Kerala’s Younus Ilyas charged ahead into the lead after the first stage of the Sprint de Bengaluru 2019, the curtain-raiser to the highly anticipated FMSC Indian National Rally Championship here on Saturday night. Aided by his navigator Harish Gowda from Bengaluru, Ilyas attacked the sharp turns and curves during the night stage with confidence and verve. He needed just 06:47.30 minutes to complete the 5.5 kilometres to the delight of a packed audience.
Suhem Kabeer (and J Jeevarathnam) eased into the second position in the INRC 1 category, finishing just 10 seconds behind the leaders. They were quick in their Polo but missed out on a couple of turns that hurt them. The third place was taken by another INRC 1 entry, Lokesh Gowda (Uday Kumar) who took 7:03.10 minutes to complete their run.
Younus and Harish naturally grabbed the lead in their own category too, the INRC 2 for a brilliant start to the season for the Race Concepts Motorsports Team. Ritesh Guttedar (Lokaranjan) took the second place while Lanusanen Pongener (Vinay Kumar) took the third place. Dean Mascarehnas, who finished a creditable fourth despite driving in his stock car, led his category, the INRC 3.
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The second stage will take place later in the night, followed by four day stages on Sunday. Earlier in the evening, the event began with a bang, with all the 25 cars lining up for the ceremonial start. The state IGP K Revanna, Chairman of Champions Yacht Club Subhakar Rao and its Director Ms Hemamalini N flagged off the cars, cheered on by thousands of enthusiastic spectators. This was immediately followed by the shakedown, with the drivers giving the guests a taste of their skills and the route in their cars.
Results after Stage 1:
| INRC: 1 (INRC 2) Younus Ilyas | Harish K N 00:06:47.300; 2. (INRC 1) Suhem Kabeer | J. Jeevarathinam (00:06:57.600); 3. (INRC 1) Lokesh Gowda | D Uday Kumar (00:07:03.100) INRC 2: 1 Younus Ilyas; 2. Ritesh Guttedar; 3. Lanusanen Pongener INRC 3: 1 Dean Mascarenhas; 2. 2 Dhruva Chandrashekar; 3. 3 Chetan Shivram |