Gaurav Gill takes the lead; Chetan Shivram crashes out but still in contention for National title
Kottayam, 21 Dec 2019: India’s top rally driver Gaurav Gill and co-driver Musa Sherif of Team Mahindra Adventure stole the honours on the opening day and are set to retain their Popular Rally title in the fourth and final round of the Champions Yacht Club promoted Indian National Rally Championship under the aegis of Federation of Motor Sports Clubs in India (FMSCI) here on Saturday.
Organised by Southern Adventures and Motorsports Club, the stage rally had run eight stages today with three remaining for Sunday. There are three physical stages, all tarmac, run multiple times in the same direction and two stages in reverse direction too.
The JK Tyre supported duo, with Musa Sherif as co-driver, was trailing in the seventh position at the start of the round could well break into the podium if they manage to excel on the final day of the championship too. They have just 29 points after the first four rounds but could end up adding 39 points more if they remain unbeaten on Sunday as well. Despite his fightback, Gill would not be able to surpass the current overall leader, MRF’s Chetan Shivram (co-driver Dilip Sharan).
Bengaluru’s Chetan along with his brother Dilip a navigator, who were leading INRC 3 as well, endured a massive crash in the day’s first stage itself and failed to finish even one stage. But their 75 point put them on a safe place with only a mathematical chance still possible for Dean Mascarenhas and Fabid Ahmer to overthrow them for the National title, if they win tomorrow.
Another JK Tyre driver, Younus Ilyas (Harish Gowda) of Race Concepts team from Bengaluru, had a good day as they were the fastest in two of the special stages and Dr Bikku Babu, with co-driver Milen George, too posted good timings to stay on top of his class, INRC2. Younus and Bikku Babu are second and third in all the overall lead on Saturday.
INRC 3’s Fabid Ahmer supported by MRF Tyres, with Sanath Gopalan as navigator, with 51 points and INRC 2’s Dean Mascarenhas (Shruptha Padival) with 47 also remain in the fray for podium finishes in the overall category.
The INRC 2 seemed poised for the most thrilling ending as category leaders Dean Mascarenhas and Dr. Bikku Babu, both with 72 points, put up brave performances on Saturday. Dr Bikku took the first place in seven stages to steal a march over Dean, who chased him furiously. The winner of the two on Sunday could hope to emerge as the king in this class.
Fabid Ahmer took advantage of Chetan Shivram’s misfortune to give himself a good chance of claiming the INRC 3 title. Starting with 75 points, just 9 behind the leader, he would need to drive with the same care and hope that Chetan doesn’t start on Sunday to pull off a surprise victory. However, it was Aditya Thakur with co-driver Virender Kashyap who took the lead in this class on Saturday and will be gunning for their maiden Popular Rally title on Sunday.
In INRC4, Suraj Thomas and Sob George took the lead in their home rally with the championship table topper Vaibhav Marathe and Arjun SSB lying in third place with three more stages to go on Sunday.
Provisional unaudited Results (after Leg 1/Day 1):
INRC Overall: 1. Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif – 1hour 2min 49.8sec; 2. Younus Ilyas/ Harish Gowda – 1:03:44.8; 3. Dr. Bikku Babu/Milen George – 1:05:37.9.
INRC 2: 1. Dr. Bikku Babu/ Milen George – 1:05:37.9; 2. Dean Mascarenhas/ Shrupta Padivel – 1:07:15.9; 3. Suhem Kabeer/ Jeeva Rathinam – 1:08:00.4.
INRC 3: 1. Aditya Thakur/ Virender Kashyap – 1:10:11.8; 2. Fabid Ahmer/ Sanath G – 1:10:33.7; 3. Jacob KS/ PVS Murthy – 1:10:38.4.
INRC 4: 1. Suraj Thomas/ Sob George – 1:10:40.3; 2. Shirole Prakhyat H /Bharath SM – 1:10:44.6; 3. Vaibhav Marate/ Arjun SSB – 1:12:45.3.
