Organisational glitches mar opening day

First stage called off; fifty percent of drivers pull out

Hoping to see the country’s best drivers fighting for the title, a paltry crowd gathered around the dusty and convoluted roads of Sidhalaghatta. Little did they expect that the first stage would come to a close in less than an hour.

A contractor, laying a road 300M from the start, forced the first stage to be scrapped after the first seven cars went past, asking the organisers to move the location due to the inconvenience caused.

Supposedly armed with a legal permit, the organisers tried to stand their ground but the contractor had his way. Scratch points were awarded to the drivers who did not finish the first stage.

At the start of the second stage, during the course of which defending champion Gaurav Gill of Team MRF and Red Rooster Racing’s Amittrajit Ghosh bowed out due to technical problems, more than 20 other drivers cried off and lodged a protest with the rally commission against the dangerous conditions.

Karnataka Motor Sports Clubs president Praneet Perumal remained unaffected by the incidents, saying that the race would go on but adding that the first stage would be taken off Sunday’s schedule.

From the cars that managed to complete the four stages on a chaotic day, Red Rooster Racing’s Vikram Mathias (57:27.1) took a 42-second lead over Team MRF’s Lohitt V Urs (58:08.9). Arjun Rao Aroor (58:18.4) finished in third. Six-time champion Naren Kumar crashed out in the fourth stage after hitting a tree stump in the third stage which caused a steering problem.

Results (Leg I): Overall: Vikram Mathias/ PV Srinivasa Murthy (Red Rooster Racing, 57:27.1) 1; Lohitt V Urs/ Srikanth Gowda (Team MRF, 58:08.9) 2; Arjun Rao Aroor/ Satish K Rajagopal (MRF, 58:18.4) 3.

2000 N+: Mathias/ Murthy (57:27.1) 1; Lohitt/ Srikanth (58:08.9); Aroor/ Satish (58: 18.4).

1600cc: All DNF.

1400cc: CG Balram/ CG Raghuram (privateer, 1:05:32.9); Rattan N Gangadhar/ Nikunj GN (pvt, 1:44:23.9); Rest DNF.  

Rally Star Cup: VS Rathnam / NC Chidananda (pvt, 1:05: 57.8) 1; Dhirendra Kumar/ Ravi Raidurg (1:08: 18.4); Kaushik H Shinde/ Ninad A Mirajgaonkar (1:9:07.7) 3.

Gypsy: Amrinder Brar/ Himanshu (Army Adventure Wing, 1:06:26) 1; Shakti Bajaj/ Dharmesh Sinha (AAW, 1:08:31.4) 2; Harpreet Singh Sidhu/ Hardevinder S Brar (1:09: 23.2) 3.

Open (foreign):  Dinesh Deheragoda/ Mushtaq Ahmed (1:01:55.0).