Thaindian News

Bhubaneshwar, Dec 8 (IANS) All is not well in Team MRF camp. Close on the heels of Arjun Balu retiring, veteran Lohitt Urs has decided to opt out of the Reds and will be driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Cedia prepared by Red Rooster Performance in the inaugural Rally of Odisha, the sixth and penultimate round of the FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship here this weekend.

In the 2000cc N+ class, Urs (co-driver P.V.S. Murthy) will be the only competition to Team MRF who have fielded only cars instead of the regular four driven by championship leader Gaurav Gill (Musa Sherif) and Amittrajit Ghosh (Ashwin Naik).

Gill needs to stay ahead of second-placed Urs to clinch the championship here with only the last leg at Kolkota remaining. To stay in contention for the National title, Urs should win here with at least a three-point margin ahead of Gill.

In the 2000cc (Group N) class, Rahul Kantharaj (Vivek Bhatt) and Karna Kadur (Somonnita Ghosh) will renew their battle.

Of the 18 entries, there are seven Mitsubishi Cedias; three in 2000 N+ and four 2000 N classes. Four entries are received for the 1600cc class while an equal number will be seen in 1400cc Star Cup category with three in the Gypsy Cup.

The spectator friendly super special stage will be held at Vani Vihar where the fans can watch high-class rally action from a vantage points as the cars go on a 1.5km lap twice on Friday at 2pm.

With one stage already cancelled, the rally will run three special stages on Saturday and three on Sunday comprising a total of 113 kms while the transport section is a bit over 200 kms to make a total distance of 314 kms as scheduled initially.