Gill wins Asia Rally Cup 2nd round; Aroor bags South India Rally title

CHENNAI: India’s Gaurav Gill (co-driver Aniruddha Rangnekar) did just enough to clinch the second round of the FIA-Asia Pacific Rally Championship (Asia Rally Cup) as the 46th South India Rally, organised by the Madras Motor Sports Club, concluded on Sunday.

Two of the four Special Stages were called off following heavy overnight rain, which rendered the Madras International Circuit track water-logged and virtually unmotorable.

Thailand’s Mana Pornsiricherd (co-driver Meenil Thanyaphat), representing the Toyota Rally Team, finished second while India’s Amittrajit Ghosh (co-driver Ashwin Naik) moved up a spot to third when Karna Kadur (co-driver Nikhil Pai) retired after stalling in the day’s last Stage, which was subsequently cancelled.

Aroor Arjun Rao (co-driver Satish Rajagopal) took the Overall title in the Blueband Sports FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship, his first win in seven years.

Sahil Khanna (co-driver Harish KN Gowda) topped the INRC 2 category while Daraius Shroff (co-driver Shahid Salman) sealed his maiden victory in the National championship by finishing first in INRC 3.

Abhin Rai (co-driver D Uday Kumar) emerged champion in the INRC 4 category while Pragathi Gowda (co-driver Trisha Alonkar) took the honours in the Ladies class.

CLASSIFICATION (PROVISIONAL):

FIA-APRC (Asia Rally Cup): 1. Gaurav Gill/Aniruddha Rangnekar (01 hour, 50 minutes, 23.0 seconds); 2. Mana Pornsiricherd/Meenil Thanyaphat (01:51:12.0); 3. Amittrajit Ghosh/Ashwin Naik (01:58:44.0).

Overall INRC: 1. Aroor Arjun Rao/Satish Rajagopal (01:55:26.6); 2. Daraius Shroff/Shahid Salman (01:58:11.1); 3. Sheshank Jamwal/Aseem Sharma (01:58:30.1).

INRC 2: 1. Sahil Khanna/Harish KN Gowda (02:01:38.9); 2. Charen Chandran/Vignesh Mahalingam (02:15:29.4); 3. Harikrishan Wadia/ BK Rishabh (02:16:53.8).

INRC 3: 1. Daraius Shroff/Shahid Salman (01:58:11.1); 2. Sheshank Jamwal/Aseem Sharma (01:58:30.1); 3. Vishakh Balachandran/Anil Abbas (01:59:29.8).

INRC 4: 1. Abhin Rai/D Uday Kumar (02:04:48.5); 2. Dheeraj KV/Pramod Raman (02:07:51.2); 3. Arun Mohan/Rishikesh KR (02:45:44.9).

Junior INRC: 1. Arjun Rajiv/Rohit Gowda (02:00:13.2); 2. Arnav Pratap Singh/Arjun SSB (02:00:50.6); 3. Jahaan Singh Gill/Suraj Keshava Prasad (02:01:04.9).

Ladies Cup (Open): 1. Pragathi Gowda/Trisha Alonkar (01:59:58.5); 2. Shivani Parmar/Sanath G (02:20:12.4)