The news had spread like wildfire that Team Mahindra Adventure would not be continuing their INRC campaign, which meant not participating in the next three rounds of the championship. The decision came after the incident with Arjuna awardee Gaurav Gill at the Maxperience Rally, Jodhpur – An accident involving Gill’s Super XUV300 and a family of three that entered a live stage and lost their lives after colliding with the speeding rally car. What was disheartening was how the incident was handled by rally organisers and the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI).
A sigh of relief to rally enthusiasts as the management has now revised their decision and have chosen to resume their INRC campaign and also has plans of spreading much-needed awareness about safety in a motorsport event. Both Gaurav Gill and Amittrajit Ghosh will participate in the next three rallies, however, Ghosh would be piloting a Super XUV500 instead of the XUV300.
Decoding Gaurav Gill’s Arjuna Award controversy – here
At this years INRC, Team Mahindra Adventure introduced two brand new Super XUV300 rally cars which were driven by Gill and Ghosh. Due to lack of time for testing the new car and setup, the team got off to a slow start but Gill tried his level best to push harder in the opening round. Gill was in great form at the second round in Coimbatore, but due to a technical failure with the car, he was unable to finish the rally. He carried the same form at the Jodhpur rally before the accident. The team is looking to regain some momentum at the next three rounds of the championship
Curious about what happened? Read about why #IAMWITHGAURAVGILL here