On a day of drama, Harkrishan Wadia (co-driver Kunal Kashyap) of Arka Motorsports emerged champion in the 47th MMSC South India Rally, here on Sunday even as several leading title contenders retired due to various issues.
Wadia not only topped the round of AVT Gold Cup FIA APRC-Asia Cup but also the season-opener of the Blueband FMSCI National Rally championship besides taking the P1 spot in the INRC 2 category for a triple crown.
His main rivals in Asia Cup, SIDVIN-MRF Tyres sponsored Pragathi Gowda and co-driver Trisha Alonkar, in a Subaru Impreza 4-wheel drive car whose windshield was shattered when hit by a stone thrown by a miscreant in the penultimate stage, failed to finish as they ran out of fuel 2kms from the finish.
Of the 51 crews who started, 23 retired. The second round of the INRC is scheduled to be held in Nashik from May 31 to June 2.
The provisional classification (after leg-2): FIA APRC-Asia Rally Cup: 1. Harkrishan Wadia / Kunal Kashyap (Arka Motorsports) (2:04:59.8); 2. Naveen Puligilla / Santosh Thomas (2:15:22.0); 3. Ramcharan C / Jeevarathinam (Arka Motorsports) (2:17:24.1).
Blueband Indian National Rally Championship: INRC Overall: 1. Wadia / Kunal (2:04:59.8); 2. Aditya Thakur / Virender Kashyap (Chettinad Sporting) (2:05:05.0); 3. Vishak Balachandran / Anil Abbas (Chettinad Sporting) (2:10:02.6).
INRC 2: 1. Wadia / Kunal (2:04:49.8); 2. Thakur / Virender (2:05:05.0); 3. Puligilla / Santosh (2:15:22.0).
INRC 3: 1. Vishak / Anil (2:10:02.6); 2. Daraious Shroff / Srikanth Gowda (Chettinad Sporting) (2:10:48.1); 3. Samrat Yadav / Arvind Dheerendra (2:11:48.2).
Junior INRC (2 finishers): 1. Arjun Rajiv / Vinay Padmashali (Chettinad Sporting) (2:13:47.9); 2. Ajay Shankar / S. Nitharshan (Mandovi Racing) (2:14:00.0).
Women INRC (2 finishers): 1. Phoebe Nongrum / Nash Ross (Snap Racing) (2:28:27.4); 2. Harshitha Gowda / Vignesh Mahalingam (2:45:42.8).
FMSCI Gypsy Challenge: 1. Baljinder Singh Dhillon / Goutham CP (2:21:51.9); 2. Dr Akarsh Sundar) / Ravi Kumar (2:24:45.7); 3. Jayanth Somanathan / R. Rajashekar (2:24:51.9).
