Dean Mascarenhas wins INRC Round 2 at Coimbatore

The FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) 2026 arrived in Coimbatore for Round 2, and the Blueband Sports Rally of Coimbatore was contested on September 19 and 20 with 64 competitors.

Over two days the crews faced eight stage runs and 110.80 km of competitive distance, almost entirely on gravel. The day of Saturday belonged entirely to Karna Kadur and Musa Sherif of ARKA Motorsports. The former national champion was the quickest of the leading pair on both of the opening stages and ended the day at the head of the field. Close behind came Fabid Ahmer and Milen George, 5.6 seconds back. Dean Mascarenhas and Gagan Karumbaiah were third, just over 9 seconds behind.

Sunday brought a twist to the tale turn. Mascarenhas took nearly nine seconds from Kadur and moved past Ahmer. The gap to the leader shrank to 0.148 seconds, and Mascarenhas found a rhythm Kadur couldn't answer, taking a lead of more than 14 seconds in a single run. Mascarenhas was the faster of the two on every stage from SS3 onward, and he crossed the line in 1:36:19.777, 23.482 seconds clear. Kadur, the former National champion, never stopped pushing, and finished second in 1:36:43.259.

Jason Saldanha and Srinivas Murthy P V of ARKA Motorsports completed the podium, 1:30.623 off the winner’s pace. Naveen Puligilla and Santhosh Thomas of Duran Racing were fourth, followed by Aditya Thakur of Chettinad Sporting and Philiposs Matthai of Duran Racing, the top two in the INRC 2 category. Harkrishan Wadia was seventh and Anushriya Gulati, winner of INRC 3T, finished in eighth position.