The 2016 calendar for the INRC/IRC and the INTSDRC was also announced today at the event in Mumbai, Round 1 of the 2016 INRC and IRC will be flagged off from Coimbatore on the 23rd July, 2016 and ending with the national finals of the INTSDRC in December. The INRC/IRC 2016 will also see the introduction of the Shakedown, which will be a pre-event procedure conducted to provide some pre-rally practice & testing to all the competitors. Top seeded drivers will also be taking celebrities and media representatives as passengers and driving the 2 or 3 kms. of the shakedown stage in their rally cars. This year for the INRC/IRC, the terrains would include both gravel and tarmac rounds. Top drivers of India like Gaurav Gill, Amittrajit Ghosh, Sunny Sidhu, Arjun Rao Aroor, Rahul Kanthraj, Karna Kadur and others will all be back in action in this year’s edition. The championships are also happy to be back to having a round in North India with a round scheduled in Gurgaon.
INRC / IRC – Both the INRC and the IRC are speed rallies where the team to finish the stages in the least time wins. The routes of the stages are closed sections of public/private roads which are disclosed to competitors for recce. Indian drivers in Indian cars are eligible for the INRC while Indian or Foreign drivers in Indian or Foreign cars are eligible for the IRC. However, the cream of the class will all be participating in the highly competitive INRC where Team Mahindra Adventure will be looking to win the championship again this year.
INTSDRC – TSD rallying (Time Speed Distance) is a form of motorsport usually conducted on public roads and very rarely on off-road and dirt sections. The objective of these rallies is not outright speed like stage rallying but to maintain precise times and precise average speeds on various segments of a predefined route. Each team usually consists of a driver and navigator. Teams usually start a TSD rally at fixed intervals of a minute or two.
At the time of flag off, each team is given a route schedule (tulip / road book), which guides the navigator with the route and average speed to be maintained. The ideal running time is calculated by the navigator with the given distance and average speed. Along the route there are several TCs (Time Controls), the positions of which are unknown to the teams. The marshals note the times at which each team arrives at the TCs. The difference between a team’s actual times and the ideal times determine their penalties. (Arriving late and early both attract penalties). The team with the lowest penalties wins. Teams use several instruments like different types of Odometers – Terratrip, Monit, Brantz etc, extra speedometers, GPS and rally computers for precision in their time and speed.
2016 INRC/IRC Venue and Dates:
1. Coimbatore: July 23-24
2. Nashik: August 27-28
3. Gurgaon: September 17-18
4. Bangalore: November 26-27
5. Chikmagalur: December 3-5
2016 Indian National TSD Rally Championship Venue and Dates:
North
1. Jaipur: August 12-13
2. Jaipur: August 13-14
East
1. Haldia: August 20-21
2. Duragapur: September 3-4
South
1. Bangalore: September – 10-11
2. Hubli: September 24-25
West
1. Nashik: November 12-13
2. Goa: November 19-20
