Kolkata: Round 2 of the East of the MRF FMSCI Indian National TSD Rally Championship (INTSDRC) 2016 will kick off on Saturday. The championship consists of 8 rounds (2 in each zone) in different parts of the country. Top 7 teams from each zone will qualify for the National Finals to be held on completion of all zonal rounds.
The MRF Rally de Bengal organized by Ramakrishna Race Performance Management Pvt. Ltd. (RRPM) will cover around 115 kms., which will include both dirt and tarmac roads in and around Durgapur on the 10th September. The rally route comprises of public/private roads which remain undisclosed to competitors till the beginning of the event.
Mr. Arindam Ghosh, Director, RRPM and Clerk of the Course said, “It is a dual role that we have taken up for this rally. While the Rally de Bengal has been a great success over the years, this time around, RRPM is also the promoter of the Championship. This puts an added pressure for putting up a signature event like previous years but with the team we have at RRPM, I am confident that we will succeed in doing so.”
The rally will follow the exciting trend of Secret Time Controls and Self Time Controls, a format introduced by RRPM which has been widely accepted and appreciated by all competitors for the last few years and is now a permanent feature in all rounds of the MRF FMSCI INTSDRC. Starting at 7:30 am from CCD on NH 2, the rally is expected to finish by 1:00 pm and the Podium Ceremony and Champagne Shower will be held at 4:00 pm in Hotel Rik in Domra.
Secret Time Controls help in monitoring the cars during the rally. Times are noted of each car as they traverse through the given route and in the Self Time Controls, teams have to note their timings themselves. This does not allow any car to maintain a relatively high speed for a long duration and hence makes the rally safer.
The concept of 0 & 00 cars was also brought to Eastern India by RRPM. The 00 car travels through the route about 15 minutes before the rally to check the track and the 0 car generally traverses through the rally route just before the rally begins and follows all the instructions like a participating team.
MRF Rally de Bengal, which is Round 2, East of the MRF FMSCI INTSDRC is also the 4th event of the championship and the deciding round to choose qualifiers for the National Finals from the East Zone. Top seven teams after Round 1 – East are Jogendra Jaiswal & Prasenjit Roy, Shekhar Choudhury & Suvrajit Dutta, Biswanath Kundu & Sabatullah Khan, Subhodev Chatterjee & Gairick Khan, Santanu Saha & Mrinmoy Saha, Debarati Chanda & Somdeb Chanda, and Saurav Chatterjee & Souradeep Dutta.
Qualifying teams from the already concluded North Zone include Rajendra Singh Shekhawat & Arjun, Rishi Kapoor & Yogesh Bansal, Laxman De & Punyabrata Barma, Aman Gulfam & Rahul Mukherjee, Deepshikha Bhaduri & Natarajan, and Sukhdeep Singh & Akash Gill.
The Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI), the governing body for all motorsport events in India has given the rights to promote the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC), Indian Rally Championship (IRC) and Indian National TSD Rally Championship (INTSDRC) to Ramakrishna Race Performance Management Pvt. Ltd. (RRPM), which has roped in marquee companies like MRF Tyres, Mahindra Adventure, Polaris and Pincon as key sponsors for the Indian rally season.