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Ogier Trumphs in Japan

They say he’s the man to watch! At the age of 26, Sebastien Ogier has shown that he too can be a rally winner, if not the World Champion this season. The Frenchman won the Rally of Japan to claim the second win of his career. Winning by an overall margin of 15.7 seconds, Ogier started the final day 5.4 seconds behind overnight leader Petter Solberg. Impressive times, and a stage win, on the final day gave him first place and the victory.

Petter Solberg had to settle for second due to steering problems. The lack of midday service on Sunday meant that his team didn’t get the chance to work on his stricken machine. Spaniard Dani Sordo finished 4th, behind Ford’s Jari-Matti Latvala who overtook the Citroen Junior Team driver at stage 20. Sordo, who started the final day of the rally just 15.3 seconds behind 1st place, would have been disappointed not to have done better.

Championship leader, Sebastian Loeb, claimed 10 points for his 5th place finish, which saw him move ever closer to his 7th WRC crown – as he has a 43 point lead against second placed Ogier with only three rallies to go in the 2010 season. And the Frenchman ensured that his rivals understood that he wound compete fiercely in the remaining rallies, as he won 3 of Sunday’s 6 gravel stages.

Mikko Hirvonen finished 6th, followed by Henning Solberg in 7th, and Federico Villagra in 8th place. Villagra was fortunate to grab 8th as Former F1 World Champion, Kimi Raikkonen, got knocked out on Sunday’s first stage itself. The final points went to Jari Ketomaa and Martin Prokop who finished 9th and 10th in their Ford Fiesta S2000s.

Armaan ends F2 season on a high

21 year old Indian diving sensation, Armaan Ebrahim, ended this years’ Formula 2 season on a high – after claiming 3rd place in Race 1 of the final round of the 2010 F2 season at Valencia. Ebrahim’s podium finish came during a 25-lap race at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit, where he managed his career-best result in Formula 2.

Starting first on the grid, Italy’s Nicola De Marco won the race without being seriously challenged for the lead. He was followed by Will Bratt who came in second place, ahead of Armaan. This was Nicola’s second win of the season. But the man who benefitted most was Britain’s Dean Stoneman, who was crowned 2010 World Champion after conclusion of the race.

In the final race, luck wasn’t on Armaan’s side. Despite qualifying third on the grid, he could only manage a 7th place finish. Consequently, Armaan ended up in 10th place in the Driver’s Standings – he’ll certainly be hoping for better luck next year.

Naren Wins Rally of Rajasthan

Naren Kumar, along with co-driver Ram Kumar, won the third round of the INRC (Indian National Rally Championship). Set in jasthan, the stages were fast and unforgiving, as there was very little margin for error due to the narrow tracks. Therefore, despite having clutch problems in the first four stages, the Red Rooster team driver enthralled the crowd – especially during Sunday’s Super Special Stage – to win his second rally in succession.

The result means that the Red Rooster Racing team now heads the manufacturer’s standings. Should Naren continue his winning ways, he’ll be in a position to achieve 7 national titles, which will put him on par with N Leelkrishnan, who, incidentally, is the Chief Technical Director for Red Rooster Racing.

Naren’s teammates, Amittrajit Ghosh and co-driver Ashwin Naik, took second place to score some valuable points for the Red Rooster team, followed by Lohit Urs and Srikanth Gowda, who took third place for team MRF. This result puts Naren 3 points ahead of his teammate, Vikram Mathias, in the drivers’ standings.

Tight battles rage in the NRC

The 4th round of the JK Tyre National Racing Championship witnessed some action-packed races as Saran Vikram and Sarosh Hataria topped the Formula Rolon category, followed by Ameya Walavalkar, who took the honours in Formula Swift, and Sailesh Bolisetti in the Super Saloons.

In the Formula Rolon class, Saran Vikram won the first race, but was unable to carry his form forward due to mechanical problems, which resulted in a 6th place finish in the second race. Race 2 saw Sarosh Hataria grabbing 1st place, followed by Chittesh Mandody and Vishnu Prasad in 2nd and 3rd places respectively. The Rolon category is now wide open as Saran Vikram of Team Mars Racing leads the points table with 33 points, just 3 points ahead of Sarosh Hataria, who is in 2nd place with 29 points. Third place is presently occupied by Vishnu Prasad who also has 29 points.

In the Formula Swift category, S.Narendran clinched victory in Race 1, followed by Ajay Kini in second, and R. Deepak in third. Race 2 saw the TVS Girling team hogging all the limelight, as Ameya Walavalkar, who earlier qualified 6th, fought his way through the field to grab first place. R Deepak and Ajay Kini finished 2nd and 3rd respectively. With just two rounds to go, Ajay Kini leads the pack with 61 points, followed by Gautam Parekh who has 44 points, and Ameya Walavalkar who is trailing in third with 43 points.

Sailesh Bolisetti’s domination continues in the Super Saloon Class, as the rookie managed to win both the races in this category, and bagged the maximum 20 points. Topping the time sheets, Bolisetti finished Race 2 with a time of 15 minutes and 3.55 seconds, followed by Raj Virudhan, who clocked 15 minutes and 10.44 seconds, with Mohd. Fahad Kutty at 15:20.29. At the end of the 4th round, Salish leads the pack with 68 points, followed by Siddhart Kishore of Performance Racing with 45 points, and Vidya Prakash of Prime Racing in third with 31 points.