[Edmund]

I cant believe my bad luck, i'm stuck in office and the SSS is happening 2Km away.......at around 1500hrs they flew past my office and i watched them from the terrace............it got my adrenaline flowing, something that doesn't happen at work for me....... they were loud....... and fast!!!!

Weren't they supposed to be parading on MG road last night???

[Edmund]

Pictures of the SSS anyone???

[torqueunlimited]

I've got loads of pics from the SSS today... will post them a bit later...

[shrivz]

anyone goin tomorrow to shirur for the 1st stage???

[orangelephant]

.....Vikram Mathias that he is driving the fiesta, the only fiesta that JK has prepared. Apparently the SSS started late and the results might be void, so its a fresh new day tomorrow! (Anyway JK posted the top 4 timings!)

[moralfibre]

Just read in the papers that Sanket Shanbag's Gypsy overturned in the special stage near Balewadi. Hope Sanket is safe!

The article reads that that due to time constraints the rally turned out a big flop.

[Rtech]

The actual rally begins today and ends tomorrow. What you read about yesterday was only the Spectator special, which never really has a bearing on overall results (although from what i heard, quite a few novices had some rough encounters!).

[orangelephant]

....that Vikram is out, the fiesta had some mechanical problems. Naren had a puncture and Gaurav Gill was leading the last time i heard. Anybody have some updated news from Pune????

[Rtech]

Gaurav Gill steals show on opening day

Pune, May 6:

The racing background of youngster Gauravsingh Gill and the vast rallying experience of Farooq Ahmed seems to have formed the perfect combination for Team JK as the duo zoomed to the top of the leader board at the end of nine special stages in leg 1 of the Xtra Premium Overdrive Rally of Pune, the first round of the MAI's Indian National Rally Championship, which was run in and around Shirur, Ahmednagar on Saturday. Following him in second place is another youngster, Arjun Rao Aroor (co-driver Chandramouli) from Team MRF, leaving in their wake, fancied names like V R Naren Kumar (Ram Kumar) and Karandeep Singh (Jaidas Menon).

Gill, who had given ample proof of his driving skills during the concluding round of last year's championship, seemed to be carrying on from where had left as he tackled the fast special stages with aplomb and confident. Though not the smoothest drivers on view, he definitely was the quickest as he barreled the Maruti Baleno through twists and turns and let rip on the straights. Gill finished the nine special stages, a distance of 87.96 kms, in 55 mins, 51 seconds, his timing including a penalty of 50 seconds for reporting late to the start control before the super special stage on Friday.

Trailing him by a minute and 15 seconds are Aroor and Chandaramouli (57.06), followed by Naren Kumar and Ram Kumar of Team JK in third place ( 57.31). Sunny Sidhu (Vivek Anandan) of Team JK are lying in fourth place, followed by Karandeep Singh (Jaidas Menon) and Lohit Urs (Moosa Sherief) both from Team MRF.

The two Ford Fiestas in the fray did not fare too well, with Arjun Balu (Kumar Ramaswamy) of Team MRF having to withdraw with a broken sump in the second stage ad Vikram Mathais (Nikhil Pai) of Team JK breaking the rear axle of their car after the fourth stage.

After all the drivers were given scratch timings for the super special stage, Gill began the day in brilliant fashion, clocking a flat nine minutes over the 15.86 km long Ganjibhoire stage, the fastest among the field. He then bettered that mark thrice, clocking 8.59, 8.47 and 8.48 minutes on the fourth, sixth and eighth stage respectively.

Naren was also pushing hard, but a flat in the fourth stage saw him lose some time. However, he managed to stay in the lead till the end of the seventh stage, before another flat tyre in the eighth saw him lost more than two minutes to Gill the lead.

Aroor, who was lying in third place after five stages, also benefited from Naren's flat tyre. Though unable to clock less than 9 minutes on the four runs on the Ganjinbhoiore stage, he remains with a bright chance on the second day to push hard and hold on to his second spot and the 25-second lead over Naren.

The 1400 cc category is being led by Girijashankar Joshy (Srikanth G M ), followed by Chetan Shivram and Rupesh Kholay, while Rajesh Gadakh (Paritosh Kohok) lead the field in the Rally Star Cup. Amanpreet Ahluwalia (Manoj Shadija) had a good run in their Gypsy to finish on top in the Gypsy Cup.

Following are the provisional timings:

Overall (1600cc): Gauravsingh Gill/Farooq Ahmed (Team JK) 55 mins, 51 secs; Arjun Rao Aroor/Chandramouli (Team MRF) 57.06; Naren Kumar/Ram Kumar (Team JK) 57.31; Sunny Sidhu/Vivek Anandan (Team JK) 58.08; Karandeep Singh/Jaidas Menon (Team MRF) 58.19; Lohit V Urs/Moosa Sherief (Team MRF) 58.25.

1400cc: Girijashankar Joshy/Srikanth GM 1:02.23; Chetan Shivram/Rupesh Kholay 1:05.06; Domnic Prithvi/T Arumugam 1:08.17.

Rally Star Cup: Rajesh Gadakh/Paritosh Kohok 1:03.13; Vatcha Mazdayar/Kaushik Shinde 1:04.16; Khushwant Randhawa/Amandeep 1:05.07.

Gypsy Cup: Amanpreet Ahluwalia/Manoj Shadija 1:04.17; Sanket Shanbagh/Ramesh Shanbagh 1:06.32; Sandeep Sharma/Kulbir Singh 1:09.25.

[orangelephant]

Thank you Rtech for such a fine review of day 2. All us unfortunates who couldnt make it to the rally are upto date on the days proceedings thanks to you! Any news of Philippos Matthai?

[Mpower]

Great to see the new guys challenging Naren. but hes gonna claw back.

Anybody have pics of the Fiestas. Looks like they need some development before they can be competetive.

So, Naren is not going to Europe after all.

[orangelephant]

I totally agree!! Naren IS going to come back next race.
Any news on the finals results anyone? Rtech?

[egangsta]

Originally Posted by torqueunlimited

I've got loads of pics from the SSS today... will post them a bit later...

Buddy where are the pics ???? And does someone else have pics of the event, if you have them please upload it..

Cheers Ed...

[Rtech]

Pune, May 7:

Gauravsingh Gill (co-driver Farooq Ahmed) prefers to let his driving do the talking for him, and the manner in which the driver from Team JK dominated the Xtra Premium Overdrive Rally of Pune, finishing four minutes, 22 seconds ahead of the second-placed Karandip Singh of Team MRF left scope only for superlatives to describe his performance.

The 24-year-old driver from Delhi, in only his second rally after a gap of six years, routed a field of tried and tested names to finish the 13-stage event in 1 hour, 15 minutes and 46 seconds, leading a trio of drivers from the North to the first three spots, creating a record of sorts in Indian rallying. Karandip (Jaidas Menon) of Team MRF finished in second place, coming home in 1: 19.08, while Sunny Sidhu (Vivek Anandan) of Team JK Tyre occupied third place with 1:19.13.

Arjun Rao Aroor (Chandramouli) of Team MRF, who were in second place overnight, also had to pull out of the race after their car went off the road in the 12 th stage, while the jinx of flat tyres continued to dog defending champion Naren Kumar (Ram Kumar) of Team JK Tyre, and he had to settle for fourth place with 1:19.22. Lohit Urs (Moosa Sherief) came home in 1:20.04 to fill in the fifth slot.

The 1400 cc category was witnessing a tough battle between overnight leader Girijashankar Joshy (Shrikanth GM) and Chetan Shivram (Rupresh Kholay) with just four second separating the two, before the latter had to withdraw from the fray in the 12 th stage. Joshy clocked 1:22.19.

Also making a successful comeback after a gap of one year was Rajesh Gadakh (Paritosh Kohok) in the Rally Star Cup, emerging winners with a timing of 1: 26.04. The Gypsy Cup saw the father-son duo of Sanket Shanbagh and Ramesh Shanbagh occupy the top spot on the podium with a time of 1:29.27.

Gill, who was leading Aroor by 2 minutes, 5 seconds overnight, said he took it easy on the final four stages of the second day, but even the "easy" driving was good enough to finish fastest on two of the stages. "The going was great for me on both the days. I had two flats on the first day, but since they both were soft punctures, I could drive through and did not lose too much time," said Gill, who had now proved his skills on dirt as well as tarmac. The 2004-2005 Formula Maruti champion, who made no specific preparations before his reentry into rallying, hopes to carry his brilliant beginning into the rest of the rallying season. "I am going to concentrate 100 per cent on rallying now," said Gill, who has been racing on bikes and cars in the past.

Gill also came in from praise from Naren Kumar, who said, "He drove and excellent event and had done very well for himself." Karandip Singh was also pleased with his performance on the second day that saw him leapfrog from overnight fifth position into second. "I did some smart times today and was very happy with my setup," said the genial Sardar.

Following are the provisional results:

Overall: Gauravsingh Gill/Farooq Ahmed (Team JK) 1:15.46; Karandip Singh/Jaidas Menon (Team MRF) 1:19.08; Sunny Sidhu/Vivek Anandan (Team JK) 1: 19.13; Naren Kumar/Ram Kumar (Team JK) 1:19.22; Lohit Urs/Moosa Sherief (Team MRF) 1:20.04

1600cc: Gauravsingh Gill/Farooq Ahmed; Karandip Singh/Jaidas Menon; Sunny Sidhu/Vivek Anandan.

1400cc: Girijashankar Joshy/Srikanth GM 1:22.19; Domnic Prithvi/T Arumugam 1:42.06; Arindam Ghosh/Sourabh 1:54.48.

Rally Star Cup: Rajesh Gadakh/Paritosh Kohok 1:26.04; Vatcha Mazdayar/Kaushik Shinde 1:27.56; Amanpreet Ahluwalia/Manoj Shadija 1:27.58.

Gypsy Cup: Sanket Shanbagh/Ramesh Shanbagh 1:29.27.

[orangelephant]

Thank you Rtech! Great post as usual!