Vikram Mathias and co-driver Swaroop Mohan maintained their overnight lead to win the Coffee Day Rally, the sixth and concluding round of the FMSCI Indian Rally championship, in Chikkamagaluru on Sunday.
In the process, Vikram recorded his first win in four years during which he was away from rallying, ahead of Dean Mascarenhas (Shanmuga SN) and Arjun Rao Aroor (Satish Rajagopal).
The 20-year-old Mascarenhas, from Mangaluru, also took the honours in the IRC 1600 class while the newly-crowned IRC 2000 National champion Rahul Kanthraj (Vivek Bhatt) topped that category.
Former National champion Mathias, who was driving an all-wheel-drive car for the first time, was thrilled with his victory. “I didn’t do any testing and also had a first-time navigator. The conditions were treacherous. So, there were a lot of question marks, but I had no expectations going into this event. I didn’t care whether I won or lost, but just wanted to spend time in the Evo,” he said.
Provisional overall classification: IRC: 1. Vikram Mathias & Swaroop Mohan 1 hr, 59 mins, 32.6 secs; 2. Dean Mascarenhas & S.N. Shanmugha 2:05:38.0; 3. Arjun Rao Aroor & Satish Rajagopal 2:06:26.9.
IRC 2000: 1. Rahul Kanthraj & Vivek Bhatt 2:08:33.4; 2. Byram Godrej & A.G. Somaya 2:10:19.7; 3. Prithvi Dominic & M. Chandrashekar 2:10:48.3.
IRC 1600: 1. Dean Mascarenhas & S.N. Shanmuga 2:05:38.0; 2. Raghu Nandan & K. Suraj 2:11:43.0; 3. K.M. Bopaiah & K. Karumbaiah 2:12:03.1.
FMSCI 1600 Cup: 1. Raghu Nandan & K. Suraj 2:11:43.0; 2. K.M. Bopaiah & K. Karumbaiah 2:12:03.1; 3. Lokesh Gowda & Ashika Menezes 2:13:52.4.
