Tumakuru, Dec 23: In a stunning display of skill and determination, Delhi’s Harkrishan Wadia and co-driver Kunal Kashyap seized victory at the prestigious Blueband K1000 Rally, solidifying their lead overnight to claim the top spot in the sixth and final round of the Blueband Sports fmsci Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) for four-wheelers.
The racing event, concluded near Gubbi on Saturday, which marked their second consecutive overall victory after their triumph at the Blueband Robusta Rally of Kodagu last month.
The Mangaluru-Bengaluru duo of Aroor Arjun Rao and co-driver Satish Rajagopal had previously secured the Blueband Indian National Rally Championship 2023 Overall title by dominating the first three rounds, amassing an unbeatable 45-point lead heading into the K1000.
Wadia and Kashyap, hailing from Himachal, clinched the 2023 INRC2 title with a flawless performance, earning a maximum of 40 points. Reflecting on their achievement, Wadia expressed gratitude to his father and the entire team, singling out Leela sir, Karna, Phil, and the rest of the team for their crucial contributions.
Wadia, the 35-year-old 2020 Junior INRC champion and son of former rally star Anil Wadia, described the title as a bonus.
Dean Mascarenhas of Mangaluru, alongside co-driver Gagan Karumbaiah, secured an Overall second-place finish in the racing event after holding the third position overnight.
The Snap Racing pair, Younus Ilyas (co-driver Nitin Jacob), claimed the third spot.
In the INRC2 class, Arka Motorsports’ Wadia (co-driver Kashyap) piloted an INRC2 spec Volkswagen Polo 1.6 to victory, with 2019 champion Chetan Shivram and co-driver E Shivprakash securing second place, and Ritesh Guttedar and Chetan M finishing third.
Jason Saldanha and co-driver Thimmanna Uddapanda emerged victorious in the INRC3 class, while Jahaan Singh Gill and co-driver Suraj Keshav Prasad secured second place, securing the INRC3 2023 championship. Daraius Shroff and Shahid Salman, once in contention for the title, finished third in their class.
Jahaan Singh, who recently won the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) Junior title in Indonesia, also claimed the Junior INRC title.
In the INRC4 category, the Ammyfied Rallying pair Abhin Rai and co-driver Rohit Gowda secured the K1000 victory, marking their maiden INRC4 title.
Athul Thomas and Sajil V Saji came in second, while Praveen Dwarakanath and co-driver Kariyappa KB finished third.
The Gypsy class witnessed a clean sweep by Ammyfied Rallying, with Samrat Yadav and Arvind Dheerendra leading the podium.
Darshan Nachappa and co-driver Abhinav Ganapathy secured the second position, securing the 2023 FMSCI Gypsy Cup.
Dr. Akarsh Sunder and V Sekar, finishing third, accumulated more points but lost out on the “N minus one” rule.
Anushriya Gulati, the winner of the K1000 Rally, also clinched the Ladies Class championship for 2023.
Out of the 59 entries, only 30 cars successfully finished the race, with six cars on Day 1 and 21 cars on Day 2 unable to complete the challenging course. (Agencies)
