Gran canaria

FIA World Rally Championship: Indian rally champion Dean Mascarenhas and co-driver Gagan Karumbaiah successfully completed their maiden FIA World Rally Championship, finishing 7th in the WRC3 class debut at the 50th edition of Rally Islas Canarias 2026, completing one of the season’s most demanding all-asphalt events in the WRC here.

Driving a Ford Fiesta Rally3, prepared by PH Sport, the Indian duo made a memorable debut and used the event as a crucial learning exercise on fast, technical and unfamiliar European tarmac stages. This is the first event on the world stage with TSI Racing, which gave them a platform after they won the Indian National Rally Championship in 2025. Competing along with higher-powered cars in the Premier Classes, the Indian duo finished overall 48th and 7th in their class, the WRC3 class.

The rally, based in Gran Canaria, featured 18 special stages presenting a steep challenge for a crew making its first appearance in WRC3 at this level. Despite brake issues on the opening day, Mascarenhas and Karumbaiah worked through the problem, adapted across the remaining stages and steadily built confidence through the weekend to successfully finish the rally clocking 03h 41m 50.6sec for a little over 301.3 competitive kilometres, including a 10-min penalty.