Vikram Mathias, PVS Murthy notch up a win in Nashik, after 3 DNFs

Nashik, 1 Nov 2009: Reigning National champion Vikram Mathias, of Red Rooster Racing, finally found his wonted form after three rounds of retirements to notch up a thumping win along with navigator PV Srinivasa Murthy in the Rally of Nashik, the fourth round of the Indian National Rally Championship here on Sunday.

The 34-year old from Karnataka clocked 1 hour, 23 minutes and 12 seconds to open his account and seasoned Arjun Balu with Mathias’ former navigator, Sujith Kumar BS as his co-driver, was 1min 50 seconds behind. But the Team MRF duo were able to take the second spot as teammates Lohitt Urs and co-driver Srikanth Gowda, who were running second, were forced to retire in between. Arjun Rao Aroor and co-driver Satish Rajagopal, also of Team MRF, came in third, way behind.

In the 1600cc, it was DDL Sports team of Joseph C Jos and co-driver Royce Kizhakoodan who bagged their second win of the season and finished ahead of table toppers in the class Sujay Suresh and co-driver Varun Satyanarayan, who won the season opener in Kolkata. Jos and Kizhakoodan earlier won the K1000, the second round in Bangalore.

Rahul Kanthraj and co-driver Vivek Bhatt, could only finish third and lost some crucial points as they were second in the Championship standings. Vikram Devadasen and co-driver Nikhil Pai also took a second win of the season in the 1400cc class. The 34-year old Devadasen had won the class in K1000 at Bangalore.

Talented 21-year old debutant Karna Kadur along with co-driver Somonita Ghosh, of Red Rooster Racing, who were leading overnight, preserved their lead and won the Rally Star Cup while Sandeep Sharma and co-driver Anmol Rampal of Team Thunderbolt bagged the Gypsy Cup win.

Final provisional results: Overall: 2000cc: 1. Vikram Mathias/ PVS Murthy (Red Rooster Racing, 1hour, 23mins, 12secs); 2. Arjun Balu/ Sujith Kumar BS (Team MRF, 1:25:02); 3. Arjun Rao Aroor/ Satish Rajagopal (Team MRF, 1:26:39).

1600cc (Maruti Baleno): 1. Joseph C Jos/ Royce Kizhakoodan (DDL Sports, 1:30:19); 2. Sujay Suresh/ Varun Satyanarayan (1:31:11); 3. Rahul Kanthraj/ Vivek Bhatt (1:32:39).

1400cc (MPFI Esteem): 1. Vikram Devadasen/ Nikhil Pai (1:30:43); 2. Byram Godrej/ Raymond Desouza (1:32:41); 3. Shailendar Hegde/ Sheraz Ahmed (1:34:25).

Rally Star Cup (Carbureted Esteem): 1. Karna Kadur/ Somonita Ghosh (RRR, 1:32:05); 2. Balram CG/ Raghuram CG (1:37:30); 3. Phalguna Urs/ Anoop Kumar (1:37:30).

Gypsy Cup: 1. Sandeep Sharma/ Anmol Rampal (Team Thunderbolt, 1:35:29); 2. Kushwant Randhawa/ Vinay Shekar (1:37:27); 3. Akash Agarwal/ Pradeep Mhasar (1:39:12).