CK Chinnappa
Chandra Kumar Chinnappa (born 16 May 1953) born in Bangalore (now Bengaluru) is an Indian motorsports athlete and administrator.[1] He is a racing driver and a rally co-driver.[2][3] Chinnappa took part in Indian National bike races in various disciplines like rallies, autocross, motocross, hill climb and drag meets, and in later years he became a regular four-wheeler rally co-driver in the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) for an overall career spanning 34 active years as a competitor.[4] Now he continues as a senior steward of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI).
Motorsports career
[edit]Popularly known as Chinni, he started his career in a club rally in 1973 and made his debut in the maiden Karnataka 1000 rally (K1000) for bikes organised by Bangalore Motorsports Club, which later became Karnataka Motor Sports Club (KMSC). He started on an Yezdi.[5][6] Initially, the K1000 Rally, used to be run over a distance of about 1000 miles across more than two states in the TSD format for both the bikes and four-wheelers. In late eighties, Chinnappa shifted to four-wheelers and took part in the National four-wheeler rallies regularly from early nineties until he retired in 2007.[7] He also won many other cross-country National events like Himalayan Rally and Desert Storm. He retired after winning the Desert Storm with Anil Wadia in 2007 to take care of his son Deepak Chinnappa's motorsports career.[8] He won the Rally Star Cup at Nashik in 2003.[9][10] He won the Himalayan Rally in 2000.[11]
Representing JK Tyre rallying team, he navigated for Manik Raikhy in 1997[12] and went on to call the pace notes, for many more drivers, in a four-wheeler career spanning over a decade.
Chinnappa now attends major motorsports events in the country as a steward of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (fmsci).[citation needed]
References
[edit]- ^ Thyagarajan, DHNS, Roshan. "More revs in Bengaluru's motor sports". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
- ^ Track, Auto (10 September 2021). "EV Day Ride in Bengaluru". Auto Track. Retrieved 15 March 2025.
- ^ Thakur, Vedant (15 July 2019). "The Bangalore Jawa Yezdi Motorcycle Club Recently Celebrated The 17th International Jawa Day | Motoroids". Retrieved 15 March 2025.
- ^ Racing Legend: C.K. Chinnappa (Part 2) | Golden Era of Indian Motorsports, retrieved 20 October 2023
- ^ Chandna, Himani (10 February 2019). "Rajdoot was for weak boys, Bullet for macho men: Yezdi was everyman's 'forever bike'". ThePrint. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
- ^ Soni, Mohit (23 November 2021). "The Yezdi Madmen - The Motorcyclists That Kept Yezdi Alive For Decades". Thrust Zone. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
- ^ Shacki. "C K Chinnappa - rally profile eWRC-results.com". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
- ^ "The burnt rubber legacy lives on". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 15 March 2025.
- ^ "Naren wins MRF Taj Challenge Rally". The Times of India. 8 June 2003. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
- ^ "Naren wins MRF Taj Challenge". www.rediff.com. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
- ^ "vertical insanity". Bangalore Mirror. 29 September 2008. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
- ^ Shacki. "C K Chinnappa - rally profile eWRC-results.com". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 21 October 2023.