Nashik, 28 February 2026: Mangaluru’s speed maestro Dean Mascarenhas, along with co-driver Gagan Karumbaiah of TSI Racing, produced a scintillating performance to take the overnight lead in the Blueband Rally of Maharashtra, the sixth and final round of the Blueband FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) 2025, organised by the Western India Sports Association, here on Saturday.
The Mangaluru–Kodagu combination, running on MRF Tyres, dominated the day by clocking the fastest times in five of the six Special Stages. Their consistent pace enabled them to open up a healthy advantage going into the final leg on Sunday.
Defending National champion Karna Kadur, assisted by seasoned co-driver Musa Sherif, lost over a minute during the day’s stages and slipped to second place overall, with three Special Stages remaining to be run on Sunday. Meanwhile, TSI Racing’s other Peugeot entry of Aditya Thakur and Virender Kashyap (Himachal) crashed out in SS2, ending their challenge early.
Another notable performance came from Mangaluru driver Jason Saldanha, who, along with experienced navigator PV Srinivasa Murthy, set a stunning time of 6 minutes, 05.9 seconds in the short Karoli stage, clipping more than 12 seconds off the champions’ benchmark time of 6:18.6.
Philippos Matthai of Speedsport Delhi, driving a Snap Racing machine with co-driver Harish KN, was in fine fettle to hold a creditable third place overall at the end of Day 1. Matthai also leads the INRC2 class and still has an outside chance of clinching the class title, provided he maintains his lead and championship table-topper Jason Saldanha finishes outside the top five. Saldanha, after some hiccups midway, finished fourth, to bag two valuable leg points.
The day also saw commendable performances from women drivers, with Pragathi Gowda in INRC2 and Athira Murali in INRC3 keeping the Women in Motorsport flag flying high. Pragathi is placed fifth overall and third in her class, behind a resurgent Daraius Shroff, who appeared to regain his form after a couple of difficult rallies. The Kottayam duo of Athira Murali and co-driver Arun Chakkalaykal are ninth overall among 32 starters and third in the INRC3 class after Saturday’s six Special Stages.
INRC3 championship leader Vishak Balachandran, along with co-driver Chiranth Jain, is comfortably placed at the top of the class standings, followed by Abin Rai and Athira Murali, who are also leading the Junior INRC and Ladies categories respectively.
Jeet Jhabhak of Hyderabad, with co-driver V. Sekar of Erode, is leading the INRC 3T class. The final day on Sunday will see all three Special Stages run once in the forward direction to conclude the 2025 season. The day, however, proved tough for the Gypsies and the two Classic cars, all of which suffered mechanical failures on Saturday.
Provisional final Results:
Overall: 1. Dean Mascarenhas (Mangaluru)/ Gagan Karumbaiah (Kodagu) (TSI Racing) (54 minutes, 15.6seconds); 2. Karna Kadur (Bengaluru)/ Musa Sherif (Kasargod), Arka Motorsports (00:55:48.0); 3. Philippos Matthai (Delhi)/ Harish KN (Bengaluru) (Arka Motorsports) (00:56:59.5).
INRC1: 1. Dean Mascarenhas / Gagan Karumbaiah (00:54:15.6); 2. Karna Kadur / Musa Sherif, 00:55.48;0.
INRC2: 1. Philippos Matthai (Delhi)/ Harish KN (Bengaluru) (Arka Motorsports) (00:56:59.5); 2. Daraius Shroff (Mumbai)/ Arjun Dheerendra (Bengaluru) (Chettinad Sporting) (00:57:42.6); 3. Pragathi Gowda /Chandramouli (Both Bengaluru) (Chettinad Sporting) (00:57:46.3).
INRC3: 1. Vishakh Balachandran (Thiruvananthapuram)/ Chiranth Jain (Karkala) Chettinad Sporting (00:58:27.6); 2. Abin Rai (Madikeri)/ Jasheer Moideen (Chikkamagaluru) Pvt. (00:59:16.9); 3. Athira Murali/ Arun Chakkalaykal (Both Kottayam) (Chettinad Sporting) (00:59:40.4).
INRC 3T: 1. Jeet Jhabhak (Hyderabad) / Sekhar V (Erode) (JA Motorsports) (00:58:34.4); 2. Naveen Puligilla /Santosh Thomas (Both Hyderabad) (Chettinad Sporting) (01:00:15.3); 3. Baljinder Singh Dhillon (Delhi)/ Goutham CP (Chikkamagalur) R-Tech Motorsports (01:00:56.2);
Junior INRC: 1. Abin Rai (Madikeri); 2. Tarushi Vikram (Chikkamagaluru) Chettinad Sporting.
Ladies Class: 1. Athira Murali; 2. Tarushi Vikram.
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