By Shobha Rao Smilemaker
Jul 31: The FMSCI Blueband Sports Indian National Rally Championship 2023 for four wheelers, called the Rally of Coimbatore was held over 10 stages on Saturday, July 28 and Sunday July 29.
As a first time spectator of this amazing adventure sport, I was in awe of the overspeeding cars on the curved bends of the muddy dirt tracks. This rally had garnered a record entry number of 76 registrations mostly from modified Volkwagon Polo cars.
Mandovi Racing's Aroor Arjun Rao and co-driver Satish Rajagopal won three straight consecutive rallies in the Indian National Rally Championship, 2023, beginning with the Rally at Chennai, winning again at the Rally of Arunachal Pradesh and completing their trifecta at the Rally of Coimbatore! They were supported by MRF tyres and drove a Maruti Suzuki Baleno RS.
This has given them a substantial lead to clinch the Indian National Rally Championship. Mandovi Racing's team principal Aroor Sanjay Rao was ecstatic with the win and substantial lead.
Another Mangalorean was navigator Ashwin Nayak who, along with driver Amitrajit Ghosh from Arka motorsports came overall 3rd in their Mahindra XUV 300.
The performance of the vehicle also plays a crucial role in the final results. Mangalorean INRC 3 Champion, 2018 Aroor Vikram Rao and navigator A G Sommaiyya from Chettinad Sporting lost precious 20 seconds due to vehicle problem on the first day and made it up brilliantly on the second day to finish fourth in INRC 2 category.
Jason Saldanha another Mangalorean driver of Dark Don Rallying came overall 8th along with navigator Timmu Uddapanda.
For the uninitiated like me, this exciting automobile competition is held over a specified public route. In Coimbatore, we spectators watched the second stage at Kadukatai on the first day and also saw the last 4 stages from among the picturesque windmill farm area on the second day.
The driver needs to understand his car very well, and also have super skills in accelerating, braking or seating position to manage the rugged course layouts. Along with the navigator who is like his eyes and ears when driving, they attempt to complete a pre-determined schedule between rigid checkpoints.
I was lucky to be able to witness the servicing of the rally cars at Palladam in between the rally stages. Generally a reputed team, builds the car to match the strict FMSCI regulations. The tyres were expertly replaced, the whole team of mechanics kept scrutinizing and servicing every corner of the car.
I was able to see the modifications of the car from within. The chassis was fitted with a hollow yet strengthened outer shell with roll cages for extra safety or special seat belts, etc. to make it as light weight as possible. And the bonus was meeting the all woman team of Pragathi Gowda and Trisha Alonkar.
Imagine the cars zooming at speeds of around 70 kmph on twisty roads and more than 100 kmph on straight tracks. The sight of the expert drivers regularly oversteering and sliding their cars at dangerous looking corners was fascinating to watch, but I was surprised at the low number of onlooking spectators.
This sport is surely not for the faint hearted spectator as we riskily ran across tracks for a better close up or a 360 degree view. We also got covered with the flying sand from all sides under the scorching sun!
Twenty four cars were unfortunately not able to finish all the 10 stages of racing, among them was the reigning champion Gaurav Gill. Yes, this sport is a rare combination of driving and navigating skills, vehicle performance and the luck factor too.
Our group of around 20 cheerleaders who came all the way from Mangalore to Coimbatore to watch the sport surely had a memorable experience of a lifetime. Looking forward to more popularity of this sport more media coverage and sponsorshps and more audience participation too at the next rounds to be held in Bangalore and Hyderabad too.
Shobha Rao Smilemaker has a vision of living in a world where people use their ability to find and make smiles in any situation. She is a lawyer by qualification, a soft skills trainer by passion, a motivational speaker, a freelance journalist, a bestselling author, an avid traveler and founder of 'Smilemakers Trainings'. She may be contacted at www.shobhasmilemaker.com.