Karna Kadur-Somonnita gift Coffee Day Rally win to Ghosh-Naik due to `penalty’

By David Bodapati

Chikmagalur, 24 Nov 2012: Rising star of Bangalore Karna Kadur (co-driver Somonnita Ghosh) rallied brilliantly to clock the best time but failed to win as the duo was penalized 40 seconds for a delayed start after the last service break to gift the Coffee Day Rally to Amittrajit Ghosh (Ashwin Naik) as the third leg of the Indian National Rally Championship concluded at the special stages in Birur near here. Karna-Somonnita finished second.

With only the Nashik rally remaining, it may prove costly for Karna Kadur, as he lost a golden chance to be in the reckoning for his maiden National Championship. The prize distribution will be held at the ABC campus at 10.30 am on Sunday. There was an eerie silence at the team hotel, Planters Court, in the evening and the grapevine has it that the talented youngster suffered due to team orders. But it was all `hush-hush’ with no one willing to be quoted.

The lone entry in the Indian Rally Championship for modified foreign cars, Zuhin A and seasoned Musa Sherif of Team Kajah Motorsports who thrilled the crowds yesterday in the Super Special Stage began well on Saturday setting a scorching pace in the University Stage to take a lead of over 40 seconds by SS3 but soon fell behind with a Turbo problem. They later retired in Special Stage 5 (SS5) with an electrical snap.

In the INRC 2000cc class, Amittrajit Ghosh (Ashwin Naik) who were tied with Karna Kadur after three stages lost time in the next three but the penalty to Karna saw them clinch the issue. Vikram Devadasan and co-driver Somayya AG came third. Strong contenders Lohit Urs (co-driver Sujith Kumar) managed to run with a troublesome suspension and came fourth to keep themselves at a striking distance gaining some valuable championship points.

Organised by Chikmagalur Motor Sports Club under the aegis of Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India, the popular rally is sponsored by Café Coffee Day, The Serai Resorts, Amber Valley School and Way2Wealth.

In the 1600cc class, Raghunandan K and co-driver Suraj K came first on a day which saw many casualities. Byram Godrej (Prajwal Pai) came second followed by Suhem MK (Jeevarathinam) in third. Sirish Chandran (co-driver Nikhil Pai) slipped and went down into a ditch in SS5.

In the JINRC class, overnight leaders Karan AM (Shanmugha) ran all the stages with controlled aggression to clinch the rally. Asad Khan and Zayne Asrar came second while Samrat Yadav (Tushar Marwaha) came third.

Of the 43 cars that started the day, 15 cars failed to finish.

Provisional unaudited results:

Indian Rally Championship: 1. Zuhin A / Musa Sherif (Team Kazah Motorsports) 38 minutes 36.4 seconds (DNF – retired in SS5)

Indian National Rally Championship: 2000cc N: 1. Amittrajit Ghosh /Ashwin Naik 1: 21: 59.5;  2. Karna Kadur/ Sommonita Ghosh 1: 22: 08.3; 3. Vikram Devadasan/ Somayya AG 1: 22: 40.9:

1600cc: 1. Raghunandan B/ Suraj K 1: 27: 45.5; 2. Byram Godrej/ Prajval Pai 1:28:58.8; 3. 3.Suhem MK/

Jeevaratinam K 1: 29:08.8; 

Junior INRC: 1. Karan AM/ Shanmugha SN; 2. Asad Khan CA/ Zayne Asrar; 3. Samrat Yadav/ Tushar Marwaha. (Timings to be released)  

Note: The article is updated from old archives.