Mangaluru Ashwin first Indian to finish on podium in British Rally

Mangaluru, Mar 17: Ashwin Naik, a Mangaluru based rallyist, along with his Bengali colleague Amittrajit Ghosh broke a glass ceiling by becoming first Indians to finish on the podium in the British Rally Championship (BRC4) recently.

Former national rally champion Amittrajit Ghosh and co-driver Ashwin Naik scored a class podium in the first round of the BRC4, during the opening round of the 39th Mid Wales Stages Rally in Newtown driving a Ford Fiesta R2T.

The duo were classified 29th out of a total of 31 finishers of the Mid Wales Stages Rally. A twenty second time penalty dropped Ghosh/Naik to third in their class instead of second.

They hit trouble while leading their class with over a 55 seconds lead in the last liaison section at the end of the first day, the duo managed to get their car to the finish and claim a well deserved class podium.

The next round of the BRC is the Circuit of Ireland Rally, which will be held from April 8 to 9.

Ghosh also hopes to start testing a Ford Fiesta R5 mid-year to participate in a round of ERC or WRC2 for some more mileage under his belt.

Amittrajit Ghosh has been competing in motorsport in India since 2005, when he won the Formula Maruti title in the National Racing Championship. His foray in rallying started in 2007 when he won the national rally title in the 1400cc category.

39-year-old Ashwin has won the Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm 2012 and the Thunder Bolt SJOBA Sub-Himalayan Rally for four consecutive years (2009-2012). He is the only South Indian to have won the Raid De Himalaya (Extreme) for two consecutive years (2010, 2011). He also ranked first in Round 1 and Round 2 of Thailand 4x4 Championship.

Ashwin also runs the Indian Motor Sports Club, which organizes the Mahindra Great Escape, Nagaland Championship, and, more recently, the Monsoon Challenge rally (from Bangalore to Goa) for Mahindra & Mahindra.