Shivram clinches surprise lead; Gill crashes

Shivram clinches surprise lead; Gill crashes

Coimbatore: Chetan Shivram of Team Akshara Racing romped to the lead on day one of the Indian National Rally Championship’s Rally of Coimbatore, as championship favorites Gaurav Gill and Dean Mascarenhas both suffered due to breakdowns and challenging track conditions on an eventful Saturday here. 

With the terrain posing unexpected challenges to the drivers, the INRC 3 driver Shivram along with his brother & co-driver Dilip Sharan posted a total time of 1:05:32.900 to complete the five stages.

Suhem Kabeer, with co-driver Jeeva Rathnam, took advantage of the misfortunes of the big names and climbed to second position after Day 1. The JK Tyre supported driver finished second in the last two stages of the day to clock a total of 1:05:33:300 hours.

Younus Ilyas (co-driver Harish Gowda) won the last two stages of the day to take the third position.
Ritesh Guttedar of Team Champions finished the day in fourth place in the overall standings, and was third in the INRC 2 category behind Kabeer and Ilyas respectively.

Gill started off proceedings for the day as Friday’s wet and slushy conditions gave way to pleasant and windy conditions on Saturday. 

Damaging finish
Gill and co-driver Musa Sherif wasted no time to grab the lead and finished the 14.35 km long first stage on top, clocking 12.08:300 in his Mahindra XUV300.

Championship leader Dean Mascarenhas, along with co-driver Shruptha Padival, finished the stage in fourth place and 57 seconds behind Gill. After a decent start, Mascarenhas’s chances took a severe blow as he finished as low as 47th after his car got stuck into the slush.

Gill continued his fine run to top the charts in the 20 km long second stage, and the six-time champion kept up his winning ways in the third stage with a hat-trick of top-placed finishes, while his Mahindra compatriot Amittrajit Ghosh finished second

Bidding for this seventh INRC title, Gill was a cut above the rest as the fourth stage began, but things started to go haywire soon after, as he fell victim to a flat tire which eventually saw his car’s lower arm also break off, leading to a DNF. 

Malfunction hit Gill hard as he was forced to drop out of contention for the round. Mascarenhas also faced a flat tire in the fourth stage, further denting his chances.

“After a continuous rainfall last night, it suddenly became sunny in the morning leading to the surface becoming really hard. There were stones all over the stages which made it difficult. I am obviously not happy with my current scenario but would say that I would take it as a learning experience and I will bounce back strong,” said Gill.

Mascarenhas also spoke about the difficult track conditions, saying It was tough out there. “One of the toughest terrains I’ve faced. It’s important to be calm in these situations,” he said.

Results 
INRC Overall: 1. Chetan Shivram & Dilip Sharan - 1:05:32.900; 2. Suhem Kabeer & Jeeva Rathinam - 1:05:33:300; 3. Younus Ilyas & Harish Gowda - 1:05:45.600.
INRC 2: 1. Suhem Kabeer & Jeeva Rathinam - 1:05:33:300; 2. Younus Ilyas & Harish Gowda - 1:05:45.600; 3. Ritesh Guttedar & M Lokarajan - 1:05:51.400
INRC 3: 1. Chetan Shivram & Dilip Sharan - 1:05:32.900; 2. Fabid Ahmer & Sanath G - 1:06:19.400; 3. Arjun Rao & Shanmuga Sundaram - 1:06:43.600
INRC 4: 1. Suraj Thomas & Shob George - 1:07:51.800; 2. Vaibhav Marate & Arjun SSB - 1:07:55.400; 3. Manoj Mohanan & Francis Sachin - 1:09:00:600
 

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