Gaurav Gill consolidates lead in Asia Rally Cup

CHENNAI: Bringing into play his vast experience, Gaurav Gill (co-driver Aniruddha Rangnekar) survived tricky conditions following a spell of rain to consolidate his overall lead in the FIA-Asia Pacific Rally Championship (Asia Rally Cup) that is being run concurrently with the 46th South India Rally, the opening round of the Blueband Sports FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship, here on Saturday.

The afternoon showers caught out a host of competitors, notably overnight INRC leader Bengaluru-based reigning National champion Karna Kadur (Nikhil Pai) who dropped down the order while Mangaluru’s Aroor Arjun Rao (Satish Rajagopal) moved into the lead, albeit just a few seconds ahead of Delhi’s Philippos Matthai (PV Srinivasa Murthy) who also leads in INRC-2 category.

In the Asia Rally Cup competition, Gill, driving a four-wheel drive Subaru Impreza without a turbo boost, led Thailand’s Mana Pornsiricherd Mana (Thanyaphat Meenil) who had to deal with mechanical issues, by one minute, 39 seconds, with Kadur a distant third.

The rains affected the top few cars as the Aavisa Stage surface turned slushy and slippery. Like Kadur, piloting a Volkswagen Polo, Gill lost time battling the conditions as the duo was among the first out on the Stage which saw several cars stuck in the slush.

For 39-year-old Aroor Arjun Rao, who was lying third Overall going into the day’s last Stage, it was a total transformation in his fortunes, having last won an INRC event seven years ago.

RESULTS (AFTER LEG-1):

APRC: 1. Gaurav Gill / Aniruddha Rangnekar (India) (01hr, 03mins, 04.0secs); 2. Pornsiricherd Mana / Thanyaphat Meenil (Thailand) (01:04:43.2); 3. Karna Kadur / Nikhil Pai (India) (01:06:56.1)

INRC: 1. Aroor Arjun Rao / Satish Rajagopal (01:05:47.7); 2. Philippos Matthai / PV Srinivasa Murthy (01:05:52.9); 3. Karna Kadur / Nikhil Pai (India) (01:06:56.1)

INRC-2: 1. Philippos Matthai / PV Srinivasa Murthy (01:05:52.9); 2. Sahil Khanna / Harish KN Gowda (01:09:35.3); 3. Chetan Shivram / Dilip Sharan (01:08.58.7)

INRC-3: 1. Sheshank Jamwal / Aseem Sharma (01:07:22.7); 2. Daraius Shroff / Shahid Salman (01:07:25.6); 3. Vishakh Balachandran / Anil Abbas (01:08:16.9)

INRC-4: 1. Abhin Rai / D Uday Kumar (01:12:02.7); 2. Dheeraj KV / Pramod Rajan (01:13:24.9); 3. Renuka Gajendran / Angela James (01:28.55.5) Junior INRC: Arnav Pratap Singh / Arjun SSB (01:08:22.6); 2. Arjun Rajeev / Rohith Gowda (01:09:10.1); 3. Jahan Singh Gill / Sujraj Keshava (01:10:28.0) Ladies: 1. Pragathi Gowda / Trisha Alonkar (01:08:58.6); 2. Renuka Gajendran / Angela James (01:28:55.5)