forty sixth South India Rally – Day 2

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Chennai, March 18: Bringing into play his huge expertise, Gaurav Gill (co-driver Aniruddha Rangnekar) survived difficult circumstances following a spell of rain to consolidate his total lead within the FIA-Asia Pacific Rally Championship (Asia Rally Cup) that’s being run concurrently with the 46th South India Rally, the opening spherical of the Blueband Sports activities Fmsci Indian Nationwide Rally Championship 2023, right here on Saturday.

The afternoon showers caught out a number of rivals, notably in a single day INRC chief Bengaluru-based reigning Nationwide champion Karna Kadur (Nikhil Pai) who dropped down the order whereas Mangaluru’s Aroor Arjun Rao (Satish Rajagopal) moved into the lead, albeit only a few seconds forward of Delhi’s Philippos Matthai (PV Srinivasa Murthy) who additionally leads in INRC-2 class.

Within the Asia Rally Cup competitors, Gill, driving a four-wheel drive Subaru Impreza with no turbo increase, led Thailand’s Mana Pornsiricherd Mana (Thanyaphat Meenil) who needed to cope with mechanical points, by one minute, 39 seconds, with Kadur a distant third.

The rains affected the highest few vehicles because the Aavisa Stage floor turned slushy and slippery. Like Kadur, piloting a Volkswagen Polo, Gill misplaced time battling the circumstances because the duo was among the many first out on the Stage which noticed a number of vehicles caught within the slush.

Three-times APRC champion Gill stated: “My automotive didn’t have the increase, however my expertise of driving APRC and the WRC-2 vehicles helped in fact. These vehicles are purported to be highly-powered turbo-charged machines. So, when the turbo will not be operating on the optimum degree, it’s tough to drive these vehicles. The climate Gods turned every part round. The floor circumstances meant even the fellows behind made time on me because the observe dried up rapidly when the solar got here out. Additionally, I needed to drive the final 7-8 Kms of the day’s final Stage with out brakes. Nonetheless, we’ve an excellent lead and we hope to convey the automotive again safely tomorrow.”

For 39-year previous Aroor Arjun Rao, who was mendacity third Total going into the day’s final Stage, it was a complete transformation in his fortunes, having final gained an INRC occasion seven years in the past. “Frankly, I’m overwhelmed because it’s been a very long time since I’m main after Day-1. We drove with good rhythm and had been mendacity third Total in INRC with two extra Phases to be run. The rains made the floor very slippery, and we misplaced time to these behind us. Nonetheless, within the final Stage of the day, I drove very properly to make time on others and end the day Total first in INRC. I simply hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow,” stated Rao.

After the dramatic turnaround right this moment, Kadur was crestfallen. “I’m upset with the climate which performed spoilsport. We acquired caught within the slush within the Aavisa stage after the rains. Being the primary automotive out, I needed to cope with all of the water puddles and the slush, not even figuring out whether or not I may make the nook! Tomorrow, I’m not positive, however it’ll be an uphill process to make up for misplaced time,” he stated.

The three-day occasion, organised by the Madras Motor Sports activities Membership, will conclude on Sunday when the 2 Phases, Aavisa and MIC Monitor, might be run twice every in reverse route.

Partial Unofficial classification (after Leg-1)

APRC

  1. Gaurav Gill / Aniruddha Rangnekar (India) (01hr, 03mins, 04.0secs);
  2. Pornsiricherd Mana / Thanyaphat Meenil (Thailand) (01:04:43.2);
  3. Karna Kadur / Nikhil Pai (India) (01:06:56.1).

INRC

  1. Aroor Arjun Rao / Satish Rajagopal (01:05:47.7);
  2. Philippos Matthai / PV Srinivasa Murthy (01:05:52.9);
  3. Karna Kadur / Nikhil Pai (India) (01:06:56.1).

INRC-2

  1. Philippos Matthai / PV Srinivasa Murthy (01:05:52.9);
  2. Sahil Khanna / Harish KN Gowda (01:09:35.3);
  3. Chetan Shivram / Dilip Sharan (01:08.58.7).

INRC-3

  1. Sheshank Jamwal / Aseem Sharma (01:07:22.7);
  2. Daraius Shroff / Shahid Salman (01:07:25.6);
  3. Vishakh Balachandran / Anil Abbas (01:08:16.9).

INRC-4

  1. Abhin Rai / D Uday Kumar (01:12:02.7);
  2. Dheeraj KV / Pramod Rajan (01:13:24.9);
  3. Renuka Gajendran / Angela James (01:28.55.5).

Junior INRC

  1. Arnav Pratap Singh / Arjun SSB (01:08:22.6);
  2. Arjun Rajeev / Rohith Gowda (01:09:10.1);
  3. Jahan Singh Gill / Sujraj Keshava (01:10:28.0).

Women

  1. Pragathi Gowda / Trisha Alonkar (01:08:58.6);
  2. Renuka Gajendran / Angela James (01:28:55.5).

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