The Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) is pleased to announce the calendar of the 2016 FMSCI-Indian National Rally Championship (INRC), FMSCI-Indian Rally Championship (IRC) and the FMSCI-Indian National TSD Rally Championship (INTSDRC).
The INRC/IRC will comprise of five rounds, starting with the Coimbatore event (Gravel Stages) on July 23 and 24 and will run until December. Other rounds will be held in Nashik (Aug 20-21, Tarmac), Noida (Sept 17-18, Tarmac), Bengaluru (Nov 26-27, Gravel) and Chikmagalur (Dec 9-11, Gravel).
The INRC is the premier National Rally Championship of the country, exclusively for Indian Nationals driving FMSCI homologated cars. The IRC, on the other hand, is an open category restricted to overseas drivers driving imported cars, Indian drivers driving imported cars, overseas drivers driving Indian cars, and with the opportunity for Indian drivers in Indian cars to compete in the class.
The Chikmagalur round is also running as the last round of the prestigious FIA-Asia Pacific Rally Championship, and is expected to attract more foreign entries.
“The INRC/IRC season is looking exciting with five rounds and concluding with Chikmagalur as a round of the APRC,” Rallycom Chairman Ashwin Pandit said. “We are expecting a good grid for both INRC and IRC championships,” he added.
The INRC will have three categories with a possibility of a fourth. “The Overall category in the INRC will allow SUVs and R2 cars. The other categories are the up to 2000cc and the FMSCI Cup,” Pandit said. “There is a bright possibility of having a Gypsy Cup as a standalone event running alongside the five National championship rounds, given that a lot of Gypsy’s participate in the cross country events, especially in Northern India. If we get a grid of over 10, we will run it,” he added.
“Most of the INRC/IRC rounds except Chikmagalur may run for one day instead of two to give it a compact format for all and easy to follow,” Pandit added.
Meanwhile, the INTSDRC will comprise eight rounds between July and November, to be held across the country, starting with Jaipur on July 2. A separate Zone TSD Championship will be conducted alongside, exclusively for the local zone talents.
There is an exclusive zonal event in Nashik on July 16, and at the end of the INTSDRC and Zone Championships, there are also talks of adding a standalone promo event titled ‘Champion of Champions’, which if run, will take place pitting the first eight placed competitors of INTSDRC and the first five placed competitors of each zone.
Kolkata-based Ramakrishna Race Performance Management Pvt. Ltd. (RRPM) are the promoters for the INRC/IRC and INTSDRC. RRPM is an experienced motorsports management company having organised National events for the past 12 years. Director of RRPM, Ms. Tamosha Dutta, said, “These are exciting times for Indian Rallying and we look forward to working with the FMSCI in promoting Indian Rallying and showcasing it to the world.”
The calendar:
2016 FMSCI INRC/IRC:
Round 1, Coimbatore, July 23-24
Round 2, Nashik, Aug 20-21
Round 3, Noida, Sept 17-18
Round 4, Bengaluru, Nov 26-27
Round 5, Chikmagalur, Dec 9-11
2016 FMSCI INTSDRC:
North Zone:
Round 1, Jaipur, July 2 (Also to run two zonal events)
East Zone:
Round 2, Durgapur, July 29
Round 3, Ranchi, Aug 13
Round 4, Haldia, Aug 27
South Zone:
Round 5, Bengaluru, Sept 10
Round 6, Hubli, Sept 24 (Also to run one zonal event)
West Zone:
Round 7, Pune, Nov 12
Round 8, Goa, Nov 19
Nashik to run one zonal event on July 16.
