Gaurav Gill-Musa win K1000 pushing Vikram Mathias_Nikhil to 2nd

Bangalore, 19 August 2007: Gaurav Gill and Musa Sherif (navigator) teamed together for Team MRF to clinch the Overall honours in their Mitsubishi Cedia, in the Bosch K1000 rally, the third round of the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) which concluded here on Sunday.

Gill, thus drove Lancer Cedia to his third overall title in the MAI’s INRC, opening up an unassailable lead over the field in his quest for the National title.

The overall 2nd Place in the rally was bagged by Vikram Mathias and Nikhil Pai of team Red Rooster Racing, also in a Mitsubishi Cedia.

The rally ran through the three Special Stages at Siddlaghatta, about 120km from here. The Special Stages were run multiple times both on Saturday and Sunday, making it 13 SS for the final count.

The Super Special Stage was held at Yelhanka on a 3.8km track which was full of  Mitsubishi banners, the co-sponsor of the rally.

Gill and co-driver Musa Sherif tallied 48 points, while teammate Arjun Rao Aroor (Satish Kumar Rajagopal) remained a distant second with 17points. Another MRF driver, Arjun Balu (Kumar Ramaswamy) was in third place with 13 points. Team Red Rooster’s Vikram Mathias (Nikhil Pai) made an impressive return to rallying by finishing second and is now in the fourth position with Lohit Urs, both with 12 points.

Gill and Sherif finished the 13 special stages in a time of 1:11.22, a minute and 10 seconds ahead of Mathias and Pai (1:12.32). Lohit Urs and co-driver Jaidas Menon finished in third place in 1:18.27, while 1400 cc drivers Amitrajit Ghosh and Shreshta Patil wrapped up a good showing over three days by finishing fourth and fifth overall.

Vikram Mathias, making a return to rallying was also satisfied with the second-place finish and said, “this round is more like a learning curve for me. We are looking to make a strong statement next year.”

The BOSCH K1000 Rally – 4th Round of I N R C was held at Sidhulgatta, Kolar District, Karnataka from Aug 17 – Aug 19.

A Mitsubishi release adds:

Mitsubishi Cedia proves its dominance in INRC 2007 by finishing overall first and second places in the grand finale of the Bosch K 1000 Rally in New Yelahanka Town, Bangalore on Sunday.

By doing so Mitsubishi has proved its mettle once again in the INRC by completing a full round of victories from the first time it participated in the INRC circuit in Bangalore last year around.

Mitsubishi Vehicles are known for its complete built quality and high powered performance making it the favourite among rally champions and enthusiasts all over the world.

In the circuit concluded in Bangalore on Sunday, 19th August 2007, Team MRF’s Gauravsingh Gill swept through the twists and curves of the super special stage with ease to finish the three loops in 3.38 mins, adding nine seconds to his overnight lead over second-placed Vikram Mathias.

Mitsubishi Motors were the co-sponsors of the event. Apart from being the co-sponsors, Mitsubishi Motors offered 2 Safety cars, i.e. The Pajero & Cedia. These cars check the efficacy of the track first and once the green signal is given by the drivers then does the actual rally start.

Provisional results: Overall section: 1. Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif (Team MRF) (1hour, 07min, 44sec); 2. Vikram Mathias /Nikhil Pai (Red Rooster Racing) (1:08.51); 3. Lohit Urs /Jaidas Menon (Team MRF) (1:14.25); 4. Amitrajith Ghosh /Saurabh Choudary (1:17.10); 5. Shreshta Patil /Ramesh Kumar (1:19.34); 6. Mazeydar Vatcha /Madhu KC (1:19.38).

1600 cc: 1. Rahul Kanthraj /Vivek Bhatt (1:23.35); (only one competitor finished).

1400cc: 1. Amitrajit Ghosh /Saurabh Choudary (1:17.10); 2. Shreshta Patil /Ramesh Kumar (1:19.34); 3 Prithvi Dominic /Jeevarthnam (1:20.25).

Rally Star Cup: 1 Mazeydar Vatcha /Madhu KC (1:19.38); 2. Deepak Paul Chinappa /Srikarunya (1:21.14); 3. Abhijit Pai /Prajwal Pai (1:21.50).

Gypsy Class: 1. Sandeep Sharma /PVS Murthy (1:25.14); 2. Surendra Babu /Sheraz Ahmed (1:27.43); 3. Rajiv Gupta /Roopa Gupta (1:31.32).

Note: Updated from the archives to support INRC winners: Hall of fame in April 2020.