Leela-Farooq pip Naren-Ram by a second to win Orange Monsoon Rally

Mumbai, 10 July 2001: Multiple champion N Leelakrishnan of Team MRF with his trusted navigator Farooq Ahmed calling the pace notes managed to eke out a stunning win with just a second to spare from teammates Naren Kumar and co-driver Ramkumar in the Orange Monsoon Rally, the third round of the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) which concluded at the Regent Hotel here on Sunday.

Leela managed a short lead of nine seconds by the end of Saturday in the first leg but Naren appeared to lose as he began the reverse leg from Mumbai to Nashik and lost another 8 seconds in the second stage of Leg 2. But not to give in so easily, the defending champion pulled out all the tricks and managed a 39-second lead in one stage, the second of the day to take the lead. But alas, he fell short by a second in the end in a thrilling finish to the rally as Leela, who hit a dog earlier, did a stunning run in the last stage covering the 18.03km of the stage in 14 minutes 14 seconds to Naren’s 14 minutes 37 seconds that clinched the issue.

Vikram Mathias and co-driver Sujit Kumar kept the wife-and-husband team of Jagat and Anita Nanjappa at bay take the third place on the podium. Both are in MRF colours. However, Jagat and Anita, were ahead of another MRF team, Vijayant Choudhary with Musa Sherif as co-driver.

In the Rally Star Cup, Kerala driver Jiby Maliakkal teamed up with Rohan Rego for Chettinad Sporting to win the class by nine seconds beating privateers Sorab Zorabian and Rayomard Kapadia to second place.

Provisional Final Results:

Overall: 1. N Leelakrishnan/Farooq Ahmed (Team MRF) (1hr, 33min 38sec); 2. Naren Kumar/ Ramkumar (Team MRF) (1:33.39); 3. Vikram Mathais/Sujit Kumar (Team MRF) (1:36.01); 4. Jagat Nanjappa/Anita Nanjappa (Team MRF) (1:36.30); 5. Vijayant Choudhary/Musa Sherif (Team MRF) (1:37.25); 6. Karandip Singh/ Jaidas Menon (Team MRF) (1:39:15).

1401 to 1600cc Class: 1. N Leelakrishnan/Farooq Ahmed (Team MRF) (1:33.38); 2. Naren Kumar/ Ramkumar (Team MRF) (1:33.39); 3. Vijayant Choudhary/Musa Sherif (Team MRF) (1:37. 25);

801cc to 1400cc Class: 1. Vikram Mathais/Sujit Kumar (Team MRF) (1:36.01); 2. Jagat Nanjappa/Anita Nanjappa (Team MRF) (1:36.30);

Rally Star Cup: 1. Jiby Malaikkal/Rohan Rego (Chettinad Sporting) (1:40:28); 2. Sorab Zorabian/Rayomard Kapadia (privateer) (1:40:37); 3. Parvinder Sigh Saundh/ Paritosh Kohok (1:44.50); 4. V Shyamsunder/ PV Srinivas Murthy (1:45:11); 5. Anil Kumar KM/ K Amith Kumar (1:45:52); 6. Ashish Doshi/Bhavin Shah (privateer) 1:47:21.

Editor’s Note: The report is manually migrated to support to the `INRC Winners: Hall of Fame’ article in April 2020 from archives.