Thaindian News

Chikmagalur (Karnataka), Nov 19 (IANS) In another near-flawless exhibition of aggressive but controlled driving, Gaurav Gill (co-driver Musa Sherif) of Team MRF took a commanding 50-second lead at the end of the first leg in the Coffee Day Rally, the fifth round of the Indian National Rally Championship here Saturday.

In the shadow of the mighty Sahyadri mountain range, Gill, the championship leader in the Overall category, all but destroyed the opposition as he powered his Mitsubishi Cedia Lancer (Group N+) through four Special Stages with panache and commitment to move clear of team-mate Amittrajit Ghosh (Ashwin Naik) who was in second place.

“The Birur Stage is comparable to the best in the World,” gushed forth the 30-year old Gill after the day’s run. “It was super quick and I could really go flat out. I enjoyed the Stage a lot.”

Gill was quickest in three of the four Stages while he was fractions of a second slower than Ghosh in the day’s last loop of the Farm Stage.

“The Farm was full of hair-pin bends and I didn’t want to strain the engine by over-heating it. I took it easy and pushed only where I could. On the last loop, I eased off a bit.

“On Sunday, I will do my normal driving but without any drama. The lead is handy and I just want to bring the car home,” said Gill who is poised to notch his third win of the season.

In fact, Gill made 43 seconds over Ghosh over the two loops of the 12.50 Kms long Birur Stage that had long straights and flowing corners where one could carry a lot of speed.

Behind the leaders was their team-mate Lohitt Urs (PV Srinivasa Murthy) while the fourth MRF entry, Arjun Balu (Sujith Kumar) retired due to a Cam sensor failure on the day’s third Stage.

Meanwhile, Rahul Kanthraj (Vivek Bhatt) enjoyed a 5.2-second lead over Karna Kadur (Somonita Ghosh) in the 2000cc (Group N) as he was quicker in three of the four Stages.

Down the grid, Chetan Shivram (Roopesh Kholay) and Sirish Chandran (Nikhil Pai) were locked in a close tussle for third place with the former ahead by just 4.6 seconds.

Balram CG (Raghuram CG) virtually clinched the issue in the 1600cc class as they finished the day a clear one minute, 20 seconds ahead of Hanoosh Surapneni (Ravindra Kumar).

Provisional Classification (after Leg 1):

Overall: Gaurav Gill / Musa Sherif (Team MRF) 1 (52min 41.5 seconds); Amittrajit Ghosh / Ashwin Naik (MRF) 2 (53:31.7); Lohitt Urs / PV Srinivasa Murthy (MRF) 3 (53:46.5).
2000N cc: Rahul Kantharaj /Vivek Y Bhatt 1 (57: 05); Karna Kadur / Somonita Ghosh 2 (57:10.4); Chetan Shivram / Rupesh Kholay 3 (57:15.6).

1600 cc: Balaram CG / Raghuram CG 1 (01hr, 01min, 28.2secs); Hanoosh Surapneni / Ravindra Kumar 2 (01:03:18.8); Aniruddha Rangnekar / Anoop Kumar 3 (01:04:49.2).

Star Cup (1400cc): Raghunandhan B / Adhiraju 1 (01:00:50.5); Asad Khan / Zayn Asrar 2 (01:02:43.0); Pramod Raman / Harish KN 3 (01:02:46.3).

Gypsy Cup: Shafeeq-ur Rehman / Ajith KP 1 (01:01:21.3); Sanjay Agarwal / Shivaprakash 2 (01:01:33.2); Amartej Buwal / Nakul Mendiratta) 3 (01:03:16.5).

(Anand Philar can be contacted at anandphilar@gmail.com)