TSD Rally: Nashik to host first round

The much-delayed FMSCI Indian National TSD Rally Championship will commence later this month with the first round at Nashik, according to a FMSCI statement here Thursday.

While Nashik will host the first round Sep 28-29, the other four rounds will be held at Chikmagalur (Oct 19-20), Coimbatore (Nov 16-17), Bangalore (Dec 7-8) and Coimbatore (Dec 20-21).

The championship was launched last year with Mysore's Berunda Adventure Sports Club being the promoters and JK Tyre the title sponsors. The release made no mention of a title sponsor for the 2013 series.

The championship will be run under the Time-Speed-Distance format and is open to all-comers, the minimum requirements being a RTO registered vehicle that require no modification and a valid driving license.

Mahindra have already confirmed their support by supplying six cars for the season, said the release quoting FMSCI president Vicky Chandhok. The total distance of each round is set at a distance of minimum 175 Kms and maximum 200 Kms, the release added.

"Our first year of the TSD Rallying Championship was received very well and that is why we are keen to promote it again this year.

"The interesting thing about TSD is that it is the only form of motorsport where speed is not a priority but rather precision and is a great stepping stone for rally enthusiasts.

"We had good manufacturers support last year and we hope to get more of them involved this year as well," said Chandhok.