Gaurav Gill, Musa Sherif clinch MRF South India crown for their 30th INRC title

Chennai, 29 April 2018: One of the most enduring combinations, Gaurav Gill and co-driver Musa Sherif picked up their 30^th title in the Indian National Rally Championship since coming together in 2007 as the Mahindra Adventure pair won the MRF South India Rally, here on Sunday, sparing over two minutes to their team-mates Amittrajit Ghosh and Ashwin Naik.

It was an untroubled ride to victory for 36-year old three-time Asia Pacific Rally Championship winner Gill as he built on his overnight lead to emerge a worthy winner. “I didn’t really push today, but was still fast enough. I had no issues with my vehicle (XUV 500) today and of course, it is always a nice feeling when you win,” said Gill who now looks forward to doing a few rounds in the World Rally Championship-2 category later this year, backed by MRF Tyres.

With Gill enjoying a sizeable overnight lead, Sunday was more about others down the field jockeying for positions. Ghosh, also in a XUV 500, drove fast and clean to take second position in the Overall standings, ahead of Karna Kadur (co-driver Nikhil Pai) of ARKA Motorsports in the Volkswagen Polo.

Gill and Ghosh also topped the INRC-1 category while veteran Vicky Chandhok (co-driver Chandramouli), driving a factory-supported Volkswagen Polo R2, and returning to rallying after a gap of 18 years, completed the podium. Chandhok belied his 61 years by not only being competitive, but also withstanding the extreme heat and humidity that had competitors half his age gasping for breath.

The INRC-2 category saw ARKA Motorsports completing a 1-2 finish with favourite Karna Kadur taking the top berth ahead of the veteran pair and of Rahul Kanthraj and Vivek Bhatt while Sumit Panjabi (Shahid Salman) in a Mitsubishi Cedia finished third.

A fierce battle raged for the INRC-3 category honours through the day. Overnight leader Dean Mascarenhas (Shruptha Padival) met with misfortune in the day’s last Stage as his VW Polo stalled no fewer than five times and he slipped to second behind Vikram Rao (Somayya AG). Young and rookie Fabid Ahmer (Fayaz Arakkal) from Kerala displayed impressive pace and car control to come in third in the category.

The top prize in the FMSCI 2-Wheel Drive Cup went to Adith KC (co-driver Suraj K).

Unaudited Provisional classification:

Overall: 1. Gaurav Gill / Musa Sherif (Mahindra Adventure, XUV 500) (1hr, 28mins, 43.1 secs); 2. Amittrajit Ghosh / Ashwin Naik (Mahindra Adventure, XUV 500) (01:30:39.6); 3. Karna Kadur / Nikhil Pai (ARKA Motorsports, VW Polo) (01:30:59.4).

INRC-1: 1. Gill / Sherif; 2. Ghosh / Naik; 3. Vicky Chandhok / Chandramouli (VW Motorsports, VW Polo R2) (01:34:21.7)

INRC-2: 1. Kadur / Pai; 2. Rahul Kanthraj / Vivek Bhatt (ARKA Motorsports, VW Polo) (01:32:45.6); 3. Sumit Punjabi / Shahid Salman (Pvt, Mitsubishi Cedia) (01:35:53.4).

INRC-3: 1. Aroor Vikram Rao / Somayya AG (Falkon Motorsports, VW Polo) (01:31:55.5); 2. Dean Mascarenhas / Shruptha Padival (Pvt, VW Polo) (01:32:37.3); 3. Fabid Ahmer / Fayaz Arakkal (Pvt, VW Polo) (01:33:00.5).

Support class: FMSCI 2WD Cup: 1. Adith KC / Suraj K (Pvt, Honda City V-tec) (01:33:28.7); 2. Suraj Thomas / Sob George (Pvt, Honda City V-tec) (01:36:29.5); 3. Ravi MS / Priyamvada Saradhi (Pvt, Maruti Baleno) (01:41.17.5).