The stages were extremely rough and looked all chewed up. But Arjun Rao (co-driver Satish Rajagopal) of Mandovi Racing) found it to his liking and rallied his way to a commanding win in the Rally of Coimbatore, the third round of the FMSCI Blueband Sports Indian National Rally Championship for four-wheelers, here on Sunday.
It is Arjun’s third overall victory this season. “This is the best ever performance in my 22 years of rallying career. Three back-to-back victories and I can’t be happier than this,” said the young man after the race.
There were four stages for the day and Arjun came out the quickest in three of them. “That’s because the tyres (MRF) had the right grip. In fact, the entire team has worked hard for this win and kudos to each one of them,” he added.
Prolific: Arjun Rao (co-driver Satish Rajagopal) tackled the rough Kethanur stages with aplomb to make it three in a row for his Team Mandovi Racing. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Earlier in the day, overnight leader Amittrajit Ghosh (co-driver Ashwin Naik) of Arka Motorsport enjoyed a 19-second edge over Arjun going into the first stage. But he ran into issues right at the start. His exhaust manifold opened and there was no engine power, further down the road a stone hit the brake caliper and the fluids leaked resulting in a brake failure. Despite that, he gave his best only to finish third behind Philippos Mathai (co-driver P.V. Srinivasa Murthy).
The results (provisional):
INRC Overall: 1. A. Arjun Rao & Satish Rajagopal 1:53:48; 2. Philippos & P.V. Srinivas Murthy 1:54:20; 3. Amittrajit Ghosh & Ashwin Naik 1:54:31.
Arjun Rao (centre) and Satish Rajagopal (extreme right) celebrate the victory with the entire team after the race. | Photo Credit: Rayan Rozario
INRC 2: 1. Philippos & Srinivas; 2. Fabid Ahmer & G. Sanath; 3. Dr. Bikku Babu & Milen George.
INRC 3: 1. Jahan Gill & Suraj Keshava; 2. Jason Saldanha & Thimbu Uddapanda; 3. Daraius Shroff & Shahid Salman.
INRC 4: 1. Ruthuparna Vivek & Athreya Kousgi; 2. Prakhyat H & S.M. Bharat; 3. H.M. Prajwal & S.M. Vinay.
JINRC: 1. Jahan & Keshava; 2. Ajay Shankar & Nitharshan; 3. Nikeeta Takkale & Venu Ramesh Kumar.
Gypsy Cup: 1. Darshan Nachappa & Abhinav Ganapathy; 2. Abhishek Gowda & Dheeraj Manae; 3. Jayanth Somanathan & R. Rajasekhar.
All women (open): 1. Anushriya Gulati & Sherwin Dalmeida; 2. Nikeeta & Venu Ramesh; 3. Shivani Parmar & Arjun Dheerendra.
Published - July 30, 2023 05:47 pm IST
