Naren-Ram win Asia Zone; Leela-Farooq clinch INRC Overall win
Coimbatore, 1 April 2001: Double National champion Naren Kumar and co-driver D Ramkumar of Team MRF won the Asia Zone round this time around while multiple former champion and N Leelakrishnan and co-driver Farooq Ahmed, also of Team MRF, won the Overall honours in the opening round of Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) in the Servo Mill and Monsoon rally, which ran simultaneously with the Asia Zone round, here on Sunday.
Once again the rally saw stiff rivalry between Karamjit Singh of Malaysia and Naren Kumar, but it was the Indian who came out trumps this time driving his Honda Civic to victory displaying his skills while Karamjit in his Proton Satria with Jagdev Singh as co-driver, had to settle for a second for JK Tyre, after running 432 km of rally distance where the special stages consisted of 146.2km. There were 10 gravel Special Stages run in the Servo Mill and Monsoon Rally under the aegis of Motorsports Association of India (MAI).
Naren, had a comfortable lead of over 80 seconds and another Indian pair of Hari Singh and GS Mann, came third after their problems in the second leg ruined chances of any better performance.
MRF’s Naren and co-driver Ram Kumar, had a 16-second lead overnight, Naren gained another 15 seconds on the very first stage on Sunday to take the sting out of the competition and thereafter, managed a steady pace. He did ease off in the rough second stage to preserve the car and despite losing the lead he made in the first stage he managed to keep the lead with an aggressive drive in the third stage, to win the rally.
Hari Singh and GS Mann, the reigning champions from Chandigarh, suffered flat tyres twice in two different stages and lost time. They had to be content with a third place as changing tyres put them completely out of a rally win.
In the National Championship class of 1600cc, it was N Leelakrishnan, five-time former national champion, who stole the limelight. While Team MRF’s, husband and wife pair of Jagat and Anita Nanjappa won the 1400cc title, Lohitt V Urs and co-driver MK Bopanna lifted the Rally Star Cup. Jagat Nanjappa, a legend in two-wheeler racing with 9 National riders’ titles, overcame a young field of drivers to win his maiden title in a four-wheeler class.
Provisional Final placings:
Asia Zone: 1. Naren Kumar /Ram Kumar (India, MRF); 2. Karamjit Singh /Jagdev Singh (Malaysia, J K Tyre); 3. Hari Singh / Gurinder Singh (India).
National Rally championship: 1600cc: 1. N Leelakrishnan /Farooq Ahmed (Team MRF).
1400cc Class: 1. Jagat /Anita Nanjappa (Team MRF).
Rally Star Cup: 1. Lohit Urs /MK Bopanna.
