Indian National Rally Championship 2018: TVS Racing’s R Nataraj takes the crown

The Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) 2018 ended on a high note for TVS Racing, as its riders dominated the Group A and Group B classes. R Nataraj took the top honours in the Super Bike (Pro Expert) Class Group A astride his RTR 450 FX rally bike in the final round of the season which took place in Puttur, Mangalore. Aishwarya Pissay made a strong comeback after her big crash on the 450 FX in the 2018 Baja Aregon rally, where she suffered a ruptured pancreas. Aishwarya was riding the 450 FX for the first time in competition at the 2018 Baja Aregon rally in Spain. However, she recovered from the injury in time for the Mangalore round of the INRC 2018 and went on to win the Group B ladies class for the second consecutive time to seal her championship, astride her RTR 200 rally spec bike. Aravind KP, the star rider from TVS Racing, is still recovering from his crash in the Dakar Rally earlier this year.

In the Super Sport (up to 260cc) class, Rajendra RE took the top spot astride his Apache RTR 200 motorcycle, while Imran Pasha won the Super Sport (165cc class) Group B on his Apache RTR 160. In the Group B Scooters category (up to 210cc), Syed Asif Ali took the second spot overall in the championship on his rally prepped NTorq SXR.

On the factory’s motorsport outfit taking the top honours in four out of five categories in the INRC 2018, B Selvaraj, team manager, TVS Racing said, “I am happy that we could maintain our winning record this year as well and would like to congratulate the team on their commendable performances. Today’s Rally was a comeback Rally for Aishwarya post her injury in Spain Baja and I am thrilled that she could finish the Rally on top. Nataraj and Rajendra  maintained a consistent performance throughout the Rally despite their injuries and proved their dominance in their respective categories. Imran is in a great from right now, he has given some remarkable performances this year and I am glad that he is headed in the right direction.  Asif has also maintained his pace in the Rally and secured a podium finish. I would also like to thank all the team members for their relentless hard work in keeping the bikes at its best form and supporting the team at every step.”

Here are the results:

Indian National Rally Championship 2018 results:

Final round Results (Mangalore round):