INRC 2018: Gaurav Gill and Mahindra win the INRC season opener and heartbreak for Ilyas.

Photo Credits: Anand Philar

Gaurav Gill wins the INRC season opener, the 40th South India Rally, at the Madras Motor Race Track, Chennai.

Overnight leaders Gaurav Gill and Musa Sherif went on to win all the five stages of the day-2 extending their lead to a staggering 1:56.5mins over their Mahindra teammates Amittrajit Ghosh and Ashwin Naik while Karna Kadur and Nikhil. V Pai of Arka Motorsport finished overall third in their polo. This was also the 30th win for the pair of Gill and Sherif in the INRC.

Vicky Chandhok, who has made a comeback to competitive rallying after 18 years, started his day in fourth place in the INRC1 category and finished third as Arjun Rao from Falkon racing was forced to retire with a damaged wheel with less than 2kms to go, thereby handing over the position to Vicky.

Karna Kadur of Arka Motorsport negotiating a jump

The INRC2 leaders and overall second on day1, Younus Ilyas and Harish Kumar from Race Concepts retired in the Avisa Stage due to mechanical problem thereby bringing their sensational drive to an end.

Karna Kadur won the INRC2 category ahead of their Arka Motorsport teammates Rahul Kanthraj and Vivek Bhatt while Sumit Panjabi and Shahid Salman form Snap racing completed the top three.

Falkon Motorsport- Aroor Vikram Rao en route to victory

In the INRC3 class, Aroor Vikram Rao and Somayya A.G finished ahead of their teammates Dean Mascarenhas and Shruptha Padival from Falkon Motorsports to claim the win while privateer Fabid Ahmer and Fayaz Arakkal managed to hold onto to the third position.

The FMSCI 2wd drive class was won by the former national champion Adith K.C and Suraj.K from Race Concepts. Privateers Suraj Thomas and Sob George were the runners-up while Ravi M.S and Priyamvada Saradhi of Snap Racing finished third.

Adith K.C kicking dust in the Race Concepts car.

Final results of the 40th MRF South India Rally:

Top3 from all the categories of the INRC