J. Anand is former racing driver from Coimbatore, India who was active during the 1980s and 90's. He currently runs a rally car team and provides automobile R&D services to various automobile manufacturers.
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J. Anand is from Coimbatore. He is the son of noted Indian automobile and engine designer B. Jayachandran and grandson of S. Balasundaram, the founder of the Textool company in Coimbatore.
J. Anand's racing career started when he entered Sholavaram in the mid-1980s as a racing prodigy with his race-tuned Maruti 800. He later won several races in Formula Maruti class. Also at this time, he joined S. Karivardhan's Team Super Speeds. Later, he left for Team MRF where he quickly became its number one driver. He is best known for winning several Formula 3 races and championships on the Sholavaram and Irrugattukottai tracks for Team MRF. He also took part in the famous Karnataka 1000 Rally in the 80's with Team MRF's in-house designed Mayura C sedan car fitted again with its own 16-valve DOHC gasoline engine.
J. Anand now runs the rallying team for Team MRF from Coimbatore and is the Managing Director of Jayem Automotives Ltd., an R&D company for Tata Motors Ltd. He is also a well-known constructor. His latest designs are the Tata-engined Formula India Mayura and the Tata Indica Silhouette which was chosen as the concept car of 2006.
Recently J. Anand partnered with Tom Walkinshaw's TWR and Solution-F of France on various motorsports activities.
J Anand is also responsible for the Formula 1600 that was used in the MRF International Challenge - a 3 round championship held in early 2010 at the MMRT (Madras Motor Race Track) near Chennai. The Formula 1600 uses Ford's 1.6 litre petrol engine, seen on the Ford Fiesta 1.6 petrol. The Formula 1600 is the fastest open wheel race car in the country till date, and produces a maximum of 127 bhp.