Coimbatore, Aug 5 (IANS) Gaurav Gill and Amittrajit Ghosh gave Team Mahindra Adventure a grand 1-2 finish in the MRF Rally of Coimbatore, Round 2 of the MRF FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) here on Sunday.
India's ace rallyist Gill, along with his trusted co-driver Musa Sherif, romped home to victories in each of the stages over the weekend to outclass the field. He needed 1:14:30.1 to complete the five Special Stages, winning the round with a handsome margin of 1 min 1.1 second, according to a release.
His teammate Amittrajit (with co-driver Ashwin Naik) was equally sharp all through the rally, not yielding the second position even once. He kept pace with Gill too, finishing just 10-15 seconds off him in almost all the stages.
FMSCI President Akbar Ebrahim claimed the third position in the INRC 1 category, proving that he hasn't lost his touch even after nearly 25 years.
The 2016 INRC champion, Karna Kadur (with Nikhil V Pai), had to settle for the overall third position as all his efforts to upstage the leaders proved to be futile. He managed to claim the INRC 2 category though, making it a 1-2 for Team Arka Motorsports too in this bunch.
His teammate Rahul Kanthraj (with Vivek Y Bhatt) took the second place while Phalghuna Urs (with Srikanth Gowda; Snap Racing) claimed the third place.
The INRC 3 category too didn't see any change on the leaderboard, with Aroor Vikram Rao (with Anand Somayya; Falkon Motorsports) completing an easy win.
Suhem Kabeer (Jeevarathinam; Team Champions) and Chetan Shivram (with Rupesh Koley) clung on to the second and third positions on the podium with their smart driving.
Results:
INRC: 1) Gaurav Gill/Musa Sherif (Team Mahindra Adventure; 01:14:30.1); 2) Amittrajit Ghosh/Ashwin Naik (Team Mahindra Adventure; 01:15:31.2); 3) Karna Kadur/Nikhil V Pai (Arka Motorsports; 01:16:24.8).
INRC 2: 1) Karna Kadur/Nikhil V Pai; 2) Rahul Kanthraj/Vivek Y Bhatt (Arka Motorsports; 01:17:36.9); 3. Phalghuna Urs/Srikanth Gowda; Snap Racing; 01:17:40.7).
INRC 3: 1) Aroor Vikram Rao/Anand Somayya (Falkon Motorsports; 01:17:11.8); 2) Suhem Kabeer/Jeevarathinam (Team Champions; 01:17:48.8); 3. Chetan Shivram/Rupesh Koley (01:17:58.4)
FMSCI 2WD: 1) Adith KC/Suraj K; 2) Suraj Thomas/Sob George; 3) Lokesh Gowda V | Venu Ramesh Kumar.
