Reigning Asia Pacific Rally Champion Gaurav Gill (co-driver Musa Sherif) of Delhi shook off those initial hiccups to finish on top on the opening day of the JK Tyre-powered Rally of Coimbatore, the second round of the FMSCI Indian Rally Championship, at the Kethanur windmill farms near Palladam here on Saturday.
The first stage (LMW 26.10kms) encouraged speed. Gill, on a Mahindra XUV500, was eager to attack from the start. But P.G. Abhilash (co-driver Kumar Ramaswamy), who marked his return to competitive rally after five years, did one better. He enjoyed a five-second edge over Gill.
Gill, however, took the risky route in the remaining stages and showed the crowd why he is rated the best.
Defending National champion Amrittajit Ghosh (Ashwin Naik) rued his luck. The turbo gasket failure let him down when it mattered most. He did not finish, but hopes to catch up with some action on Sunday.
Vishnu steals showIt was a lights-to-flag victory for Chennai's Vishnu Prasad in the JK FB02 class, the premium event of the 17th JK Tyre Racing championship held concurrently at the Kari circuit.
The 20-year-old was quick to get off the blocks. And, from there it was no turning back. He was so fast that he missed all the excitement that was happening behind him.
The results: Rally of Coimbatore (Unofficial classification after Leg 1): IRC: 1. Gaurav Gill / Musa Sherif (Mahindra Adventure) 01:06.53.7; 2. Arjun Rao / Satish Rahagopal; 3. Sunny Sidhu / P.V. Srinivas Murthy.
IRC 2000cc: 1. Rahul Kantharaj / Vivek Bhatt (Team Yokohama) 2. Byram Godrej / A.G. Somayya; 3. Prithivi Dominic / M.S. Ravindra.
IRC 1600cc: 1. Arjun Rao / Satish Rajagopal; 2. Vikram Devadesan / Shrikanth (Team Yokohoma); 3. Phalguna Urs / Anoop Kumar.
FMSCI 1600cc Cup: B. Raghu Nandan / K. Suraj; 2. K.C. Adith / K.N. Harish; 3. Aniruddha Rangnekar / Nitin Jacob.
JK Tyre Racing Championship: FLGB4 Race 1: Sudarshana Rao (Dark Don Racing) 18:35.061; 2. Vishnu Prasad (Chennai); 3. Raghul Rangaswamy (Chennai). Race 2: JKFB02: Race 1: Vishnu Prasad (Chennai) 16:40.777; 2. Ananth Shanmugham (Bangalore); 3. Nayan Chatterjee (Mumbai).
JK VW Polo R Cup: Race 1: Karthik Tharani (TN); 2. Anshul Manoj Shah; 3. Angad Singh Matharoo (Punjab).
