arjun Rao (co-driver Satish Rajagopal) lost power steering on the final day, while Mascarenhas (co-driver Gagan Karumbaiah) retired on the penultimate stage due to a fuel pump issue. Even Pragathi Gowda, who was on course to finish second in the APRC Asia Cup, failed to reach the finish line after running out of fuel with just 2km to go.
Harkrishan Wadia takes victory
It was triple delight for Wadia since he took overall victory in Round 1 of the INRC, APRC Asia Cup, as well as victory in the INRC 2 class. “I pushed hard today as I had to make some time. The car was great and I am thankful to MRF Tyres for all the support. I made just one mistake when I overran a corner, but fortunately, it did not impact my position on the leaderboard. Overall, a good start to the season,” he said.
Aditya Thakur and co-driver Virender Kashyap were leading after Day 2. But they slipped to second place after being hit with a 30-second penalty for a late check-in as they stopped to repair a damaged exhaust. “We had an exhaust issue. So, after SS-11, we stopped on the transport section to carry out some running repairs. It cost us time and we had to take a 30-second penalty for check-in at the next Time Control. We are extremely disappointed but hope to do better in the next round,” Thakur said.
Vishak Balachandran (co-driver Anil Abbas) took victory in the INRC 3 class, while Phoebe Nongrum (co-driver Nash Ross) topped the women’s class after Anushriya Gulati and Tarushi Vikram retired due to mechanical issues. Arjun Rajiv (co-driver Vinay Padmashali) won in the Junior INRC class. And finally, Baljinder Singh Dhillon (co-driver CP Gautam) won the non-championship FMSCI Gypsy Challenge.
2024 South India Rally results
Overall
1. Harkrishan Wadia/Kunal Kashyap (Arka Motorsports) – 2hrs 4mins 59.8secs
2. Aditya Thakur/Virender Kashyap (Chettinad Sporting) – 2hrs 5mins 05secs
3. Vishak Balachandran/Anil Abbas (Chettinad Sporting) – 2hrs 10mins 02.6secs
APRC Asia Cup
1. Harkrishan Wadia/Kunal Kashyap (Arka Motorsports) – 2hrs 4mins 59.8secs
2. Naveen Puligilla/Santosh Thomas – 2hrs 15mins 22secs
3. Ramcharan C/Jeevarathinam (Arka Motorsports) – 2hrs 17mins 24.1secs
INRC 2
1. Harkrishan Wadia/Kunal Kashyap (Arka Motorsports) – 2hrs 4mins 59.8secs
2. Aditya Thakur/Virender Kashyap (Chettinad Sporting) – 2hrs 5mins 05secs
3. Naveen Puligilla/Santosh Thomas – 2hrs 15mins 22secs
INRC 3:
1. Vishak Balachandran/Anil Abbas – 2hrs 10mins 02.6secs
2. Daraious Shroff/Srikanth Gowda (Chettinad Sporting) – 2hrs 10mins 48.1secs
3. Samrat Yadav/Arvind Dheerendra – 2hrs 11mins 48.2secs
Junior INRC
1. Arjun Rajiv/Vinay Padmashali (Chettinad Sporting) – 2hrs 13mins 47.9secs
2. Ajay Shankar/S Nitharshan (Mandovi Racing) – 2hrs 14mins
Women INRC
1. Phoebe Nongrum/Nash Ross (Snap Racing) – 2hrs 28mins 27.4secs
2. Harshitha Gowda/Vignesh Mahalingam – 2hrs 45mins 42.8secs
Fmsci Gypsy Challenge:
1. Baljinder Singh Dhillon/Goutham CP – 2hrs 21mins 51.9secs
2. Akarsh Sundar/Ravi Kumar – 2hrs 24mins 45.7secs
3. Jayanth Somanatha/R Rajashekar – 2hrs 24mins 51.9secs
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