Gaurav Gill confident that an Indian driver in an Indian-made tyre will deliver at the world stage

Chikkamagaluru, 30 Nov 2018: Gaurav Gill looked relaxed and confident and as mature as ever. The King of Indian Rallyng, with 50 points, however, is trailing in overall points and is in second place behind Amittrajit Ghosh. “It was a rare mechanical failure,’’ the A seeded driver brushed off the Arunachal Pradesh DNF, in the last rally, after comfortably leading for the better part of the Rally. But Ghosh, who won the fourth round in the North East, dismissed the lead saying the format is such that in N minus One, Gill still leads the points table if, Ghosh’s 18 points from his low-scoring is given up. Every entry has the comfort of removing one event at the end of all rounds and Gill still is better-placed and is favourite to retain the INRC title with one Round to be held in Kerala, the Popular Rally from Dec 14 to 16.

Gill was cool with the challenging terrain in the coffee land which had good rains and the vegetation making it difficult and technical for drivers but “we will believe and trust our pace notes and the navigators,” said Ghosh. Gill agreed that it is all rallying and the best driver may win. Gill also added that soon an Indian driver with Indian-made MRF tyre has the potential to become the fastest driver in the world.

The Speed Master, Gill, is the current reigning Asia Pacific Rally Champion and not just the Indian National Rally Champion for year 2017. He is gunning for another Indian title, but with the Delhi-based MRF driver moving to World Rally Championship this year, the Chikmagalur leg of APRC had taken a beating with many cars not able to make it to the last round and eventually, the APRC round is cancelled.

The MRF FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) is the premier rallying series in India run under the aegis of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI), which is the Governing Body or ASN of India recognised by the FIA, culminating with the Indian National Rally Champion Driver, Co-Driver and Team. The championship is based on a point system. The championship first received its National Championship title status in 1988. Indian drivers in Indian cars are eligible to take part in the 2018 INRC which is promoted by RRPM, the Ramakrishna Race Performance Management, as it purchased the rights from FMSCI for three years from 2016.

Another A seeded driver young Mangalorean Dean Mascarenhas who was the runner-up in Overall INRC and INRC3 title winner last year, was also trailing Vikram Rao Aroor in INRC3 after three rounds by three points. Vikram has 28 points and Dean garnered 25.

Karna Kadur, the A Seed who won the Coffee Day India Rally last year is competing with Rahul Kantharaj, another A seeded driver, and has taken a lead of 14 points bagging 42 points to 28 points for Rahul. Both are from Team Arka Motorsports.

The three-day Coffee Day India Rally 2018, which is also the fourth round of the National Championship, will witness some of the best names in motorsports battle it out for the top honours. Over the past couple of decades, the three-day event, has grown in stature and popularity among both participants and spectators, thanks to Coffee Day Group’s significant support and constant involvement.

The Championship, promoted by Ramakrishna Race Performance Management (RRPM), kicked off earlier this year in Chennai before moving on to Coimbatore and Arunachal Pradesh. After three rounds, Mahindra Adventure team’s Amittrajit Ghosh and co-driver Ashwin Naik head the leaderboard with 61 points, followed by team-mates Gaurav Gill and Musa Sherif (50).

The duo driving the Mahindra XUV 500 will headline the three-day event which commences on Friday with the popular Super Special Stage (2.2 kms) at Amber Valley school grounds. The competitors will then head to the twisty Special Stage located in the nearby Coffee Day Group estates on Saturday and Sunday.

The other big team, apart from Mahindra Adventure is Arka Motorsports that boasts of seasoned, Rahul Kanthraj (co-driver Vivek Bhatt) and talented, Karna Kadur (Nikhil Pai) as the standard-bearers. Kadur and Kanthraj are placed third and fourth in the Overall classification behind Ghosh and Gill after three rounds and also head the INRC-2 category, while two young guns from Mangaluru, Aroor Vikram Rao (Falkon Motorsports, 68 points) and Dean Mascarenhas (Chettinad Sporting, 53) are in the lead in INRC-3.

This season’s INRC has seen the entry of a new outfit, Team Champions that was born out of a desire to support talented drivers in need of financial assistance. Team Champions will have a seven-car line-up besides a few more crews they will be supporting. “It is our aim to facilitate the participation of deserving drivers and hopefully, unearth fresh talent. The 2018 is our debut year in INRC and next season, we might be entering more cars,” said Vamcy Merla who manages Team Champions.

Venkatesh M, Director, Coffee Day Hotels and Resorts said, “Coffee Day is amongst the first few corporates to cultivate the concept of racing in India with Coffee Day India Rally in 2002. This is our 16th edition and we’re proud to see the love for motorsport grow in our country. Coffee Day India Rally is truly unique given its uncanny combination of a rugged terrain with scenic beauty. It is one of the most challenging races in the calendar, filled with twisty and narrow tracks amidst the coffee plantations. The challenging rally will witness some of the best rally drivers tackle tough terrains, set for a thrilling performance in Chikmagalur. Our team at Coffee Day Group and Motor Sports Club of Chikmagalur have relentlessly worked to make the rally one of the most awaited motorsports event in the country. We at Coffee Day are pleased to work towards the continued endeavour and success of the rally.”   

The Coffee Day India Rally adorns the INRC scene as the most popular event attracting thousands of spectators from near and far. The enthusiasm of the spectators inspire the participants to raise their game by several notches. It is hardly a surprise then that Coffee Day India Rally 2018 edition has attracted 40-plus entries across various categories – the IRC, IRC-2, IRC-3 and FMSCI 2W Drive Cup.

 Additionally, the organisers have included a separate category for Maruti Gypsy vehicles while Volkswagen has provided two VW Polos in Rally trim as the two forward cars – “Zero” and “Double Zero”.

The Special Stages are located as before, in Chettanahalli, Chandrapura and Kumaragode estates. Each of the three stages will be run twice on Saturday and once in the reverse direction on Sunday. The total competitive section is 122.77 kms and 229 kms of liaison for a total distance of 351.77 kms.