JOIN USOn Sunday, at the Coffee Day Rally of Chikmagalur, that small snag -- this time with the clutch and gear box -- cost Team MRF’s Gill (co-driver Musa Sherif) the overall crown of the fifth Indian National Rally Championship round.
While Gill was a picture of disappointment and rage nursing his gear-box-busted car through the final four kilometers on the last stage to finish third, Mysore’s Lohitt Urs (co-driver Srinivasa Murthy) stepped on the gas and clinched the crown in a time of 1 hour, 27 minutes, 11.8 seconds.
Urs, who has been consistent through his tenure in the MRF camp, had not won a round this season prior to this exceptional drive, which was backed by some luck.
Former Red Rooster Racing star and now one of Team MRF’s four drivers Amittrajit Ghosh (co-driver Ashwin Naik) finished third in 1::28:19.5, while Gill brought back to the garage a battered car in a time of 1::28:33.8 to complete an MRF 1-2-3.
However, Gill remained well in contention to grab this year’s INRC title as he bagged 25 points through the three days to take his driver’ championship tally up to 136 while Urs is in second spot with 91 points.
Provisional results: Overall/ 2000N+: Lohitt Urs/ PV Srinivasa Murthy (Team MRF, 1 hour 27 min 11.8 seconds) 1; Amittrajit Ghosh/ Ashwin Naik (Team MRF, 1::28:19.5) 2; Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif (Team MRF, 1::28:33.8) 3.
2000N cc: Karna Kadur/ Somonnita Ghosh (1::32:12.2); Rahul Kantharaj/ Vivek Y Bhatt (1::32:28.7) 2; Sirish Chandran/ Nikhil Vittal Pai (1::32:33.9) 3.
1600cc: Balaram CG/ Raghuram CG (1::42:02.6) 1; Mohammed Ismail/ Dannanjay B (1::44:12.4) 2; Aniruddha Rangnekar/ Anoop Kumar (1::46:47.0) 3.
1400cc: Raghunandhan B/ Adhiraju (1::39:32.9) 1; Hrishikesh Thackeresey/ Ninad Mirajgaonkar (1::41:24.4) 2; Pramod Raman/ Harish KN (1::41:36.2) 3.
Gypsy class: Shafeeq Ur Rehman/ Ajith KP (1::40:44.8) 1; Amartej Buwal/ Nakul Mendiratta (1::41:46.5) 2; Philip Thomas/ John Philip (1::45:49.5).