JOIN USNational champion Amittrajit Ghosh (co-driver Ashwin Naik), driving a Mitsubishi Cedia (Group N), scrambled into lead after front-running Arjun Rao (Satish Rajagopal) in a Volkswagen Polo conceded lead following a broken drive shaft to drop to overall sixth on the opening day of AVT Premium South India Rally here on Saturday.
On a day of furious action in the first round of the FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship, 2011 champion Gaurav Gill (Musa Sherif) of team Mahindra Adventure in a Mahindra XUV 500, topped the time charts with a blistering 01:13.22.2 as against Ghosh’s 01:16:00.7.
Provisional classification: Overall: Amittrajit Ghosh/ Ashwin Naik (Mitsubishi Cedia) 1:16.00.7, 1; Vikram Devadasen/ Shrikanth Gowda (Mitsubishi Cedia) 01:16:24.3, 2; Dr Bikku Babu/ George Verghese (Mitsubishi Cedia) 01:16:33.1, 3.
2000cc (Group N): Ghosh/ Naik 01:16:00.7, 1; Devadasen/ Gowda 01:16:24.3, 2; Dr Babu/ Verghese 01:18:06.5, 3.
1600cc: Sirish Chandran/ Nikhil Pai (Volkswagen Polo) 01:17:33.4, 1; Byram Godrej/ Prajwal Pai (Maruti Baleno) 01:18:06.5, 2; Arjun Rao/ Satish Rajagopal (Volkswagen Polo) 01:18:31.1, 3.
JINRC: Suhem MK/ Jeevarathinam J (Baleno) 01:18:48.0, 1; Asad Khan Zayne Asrar (Maruti Esteem) 01:19:01.1, 2; Phillip Thomas/ Milen George Cherian (Maruti SX4) 01:21:20.8, 3.
SUV: Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif (Mahindra Adventure, XUV 500) 01:13:22.2, 1; Sunny Sidhu/ Srinivasa Murthy PV (Mahindra Adventure, XUV 500) 01:16:25.9, 2; Lohitt Urs/ Bonnie Thomas (Mahindra Adventure, XUV 500) 01:17:54.4, 3.
IRC: Samir Thapar/ Vivek Ponnusamy (JCT Rally) 1:15:56.0, 1.