2017 INRC: Gaurav Gill Has Great Start

The first round of the 2017 MRF FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship - the Rally of Coimbatore - was held from July 28-30. 24 cars fought for glory on tight twisty gravel roads and hot & humid climatic conditions.

Two-time APRC Champion Gaurav Gill and co-driver Musa Sherif, racing for the official Mahindra Adventure team, had an easy win their Mahindra XUV 500 in the INRC class. Defending champions Karna Kadur and Nikhil Pai from Arka Motorsports had to settle for second place as Gill/Sherif gained valuable time over five stages.

Gaurav's aggressive driving style, long rally experience and Musa's reliable directions meant the pair had opened up an 18-seconds lead by the first stage of the rally itself. Karna/Nikhil in their INRC prepped Volkswagen Polo could only manage to finish second, a considerable one minute forty-five seconds later (overall time), though they managed to keep Mahindra Adventure's other duo, Amittrajit Ghosh and Ashwin Naik, at bay. 

Amittrajit/Ashwin may have had better fortunes if they had not run into technical problems during the rally. They were not the only ones to suffer because of the dusty and gravelly roads of Rally Coimbatore; Arjun Rao and Satish Rajgopal, racing for AR Racing in a Volkswagen Polo R2 had to pull out of the rally in the first stage itself. They joined a five-car DNF list, with most of them suffering issues because of the dust, heat and humidity.

Privateers Aroor Vikram Rao and co-driver Somayya A.G. had a bad rally, they crashed their Volkswagen Polo dramatically and the car later caught on fire. Luckily both Aroor and Somayya escaped without a scratch. 

Gaurav Gill was understandably pleased with the result. "It was a good win. I enjoy driving here in Coimbatore and it’s always nice to start the season with a victory. It was a nice smooth round, with no drama and no fuss. I particularly enjoyed the second stage where our skill and control came into play," he said.

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The results of Round 1 of the MRF FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship are as follows:

INRC: 

1. Gaurav Gill & Musa Sherif - Team Mahindra Adventure/Mahindra XUV500

2. Karna Kadur & Nikhil Pai - Arka Motorsports/Volkswagen Polo

3. Amittrajit Ghosh & Ashwin Naik - Team Mahindra Adventure/Mahindra XUV500

INRC 2: 

1. Karna Kadur & Nikhil Pai - Red Rooster Performance/Volkswagen Polo

2. Rahul Kanthraj & Vivek Bhatt -Red Rooster Performance/Mitsubishi Cedia

3. Younus Ilyas & Harish Kumar - Privateer/Mitsubishi Cedia

INRC 3: 

1. Dean Mascarenhas & Shruptha Padival - Privateer/Volkswagen Polo

2. Dr Biku Babu & Milen George - Privateer/Volkswagen Polo

3. KM Bopaiah & Karumbaisah G - Privateer/Volkswagen Polo