Gaurav Gill (l) and co-driver Aniruddha Rangnekar celebrate victory in the second round of the FIA-APRC (Asia Rally Cup) at MIC on Sunday.
Mangaluru’s Aroor Arjun Rao (Satish Rajagopal) took the overall title in the Blueband Sports FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship – his first win in seven years. However, India’s Gaurav Gill dominated the FIA-Asia Pacific Rally Championship (Asia Rally Cup) by clinching the second round of the event at the Madras Motor Sports Club (MMSC) on Sunday.
Unfavourable weather conditions had led to the cancellation of two of the scheduled four special stages at the South India Rally. Heavy rainfall overnight had left the Madras International Circuit (MIC) track waterlogged and unmotorable, thus affecting the races. Gill, who had for the first time partnered with Aniruddha Rangnekar, still fought hard to emerge victorious.
According to Gill, “There were niggles with my car that went on forever, and I am happy to bring it back home safely. There were also extreme changes in conditions. One stage (MIC track) was bone dry and the other (Aavisa) slushy yesterday (Saturday), and today (Sunday) it was the other way around. I had a tough time negotiating it.”
Nevertheless, Gill expressed his satisfaction with his triumph and also revealed his plans for the future. “As for the new co-driver, Aniruddha worked hard and was good considering it was his first time out with me. I was a bit nervous initially, but we settled down. Looking ahead, I will be getting back into the INRC this season and also plan to do the final round of the APRC in Indonesia later this year.”
Below are the provisional classifications:
FIA-APRC (Asia Rally Cup): 1. Gaurav Gill & Aniruddha Rangnekar (1hr, 50mins, 23.0secs); 2. Mana Pornsiricherd & Thanyaphat Meenil (1:51:12.0); 3. Amittrajit Ghosh & Ashwin Naik (1:58:44.0).
Overall INRC: 1. Aroor Arjun Rao & Satish Rajagopal (1:55:26.6); 2. Daraius Shroff & Shahid Salman (1:58:11.1); 3. Sheshank Jamwal & Aseem Sharma (1:58:30.1).