Vicky Chandhok grabs podium finish in the first round of INRC 2018
A comeback and a podium finish!
It was an action packed weekend in Chennai for all the competitors at the FMSCI INRC 2018 and a very special one for Vicky Chandhok, considering that he and co-driver Chandramouli finished on the podium, grabbing the third place in the INRC category 1. The driver duo were placed eighth overall. The duo finished on the podium in their rally prepped Volkswagen Polo R2 car developed by Volkswagen Motorsport team.
After 18 years, Vicky Chandhok has made his appearance in competitive rallying, providing all the fireworks piloting their rally prepped Polo R2. An elated Vicky Chandhok said, “I am truly delighted with the results. The hard work put by the Volkswagen Motorsport team, my navigator and I have definitely paid-off. The testing weather conditions were not making things easy for Chandramouli and me. However, the brilliantly put together rally-car and our strong determination saw us take the podium today!”
Karna Kadur took the top spot in the INRC 2 category and Kantharaj took the second place. Vikram Aroor clinched the top position in the INRC 3 category while Dean Mascarenhas finished second. All four were driving rally prepped Volkswagen Polos.
The rally started out with 31 competitors vying for the top honours
Only 15 competitors completed the rally though. There were ten stages with two super special stages (1 and 6) held in the 3.1km tarmac of the MMRT. The second part of the rally, comprising stages 2, 4, 7 and 9 was held at the AAVISA golf course section, a 13.85km course. The third and final part of the rally comprised stages 3, 5, 8 and 10 was held in MMRT track on a mix of gravel and tarmac.
Sirish Vissa, head of Volkswagen Motorsport India said, “It has been a brilliant opening rally weekend of 2018. There was a lot of learning for the teams and the drivers. Our Polo R2 ran superbly through the 10 stages finishing on the podium eventually. I would like to congratulate Vicky and Chandramouli on their brilliant drive and teamwork, they have done a fantastic job in these unforgiving weather conditions.”
