Lohit, Murthy win Coffee Day Rally; Arjun Balu retires

By David Bodapati

Chikmagalur, 20 Nov 2011: Mysore star Lohit Urs and co-driver PV Srinivasa Murthy of Team MRF tamed the machine and conquered the track to come out triumphant defeating speed demon Gaurav Gill (co-driver Musa Sherif) to win the Coffee Day Rally, the 5^th round of the Speed Indian National Rally Championship, here on Sunday. However, with 136 points Gill still leads the Drivers’ championship leaderboard with second-placed Lohit Urs on a distant 91 points.

The day also saw a stalwart in Indian rally scene Arjun Balu, who served MRF for 17 years, announced his retirement from INRC. “A gentleman and dedicated rallyist,’’ said his navigator, Sujit Kumar. The Coimbatore-based Arjun Balu was an unsung hero and he ever remained the bridesmaid in the team. His best moment came in August 2001 Asia Zone Rally Championship at Changchun, China, where he beat his teammate Naren Kumar and many other world-class drivers. He is popularly known as the “Gentleman of Indian Motorsports”.

Meanwhile, it was a day to remember for Lohit Urs, who was struggling with his car all through the season.  After bagging his first win of the calendar year he said: “It was a great moment and I thoroughly enjoyed my drive today. The stages were fast and the Birur stage is comparable to the best in the world as it stayed true even after all the cars ran once with only about 10 per cent deterioration.’’  

With Castrol-supported Arjun Rao Aroor of AR Racing pulling out of this event, Team MRF made a clean sweep winning the first three places. Bengal lad Amittrajit Ghosh (co-driver Ashwin Naik), also of MRF, came second while compatriot Gaurav Gill, who had gear box problems stalled just 4 kms before the finish on the last stage, managed to drive back to take third place and earned some valuable points to remain on top of the championship borad. “I had problems with the clutch and was stuck. I managed to engage a gear and finished the rally driving in the `third’ all the way,’’ quipped the 30-year-old Asia Pacific Rally Driver from Delhi.

In the 2000 N category, Karna Kadur, the talented youngster of Team Kadur, (co-driver Somonnita Ghosh) loved driving through his ancestral village Kadur in one of the stages, and rallied to beat overnight leaders Rahul Kantharaj and his sharp co-driver Vivek Y Bhatt clocking a time of 1 hour 32 min 12.2 secs. Overdrive editor Sirish Chandran and navigator Nikhil Vittal Pai finished third. But for a 10-second penalty Sirish and Nikhil would have come second.

Bangalore brothers, Balram CG and Raghuram CG wrapped up the event in the 1600 cc class with a huge margin of more than two minutes. Mohammed Ismail and co-driver Dannanjay came an opportunistic second followed by Pune-Bangalore pair Aniruddha Rangnekar and Anoop Kumar, who are leading the class in the National championship.

Raghu Nandan B (co-driver Adhiraj) won the 1400cc Rally Star cup with with Hrishikesh Thackersey and co-driver Ninad Mirajgaonkar taking the second followed by Pramod Raman and navigator Harish KN.

Local lad Shafeeq Ur Rehman with Ajith KP as co-driver pushed Amartej Buwal and co-driver Nakul Mendiratta to second while Philip Thomas and John Philip managed to take third.

Unofficial Provisional Final Classification

Overall: 1. Lohit Urs/ PV Srinivasa Murthy (Team MRF) 1 hour 27 min 11.8 seconds; 2. Amittrajit Ghosh/ Ashwin Naik (MRF) 1:28: 19.5;  3. Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif  (MRF) 1:28:33.8;

2000N cc: 1. Karna Kadur/Somonnita Ghosh 1:32:12.2; 2. Rahul Kantharaj/Vivek Y Bhatt 1: 32:28.7; 3. Sirish Chandran/ (Team Overdrive)/ Nikhil Vittal Pai 1:32: 33.9;

1600 cc: 1. Balaram CG/ Raghuram CG , 1 hour 42: 02.6; 2. Mohammed Ismail/ Dannanjay B 1:44:12.4; 3. Aniruddha Rangnekar/ Anoop Kumar 01:46:47.0;

1400 cc: 1. Raghunandhan B/ Adhiraju 1:39:32.9; 2. Hrishikesh Thackeresey / Ninad Mirajgaonkar 1: 41:24.4; 3. Pramod Raman/ Harish KN 1:41:36.2;

Gypsy Class:  1. Shafeeq Ur Rehman / Ajith KP 01:40: 44.8; 2. Amartej Buwal/ Nakul Mendiratta) 01: 41: 46.5; 3. Philip Thomas/ John Philip 1: 45: 49.5.