Shivram shows steely resolve to triumph

Shivram shows steely resolve to triumph

Coimbatore: Team Akshara Racing’s Chetan Shivram bagged his first INRC overall category victory after consistent performances through eight stages saw him reign supreme in the Champions Yacht Club - Fmsci Indian National Rally Championship’s Rally of Coimbatore, here on Sunday. 

Team Champions’ Bikku Babu along with co-driver Milen Goerge driving in the Volkswagen Polo car dominated Sunday’s proceedings, winning all three stages (finishing 29th in overall standings), but Shivram, along with co-driver/navigator and brother Dilip Sharan, stole the limelight as he held his nerve as well as his overnight lead to prevail. The brothers registered a victory in just their third rally together.

The sixth stage of the rally - first for Sunday - saw 41 drivers post finishes, a boost for the competition after 33 out of the 65-team field had earlier dropped out of contention during a difficult first day.

Gaurav Gill’s elimination from contention on Saturday opened the door for many other drivers, as Shivram made most of the opportunity, along with Team Race Concepts’ Younus Ilyas and Team Champions’ Fabid Ahmer who finished in second and third place respectively.

Shivram began the second and final day with Suheem Kabeer (privateer) breathing down his neck, who was just four seconds behind him, while Shivram also held a 19-second lead over Ilyas.

Action-packed finish Kabeer, with co-driver Jeeva Rathnam, had the worst possible start to his day in his bid to chase Shivram at the top, as his car got stuck in slush in the first stage itself. He lost six minutes there which ended his chances of catching up to the leader. Despite the delay, he did hold on to finish in third place in INRC 2 class.

Kabeer’s misfortune gave Shivram some leeway, he had no time to relax as Ilyas was in the mood to compete to the hilt. The driver from Kerala kept pace with Shivram in all three stages of the day, finishing second in the last two stages of the round. He fell just short, by a mere 4.600 seconds, to take second place on the INRC podium. His effort though, along with co-driver Harish Gowda, was good enough to win them the top prize in the INRC 2 category.

The second position in the INRC 2 went to Team Champions’ Dean Mascarenhas (co-driver Shruptha Padival) who showed the grit he is known for to climb up to the tenth place, jumping up 32 places after an unlucky first day had condemned him to the bottom of the table.

Final Results
INRC Overall: 1. Chetan Shivram & Dilip Sharan – 1:33:51.700; 2. Younus Ilyas & Harish Gowda – 1:33:56.300; 3. Fabid Ahmer & Sanath G. – 1:34:54.400.
INRC 2: 1. Younus Ilyas & Harish Gowda – 1:33:56.300; 2. Dean Mascarenhas & Shruptha Padival – 1:28:33.800; 3. Suhem Kabeer & Jeeva Rathinam – 1:40:17.000.
INRC 3:   1. Chetan Shivram & Dilip Sharan – 1:33:51.700; 2. Fabid Ahmer & Sanath G. – 1:34:54.400; 3. Aditya Thakur & Virender Kashyap – 1:35:57.700.INRC 4: 1. Vaibhav Marate & Arjun SSB – 1:38:27.000; 2. Manoj Mohanan & Francis Sachin – 1:39:36.300; 3. Rakshith Iyer & Chandrashekar – 1:40:17.000.
FMSCI /SUV Challenge:
1. Lokesh Gowda & Sudhindra B.G; 2) Gagan Karumbaiah & Thimmu Udapanda; 3. Sanjay Agarwal & Smitha N.

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