Gill takes control as Lohit Urs slips – Odisha Rally
Bhubaneswar, 10 Dec 2011: Dare devil Delhi driver Gaurav Gill along with celebrated co-driver Musa Sherif, of Team MRF, displayed controlled aggression but still enjoyed driving the fast but technically challenging dirt tracks of the Utkal Stage to record the fastest times in all the three special stages (SS) run on Saturday and virtually sealed the championship as the main challenger Lohit Urs (co-driver PV Srinivasa Moorthy) suffered a casualty after their car stalled on the third special stage of the Rally of Odisha, the sixth round of the Speed Indian National Rally Championship, about 55kms from here on Saturday.
The 30-year-old Gill drove the Mitsubishi Lancer Cedia in a relaxed manner but still managed to take a 38-second lead and 7 leg points for being the fastest driver which took his tally in the National championship to 140 points against 91 for second-placed Lohit Urs. “We are clocking high speeds and I was pushing the car to the limit. Unfortunately, with just a kilometer to the finish, the engine failed,’’ said a disappointed Lohit. Amittrajit Ghosh (co-driver Ashwin Naik) finished second on Saturday with a time of 39 minutes 54.4 seconds.
In the 2000N class, Rahul Kanthraj/Vivek Y Bhatt had a `break-down’ in SS 2 while in the 1600 cc class Pritul Dey/ Mukesh Thakkar suffered a mechanical failure in SS3. Only 15 of the 18 cars finished the day.
In the 2000 N category, talented youngster from Bangalore Karna Kadur and his lady navigator from Kolkota clocked fastest times in all the three special stages to take a 42-second lead and with Rahul Kantharaj and Vivek retiring, Dr Yogeshwar Gill of US along with co-driver Jeevarathinam are placed second.
Championship leaders in the 1600 cc class, Aniruddha Rangnekar of Pune and co-driver Anoop Kumar ofBangalorehad a spin in SS 4 and lost about 55 seconds as Hanoosh Soorapaneni/ Ravinder Kumar took the lead. Ajgar Ali and Debasish Ghosh are following the leaders in the third place.
Rafeeq Ur Rehman (co-driver Ajith KP) are ahead of husband-wife duo Sachin Singh/ Shree Latha while Sanjay Agarwal/ Ramesh Kumar Venu are in third in the Gypsy Class. In the 1400 cc Rally Cup, title contenders Karan AM and co-driver Shanmugha SN took a narrow lead of over 12 seconds over talented Mangalore youngster Dean Mascerenhas and Shruptha Padval while Vikram Aroor and Somayya are trailing third.
Jointly organised by Kalinga Motor Sports Club and Bengal Motor Sports Club, Rally of Odisha, the sixth of the seven-round Speed Indian National Rally Championship is being held under the aegis of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) and is promoted by IMG Sports and Pro-Sports Promotion (PSP).
The rally will run three special stages named Konark in the same direction at Gurudjhatia, about 50km from here off NH 42 and will return to the city for a podium finish and champagne shower at 3pm.
Results (Unaudited provisional classification) after Day 1:
Overall – 2000 cc N+: 1. Gaurav Gill/Musa Gill (Team MRF) 39 minutes, 15.9 seconds; 2. Amittrajit Ghosh/ Ashwin Naik (Team MRF) 39: 54.4..
2000cc N: 1. Karna Kadur/ Somonnita Ghosh ; 41:46.7; 2. Dr Yogeshwar Gill/ Jeevarathinam 42: 29.3; 3. Dr Dhirendra Kumar/ Honey Narulla 48: 18.0;
1600 cc: 1. Hanoosh Surapaneni/ Ravindra Kumar 46: 29.1; 2. Aniruddha Rangnekar/ Anoop Kumar 47:40.1; 3. Azgar Ali/ Debashis Ghosh 47:48.2;
1400cc: 1. Karan AM/ Shanmugha SM 44: 52.4; 2. Dean Mascerenhas/ Shruptha Padival 45: 04.8; 3. Vikram Rao Aroor / AG Somaya 45: 16.1;
Gypsy: 1. Shafeeq Ur Rehman/ Ajith KP 47:54.1; 2. Sachin Singh/ Sri Latha 53:37.2; 3.Sanjay Agarwal/ Ramesh KumarV 1 min: 04.33.6.
