Gill runs away clear winner

There indeed was no challenge for Gaurav Gill as he added Kochi to his list of conquered destinations in the Indian National Rally Championship.

There indeed was no challenge for Gaurav Gill as he added Kochi to his list of conquered destinations in the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC).

A flawless drive right through the three stages on Day Two not only left many rally aficionados conceding, “he (Gaurav) is not one but two notches above the rest,” but also earned kudos from veteran ex-rallyist Jagat Nanjappa. Driving a clear winner by 1 minute 22 seconds at the 22nd Heera Rally, after begining the day 48 seconds ahead, it was just a matter of proving the point statistically.

Co-driven by Moosa Sherif — his third navigator apart from Farookh Sheikh and N Sujit — Gill, who is in his second year on the rallying circuit, had a simple plan — keep cool and drive.

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With bad luck plaguing teammate Lohit Urs/ Pradeep Kumar who suffered an engine seizure on the day’s first stage, it became virtually a one-horse race. The finally second-placed Arjun Rao Aroor/ Satish Kumar were only way-beyond challengers.

The no-competition situation meant that Gill, who now looks forward to the Asia Pacific Rally Championship for Team MRF after the Chandigarh-leg of the INRC in April, decided to race against clock rather than take it easy. “There’s no point in being content just winning, it’s how you push yourself that matters and that’s exactly what I did,” explained Gill. At his fastest, Gill breezed at a maximum of 177 kms per hour, which distinctly reflected on the stage times as compared to Day One.

Gill further explained his strategy: “Today I adopted a different approach to my driving, concentrating more on the technical aspects rather then sheer power. Results showed, didn’t they?”

At the finish Gill had 1 hour, 16 minutes, 44 seconds logged to his name as compared to to Aroor’s 1:18.06.

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The 1400cc category title was claimed by defending champion Girijashankar Joshy and co-driver G M Srikanth, whose excellent control over the vehicle and smooth tackling of the corners also saw them finish third overall, that too in an Esteem unlike the other more powerful Ford Fiestas and Mitsubushi Balenos.

The Rally Star Cup saw a surprise winner in Abhijit Pai and Prajal Pai after overnight leaders Mazdayar Vatcha/ Kaushik Shinde were excluded after having found to have carried out repairs on the car in the regroup session after stage four of the opening day.

Provisional Results

Overall: Gaurav Gill/ Moosa Sherif (Team MRF, Cedia) 1:16.44; Arjunrao Aroor/ Satish Kumar (Team MRF, Baleno) 1:18.06; Girijashankar Joshy/ Srikanth GM (Esteem) 1:20.40 ; Bikku Babu/ Bonnie Thomas (Esteem) 1:23.10; Amritraj Ghosh/ Sourabh Choudhary 1:23.32.

1400cc Category: Girijashankar Joshy/ Srikanth GM (Esteem) 1:20.40; Bikku Babu/ Bonnie Thomas (Esteem) 1:23.10; Amritraj Ghosh/ Sourabh Choudhary 1:23.32.

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Rally Star Cup: Abhijit Pai/ Prajal Pai (Esteem) 1:26.39; Aravind J/ SM Bharath (Esteem) 1:27.56; Rupesh Kholay/ Pragyat (Esteem) 1:31.00.

Gypsy Cup: Surendra Babu/ Sheraz Ahmed 1:30.32.