Borthers Chetan Shivram and Dilip Sharan, 2019 INRC National Champs; Gill, Musa win Popular Rally

Kottayam, Dec. 22: Brothers Chetan Shivram and Dilip Sharan are the National champions. They did not win the Poplular Rally but the experienced duo from Bengaluru conquered the Indian National Rally Championship 2019, thanks to their stunning victories in the second round at Combatore and fourth round in Bengaluru.

The MRF supported duo of Team Akshara, who had suffered a massive crash in the opening stage on Saturday, returned to complete Day 2’s three stages to protect their lead. They did get three valuable leg points, that put the title beyond Fabid and Dean.

They garnered enough points in the two previous rallies nurturing their car and negotiating the dangerous terrain when most of the top guns failed to finish. Both these rounds saw most of the experienced and talented drivers bite the dust one after the other. But Chetan, with Dilip calling the notes, carefully and skillfully negotiated to take the wins under these tricky circumstances and those points stood them in good stead and brought them the championship which they richly deserved.

After the K1000 rally, a veteran rally fan  could not help remember an old saying: “To finish first, one has to first finish the rally.’’ Chetan’s rivals, Fabid Ahmer and Dean Mascarenhas, who had a chance to topple Chetan needing 25 and 29 points respectively before the start of the Kerala leg, could not do much on Sunday. While Dean along with co-driver Shruptha Padival finished overall second in the Popular Rally, Fabid, along with navigator Sanath Gopalanhad, missed the INRC3 title by a whisker as a late penalty at the last TC cost them the title by a point. However, the youngster from Palakkad had the consolation of winning the Junior INRC title for 2019.

Meanwhile, speed maestro Gaurav Gill and co-driver Musa Sherif, retained the Popular Rally title, as the final round of the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC), promoted by Champions Yacht Club and organised by Southern Adventure and Motorsports concluded here on Sunday. Gill won the Popular Rally for the fifth time.

The Team Mahindra Adventure driver, supported by JK Tyre won SS9 and finished second in SS10 and SS11 on Day 2 to regain his aura over the weekend. Gill’s teammates, Dean Mascarenhas and Suhem Kabeer, too did well, taking the third and fourth positions in Popular Rally’s overall category.

Chetan, along with Dilip, nursed his car smartly, taking the tenth position in SS9 but revved up to the fifth in the last two stages for a valiant show. Chetan and Dilip also won the INRC3 title for a double dhamaka as Fabid and Sanath, earned a lat penalty.

In INRC3, Fabid who finished second behind Aditya Thakur and co-driver Virender Kashyap, had been demoted and Jacob KJ and PVS Murthy came second. Kuber Sharma and Karan Aukta finished third.

Team Champions’ Dr Bikku Babu (Milen George), a local favourite, finished third in the overall category and first in his own INRC 2 for a highly-rewarding Popular Rally. Tied with JK Tyre’s Dean Mascarenhas (Shruptha Padival) on 72 points at the start of the round, his win surely fetched him the National title in INRC 2 class.

In the INRC 4 category was won by Suraj Thomas and co-driver Sob George while Vaibhav Marathe (Arjun SSB) and Rakshith Iyer/Chandrashekhar finished second and third respectively. Vaibhav and Arjun garnered the National title in this class.

(Note: The results and the report were edited and revised on Dec. 23 at 12 noon after the official results which penalised an INRC3 driver changed the top-3 places and the title winner)

Provisional Results (Round 5): INRC Overall: 1. Gaurav Gill/ Musa Sherif – 1hour, 25min, 01.7sec; 2. Dr Bikku Babu/ Milen George – 1:29:16.300; 3. Dean Mascarenhas/ Shrupta Padival – 1:31:02.600.

INRC 2: 1. Dr Bikku Babu/ Milen George – 1:29:16.300; 2. Dean Mascarenhas/ Shrupta Padivel – 1:31:02.600; 3. Suhem Kabeer/ Jeeva Rathinam – 1:31:22.000.

INRC 3: 1. Aditya Thakur/ Virender Kashyap – 1:34:11.300; 2) Jacob K.J/ PVS Murthy – 1:34:46.300; 3. Kuber Sharma / Karan Aukta xx:xx.

INRC 4: 1. Suraj Thomas/ Sob George – 1:35:02.500; 2. Vaibhav Marathe/ Arjun SSB – 1:37:55.000; 3. Rakshith Iyer/ Chandrashekhar – 1:38:51.400.

SUV Challenge:  1. Nikhil J / Arjun Dheerendra 1:41:10.200; 2. Abishek Gowda/ Dheeraj Manae 1:42:58.100; 3. Gagan Karumbaiah/ Thimmu Uddapanda 1:44:10.100.

Junior INRC: 1. Fabid Ahmer / Sanath Gopalan; 2. Rakshith Iyer/ Chandrashekar; 3. Chandan KM/ Suraj M.