Dean Mascarenhas, right, and co-driver Gagan Karumbaiah win Nashik rally, crowned 2026 INRC champs on Sunday 1Mar2026. Photo by Srinivasa Krishnan. |
Nashik, 1 March 2026: Newly-crowned Indian National Rally champions Dean Mascarenhas of Mangaluru and co-driver Gagan Karumbaiah of Kodagu (Team TSI Racing) rounded off the season in style with a comfortable victory in the Blueband Rally of Maharashtra, the sixth and final round of the FMSCI Blueband Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) 2025, held here on Sunday.
Having sealed the National title with a round to spare at Indore last month, the duo delivered another dominant performance to cap a memorable campaign. A delighted Mascarenhas said: Driving the Peugeot 208 RS has been both thrilling and a tremendous learning experience.
Tarushi Vikram of Chikkamagaluru who won her maiden National title in Ladies Class on Sunday. |
My maiden National title would not have been possible without the imported car and the professional French team, made possible by Sidvin Energy Engineering. The MRF tyres, the tireless effort of my team members, my incredible co-driver Gagan, and the unwavering support of my family all contributed to what has been a refreshing and defining year in my career,” said a visibly pleased Mascarenhas.
The Indian National Rally Championship 2025 title winners: Mascarenhas and Karumbaiah (Overall INRC), Jason Saldanha (INRC2), Vaishak Balachandran and Chiranth Jain (INRC3), Naveen Puligilla and Santosh Thomas (INRC 3T), Abin Rai (Junior INRC), and Tarushi Vikram (Ladies Class). Supporting classes: Siddhartha Santosh Sawan Sathyanarayan won the Classic Cars Cup, and Sanjay Agarwal and Dheeraj Manae clinched the Gypsy Cup.
Left: Karna Kadur, (left), and Musa Sherif. Centre: Gagan Karumbaiah and Dean Mascarenhas, (right) and Right: Phillipos Matthai and Harish KN, (right) |
Philippos Matthai emerged as one of the standout performers of the rally, winning the INRC2 class and finishing an impressive third overall, while Pragathi Gowda delivered a noteworthy drive to finish fifth overall, matching pace with men in a field of 32 cars. The pair mounted a strong challenge to INRC2 championship leaders Jason Saldanha and PV Srinivasa Murthy, but the latter did enough with a steady fourth place to secure the title, having built a comfortable points buffer earlier in the season. Saldanha noted that after an early-season setback, a strong recovery from the Indore round and his success in the Thailand Rally Championship made it a highly satisfying year.
In the INRC3 category, Thiruvananthapuram-born Vaishak Balachandran, along with Chiranth Jain of Karkala, drove with composure to win the class and annex the national title. It was also a special outing for JA Motorsports as Jeet Jhabhak of Hyderabad and co-driver Sekhar V of Erode won the INRC 3T class, though it was compatriots Naveen Puligilla and Santosh Thomas who secured the season’s championship with a second-place finish in the category.
Abin Rai of Madikeri wrapped up the Junior INRC title, while the Ladies Class battle went down to the wire with young Tarushi Vikram of Chikkamagaluru claiming her maiden National title in her debut full season. She overcame the challenge from Phoebe Nongrum Dale of Shillong, who lost crucial time after overshooting a tricky corner in SS4 on Saturday, and Athira Murali, the find of the season, whose strong run was derailed by a puncture followed by a mechanical issue. Meanwhile, Siddhartha Santosh, who had already clinched the Classic Cars Cup with a round to spare, skipped the finale, and Sanjay Agarwal along with Dheeraj Manae signed off the season by winning the final round in the Gypsy class to take home the INRC 2025 honours in the category.
Provisional National Champions of INRC 2025: INRC OVERALL: Dean Mascarenhas, Mangalore; Co-driver Gagan Karumbaiah. Kodagu
(TSI Racing); INRC2: Driver: Jason Saldanha, Mangalore (Arka Motorsports); Co-Driver: Milen George
(Kottayam); INRC3: Vishakh Balachandran, Thiruvananthapuram; Co-driver: Chiranth Jain, Karkala
(Chettinad Sporting); INRC 3T: Naveen Puligilla; Co-driver: Santosh Thomas (Both Hyderabad) (Chettinad Sporting); Junior INRC: Abhin Rai (Madikeri) Privateer;
Ladies Class: 1. Tarushi Vikram (Chikkamagaluru) (Chettinad Sporting);
Challenge Cups: Classic cars: Siddhartha Santosh, Privateer, (Bengaluru); Co-driver: Sawan Sathyanarayan
Gypsy: Sanjay Aggarwal, Privateer, Co-driver: Dheeraj Manae (Both Bengaluru)
Provisional final Results:
Overall: 1. Dean Mascarenhas (Mangaluru)/ Gagan Karumbaiah (Kodagu) (TSI Racing) (01 hour, 19 minutes, 53.2seconds); 2. Karna Kadur (Bengaluru)/ Musa Sherif (Kasargod), Arka Motorsports (01:22:00.8); 3. Philippos Matthai (Delhi)/ Harish KN (Bengaluru) (Arka Motorsports) (01:24:40.2).
INRC2: 1. Philippos Matthai (Delhi)/ Harish KN (Bengaluru) (Arka Motorsports) (01:24:40.2); 2. Daraius Shroff (Mumbai)/ Arjun Dheerendra (Bengaluru) (Chettinad Sporting) (01:24:44.0); 3. Pragathi Gowda /Chandramouli (Both Bengaluru) (Chettinad Sporting) (01:24:47.7).
INRC3: 1. Vishakh Balachandran (Thiruvananthapuram)/ Chiranth Jain (Karkala) Chettinad Sporting (01:26:39.9); 2. Abin Rai (Madikeri)/ Jasheer Moideen (Chikkamagaluru) Pvt. (01:27:50.0); 3. Tarushi Vikram (Chikkamagaluru)/ Vybhav Mukund (Bengaluru) (Chettinad Sporting) (01:28:06.0).
INRC 3T: 1. Jeet Jhabhak (Hyderabad) / Sekhar V (Erode) (JA Motorsports) (01:26:25.5); 2.
Naveen Puligilla /Santosh Thomas (Both Hyderabad) (Chettinad Sporting) (01:28:56.6); 3.
Thejas Reddy/ SSB Arjun (Both Bengaluru) (Snap Racing) (01:30:42.2); Junior INRC: 1. Abin Rai (Madikeri); 2. Tarushi Vikram (Chikkamagaluru) Chettinad Sporting.
Ladies Class: 1. Tarushi Vikram; 2. Phoebe (Shillong); 3. Athira Murali (Kottayam) (All three cars from Chettinad Sporting). Classic Challenge winner: Satish P (Bengaluru)/ KR Rishikesh (Thrissur) (01:40:46.2) R-
Tech Motorsports; Gypsy winner: Sanjay Agarwal/ Dheeraj Manae (Both Bengaluru) (01:34:58.5).
