Veteran dirt rider Badal S Doshi proved his prowess by emerging as the overall fastest rider after two gruelling rounds at the Indian National Rally Sprint Championship held yesterday at Bengaluru, clocking a time of 4:10.19 minutes in the second round. The Mumbai-based rider, astride his KTM 500 EXCF, came a close second to Bengaluru-based rider Vishwas S D in the first round (of the Group A Upto 800cc Class), before putting in a fantastic performance in round 2. Further, he also participated in the scooter class, piloting his Aprilia SR150 to a seventh-place finish in the first round and fifth-place finish in the second.
Speaking about his experience in Bengaluru, Badal was upbeat, saying, "As the 2019 national champion, it was on me to defend my title this year as well. However, the [Covid-19] shutdown meant I got almost no practice at all this year. Add to that the fact that the rally route itself was no better than a single-lane walkway, meant I had to take it easy and bring myself and the bike back in one piece. However, it was an invaluable experience, and the second-place finish in the first round was just the catalyst I needed to push extra hard, and ultimately win the class in round two!
The FMSCI Indian National Rally Sprint Championship, held on October 17 and 18 along a 7km repeat stage (where the round 2 route was a essentially a reverse of that used in round 1) was the first off-road motorcycle racing event post the Covid-19 pandemic, and drew in a combined entry list of as many as 140 rallyists from various cities across India. As always, the competition was fierce, more so between the usual suspects, TVS Racing and Hero MotoSports. To that end, however, the fastest rider in round 1 in the Group B 166cc – 260cc was TVS Racing’s Imran Pasha from Mysuru, who piloted his race-prepped TVS Apache to set a blistering time of 4:28.43 minutes, and then continued his momentum to set an even faster time of 4:14.83 minutes in the second round.
Additionally, TVS also stamped its authority in the scooter class, with Bengaluru-based racer Karthik Naidu sealing the win in both rounds.
Below is the list of winners for round 1, as well as provisional winners of round 2:
Rounds 3 and 4 of the Indian National Rally Sprint Championship are slated to be held at the Tribal Adventurous Track in Bengaluru, on November 21 and 22.