Team Slideways Industries to field five cars in the 2014 Indian Rally Championship

For the 2014 FMSCI-IRC, last year’s championship team, Slideways Industries, will enter with five of their cars in the first round to be held at Nasik from 13th to 15th June, 2014. The team, backed by Jaysingpur (Kolhapur) based Sanjay Ghodawat Group of Institutions, Pinnacle Group and Golden Sparrow Corporation, is looking to repeat their success in 2013 where they won the FMSCI-INRC Team Championship on their debut with a brand new car. For the 2014 IRC season-opener, two Polos from the team will take part in the Mahindra Adventure Rally of Maharashtra in Nasik for Byram Godrej/A G Somayya in the 2000cc class and for Sirish Chandran/Nikhil Pai in the 1600cc class. The team will also compete in the new Pre-2007 class with Aniruddha Rangnekar/Arjun Mehta in the Baleno.

“2013 was an incredible year for us – we debuted with an all-new car and were on the top step of the podium from the very first rally,” said Team Principal Rohan Pawar. “We developed the VW Polo at break-neck speed, expanded the team and eventually the Team Championship was just reward for the hard work put in by the engineers and the excellent driving of our crew. We now look forward to a strong 2014 IRC season which begins in Nasik – the home rally for our team, considering we are based just 160 kilometers away in Pune. Recent developments mean that the much-anticipated R2-spec Polos will not be seen in action, but in Group N, there will be battles galore and our team is geared up for the challenge.”

Garima Avtar, who’s making her IRC debut, will be driving a Slideways Polo and this will be the only all-woman crew in the IRC. Mumbai-based Hrishikesh Thackersey will be driving under Slideways Industries’ Arrive & Drive package, where the `team takes care of all logistics, car preparation, service, testing and support, while the driver only needs to come to the location and drive.

Built to a Group N (production class) specification, the Slideways Industries Rally Polo is powered by a 1.6-litre engine upgraded to produce over 130bhp with the addition of a Race Dynamics Motorsport ECU. The car comes fitted with 15-inch JK Rally tyre and a Quaife limited-slip front differential for improved traction. The car can tackle six-foot-high jumps at over 130kmph thanks to a Reiger 3-way adjustable rally suspension and has an FIA-spec roll cage for safety, among other extensive modifications.

The Slideways Industries was launched in 2012 by four rally enthusiasts - Aniruddha Rangnekar, Byram Godrej, Rohan Pawar and Sirish Chandran. The team made their debut at the 2013 South India Rally where their Polo won in the 1600cc class, the first time a brand-new rally car has won on debut in over seven years.