- CHENNAI — After a lapse of three years, Bengaluru’s
reigning National champion Karna Kadur of Arka Motorsports won a round of the
FIA-Asia Pacific Rally Championship 2025 at the Madras International Circuit,
here on Sunday.
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- It was a near-flawless drive in the Volkswagen Polo by the
36-year-old Kadur who was greatly aided by his experienced co-driver Musa
Sherif from Kasargod as the duo combined beautifully to also clinch the crown
in the first round of the FMSCI Indian National Championship 2025 powered by
Vamcy Merla and organised by the Madras Motor Sports Club.
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- Finishing second in APRC was Kadur’s teammate and
England-based former National champion Amittrajit Ghosh (co-driver Ashwin Naik,
Mangaluru) while Delhi’s Harkrishan Wadia (co-driver Harish KN, Bengaluru)
completed the APRC podium after Philippos Matthai (Harish KN), who was running
third, retired with a mechanical problem about five kms from the finish of the
day’s last Special Stage.
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- Wadia, who drove brilliantly today, made a lot of ground to
make up a two-minute penalty he had received yesterday for an early check-in at
the Start Time Control to win the Junior APRC (28 years and younger) class
ahead of overnight leader Arnav Pratap Singh (Rohit N) and Abhin Rai (Moideen
Jasheer KM).
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- Kadur attributed his success to a judicial blend of caution
and aggression. “After a long time, we had a trouble-free run. The car was
great and just about everything fell into place. We had carefully planned our
strategy, and it was executed flawlessly. We could have gone faster, but in
view of the rising temperature, we had to exercise some caution. A few
competitors suffered as they did not back off and having seen this, I kept
something in reserve in case I needed to push hard. Anyway, it’s a good start
to the season. Also, my co-driver Musa’s calls were spot-on, and it greatly
helped,” he said.
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- Ghosh had to overcome a misbehaving VW Polo which was put
together about three days before the event after his Mahindra XUV 300 packed up
during testing. “We had issues with the car throughout the weekend. Today, we
lost the clutch, and it slowed us down. But considering everything, including
having only a few days to prepare this VW Polo, we did pretty well.”
