Teams
The ITC sponsored Scissors Action Rally Team, based out of Coimbatore having strong links to the Coimbatore Auto Sports Club, was the first in establishing a professional rally team in late 80’s, eventually winning the inaugural rally in the INRC year 1988. This team had several top title contenders like L. Gopalakrishnan, DPF Krishnakumar and O.G.Sunil of which the former two were leading the championship points at times during the 88 and 89 seasons.
MRF Tyres were one of the major sponsors for some of the leading drivers and two wheelers riders since early 80’s, fielding some of the leading as well as new talents in both Four Wheelers and Two Wheelers. Tough the team concept was non-existent then, MRF sponsored competitors had their own tuners. It was not until 1989 J. Anand and a year later N. Leelakrishnan would establish the MRF rally units. The Cochin based Popular Automobiles had the Popular Rally Team and Kirloskar, Veedol Oil and Raymonds used to sponsor drivers from Maharashtra. Most of these those teams were competing or sponsoring drivers since early eighties.MRF Tyres would also eventually establish a Motorsport division with Anthony Rodricks ad its head.
After the introduction of INRC championship title format, several new teams entered into Rallying. The notable entry was by JK Tyres, who in 1992 signed an agreement with S. Karivardhan for Motor Rallying as well as Racing activities. JK Motorsports since then managed by Sanjay Sharma had been in Motor Rallying and Track racing, in a major way by sponsoring drivers to international competitions. In 1993 another new team emerged from Irujalakuda, named Team Paarel which also won the 1993 Karnataka-1000 riven by Vinil Varghese. In 1995 Chetinnad Cements sponsored Chettinad Motorsports started competing in the stock Group N category.
There were other private entrants who mostly filled the rest half of the field.
Read more about this topic: Indian National Rally Championship
Famous quotes containing the word teams:
“A sturdy lad from New Hampshire or Vermont who in turn tries all the professions, who teams it, farms it, peddles, keeps a school, preaches, edits a newspaper, goes to Congress, buys a township, and so forth, in successive years, and always like a cat falls on his feet, is worth a hundred of these city dolls. He walks abreast with his days and feels no shame in not “studying a profession,” for he does not postpone his life, but lives already.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)