Spotlight on Amittrajit Ghosh

Reigning national champion Amittrajit Ghosh, who is leading the Indian National Rally Championship Driver’s Standings by a whopping 56 points, will be looking to wrap up a second consecutive crown when the 39th K1000 Rally kicks off on Saturday.

“I liked the Alpha stage and we are expecting the other two stages (Beta and Indian Mines) to become rough for the second run,” said Ghosh, who will be partnered by Ashwin Naik, said after Friday’s recce. “We will be going all out to clinch the championship here,” added Ghosh who will be driving his trusted Mitsubishi Cedia.

However, the attention in the penultimate race of the calendar would also be on Gaurav Gill (Musa Sherif), fresh from winning the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship and competing in the SUV Class where he will be driving a Mahindra XUV 500. Former APRC champion Karamjit Singh (Jagdev Singh) from Malaysia, piloting a factory-prepared Volkswagen Polo R2, will also be one of the contenders.

The Polo R2 will compete in a new category R2 that is expected to be introduced by FMSCI in IRC from 2014 season. Before entering the competitive season, the Polo R2 will be tested at K-1000 Rally and then at the Chikmaglur Rally -- the final event of the season -- in December 2013.

There will be three special stages at the K1000, the Alpha (14.5 km), the Beta (14.5) and the India Mines Stage (7.32) which will be run twice in the same direction on Saturday and once on Sunday.

The Alpha stage has some fast sections mixed with a small hill climb along with some wonderful hairpins. The second stage is also very challenging, offering some very quick stretches and dangerous causeways.

The India Mines stage is a driver’s delight since the stage consists of fast straights with some quick corners. Despite the challenging up-hill stretches, this stage is packed with plenty of thrills. Total distance of the rally is 562.48 kms including a liaison distance of 453.37 kms and Special Stage distance of 109.11 kms.
The rally was flagged off from the Mantri Square on Friday evening.