APRC star Gaurav Gill (Musa Sherif) loves challenges. But, for once, he found there was no big skill required to tackle this flat and smooth surface. So, he took it a bit easy to finish on top on day one in the second round of the MRF-FMSCI INRC 4W Rally of Coimbatore here on Saturday.
Gill made 9.7 seconds over his Mahindra Adventure teammate Amittrajit Ghosh (Ashwin Naik) in the 22.5km opening stage, the longest in the INRC calendar in recent years. He further increased the margin to finish the day on a high.
“It was not the usual Coimbatore terrain. It was smooth and you can see the corners but it lacked the challenge,” said Gill.
Quite a few drivers said it was a pretty long but Gill was pleased with the length. “It’s good because the drivers can get to learn the endurance part of it, the art of saving the tyres and on how to make sure the machine doesn’t overheat. There are many other factors involved and I feel it’s ok.”
Amittrajit said his car was heating up a bit. “We got to make a few changes to the set up of the car, just to make sure it works better. The stage was smooth but loose as well and there was hardly any grip.”
But will he have a better grip over Gill on Sunday remains to be seen.
The results (after SS2):
INRC 1: 1. Gaurav Gill & Musa Sherif (Mahindra Adventure) 37:21.2s, 2. Amittrajit Ghosh & Ashwin Naik (Mahindra Adventure) 37:42.8s, 3. Karna Kadur & Nikhil V. Pai (Arka Motorsports) 38:18.5.
INRC 2: 1. Karna & Nikhil, 2. Bopiah KM & G. Karumbaiah (Team Champions), 3. Phalghuna Urs & Srikanth Gowda (Snap Racing).
INRC 3: 1. Aroor Vikram Rao & A.G. Somayya (Falkon Motorsports), 2. Suhem Kabeer & Jeevarathinam (Team Champions), 3. Chetan Shivram & Rupesh Koley (Team Chetan Shivram).
FMSCI 2WD: 1. K.C. Adith & K. Suraj, 2. Suraj Thomas & Sob George, 3. Vikram Gowda & B.G. Sudhindra .
