Gaurav Gill takes a slender lead on Day 1 of the MRF FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship

Reigning champion Gaurav Gill (co-driver Musa Sherif) drove with controlled aggression to top the timesheets in the Super Special Stage which launched the Coffee Day India Rally, the fourth round of the MRF FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship, promoted by Ramakrishna Race Performance Management, at the Amber Valley school grounds, here on Friday.

Driving the XUV 500 for Mahindra Adventure team, Gill, a virtual cult figure in this coffee town, did not look as spectacular as some of the drivers before him, but the clean lines through the corner saw him clock two minutes, 34.7 seconds for the 2.12 Kms run as he led a 1-2 for his team, ahead of Amittrajit Ghosh (Ashwin Naik) who did 02:35.1. Local lad Karna Kadur (Nikhil Pai) of Arka Motorsports, piloting a Volkswagen Polo, was overall third quickest in 02:36.1.

The thousands of spectators who thronged the school grounds, were treated to an action-packed afternoon as Kadur topped in the INRC-2 category while Dhruva Chandrasekar (Arjun SSB) was the fastest in the INRC-3 class with a time of 02:36.6.

The action will shift to the nearby coffee estates on Saturday when six Special Stages will be run. The rally will conclude on Sunday afternoon after the competitors complete one loop of the three Special Stages in the reverse direction.

The results:

Overall: 1. Gaurav Gill / Musa Sherif (Mahindra Adventure) (02mins, 34.7secs); 2. Amittrajit Ghosh / Ashwin Naik (Mahindra Adventure) (02:35.1); 3. Karna Kadur / Nikhil Pai (Arka Motorsports) (02:36.1).

INRC-1: Gill / Sherif; 2. Ghosh / Naik; 3. Michu Ganapathy / Venu Rameshkumar (Team Champions) (02:45.9).

INRC-2: 1, Kadur / Pai; 2. Younus Ilyas / Harish KN (02:38.8); 3. Phalguna Urs / Srikanth Gowda (SNAP Racing) (02:39.2).

INRC-3: 1. Dhruva Chandrasekar / Arjun SSB (Team Champions) (02:36.6); 2. Dean Mascarenhas / Shruptha Padival (Team Champions) (02:37.5); 3. Aroor Vikram Rao / Somayya (Team Falkon) (02:39.7).

FMSCI 2WD Cup: 1. Adith KC / Suraj Keshava Prasad (Team Champions) (02:40.1); 2. Vikram Gowda / Sudheendra BG (Team Champions) (02:41.1); 3. Prakhyat Shirole / Bharath SM (02:43.2).

FMSCI 4WD Cup: 1. Sanjay Agarwal / Smitha Prasad (Team Champions) (02:46.5); 2 (Tie). Satish P Naidu / Sheraz Ahmed (Team Champions) (02:56.7) and Sachin Murthy / Satyapal (02:56.7).