Nandakumar Puspanathan

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Nandakumar Puspanathan (born 23 June 1974), is a Malaysian rally driver, currently driving for the Perodua M5 Racing Team.

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, although they were sometimes accompanied by equally spectacular crashes or mechanical failures.

In 2004, Puspanathan teamed up with co-driver Suresh Parkash Sharma 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.

The final round of 2006 saw the two at arguably their best performance to date, when Puspanathan drove the little 1.3 litre Perodua Kelisa against a field of established drivers in much faster cars, to finish the rally, 5th overall and as the fastest front wheel drive.

The two delivered an impressive performance in 2006 to win yet another National Championship.

Puspanathan is also an automotive engineer, trained by Lotus Engineering as a chassis development engineer and test driver. This helped him develop a potent combination of engineering ability and driving skill.