Naren-Ram triumph, as they sweep all three rounds thus far in 2002
Panaji, 29 Sept. 2002: Former National champion VR Naren Kumar, with navigator D Ramkumar of Team MRF continued their winning spree bagging the overall honours in the WIAA Rallye De Goa 2002, the third round of the Motorsports Association of India’s (MAIO) Indian National Rally Championship (INRC), which concluded at the Mandovi Riviera, Panaji, here on Sunday.
The champion duo opened a huge lead over the all the others and warded off stiff challenge from teammates Karandip Singh and co-driver Jaidas Menon to win their third consecutive INRC round, sweeping all the first three legs of the 2002 INRC calendar. Former champion and strong contender N Leelakrishnan and co-driver Farooq Ahmed finished third, just 8 seconds behind Singh.
The INRC now moves to Bangalore as the fourth round is schduled to be held on October 12 and 13, as the popular K1000 beckons all the leading lights in the country.
The rally was run in Six Special Stages.
Provisional Results: INRC 1400-1600cc: 1. VR Naren Kumar and D. Ramkumar (Team MRF) (1 hour,13 minues, 06 seconds); 2. Karandip Singh and Jaidas Menon (Team MRF) (1:13.27); 3. N Leelakrishnan and Farooq Ahmed (Team MRF) (1:13.35).
INRC 1400cc: 1. Jiby Maliakkal and Nikhil Pai (1:19.40); 2. Rahul Kanthraj and Vivek Bhatt (SK Patil) (1:23.4); 2. Shyam Sunder V and Srinivas Murthy (Blue Lines) (1:24.2); 3. N Jayakumar and G Satish (1:27.20).
Rally Star Cup: 1. Lohit V Urs and Bopanna (SK Patil) (1:22.4); 2. Amit Kumar and Amit Anand (Ravi Prakash) (1:25.15).
