Tarushi Vikram vividly remembers the moment she fell in love with motorsports. She was nine and was travelling along with her father in their family rally car Gypsy. The subsequent drives in the picturesque locales of Chikkamagaluru piqued her interest in the sport. “I started Karting to learn the art of racing. At 17, I started competing in Autocrosses under the guidance of Chetan Shivram at Chetan Shivram Motorsport. After multiple Autocrosses, I moved on to the Madras International Circuit in Chennai where I was trained by Naren Shankaran from RedLine Racing,” said Tarushi.
This 20-year-old Chikkamagaluru native has won two national titles apiece in the finals of the FMSCI Indian National Rally Sprint Championship 2024 organised by the Madras Motor Sports Club at the Madras International Circuit. She won the women’s title with a time of 09:52.374s, recording the ninth-best time among 24 entries. And with co-driver Amitha Aneesh, she bagged the Junior National title beating 16-year-old Vihaan Bhat.
A student of Botany and Zoology at St Joseph’s University, Bengaluru, Tarushi is also a part of the University Girls’ football team and an NCC cadet of the 1 KAR ARMD SQN. At the MMSC track, she participated in several events and this helped her to polish her driving. “The South India Rally 2024 in Chennai was my first step into Rallying. I finished the year with the Karnataka 1000 Rally which took place in Tumkur. I have been training in Bangalore as well as Coimbatore with my mentors, Chetan Shivram and Fabid Ahmer.”
The Clash of the Moto-Clans, a league conducted by Chetan Shivram Motorsport, was a great opportunity for her to showcase her talent, where they were auctioned into teams. “I’m happy to say I was a major contributor to my team, IndySpeed Wagon. In my motorsport career so far, I have explored different formats of motorsport such as karting, autocross, circuit racing, rallying, hill climbs, and most recently, rally sprint,” added Tarushi.
Coming back to the finals of the FMSCI Indian National Rally Sprint Championship, Tarushi notes that a lot of planning and hard work led to her success. “It was a good experience taking part in the Indian National Rally Sprint Championship, for which I qualified from the South Zone in Chikkamagaluru. The finals took place at the Madras International Circuit where I drove a 1.6 VW Polo prepared by A and A Motorsports and co-driven by Amitha Aneesh. We placed first in the Rally Sprint Ladies, first in the Rally Sprint Junior, fourth in the Sprint 3 category, and ninth Overall. I learnt a lot from this championship,” said Tarushi.
Knowing that the final round of the Rally Sprint Championship was going to be at the Madras International Circuit, she was confident that she could put in good lap times. “Over the three seasons of the National Saloon Car Racing Championship, it’s safe to say that I’ve memorised every bump and stone. We had to do the track in the reverse direction with a few changes and chicanes to lower our average speed. My pace notes only consisted of the changes and chicanes with a few pointers to keep in mind. The track was wet from the rain the day before and thankfully the car was fitted with gravel tyres, I was excited to drive through the challenge of puddles and chicanes. I told myself: Enjoy the drive and a good lap time will automatically come,” she signed off.