Gill, Karthikeyan, Daruvala honoured at 2020 FMSCI Annual Awards

The brightest talents in Indian motorsport were felicitated for their achievements on both the national and international stage at the 2020 FMSCI (Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India) Annual Awards that were held in New Delhi. Leading the long list of awardees was rally ace Gaurav Gill, who was handed a special award to acknowledge his various achievements in motorsport, including becoming the first motorsport athlete to win the Arjuna Award, winning the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) thrice, and winning the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) six times.

18-year-old Lal Nunsanga took home the coveted ‘Upcoming Motorsports Person of the Year’ award. The young racer from Mizoram enjoyed a stellar year of racing in 2019; he clinched the title in the CBR150R category of the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship, bagging seven race wins along the way.

Other racers honoured at the event included Jehan Daruvala and Narain Karthikeyan. Indian Formula 1 hopeful Daruvala finished third overall in the newly established FIA Formula 3 Championship last year. He’s moved a step closer to racing in Formula 1 after securing a  Formula 2 drive with Carlin this year, in addition to joining Red Bull’s illustrious young driver programme which has churned out the likes of four-time champion Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen.

Karthikeyan, meanwhile, clinched his maiden Super GT podium finish at Round 6 of the series, at Sugo, and then went on to win the second Super GT x DTM Dream race. Earlier this year, he announced his decision to step away from the Japanese racing series to explore new racing challenges, and could be looking to branch out into the business side of motorsport.

Next up was Yash Aradhya, with the 17-year-old being recognised for becoming the first motorsport athlete to have received the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar. Arjun Maini and Abhimanyu Gautam were honoured for their respective achievements in the Asian Le Mans Series and the FIM Asia Cup of Road Racing. Elsewhere, Aishwarya Pissay’s Bajas World Cup title may have sparked controversy last year, considering she won the title in the women’s category due to a technicality, but she too was honoured at the event, along with other notable female racers like Mira Erda.

Other champions of Indian motorsport across a variety of two-wheel and four-wheel racing series were also felicitated. An indication of just how strong 2019 was for Indian motorsport, over 110 awards were handed out in total. Speaking at the event, FMSCI President J. Prithviraj said: “2019 has been nothing sort of a golden milestone for us. It marked a year where motorsport got much-deserved credit and recognition of the highest order.”

“The future of Indian motorsport has never looked brighter. These are truly exciting times and I am looking forward to seeing where we all can collectively take this sport,” he continued.

Full list of awards:

Special Awards
Arjuna Award 2019 - Gaurav Gill
Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Shakti Puraskar 2020 - Yash Aradhya

Outstanding achievements in world motorsports 2019
Winner of a round of Japan Super GT - Narain Karthikeyan
Multiple round winner of FIA Formula 3 Championship - Jehan Daruvala
Winner of a round of Asian Le Mans Series - Arjun Maini
3rd Place FIM Asia Cup of Road Race - Abhimanyu Gautam
2019 FIM Bajas World Cup Womens Category - Aishwarya Pissay

MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Car Racing Championship (4W)
FLGB 1300 Driver - Ashwin Datta; FLGB 1300 Team - Momentum Motorsports; Super Stock Driver - Rithvik Thomas; Super Stock Team - Race Concepts; Indian Touring Cars Driver - Dhruv Shivaji Mohite; Indian Touring Cars Team - Rayo Racing; MRF 1600 - Raghul Rangaswamy; VW Ameo Driver - Jeet Jhabakh; VW Ameo Junior Driver - Aiman Sadat

FMSCI Indian National Autocross Championship (4W)
Stock Class, 2WD, up to 1650cc - Karan Malik; Stock Class, 2WD, above 1651cc - Prateek Dalal; Modified Class, 2WD, up to 1400cc - Aabhishek Mishra; Modified Class, 2WD, up to 1650cc - Ashad Pasha; Modified Class, 2WD, 1651cc & above - Arjun Rao; Unrestricted Class, 2WD, up to 1650cc - Philippos Matthai; Unrestricted Class, 2WD, 1651cc & above - Dhruva Chandrasekhar; Unrestricted Class, 4WD, Cars/ SUV Open - Daksh Gill; Stock Class, Ladies, Open - Bani Yadav

FMSCI Indian National Auto Gymkhana Championship (4W)
2019 National Auto Gymkhana Driver (Male) - Prateek Dalal; 2019 National Auto Gymkhana Driver (Female) - Pragathi Gowda

JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship (4W)
LGB Formula 4 Driver - Vishnu Prasad; LGB Formula 4 rookie - Megaa K.S.; LGB Formula 4 Women Champion - Mira Erda

JK Tyre FMSCI National Karting Championship (4W)
Cadet X30 - Ishaan Madesh; Junior X30 - Ruhaan Alva; Senior X30 - Nirmal Umashankar; Micromax Rotax - Ishaan Madesh; Micromax Rotax Team - Peregrine Racing; Juniormax Rotax - Ryan Mohammed; Juniormax Rotax Team – Msport; Seniormax Rotax - Shahan Ali Mohsin; Seniormax Rotax Team – Msport; Junior Sodi 4 Stroke - Aditya Raja; Senior Sodi 4 Stroke - Karthik Muthuswamy

FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship (4W)
Overall Driver - Chetan Shivram; Overall Co-driver - Dilip Sharan; Overall Team - Mahindra Adventure; INRC 2 Driver - Dr. Bikku Babu; INRC 2 Co-driver - Milen George; INRC 3 Driver - Chetan Shivram; INRC 3 Co-driver - Sanath G; INRC 3 Team - Chettinad Sporting; INRC 4 Driver - Vaibhav Marathe; INRC 4 Co-driver - Arjun SSB; JINRC Driver - Fabid Ahmer

Outstanding women in Motorsports 2019 - JK Tyre FMSCI National Karting Championship
X30 Cadet Class (2nd Overall) - Shriya Lohia; X30 Junior Class (7th Overall)- Shravanthika Lakshmi; Rotax Micro (9th Overall) -  Juhi Brahmbhatt; Sodi 4 Stroke Junior (3rd Overall) - Muskaan Jubbal; Sodi 4 Stroke Junior (6th Overall) - Aashi Hanspal

FMSCI Indian National Rally Sprint Championship (2W)
Group A upto 800cc - Badal S Doshi; Group B upto 130cc - Noldin Thomas Group B 131cc to 165cc - Yuva Kumar; Group B 166cc to 260cc - Adnan Ahmed; Group B 261cc to 400cc - Sudeep Kottary; Bullet - Devaraj Venkatesh; Scooter - Pinkesh Thakkar

MRF MOGRIP FMSCI National Supercross Championship (2W)

SX 1 - GP "A"UPTO 250CC (2STROKE) & 500cc (4 STROKE) - Jinan C.D.; NOVICE CLASS - GROUP "C" - STROKE 2/4 - UPTO 260cc - Kalimohan M; INDIAN EXPERTS CLASS - GROUP "C" - STROKE 2/4 - UPTO 260cc - Kalimohan M; PRIVATE EXPERTS CLASS - GROUP "C" - STROKE 2/4 - UPTO 260cc - Sabarish R; SX 2 - GROUP "A" - UPTO 250CC (2STROKE) & 500cc (4 STROKE) - Mahesh V.M.; JR SX 1 - GROUP "A/B/C/D" - UPTO 250cc -STROKE 2/4 - Yuvraj Kondedeshmukh; JR SX 2 - GROUP "A/B/C/D" - UPTO 250cc -STROKE 2/4 - Ikshan Shanbhag

MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship (2W)
Pro Stock 301-400cc Open Rider       - Deepak Ravikumar; Pro Stock 301-400cc Open Team - TVS Racing; Pro Stock 301-400cc Open Manufacturer – TVS; Pro Stock 201-300cc Open Rider - Anish Shetty; Pro Stock 201-300cc Open Team - Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing; Pro Stock 201-300cc Open Manufacturer – Honda; Pro Stock upto 165cc Open Rider - Sarath Kumar; Pro Stock upto 165cc Open Team - Honda Ten10 Racing; Pro Stock upto 165cc Open Manufacturer – Honda; Stock upto 165cc Girls - Ryhana Bee; Stock upto 165cc Girls (Team) - Sparks Racing; Stock upto 165cc Girls (Manufacturer) – Yamaha; Stock upto 165cc Novice - Venkatesan I; Stock upto 165cc Novice (Team) - Team Moto Maniacz; Stock upto 165 cc Novice (Manufacturer) – Yamaha

MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Drag Racing Championship (2W)
Rider Girls Stock 4 Stroke upto 165cc - Nivetha Jessica; Girls Team Stock 4 Stroke upto 165cc - Speed Up Racing; Rider Super Sport 2 Stroke upto 130cc - Mohammed Rafiq; Rider Super Sport 2 Stroke 131cc upto 165cc - Mohammed Rafiq; Rider Super Sport Indian 4 Stroke upto 165cc - Sooriya P.M.; Team Super Sport Indian 4 Stroke upto 165cc - Speed Up Racing; Rider Super Sport Indian 4 Stroke 166cc to 225cc - Deepak N; Rider Super Sport Indian 4 Stroke 226cc to 360cc – Yogeshwaran; Rider Super Sport Indian 4 Stroke 361cc to 550cc - Aiyaz C; Team Super Sport Indian 4 Stroke 361cc to 550cc - Speed Up Racing; Rider Super Sport 4 Stroke Unrestricted - Hemanth Muddappa; Team Super Sport 4 Stroke Unrestricted - Mantra Racing

MRF MOGRIP FMSCI National Rally Championship (2W)            
Overall - Rajendra R.E.; Super Bike [Pro Expert] Class Group “A” - Rajendra R.E.; Super Bike [Expert] Class Group “A” - Jatin Jain; Super Sport 130 Group “B” - Srikanth M.l Super Sport 165 Group “B” - Ishan Chandra; Super Sport 260 Group “B” - Imran Pasha; Super Sport 400 Group “B” - Sudeep Kottary; Super Sport 550 Group “B” - Suhail Ahmed; Group “B” S0 TO S3: SCOOTERS up to 210cc - Syed Asif Ali; Group “B” LADIES CLASS (Open Indian M/c) - Aishwarya Pissay