Bangalore's H K Pradeep of Team TVS Racing won the Apache RTR Rally of Mysore 2008, the first round of the five-round FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship here on Sunday.
The 25-year-old won the Group B (modified) category in the 130-160cc class, with a minute and eight seconds to spare. Riding an Apache RTR, the Bangalorean finished in a time of 42.01 minutes.
"I was a little worried when I entered the rally, because I did not participate in any event the whole of 2007 (his family was not for it), and I was on a new bike," Pradeep said. "But when I did the testing at the TVS factory, and did the recee yesterday, I felt more confident. So I was planning for a top-three finish," he added.
It turned out a memorable day for Team TVS Racing as well, sweeping the top three places in the rally. Ravindra M S finished second (43.09) and Nataraj (43.36) was third. Pramod Joshua and C Vijaykumar of Team High Rollers finished fourth and fifth respectively. Ex-National Rally champion C Srinivas finished on top in Group D (un-modified) 130-160 cc category with a timing of 45.51 minutes. "I am very happy that two-wheeler rallying has been revived in India," said Srinivas. Mysore's very own Tanveer (46.24) finished second in the category, while Sunil (47.54) came in third.
Results: Overall & Group B 130-160cc class: H K Pradeep (Team TVS Racing), 42.01 minutes, 1; Ravindra M S (Team TVS Racing), 43.09, 2; Natraj R (Team TVS Racing), 43.36, 3; Pramod Joshua (Team High Rollers), 43.36, 4; C Vijayakumar (Team High Rollers), 46.32, 5. Group D 130-160cc class: Srinivas C (45.51) 1; Tanveer (46.24) 2; Sunil (47.54) 3; Zain (48.35) 4; Pramod Raman (49.12) 5. Group D (upto 130cc class): Pundrik (48.30) 1; Venu Ramesh (49.42) 2; Sameer (49.53) 3.