Words: Aniruddha A Rangnekar
Photography: Arun T Pillai and Vydhehi Kadur
The 43rd running of the K 1000 rally hosted the final round Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) for 2017. Team Mahindra adventure driver Gaurav Gill (Musa Sheriff) emerged victorious driving their Super XUV 500 and was crowned national champion for the fifth time in his illustrious career. This was Gill’s fourth victory of the season in as many rallies driven, giving him a perfect tally of 100 points.
Having won the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) with a win at the final round in Chikmaglur at the Coffee Day India rally a couple of months back, Gill now has his eyes set on entering the World Rally Championship (WRC). He plans to run in the WRC2 category, he would be able to get some support from Skoda Motorsport and drive the R5 spec Fabia which he has successfully run in the APRC for Team MRF over the past couple of seasons. The champion driver from Delhi definitely has the speed to mix it with the best in the world, having beaten MRF teammate Ole Christian Veiby to the 2017 APRC title, who has been driving for the factory Skoda team in the WRC2 and will continue to drive for the team in 2018. Gill has also matched and bettered the pace set by his previous teammates and other competing drivers in the APRC over the years, who have now gone on to become WRC regulars. The list of drivers includes Pontus Tidemand, Jan Kopecký, Chris Atkinson and current Toyota Gazoo Racing WRC driver Esapekka Lappi.
Of course, his drive at the WRC2 is subject to him being able to raise sponsorship of his own to run the car, which will be supported by the factory team at Skoda. If there ever was someone truly deserves to represent India on the world stage, it is Gill, as he has proved his speed among the best in the world while bettering them on many occasions. We hope that the champion driver will be able to raise the funds required and showcase his talent to the world. Gill has also started a training academy of his own, where he hopes to pass on his knowledge and experience to young, upcoming drivers.
Back to the K1000 rally, it was Arjun Rao (Satish Rajgopal) who brought home their R2 Polo in second place, behind Gill. Outgoing national champion from Arka Motorsport, Karna Kadur (Nikhil Pai) ended the season on a high, finishing third overall and winning the INRC2 category. GS Joshy (Chandramouli) had a fantastic comeback to the national championship after a gap of over four years, finishing second in the INRC2 category. Rahul Kanthraj (Vivek Bhatt) finished third and won the championship as well in the category. This is the duos 5th national championship across different categories.
Vikram Rao (Somayya), who have had a tough season with some sheer bad luck and car trouble through the year, drove flawlessly over the fast and technical new stages of the rally to win the INRC3 category by a handsome margin over Saddam Ali (Abhijeet Singh). Despite going off on the first stage and taking a while to recover, Dean Mascarenhas (Shruptha Padival) took the final step of the podium in the class. The youngster from Mangalore also won the championship in the category, his 1st national title.
The FMSCI Cup saw a fight going down to the last round for the championship with Chetan Shivram (Rupesh Kholay) and Fabid Ahmer (Sanath G) in a tight battle through the year. Eventually, it was the experienced Chetan who won the rally and took home the championship in the final round. Fabid finished third in the rally, behind Asad Khan (Goutham CP).
The stages themselves were fast and flowing, with plenty of high-speed action for the spectators to enjoy. The rally saw plenty of retirements due to mechanical failures and driver errors as well. Gill’s Mahindra Adventure teammate Amittrajit Ghosh (Ashwin Naik) suffered a high-speed crash on the final stage of the rally. Ghosh was trapped in the car post the crash between the steering wheel and seat for almost 30 minutes before the organisers and medical team could evacuate the driver. He was lucky to escape with minor injuries, while co-driver Naik was unhurt. The car was a total wreck, but the fact that there were no major injuries to the crew, is a fine testament to the safety standards followed in Indian motorsport.
The 2018 INRC season will kick off towards the end of March or early April and feature six rounds, subject to the calendar being approved to the calendar being approved and events being confirmed.