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The north-eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh hosted the second round of the Blueband FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship (INRC), supported by the Directorate of Youth Affairs, Government of Arunachal Pradesh, and organised by the Motorsports Club of Arunachal between June 14 and 16. The rally was held on tarmac stages around the capital of Itanagar, with a super special stage in the town centre.
Fresh off their victory in the opening round of the INRC in Chennai, Aroor Arjun Rao and co-driver Sathish Rajagopal were looking to extend their advantage; however, they would not have it easy. After winning the previous round of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC), Gaurav Gill was back for this round of the INRC behind the wheel of his XUV300 rally car with his co-driver, Anirudhha Rangnekar. Further challengers included defending champion Karna Kadur and co-driver Kumar Ramaswami, driving their rally-prepared Volkswagen Polo, and the Arka Motorsport duo of Amittrajit Ghosh and Ashwin Naik, driving another XUV300.
The first two stages were held on the snaking tarmac between the capital of Itanagar and the Holongi airport. Intermittent showers turned the service park into a muddy mess while the competitors waited to move to the start line. A sudden shower just before the start left puddles all over the stage and rainwater across the asphalt in several places. The participants had to cross sections of mud and broken tarmac in places.
Aroor Arjun Rao and co-driver Sathish Rajagopal blitzed the first stage and won it in their Baleno, with INRC2 driver Suhem Kabir (co-driver Jeeva Rathinam) and INRC3 driver Sheshank Jamwal (co-driver Aseem Sharma) close behind in the timesheets. Not ones to be outdone, Gaurav Gill and co-driver Anirudhha Rangnekar showed blistering pace and won the second stage. However, both stage winners were beaten by Amittrajit Ghosh (co-driver Ashwin Naik), who showed consistent pace and led the overall standings despite not winning a stage. Stages three and four were cancelled due to worsening conditions, and the rally moved on to the super special stage.
Itanagar witnessed the first ever super special stage to be held at night in a city centre in India. Two cars would race each other on parallel tracks that ran through the Bank Tinali underpass. One car enters the underpass while the other goes up the narrow service road. Both cars turn around at the hairpin and return to the start line, where they turn around again and repeat the process. The atmosphere was electric, with 10,000 spectators lining the streets and climbing onto rooftops to find the best vantage points. The rain held off for the start; however, puddles made the already narrow streets even more treacherous. The drivers put on a stunning display for the cheering crowds, with Gaurav Gill seemingly the crowd favourite after sliding his XUV300 through the underpass and executing a perfect 180 at the hairpin. However, the stage had to be cancelled before all cars ran due to time constraints.
The planned stages for day two, which were to run up to Ziro, were cancelled overnight due to concerns about visibility and landslides due to the heavy rain. The decision was made to run the remaining four stages on the same route as the first two stages. Amittrajit Ghosh extended his lead by winning stages seven and eight, with Gaurav Gill and Karna Kadur close behind. However, when darkness fell, Ghosh’s XUV300 suffered electrical problems, resulting in a DNF while leading by more than a minute. Guarav Gill won the next two stages to seize the lead, but he was penalised for a delayed start due to mechanical issues at the service camp, dropping him to sixth overall. Aroor Arjun Rao made sure he was there to pick up the pieces by maintaining a quick but cautious pace through the final four stages to take the overall honours. "Tarmac is my favourite, but the rally turned out to be tricky, with fortunes fluctuating after every stage. Frequently changing from full-dry to full-wet tyres made the rally challenging." said Aroor Arjun Rao, who leads the INRC after two rounds.
The surprise result was Sheshank Jamwal and co-driver Aseem Sharma, who finished second overall in their INRC3-spec Volkswagen Polo, while Dr. Bikku Babu and co-driver Milen George rounded off the podium in their INRC2-spec Volkswagen Polo. Samrat Yadav hustled his Gypsy to victory in the Gypsy Challenge with the help of co-driver Arvind Dheerendra, beating some INRC2 and INRC3 machinery in the process. Abhin Rai and D. Uday Kumar won the INRC4 category, while Anushriya Gulati and Arjun Dheerendra won the INRC Ladies category, and Arnav Pratap Singh and Arjun SSB won the Junior INRC category.
Overall, the organisers put on a great event in challenging conditions, while the drivers demonstrated superb car control in wet conditions to the delight of the spectators. The drama in the final stages kept everyone on their toes and brought the second round of the INRC to a thrilling climax. The third round of the Blueband INRC will be held in Coimbatore on July 28.
