[wheelguy]

*Image for representative purpose only ; Image Source

India's top rally driver Gaurav Gill was at his imperious best here on Saturday, stealing day one honours by winning six super stages as the FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship headed towards an explosive finish.

The JK Tyre driver, with Musa Sherif as co-driver, who was trailing in the seventh position at the start of the round could well break into the podium if he manages to excel on the final day of the championship.

He had just 29 points after the first four rounds but could end up adding 39 points more if he remains unbeaten on Sunday as well, catapulting him on the leader-board.

Younus Ilyas (Harish Gowda) and Bikku Babu (Milen George) had spectacular outings too, with the former even winnings two stages. The duo shared the second and third positions in all the other six Popular Rally stages, providing thrilling fare to the spectators.

Despite his fightback, Gill would not be able to surpass the current overall leader, MRF's Chetan Shivram.

Bengaluru's Chetan (with Dilip Sharan), who was leading INRC 3 as well, endured a massive crash in the day's first stage itself and failed to finish even one stage. His 75 points, though, should see him home safely, even if he is unable to make the starting line-up on Sunday.

INRC 3's Fabid Ahmer (Sanath G) with 51 points and INRC 2's Dean Mascarenhas (Shruptha Padival) with 47 also remained in the fray for podium finishes in the overall category.

Source: Business Standard

[swissknife]

Good to see Gaurav get over the nasty and traumatic incident that he had. Wishing him the very best.

[wheelguy]

The final day of rallying in the 2019 Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) season saw Gaurav Gill reassert himself as the top rallyist in India. He is now the only individual to have won the Popular Rally five times, although the fact that he didn't have a great season leading up to the finale, means that he misses out on the championship title.

Chetan Shivram had no such troubles. His early wins in the Rally of Coimbatore and the K1000 in Bengaluru have allowed the Team Akshara driver to claim the championship title. Shivram had a difficult outing at the Popular Rally, and needed to recover from a crash on the first day. He finished ninth in SS9, but picked up from there to take fifth in SS10 and SS11. This setback meant that he missed the INRC 3 category title, which went to Fabid Ahmer (Sanath G). Ahmer finished second in the category at the Popular Rally behind Aditya Thakur (Virender Kashyap).

Dr Bikku Babu (Milen George) took top honours in the INRC 2 category championship. He was tied with Dean Mascarenhas/Shrupta Padivel at the beginning of the round, but a better showing here helped him pip Mascarenhas to an overall second place. Suraj Thomas/Shob George took the top spot in the INRC 4 Category for this event.

As for Gill's performance in the second day of the rally, him and Musa Sherif won SS9 and finished second in SS10 and SS11.

Source: Overdrive