MRF Racing is an Indian racing team that competes in car racing and rallies.

Formula Racing

MRF Challenge MRF Challenge is an open-wheel motorsport formula In science, a formula is a concise way of expressing information symbolically, as in a mathematical formula or a ''chemical formula''. The informal use of the term ''formula'' in science r ...

is an open-wheel formula racing series organized by MRF. The latest season consisted of races organized at Madras Motor Racing Track, Chennai,

Bahrain International Circuit The Bahrain International Circuit () is a motorsport venue opened in 2004 and used for drag racing, GP2 Series (now FIA Formula 2 Championship, FIA Formula 2), and the annual Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix. The 2004 Formula One season, 2004 Gr ...

, Losail International Circuit, Doha and Buddh International Circuit, Noida. Freddie Hunt, son of

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

champion

James Hunt James Simon Wallis Hunt (29 August 1947 – 15 June 1993) was a British racing driver and broadcaster, who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "the Shunt", Hunt won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with McLaren, and wo ...

Mathias Lauda Mathias Lauda (born 30 January 1981) is an Austrian racing driver notable for winning the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship for Aston Martin Racing in the LMGTE Am category. He is the son of the late three-time Formula One world champion Niki ...

, son of , and Formula One champion

Niki Lauda Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda (22 February 1949 – 20 May 2019) was an Austrian racing driver, motorsport executive and aviation entrepreneur, who competed in Formula One from to and from to . Lauda won three Formula One World Drivers' Champ ...

and

Mick Schumacher Mick Schumacher (; born 22 March 1999) is a German racing driver, who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Alpine. Schumacher competed in Formula One from to . Born and raised in Switzerland, Schumacher is the son of seven-ti ...

, son of seven time Formula 1 champion

Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher (; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to and from to . Schumacher won a record-setting seven Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, tied by Lewis Hamilton in ...

competed in the series. MRF has sponsored Indian racing drivers including

Narain Karthikeyan Kumar Ram Narain Karthikeyan (; born 14 January 1977) is an Indian former racing driver, who competed in Formula One between and . Early life and family background Karthikeyan was born on 14 January 1977 in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu to Sheela ...

, Karun Chandok, Ashwin Sundar, N. Leelakrishnan and Raj Bharath.

Rallying

MRF have also been a long-running sponsor of MRF rally team participating in

Asia-Pacific Rally Championship The Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) is an international rally championship organized by the FIA encompassing rounds in Asia and Oceania. Group N cars dominated the championship for many years but in recent years cars built to R5 and S20 ...

and Indian National Rally Championship. Associating with Czech car manufacturer

Škoda Škoda means "pity" in the Czech and Slovak languages. It may also refer to: Czech brands and enterprises * Škoda Auto, automobile and previously bicycle manufacturer in Mladá Boleslav ** Škoda Motorsport, the division of Škoda Auto responsi ...

, MRF Skoda is the three time reigning champion in

with Chris Atkinson winning in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, Gaurav Gill in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

and Jan Kopecký in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

. MRF also participates in Raid De Himalaya, the world's highest rally. The Indian National Rally Championship Overall winners (2022) Karna Kadur and Nikhil Pai also drive in the MRF colours.

European Rally Championship

Since 2020, Team MRF Tyres has contested the

European Rally Championship The European Rally Championship (officially FIA European Rally Championship) is an rallying, automobile rally competition held annually on the European continent and organized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The champion ...

. In

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, they fielded two cars – a BRC-run Hyundai i20 R5 for Hyundai’s factory driver

Craig Breen Craig Breen (2 February 1990 – 13 April 2023) was an Irish rally driver who last competed part time for the Hyundai team in the World Rally Championship (WRC). He won the 2012 Super 2000 WRC, scoring class wins in the Monte Carlo Rally, Wale ...

and a TGS-run Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo for Emil Lindholm. Breen eventually finished the championship in 7th and Lindholm in 15th, with MRF finishing 4th in the Teams championship. In

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

MRF entered a VW Polo GTI R5 for Simone Campedelli instead of WRC-2 bound Lindholm, while also continuing to field the BRC-run Hyundai. Craig Breen continued to drive, but left the team after three events. Different Hyundai-associated drivers would compete in the car for the remainder of the year, including

Jari Huttunen Jari Huttunen (born 28 February 1994) is a Finnish rally driver from Kiuruvesi. He currently competes in the World Rally Championship-2, the premier support category of the World Rally Championship, for M-Sport Ford World Rally Team. He gained n ...

, Dani Sordo and

Nil Solans Nil Solans Baldó (born 14 April 1992) is a Spanish rally driver. Biography Solans won the Junior World Rally Championship and WRC-3 in 2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the ...

. MRF eventually finished the season in 5th. In

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, MRF expanded to enter a trio of Škodas for Campedelli, Norbert Herczig and 2021 runner-up Efrén Llarena. Javier Pardo Siota and Mārtiņš Sesks joined later in the season. Llarena scored his first ERC victory on Rallye Azores, with Sesks taking a dominant victory by winning every stage at his home Rally Liepāja. Llarena eventually won the championship, with Pardo in 2nd, Campedelli in 5th, Herczig in 9th and Sesks in 12th. MRF also won the Teams championship, leading

Toksport WRT Toksport WRT is a motorsport preparation and race team based at the Nürburgring in Quiddelbach, Germany. The team has prepared cars for, and entered events in 26 motorsport championships around the globe and has won notable Fédération Interna ...

by 90 points. In

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, MRF entered two teams – Team MRF Tyres and MRF Tyres Dealer Team. They retained Llarena, Campedelli and Sesks, who were joined by

Mads Østberg Mads Østberg (born 11 October 1987) is a Norway, Norwegian Rallying, rally driver. His co-driver is Torstein Eriksen. Career Østberg competed in his first rally in 2004. His first World Rally Championship event was the 2006 Swedish Rally, in ...

in a TRT-run Citroën C3 Rally2 and Andrea Mabellini in a Škoda. Pontus Tidemand, Jon Armstrong and Dennis Radström also appeared in a GN Motorsport-run Ford Fiesta Rally2, while Pardo drove a Hyundai i20 N Rally2 at Rally Islas Canarias. The team took two victories – in Poland Liepāja, courtesy of Mārtiņš Sesks, who eventually finished the season as runner-up. Østberg classified 3rd, with Llarena in 4th. The teams finished in 1st and 3rd, respectively. In

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, MRF downgraded to three cars for Llarena, Mabellini and Sesks, who switched the Škoda for a

Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 The Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 is a Group Rally2, Rally2 car built by Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT based on the Toyota GR Yaris, GR Yaris production car. The car made its first public appearance at the 2022 Rally Japan, with Juha Kankkunen as the driver. T ...

. The season proved to be challenging, with both Llarena and Sesks leaving mid-season. Amaury Molle and Simone Tempestini were later signed as their replacements. Mabellini took 2nd in

Ceredigion Ceredigion (), historically Cardiganshire (, ), is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the West Wales, west of Wales. It borders Gwynedd across the River Dyfi, Dyfi estuary to the north, Powys to the east, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire t ...

and later won 2024 Rally Silesia, which allowed him to finish 4th in the overall standings. MRF eventually finished the championship in 2nd. Tempestini is set to remain with MRF in 2025 behind the wheel of a Keane Motorsport-run Škoda, with James Williams and former Citroën factory driver

Stéphane Lefebvre Stéphane Lefebvre (born 16 March 1992) is a Rallying, rally driver from France. He won the World Rally Championship-3 and Junior World Rally Championship in the season, and scored his first points at the 2015 Rallye Deutschland, his first time ...

joining on selected events, both driving a Hyundai i20 N Rally2.

Others

MRF promotes a national motocross championship, a form of all-terrain two wheeler racing held on enclosed off-road circuits annually across several cities. MRF sponsors major

karting Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on full-size motor ...

championships in India. MRF is the first Indian tyre company to develop FIA approved karting tyres.

References

{{Reflist 1997 establishments in India Indian auto racing teams Intercontinental Rally Challenge teams MRF Challenge European Rally Championship teams