Coffee Day Rally saw a wet twist

Chikkamagaluru, Dec 11 (IANS)

With unseasonal rains lashing the region, the Coffee Day Rally, beginning on Friday is set for a tricky and difficult run as the Special Stages are made up of the mud tracks of the nearby coffee estates.

The event, which is also the sixth and concluding round of the 2014 Indian Rally Championship, has attracted 34 entries with at least half-a-dozen regulars opting out as the titles in all the four classes, Indian Rally Championship (IRC) Overall, IRC 2000, IRC 1600 and Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) 1600, have already been clinched by Gaurav Gill of Mahindra Adventure, Rahul Kanthraj (Team Yokohama), Phalguna Urs (VW Polo) and Adith KC (Honda City V-Tec), respectively.

Under the circumstances, the focus will be on the battles for the other two podium spots as also the wet weather that has rendered sections of the three Special Stages slushy and slippery.

Gill, the 2013 Asia Pacific champion, who will be driving the Mahindra XUV 500, though seemed to revel in the conditions as he was quite pleased with the terrain while not unduly concerned about the havoc rains might create with the route surface.

"The Stages are fast but technical. Some sections are of course a bit slushy and slippery because of rains, but overall, I am very happy with the Stages and looking forward to the event," said a buoyant Gill soon after the recce run of the Stages Thursday afternoon with his long-time co-driver Moosa Sherif.

Gill's optimism, shared by some of the other competitors, stems from the fact that the three Special Stages, that are to be run twice Saturday and once Sunday, after Friday's Super Special Stage at the Amber Valley school grounds, have been considerably widened as compared to last year when the Rally was run as a contender for the Asia Zone championship.

Besides Gill, the grid includes veteran Samir Thapar (co-driver Gurinder Mann) in a Mitsubishi Evo X, former National champion Vikram Mathias (Swaroop Mohan) piloting the Evo IX and PG Abhilash (Anoop Kumar) driving the Evo VI.

Completing the list of top guns are last year's Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) title winner and Gill's teammate Amittrajit Ghosh (Ashwin Naik), multiple Desert Storm champion and the third Mahindra Adventure entry Sunny Sidhu (PVS Murthy), Kanthraj (Vivek Bhatt) and Arjun Rao Aroor (Satish Rajagopal) who has switched from IRC 1600 class to IRC (Overall), driving a Volkswagen Polo R2.

The three-day event runs to a total distance of 335.62 kms of which 109.24 kms form the Special Stages, but the organisers, Motor Sports Club of Chikmagalur are hoping the rains will abate for a dry weekend of hot action.