Karna Kadur (co-driver Nikhil Pai) of Arka Motorsports kept his wits about him to emerge overall leader with a 59.7 seconds advantage at the end of leg-1 in the Coffee Day India Rally, the fourth round of the MRF FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship, here on Saturday which saw favourite Gaurav Gill (Musa Sherif) of Mahindra Adventure retiring with a mechanical problem.
Day of drama
On a day of drama with 11 retirements, Gill, who was enjoying a comfortable lead, met with disaster as the lower arm of his XUV 500 broke, forcing him to stop in SS-6. He will re-join the competition on Sunday under the Super Rally format in a bid to score leg points.
While Gill packed up for the day, Bopaiah (Gagan Karumbaiah) eased into overall second spot, just 16.5 seconds ahead of an ailing Amittrajit Ghosh (Ashwin Naik) of Mahindra Adventure. Ghosh, battling an allergy and suffering from breathing problems, strove manfully to finish the day without any mishap.
The Special Stages took its toll as a total of 11 competitors retired due to reasons ranging from mechanical problems to crashes as the surface deteriorated as the day wore on.
The day’s last Stage was cancelled after Aroor Vikram Rao crashed and his car blocked the track.
The results (provisional): Overall: 1. Karna Kadur / Nikhil Pai (Arka Motorsports) (1:12:50.0s); 2. Bopaiah / Gagan Karumbaiah (Team Champions) (1:13:49.7); 3. Amittrajit Ghosh / Ashwin Naik (Mahindra Adventure) (1:14:06.2).
