Rally of Maharashtra cancelled; 2-round INRC reduced to a farce

Bangalore, 19 Dec 2012: The Rally of Maharashtra, which was supposed to be the final round of the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) is now cancelled. Thus the National Championship was reduced to a `farce’ with only two rounds deciding the Championship winner.

Earlier, the second round to be held at Coorg was washed out due to heavy rains and the organisers were forced to cancel the event.

According to an earlier decision, the rally was to be held at Ahmednagar to be run on gravel stages but the organisers could not get the necessary permissions from the land owners and the local villagers. So the host association decided to buy time and explored the possibility of running it as a tarmac rally in Nashik in January 2013. However, the drivers and teams did not agree for the change as it would require a new set of tyres, suspensions and brakes.

The cancellation means that even the revised four-round championship comprising Bangalore, Coorg, Chikmagalur and Ahmednagar could not be completed and only two rounds are held. Thus, the champions are declared on the basis of the two rallies: K1000 and Coffee Day.

“The proposed third round of INRC 2012, the Rally of Maharashtra, could not be held on the scheduled date as the organisers did not get the required permissions from the land owners for the route of some of the gravel stages,” FMSCI Chief Executive Rajan Syal said in a statement.

“WISA, the organisers, then explored the alternative to run it as a tarmac event in first week of January 2013. But many of the competitors said that it will require a new set of tarmac tyres, suspensions and brakes, and due to the  holiday season, they may not get the parts in time
and thereby will not be in a position to participate.”

“Taking into account the feedback of all concerned, we are left with no option but to close the INRC 2012 and declare the Championship results at the end of the Coffee Day Rally of Chikmagalur,” Syal’s statement read.

After the end of Chikmagalur Rally, Amittrajit Ghosh and co-driver Ashwin Naik topped the championship table with 51 points. Lohitt Urs and co-driver Sujith Kumar are placed second with 45 points followed by Karna Kadur and Somonnita Ghosh at 38.