The Hindu : Sport / Racing : Motor : Rao and Ghosh fight it out for lead

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Sport - Racing : Motor

Rao and Ghosh fight it out for lead

Sports Reporter

Coimbatore: Team MRF’s Arjun Aroor Rao and Red Rooster Racing’s Amittrajit Ghosh stole the thunder even as the big stars Gaurav Gill and Vikram Mathias dropped out of contention in the Speed Rally of Coimbatore, the National championship opener, at the Kethanur windmill farm, near here, on Saturday.

With World Production Rally Championship driver Gill out early and defending champion Mathias struggling to come to terms with his car, the stage, at the halfway mark, was quite open.

And, it was Ghosh and Rao who made the best use of the situation. The former looked impressive for most part before a flat tyre at the final stage (SS8) robbed him of what could have been a glorious day. The latter cashed in on the chance and gained a crucial six-second edge (unofficial), which may well prove decisive on the morrow.

Cup of woes

Much was expected from both Mathias and Gill, the most exciting duo on the circuit. The former did remarkably well at the start but a flat tyre coupled with a shaky steering column (SS6) saw his chance go down the drain. Gill, on the other hand, fell out even before he could complete the first stage, courtesy an engine blow out.

Mathias, who will restart in the super rally format, was not disappointed. “It was a freak thing. It was something we did not foresee and it was beyond our control. And, we have taken it in our stride.”

With more than 60 cars going up and down digging the dust, it made life a real hell for the drivers. In fact, that reflected on the performance of the cars as well.

Arjun not happy

Hometown favourite and Team MRF’s Arjun Balu was not happy despite a decent show. “Except the first two stages the rest was troublesome. We ran into electrical problems and we were all struggling to get the car home.”

“As I had already said we are all rusty after a year’s break. Believe me we were slower than a taxi on road. I pushed myself as hard as I could but it was not moving up to my expectations. It was very, very slow. Even the marshals who went up and down went much faster than me.

ECU shock

Team MRF was frank about the problem. “We ran into Electronic Control Unit (ECU) problems. It is some sort of a shock related issue. We never expected it to be this sensitive,” said J. Anand, Team MRF’s Tuner.

“The ECU, which is used in all the rally cars, was supposed to take the shocks but it failed miserably,” he added.

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