Reigning champion Amittrajit Ghosh, with co-driver Ashwin Naik, surged into the overall lead (1:16:0.7s) on the opening day of the AVT Premium South India Rally, the first round of the FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship 2013, here on Saturday.
2011 champion Gaurav Gill, along with Musa Sherif, of team Mahindra Adventure, topped the time charts after clocking 1:13:22.2s driving a Mahindra XUV 500.
In fact, he dominated the day’s proceedings by registering the fastest times in all the seven stages.
Sunday’s action will comprise four stages — one Spectator Special Stage and three dirt track special stages.
Classification: Overall: 1. Amittrajit Ghosh & Ashwin Naik (Mitsubishi Cedia), 1:16:0.7s; 2. Vikram Devadasen & Shrikanth Gowda (Mitsubishi Cedia), 1:16:24.3s; 3. Bikku Babu & George Verghese (Mitsubishi Cedia), 1:16:33.1s.
2,000cc (Group N): 1. Ghosh & Naik, 1:16:0.7s, 2. Devadasen & Gowda, 1:16:24.3s; 3. Babu & Verghese 1:18:6.5s. 1,600cc: 1. Sirish Chandran & Nikhil Pai (Volkswagen Polo), 1:17:33.4s; 2. Byram Godrej & Prajwal Pai (Maruti Baleno), 1:18:6.5s; 3. Arjun Rao & Satish Rajagopal (Volkswagen Polo), 1:18:31.1s.
JINRC: 1. M.K. Suhem & J. Jeevarathinam (Baleno), 1:18:48.0s; 2. Asad Khan & Zayne Asrar (Maruti Esteem), 1:19:01.1s; 3. Phillip Thomas & Milen George Cherian (Maruti SX4), 1:21:20.8s.
SUV: 1. Gaurav Gill & Musa Sherif (Mahindra Adventure, XUV 500), 1:13:22.2s; 2. Sunny Sidhu & P.V. Srinivasa Murthy (Mahindra Adventure, XUV 500), 1:16:25.9s; 3. Lohitt Urs & Bonnie Thomas (Mahindra Adventure, XUV 500), 1:17:54.4s.
IRC: 1. Samir Thapar & Vivek Ponnusamy (JCT Rally), 1:15:56.0s.
