Five-phase national rally to kick off at Coimbatore

The five-phase MRF FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) would be flagged off on July 23 at Coimbatore and would carry a prize fund of around Rs 25 lakh.
The other four legs of the championship, for which the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India has roped in Kolkata -based Ramakrishna Race Performance Management Pvt Ltd (RRPM) as promoters, would be held in Nashik (Aug 27-28), Gurgaon (Sep 17-18), Bengaluru (Nov 26-27) and Chikmagalur (Dec 3-5).
Each leg would carry a prize money of around Rs 5 lakh, said Ashwin Pandit, Chairman, Rallying Commission, FMSCI.
While INRC would be restricted to Indian drivers and vehicles, the Indian Rally Championship (IRC), to be held concurrently, can include foreign drivers as well as imported machines, it was announced at a media conference here today.

Top rally drivers, including Gaurav Gill, Amittrajit Ghosh, Sunny Sidhu, Arjun Rao Aroor, Rahul Kantharaj and Karna Kadur, are to take part in the championship.
The rally would be held on tarmac or gravel roads and each leg would be different, it was announced.

Apart from the title sponsors, the promoters have roped in Mahindra Adventure, Polaris and Pincon as associate sponsors.
"I am very happy that RRPM is promoting the INRC and IRC this season. Rallying has suffered from a lack of full- fledged support and promoters for a few years and now I think I can safely say it is behind us," said FMSCI President Zayn Khan.

The Indian National TSD (Time, Speed, Distance) Rally Championship would also be held, generally on public roads, in seven centres across the length and breadth of the country in August, September and November followed by a final at an unspecified venue.
The INTSDRC programme: Aug 12-13 and 13-14: Jaipur; Aug 20-21: Haldia; Sep 3-4: Durgapur; Sep 10-11: Bengaluru; Sep 24-25: Hubli; Nov 12-13: Nashik; Nov 19-120: Goa.
The final is tentatively scheduled in the last week of November or first week of December, it was announced. The entire INTSDRC would carry a prize fund of Rs 15 lakh.