There was a lot of talk doing the rounds for sometime on the confirmation of the promotership for the FMSCI-Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) for cars this season. That was put to rest with the Champions Yacht Club (CYC) of the Champions Group winning the bid to promote the same for the next three years.
FMSCI head J. Prithviraj told The Hindu here on Saturday that an MoU was signed with the CYC in the second week of February. Ramakrishna Race Performance Management (RRPM) is the outgoing promoter. “They did a good job and we expect the new promoter to take the sport to the next level,” he said.
India’s finest rally driver Gaurav Gill was also pleased with the new player coming in. “We got somebody who loves the sport and has the money and passion for it. These are the three most important things to promote any sport for that matter,” said Gill, who was at the SAS windmill farm near Kethanur in Tirupur, to conduct a two-day workshop for both amateur and professional drivers.
The CYC also played its part by sponsoring a good amount of prize money for the fastest amateurs coming out of the programme. It was quite surprising to see a big turnout for the event. Actually, I had to stop with 30 entries as it is difficult to handle and teach them in the space of two days. The drivers have come from all over the country,” said Gill.
He was pleased with R. Thiagarajan and his team from Chettinad Sporting putting the whole event together and Vamsi Merla of Champions Group for the support. “But the whole idea is to get more drivers for rallying and promote the same through this kind of workshops.”
“The sport has got so much of potential and the Federation should support such initiatives and make it more popular,” said Gill.
With the new player in place, INRC now promises to be a superior event destination in six cities this year starting from Bengaluru next month.
‘Planning for more’
“We are planning for more next year,” said Vamsi, CEO of the Champions Group, which had supported quite a few rallyists in realising their dream last season. “We want to support young drivers and also bring more women into rallying,” he added.
This only goes to show that the future looks bright for the sport.
