Chennai, Mar 25: Mangaloreans have a reason to cheer, for the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) 2013 organised by the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) features Mangalorean Ashwin Naik in the leading spot in the rally, which kicked off in Chennai last week.
Defending champions Amittrajit Ghosh and Ashwin Naik, who had emerged as national champions in INRC 2012, clinched the overall title in the AVT Premium South India Rally, the first round of INRC 2013, at Madras Motor Sports Club here on Sunday.
The same duo had also emerged champions in the Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm 2012. Co-driver Ashwin Naik has clinched several titles in rallies held across the country in previous rallying seasons, along with his driver Ghosh, who hails from Kolkata.
Inspite of facing hurdles in his problem-plagued Mitsubishi Lancer Cedia, go-getter Ghosh, with co-driver Naik, manoeuvred through 14 special stages to emerge 30 seconds ahead of second-placed Vikram Devadasen and Shrikanth Gowda, also in a Mitsubishi Cedia, to claim victory.
Driving for team MRF, Ghosh had to deal with mechanical problems through the two days and 14 Special Stages but managed to bring the Cedia home in one piece as he clocked one hour, 54 minutes, 09.3 seconds to seal his triumph.
2011 champion Gaurav Gill, along with Musa Sherif, was the quickest overall and won the INRC 1600cc class. Volkswagen Polo cars, making their debut, tasted success too when Sirish Chandran (co-driver Nikhil Pai) and Arjun Rao Aroor (co-driver Satish Rajagopal) managed a one-two finish in the 1600cc class.
After the truncated 2012 INRC which saw only two rounds, the FMSCI looks set to create a bigger and better season of rallying in 2013. With an eye on identifying and further developing young rallying talent in the country, the Junior Indian National Rally Championship (JINRC) returned once again with drivers under 27 years of age eligible to contest for the Championship in Group N cars under 1600cc.
Final classification:
Overall: 1. Amittrajit Ghosh & Ashwin Naik (Mitsubishi Cedia) 1:54:9.3s; 2. Vikram Devadasen & Shrikanth Gowda 1:54:41.5s; 3. Bikku Babu & George Verghese (Mitsubishi Cedia) 1:55:31.0s.
INRC 2000cc (Group N): 1. Ghosh & Naik 1:54:9.3s; 2. Devadasen & Gowda 1:54:41.5s; 3. Babu & Verghese 1:55:31.0s.
1600cc: Sirish Chandran & Nikhil Pai (Volkswagen Polo) 1:56:0.2s; 2. Arjun Rao & Satish Rajagopal (Volkswagen Polo) 1:56:47.6s; 3. Byram Godrej & Prajwal Pai (Maruti Baleno) 1:57:19.4s.
JINRC: M.K. Suhem & J. Jeevarathinam (Maruti Baleno) 1:58:8.8s; 2. Asad Khan & Zayne Asrar (Maruti Esteem) 1:58:54.5s; 3. K.C. Adith & Robin Rajkumar (Maruti Esteem) 2:03:21.0s.
SUV: 1. Gaurav Gill & Musa Sherif (Mahindra Adventure, XUV 500) 1:50:32.3s; 2. Sunny Sidhu & P.V. Srinivas Murthy (Mahindra Adventure, XUV 500) 1:59:20.9s; 3. Sanjay Agarwal & E. Shivaprakash (Maruti Gypsy) 1:59:27.5s.
IRC: Samir Thapar & Vivek Ponnusamy (JCT Rally) 1:52:59.0s.
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