Motorsport Reviews

The three-member team to lead BMW Motorrad Team India were chosen from over 75 BMW GS owners who participated in the two-day event in Goa. HK Rickiey Naik from Bengaluru, Shakeel Basha from Coimbatore and V Sathyanath from Tirupur qualified to represent India at the International GS Trophy 2020.

Scuderia Ferrari's controversial strategies backfired today as Mercedes bagged a surprise 1-2 finish in the 2019 Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix. Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton secured the win ahead of teammate Valtteri Bottas, as the Ferraris struggled to make good use of a strong start. While Sebastian Vettel faced an early retirement, Charles Leclerc finished third after securing his fourth pole position of the season on Saturday and briefly looked in tow to win the race. With the victory, Mercedes continues to be the only constructor champion to win a race at Sochi, while Ferrari did come close to challenging that status this year.

McLaren will be reunited with Mercedes engines from the 2021 season as the former champions go back to using the German manufacturer's power units in their bid to return to the top. The Woking-based team are currently supplied by Renault, having joined forces with the French company last year. They will see out that deal, which runs until the end of 2020, before making the switch back to Mercedes as part of a long-term agreement until at least 2024.

The Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) has denied a recent report claiming rally driver Gaurav Gill misrepresented his achievements in his application to the Arjuna Award selection committee. The media report stated that there were inconsistencies in Gill's application, specifically mentioning that he "won 11 stages of the World Rally Championship" in 2018 in Annexure 1 of the application. The claim was dismissed by the World body the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Gill had participated in four WRC rallies last year - Italy, Finland, Great Britain and Australia - in the WRC2 category. The 11 stage wins were a part of the Kennards Hire Rally Australia under the WRC2/RC2 category. The sub-category is part of WRC as a whole and is loosely referred to WRC as well.

With Sherco TVS rider Adrien Metge out of contention in Stage 4, the second placed Joaquim Rodrigues of Hero rode to victory, while a consistently fast CS Santosh secured fifth overall, his career's best-ever result in an international rally.

The third stage of the 2019 PanAfrica Rally was its longest and saw a mixed performance from the Indian teams across the varied terrain of Merzouga in Africa. Sherco TVS Rally Factory Team led the race overall but lost two of its riders after Lorenzo Santolino and Michael Metge had to abandon the stage over technical issues. Meanwhile, Adrien Metge had an impressive run finishing Stage 3 at P2, 04m39s behind stage leader Jacopo Cerutti of Solarys Racing Team, and is now placed first in the overall rankings. Teammate Johnny Aubert lost considerable ground in comparison and finished the stage at P14, and is also placed 14th in the overall rankings.

Hero MotoSports' Joaquim Rodrigues won the second stage of the 2019 PanAfrica Rally after a fantastic finish. The rider improved his position from P4 in Stage 1, as he traversed through the shortened stage of 145 km dominating the first half. JRod bags his second win in the rally after winning the prologue stage. Meanwhile, teammate, CS Santosh finished Stage 2 in 11th place, and is placed 10th in the overall rankings. Meanwhile, Sherco TVS witnessed all its riders finishing within top 10 with Lorenzo Santolino taking P2 behind JRod, followed by Adrien Metge in P3, Michael Metge at P4, and Johnny Aubert at P9 in the overall rankings.

Defending champions, Sherco TVS Rally Team continued to maintain their dominance with a top three finish in the 2019 PanAfrica Rally in Morocco. The second day comprising 275 km of the special stage saw Michael Metge lead the rally once again, followed by Lorenzo Santolino and Adrien Metge in P2 and P3 respectively. Hero Motosports Team Rally rider Joaquim Rodrigues (JRod) finished at P4 after leading the rally at the end of the prologue stage. In his first race with Sherco TVS, Johnny Aubert finished Stage 1 in sixth place. India's CS Santosh managed to finish in ninth place, maintaining a promising start for the Indian team, but Sherco TVS rider Abdul Wahid Tanveer had to retire from the race in the prologue stage after sustaining an injury.