Thaindian News

Chikmagalur (Karnataka), Nov 20 (IANS) Lohitt Urs (co-driver PV Srinivasa Murthy) got the jump on two of his MRF team-mates, including Amittrajit Ghosh (Ashwin Naik) and overnight leader Gaurav Gill (Musa Sherif) to register his first win of the season as the Mysorean captured the overall crown in the Coffee Day Rally here Sunday.

Urs, who can never be discounted for his pace and craft, put it in some consistent times that though he was placed third overnight, eventually helped the Mysorean to nose ahead at the wire.

Gill’s Mistubishi Cedia Lancer went down with a gearbox problem and stalled about three Kms from the finish of Sunday’s final Special Stage. Though he managed to get it into third and limp out of the Stage, it cost him far too much time, besides the title.

“It was a great moment and I thoroughly enjoyed my drive. The stages were fast and the Birur stage is comparable to the best in the world as it stayed true even after all the cars ran once with only about 10 per cent deterioration,” said Urs.

“I had problems with the clutch. I managed to engage a gear and finished the rally driving in the third all the way,” said an obviously disappointed Gill, who started the day with a 50-second lead over Ghosh.

Despite the setback, Gill kept his grip on the championship. He now has 136 points while Urs, having moved to second spot with 91.

Meanwhile, for Karna Kadur, who hails from this region, it was an emotional moment as he took the title in the 2000cc (Group N) class with the championship’s lone female contender Somonita Ghosh as his co-driver, ahead of veteran Rahul Kanthraj (Vivek Bhatt) who could not build on his overnight 5.2 second lead.

Kanthraj, in fact, was fortunate to have finished second as Sirish Chandran (Nikhil Pai) was docked 10-second road penalty that pushed him to third, just 5.2 seconds behind Kanthraj.

The 1600cc class title went to Bangalore’s Balram CG (Raghuram CG) who was rarely challenged as he spared almost two minutes to second-placed Mohammed Ismail (Dannanjay B).

In the two non-championship categories, Raghu Nandan B (Adhiraj) took the honours in the 1400cc Star Cup while local challenger Shafeeq Ur Rehman (Ajith KP) topped the Gypsy Cup.

Provisional final classification:

Overall: Lohit Urs / PV Srinivasa Murthy (Team MRF) 1 (1 hour, 27mins, 11.8secs; Amittrajit Ghosh / Ashwin Naik (MRF) 2 (01:28:19.5); Gaurav Gill / Musa Sherif (MRF) 3 (01:28:33.8).

2000cc (Group N): Karna Kadur / Somonnita Ghosh 1 (01:32:12.2); Rahul Kantharaj / Vivek Y Bhatt 2 (01: 32:28.7); Sirish Chandran / Nikhil Vittal Pai 3 (01:32:33.9).

1600cc: Balaram CG / Raghuram CG 1 (01:42:02.6); Mohammed Ismail / Dannanjay B 2 (01:44:12.4); Aniruddha Rangnekar / Anoop Kumar 3 (01:46:47.0).

Star Cup (1400cc): Raghunandhan B / Adhiraj 1 (01:39:32.9); Hrishikesh Thackeresey / Ninad Mirajgaonkar 2 (01:41:24.4); Pramod Raman / Harish KN 3 (01:41:36.2).

Gypsy Cup: Shafeeq Ur Rehman / Ajith KP 1 (01:40:44.8); Amartej Buwal / Nakul Mendiratta 2 (01:41:46.5); Philip Thomas / John Philip 3 (01:45:49.5).