Nandakumar Puspanathan (born 23 June 1974), is a
Malaysia
Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
n
rally driver
Rallying is a wide-ranging form of motorsport with various competitive motoring elements such as speed tests (sometimes called "rally racing" in United States), navigation tests, or the ability to reach waypoints or a destination at a prescribed ...
.
He began his rally career in the
Malaysian Rally Championship 2001, driving a privately entered Proton Satria 1600. He soon gained a reputation for clocking spectacularly quick stage times.
In 2004, Nandakumar teamed up with co-driver
Suresh Parkash Sharma Suresh is an Indian masculine given name originating in the Sanskrit word ' (compound of ' and '). Its meaning is "Ruler of Gods" and it has been used an epithet for the Hindu gods Indra, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.
People
People named Suresh inclu ...
and the pair began chalking up class victories and top 5 overall finishes.
The pair went on to win the National 1600 Championship for the year and were awarded the "Malaysian Most Promising Rally Driver Award for 2004" by the
Automobile Association of Malaysia.
The following year saw Nandakumar and Suresh Sharma contracted to factory team, Perodua M5 Racing Team.
Piloting the diminutive Perodua Kelisa 1.3 to numerous top 5 finishes overall and countless class wins showcased the talent and versatility of the pair and they went on to finish 5th overall and win the National Championship in their category in 2006.
With the introduction of the Myvi by Perodua, an experimental 1.6 litre Front wheel drive rally version made its debut in mid-2007 with Nandakumar at the wheel.
The prototype however was constantly plagued by electrical gremlins and mechanical failures and although the pair achieved a few podium finishes in the car, there were quite a number of retirements as well.
After a transmission failure in the second round of the Malaysian Rally Championship 2008, Nandakumar was dropped by the Perodua Rally Team, citing race based policies as the reason for the decision.
Not surprisingly, Nandakumar, a Malaysian born ethnic Indian was later replaced by rally driver Jamaludin Tukmin, an ethnic Malay.
Unfazed, Nandakumar and Suresh Sharma entered the following round in their old 1.8 litre Proton Satria as privateers and finished that round on the podium ahead of their former teammates.
In the following rounds, the duo secured a drive with the
GSR – Pennzoil Racing Team and proceeded to dominate the Malaysian Rally Championship at every round while extending their lead in the 2 wheel drive category.
Nandakumar completed the 2008 Malaysian rally Championship as the 2 wheel drive champion but without resources or career progression options, he shifted his focus to automotive engineering.
Nandakumar is also an
automotive engineer
Automotive engineering, along with aerospace engineering and naval architecture, is a branch of vehicle engineering, incorporating elements of mechanical, electrical, electronic, software, and safety engineering as applied to the design, manufact ...
, trained by
Lotus Engineering as a chassis development engineer and
test drive
A test drive is the driving of a motor vehicle to assess its drivability or roadworthiness, and general operating state. A person who tests vehicles for a living, either for an automobile company, automotive media for review purposes, or a motor ...
r. His potent combination of driving and engineering ability has since helped him advance a career in vehicle dynamics in the automotive and motorsport industry.
Sources
* http://www.hypertunemag.com/news/epitome-of-passion-and-talent-in-a-true-malaysian/
* http://www.nk-ssrallying.blog.com
* http://www.perodua.com.my/index.php?section=rally&year=2007
* http://www.zerotohundred.com/newforums/rallying/80522-malaysian-rally-championship-news.html
* http://www.malaysianrally.com/
* ''Hypertune'', November 2004
* ''Carma'', February 2006
* ''The Malay Mail'', 27 January 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Puspanathan, Nandakumar
Living people
Malaysian engineers
Malaysian rally drivers
Malaysian people of Indian descent
1974 births
21st-century Malaysian engineers