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Tag: Ashwin Naik
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Ghosh, Naik win Rally of Arunachal Pradesh as Gill pulls out with mechanical problems
Winners of INRC Round 3 (Rally of Arunachal) overall – Amittrajit Ghosh (Left) and his co-driver Ashwin Naik (in Itanagar’s Police Parade ground (Chimpu) today. Itanagar, 4 November 2018: On a day of upsets, Team Mahindra Adventure’s Amittrajit Ghosh (co-driver Ashwin Naik) showed great tactical acumen to win the Rally of Arunachal, Round 3 of the MRF FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship 2018, here on Sunday. Ghosh, who exhibited amazing fightback on Day 1 to rise from ninth to third, enjoyed a much-needed slice of luck as overnight leader Gaurav Gill (Musa Sherif) pulled out of the competition as his car broke down in the sixth stage.
Ghosh tackled the day’s three stages cautiously, finishing second in SS5, third in SS6 and again second in SS7 for a cumulative top timing of 00:57:33.6. It was 5.9 seconds faster than INRC 2’s Phalguna Urs and Srikanth Gowda giving them the victory. The Snap Racing pair, who were hot on Gill’s tail all of Saturday, didn’t have a fruitful second day, managing only two fourth-place and one fifth-place finish in the stages.
Amittrajit Ghosh in action Phalguna’s drive was still good enough to earn his team the INRC 2 win. Former champion Karna Kadur (PVS Murthy) made a valiant charge, taking the second place in SS6 and even winning SS7, but that could only fetch him the runner’s up trophy. Kadur’s Arka Motorsports team-mate Rahul Kanthraj (Vivek Y Bhatt) dropped one position to settle for the third place.
The INRC 3 too saw a change in the overnight pecking order, with leaders Suhem Kabeer (Jeevarathinam) of Team Champions slipping out of reckoning in the day’s first stage itself after a crash. It allowed his team-mate and defending champion Dean Mascarenhas (Shruptha Padival) to claim the title. Aroor Vikram Rao (Somayya AG) and local outfit Phurpa Tsering (Chow Tiktha) took the other two places on the podium.
“We started the Rally of Arunachal on an ominous note, taking the ninth place due to a technical issue. But I and Ashwin kept pushing until we managed to bounce back to the pole,” a victorious Amittrajit said.
“Today too, we suffered as we had changed the tyres for wet conditions but the track dried up by the time we hit it. But we drove steadily to win the title, which became easier after Gaurav pulled out with a mechanical failure. We are now looking forward to the next two rounds, even though we know that Gaurav will be back in his elements and will put up a tough fight,” he added.
The results:
INRC Overall: 1. Amittrajit Ghosh / Ashwin Naik (Team Mahindra Adventure; 00:57:33.6); 2. Phalguna Urs / Srikanth Gowda (Snap Racing; 00:57:39.5); 3. Dean Mascarenhas / Shruptha Padival (Team Champions; 00:57:57.7).
INRC 1: Ghosh / Naik; 2. Lokesh Gowda / Venu Ramesh Kumar (Team Champions) (01:07:20.8).
INRC 2: 1. Phalguna Urs / Srikanth Gowda (Snap Racing; 00:57:39.5); 2. Karna Kadur / PVS Murthy (Arka Motorsports; 00:58:37.0); 3. Rahul Kanthraj / Vivek Y Bhatt (Arka Motorsports; 00:58:55.2).
INRC 3: 1. Dean Mascarenhas / Shruptha Padival (Team Champions; 00:57:57.7); 2. Aroor Vikram Rao / Somayya AG (Falkon Motorsports; 01:05:17.0); 3. Phurpa Tsering / Chow Tiktha (Phurpa Tsering; 01:14:57.9).
FMSCI 2WD CUP: 1. Adith KC / Arjun SSB (Team Champions; 01:01:20.0); 2. Rakshith Iyer / Sagar Mallappa (Pvt; 01:10:54.4).
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Gaurav Gill shrugs off a puncture to take decisive lead in Rally of Arunachal
File picture of Gaurav Gill who leads Rally of Arunachal at the end of Leg-1. Photo: Anand Philar Itanagar, 3 November 2018: Three-time APRC champion Gaurav Gill recovered from a tyre puncture and only his second stage defeat this season to surge into the lead on Day 1 of the Rally of Arunachal which doubles up as the Round 3 of the MRF FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship 2018, here on Saturday.
Team Mahindra Adventure’s Gill, with Musa Sherif by his side, won the other three stages in his usual aggressive style to set himself up for another victory in this elite championship. He raced at speeds over 180 Kmph, recording a scorching average speed of 115.55 km/h in the opening stage.
He was at his slowest in the second stage, managing an average of 99.92 km/h, which was still good enough to give him the second position in that stretch.
Gill’s Mahindra Adventure team-mate Amittrajit Ghosh (co-driver Ashwin Naik) won the Stage 2 in style. He had, however, suffered a setback in Stage 1, struggling with a power issue to finish ninth. However, he made up in the remaining rounds to climb to the third position by the end of an exciting day although his car is still not firing on all cylinders.
Snap Racing’s Phalguna Urs (Srikanth Gowda) grabbed the second position with one second and two third place finishes in the Stages. They, however, slipped to fifth place in the fourth and final stage of the day, to be trailing Gill and Sherif by one minute, 31.8 seconds.
Their fine show was good enough to give them the lead in the INRC 2 category, ahead of top contenders Rahul Kanthraj (Vivek Y Bhatt) and Karna Kadur (PVS Murthy).
In the INRC 3 category, Suhem Kabeer (Jeevarathinam) made the most of championship leader Aroor Vikram Rao’s (Somayya AG) bad luck in Stage 4 to streak ahead into the lead. Suhem, however, was in his elements, winning two of the stages in his category.
Five-time INRC champion Gill was pleased with his driving, despite the puncture. “The first stage went off very well. We, however, hit a stone in Stage 2 and picked up a puncture,” he pointed out. “We still managed to finish in decent time, which helped us stay in the lead.”
Gill explained that the final day might be tricky as the track was likely to be muddy following rains while they only had tyres suited for tarmac. “It won’t be easy but we will give it our best shot,” he declared.
Ghosh also was not too unhappy with the way the day panned out. “Our car had power issues during Stage 1 and we fell back to the ninth place. By the end of the day, we have climbed to third. Our goal now is to focus on the second position. First is not within reach as we are quite far behind in terms of speed,” he said.
The results:
INRC Overall: 1. Gaurav Gill / Musa Sherif (Team Mahindra Adventure; 00:31:22.9); 2. Phalguna Urs / Srikanth (Snap Racing; 00:32:54.7); 3. Amittrajit Ghosh / Ashwin Naik (Team Mahindra Adventure; 00:33:05.1).
INRC 1: Gill / Sherif; 2. Ghosh / Naik; 3. Lokesh Gowda / Venu Ramesh Kumar (Team Champions; 00:37:30.4).
INRC 2: 1. Phalguna Urs / Srikanth Gowda (Snap Racing; 00:32:54.7); 2. Rahul Kanthraj / Vivek Y Bhatt (Arka Motorsports; 00:33:20.9); 3. Karna Kadur / PVS Murthy (Arka Motorsports; 00:33:52.7).
INRC 3: 1. Suhem Kabeer / Jeevarathinam (Team Champions; 00:33:17.8); 2. Dean Mascarenhas / Shruptha Padival (Team Champions; 00:33:23.2).
FMSCI 2WD CUP: 1. Adith KC / Arjun SSB (00:34:18.6).
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Gaurav Gill set to fire in Rally of Arunachal, Round 3 of MRF FMSCI INRC 2018
(L-R) Aroor Vikram Rao, Amittrajit Ghosh, Gaurav Gill, Karna Kadur & Rahul Kanthraj during media interaction in Itanagar for Round 3 of the MRF FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship 2018 Itanagar, 2 November 2018: India’s top rallyist Gaurav Gill will be hoping to inch closer to his sixth national title as the Rally of Arunachal, Round 3 of the MRF FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship 2018, unfolds here over the weekend.
Gill, the Team Mahindra Adventure spearhead, who won the grueling Dakshin Dare Rally last month, has been in imperious form through the season, winning the first two rounds with consummate ease.
Along with his trusted co-driver Musa Sherif, Gill is expected to thrill the local crowds with his speed and daredevilry behind the wheel. He will have to keep his eye on his team-mate Amittrajit Ghosh (co-driver Ashwin Naik), though, who will be aiming to upstage him.
Ghosh is currently in the second position and has been driving a lot more assuredly, even though he had to drop out of contention in the Dakshin Dare Rally owing to vehicle malfunction.
Team Mahindra Adventure will be wary of Arka Motorsports’ Karna Kadur, who is likely to enjoy a slight edge over the tarmac stretches. Kadur has a new co-driver by his side, PVS Murthy, and is leading the charts in the INRC 2 category. He is third behind Gill and Ghosh in the overall championship standings.
His team-mate Rahul Kanthraj (co-driver Vivek Y Bhatt) is also a strong contender, currently holding the second position in the INRC 2 category.
Aroor Vikram Rao (co-driver Somayya AG) is leading the INRC 3 category and he will be keen to consolidate his position in the picturesque locals of Arunachal Pradesh.
The Round 3 of MRF FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship 2018 being officially flagged off by Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh Shri Pema Khandu (with flag) in Itanagar on November 2 Championship standings after Round 2:
INRC Overall: 1. Gaurav Gill & Musa Sherif (Team Mahindra Adventure) 50 points; 2. Amittrajit Ghosh & Ashwin Naik (Team Mahindra Adventure) 36 points; 3. Karna Kadur & PVS Murthy (Arka Motorsports) 30 points.
INRC 1: 1. Gaurav Gill & Musa Sherif (Team Mahindra Adventure) 50 points; 2. Amittrajit Ghosh & Ashwin Naik (Team Mahindra Adventure) 36 points.
INRC 2: 1. Karna Kadur & PVS Murthy (Arka Motorsports) 50 points; 2, Rahul Kanthraj & Vivek Y Bhatt (Arka Motorsports) 36 points; 3. Jacob KJ & Nitin Jacob 24 points.
INRC 3: 1. Aroor Vikram Rao & Somayya AG 50 points; 2. Suhem Kabeer & Jeevarathinam 30 points; 3. Dean Mascarenhas & Shruptha Padival 28 points.
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Amittrajit Ghosh and Ashwin Naik chalk up ERC3 debut win in EKO Rally Acropolis
Amittrajit Ghosh and co-driver Ashwin Naik celebrate their ERC3 win in the EKO Rally Acropolis. Photo: ERC Athens, 03 June 2018: Amittrajit Ghosh and co-driver Ashwin Naik from India scored a fairy-tale underdog victory in the FIA European Rally Championship’s ERC3 category of the EKO Rally Acropolis, winning on their debut in an older-specification Ford Fiesta R2 on Sunday.
Leading his class heading into Sunday, Ghosh simply had to bring his Prospeed-prepared car home in one piece to complete his first ERC appearance – his third outside native India – in first place. He did exactly that, continuing a deliberate approach to prioritise survival over speed in Acropolis’ rough, rock-strewn stages he had taken since Friday.
“Coming here with an older generation R2, the goal was to finish. In the back of my mind, I knew that if we got to the finish we’d be on the podium, but yesterday morning, when I was only two seconds behind [Artur] Muradian in the Peugeot I knew I could do it,” he told ERC Radio at the finish line.
Amittrajit Ghosh on the charge. Photo: ERC TBRacing’s Muradian had been ERC3’s quickest driver throughout all three days, but his PEUGEOT 208 R2 was appropriate battle-scarred from his fast approach. He was fastest in all but one stage he completed, but sheared wheel bolts in SS5 on Saturday morning forced him to retire from the lead.
“[The wheel bolts] sheared, like somebody cut them off. It’s funny because it was the first turn of the stage, 90 metres, sharp right and you can see the wheel flying in front of you! We lifted the car and when we decided to put the tyre back on, we noticed there were no bolts. We found all four of them in the corner later on!” he said.
Despite his speed, Muradian’s Saturday retirement meant he would settle for third place, well behind ERC Ladies’ Trophy frontrunner Emma Falcón in second. She bravely fought through all four of Leg Three’s stages with no brakes, her middle pedal going down to the floor and forcing Falcón to use her handbrake instead.
Chrysostomos Karellis had hoped to return for Leg Three after his retirement in Drossohori on Saturday but did not make it out of service come Sunday morning.
Amittrajit Ghosh….sensational win. Photo: ERC The Indian pair’s victory that saw them finish over 12 minutes ahead of their nearest rivals, was a foregone conclusion at the end of Saturday’s stages when they enjoyed a commanding lead despite treacherous conditions as Ghosh rightly opted for safety-first approach which put him ahead of class rivals.
Ghosh was taking part in only his third rally event outside of his native India, piloting a Baltic Motorsport Promotion-prepared Ford Fiesta R2. Much of the foundation for his victory was laid on Saturday when after Leg Two’s morning loop, he led in ERC3, taking a steady approach as others were caught out by tricky conditions.
“The whole plan for the event was not to take any risks but drive at a decent pace, so we were surprised to see that we were only two seconds off the fastest [in SS3],” said Ghosh. “For the first 7-8 km [in SS4] we took it almost at recce speed as I knew if you go hot there, you’re not going to finish that stage. When I saw our competitor [Chrysostomos Karellis] unfortunately parked, I knew the call was right.”
Though he lost 17 seconds to previous leader Artur Muradian in SS4, he then moved to the front when a wheel bolt failure ended Muradian’s day in the following stage. “In the next stage at the first corner he was parked,” said Ghosh “I immediately backed off because it doesn’t make any sense to push, and this car can’t take it. If you drive anything more than 70%, I don’t think any car is going to finish.”
His nearest competitor Emma Falcón suffered a puncture in SS5, allowing him to extend his gap and potentially set him up for a sensational debut ERC3 win.
Source: ERC
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Ghosh-Naik win Nashik Rally
Nashik, 9 June 2013: Kolkota driver Amittrajit Ghosh along with co-driver Ashwin Naik continued their charge winning the overall win at the Rally of Maharashtra, the second round of the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) here on Sunday. The duo piloted the Mitsubishi Cedia to first place overall to continue their winning spree after clinching the opening round of the 2013 season at the South India rally in Chennai.
Vikram Mathias and co-driver Srikanth Gowda, also in a Cedia came second while Arjun Rao Aroor and co-driver Satish Rajgopal took third overall in their Volkswagen Polo.
In the SUV category, it was Gaurav Gill and co-driver Musa Sherif who topped the field in the Mahindra XUV, scoring the times not only in the class but also overall despite not being eligible for overall honours. The second place went to Lohitt V Urs and co-driver Bonnie Thomas, as the duo managed to overcome their mechanical problems.
Asad Khan and co-driver Zayne Asrar won the honours in Junior INRC category in a Maruti Esteem. Aniruddha Rangnekar (co-driver Nitin Jacob) and Rohan Pawar (co-driver Arjun Mehta), finished second and third respectively in their Polos.
The next round of the Indian National Rally Championship is scheduled at Coimbatore on July 19.
Provisional Results:
INRC Overall: 1.Amittrajit Ghosh / Ashwin Naik (Group N Cedia) (1hr, 28mins, 16.0secs); 2. Vikram Mathias / Srikanth Gowda (Group N Cedia) (1:28:45.0); 3. Arjun Rao Aroor / Satish Rajagopal (VW Polo) (1:31:01.0).
INRC 1600cc: 1.VikramRao Aroor / Rajagopal; 2. Raghunandan B / Suraj K (Honda City) (1:33:17.0);
3. Byram Godrej / Prajval Pai (VW Polo) (1:33:51.0).Junior INRC: 1.Asad Khan / Zayne Asrar (Maruti Esteem) (1:36:12.0); 2. Anirudha Ranganekar / Nitin Jacob (VW Polo) (1:39:57.0); 3. Rohan Pawar / Arjun Mehta (VW Polo) (1:43:46.0).
SUV NRC: 1. Gaurav Gill / Musa Sherif (Mahindra Adventure, XUV 500) (1:26:29.0); 2. Lohitt V Urs / Bonnie Thomas (Mahindra Adventure, XUV 500) (1:46:12.0);
IRC: 1.Karamjit Singh / Jagdev Singh (VW Polo) (1:27:40.0); 2. Sumit Punjabi / Dr S Dinesh (Cedia) (1:46:00.0).
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Kolkota’s Bro-sis duo hog limelight in different teams
By David Bodapati
Chennai, 26 June 2011: Kolkata’s talented youngster Amittrajit Ghosh with co-driver Ashwin Naik of Mangalore saved the day for Team MRF winning the 37th South India Rally as the Red giants lost the second runner Lohit Urs (Srinivasa Murthy PV) to a stewards’ decision in the second round of the Speed Indian National Rally Championship, at Irrungattukottai, 35 kms from here, on Sunday.
Talking about experienced Ashwin Naik, a veteran journalist quipped: “To finish first, first you have to finish. And that happens only when you have a navigator who can control the emotions of a driver,’’ and that’s what Amit Ghosh acknowledged of Ashwin’s expertise today at the Post-event press conference.
Thus, Team MRF dominated the second rally of the season despite strong contender Gaurav Gill of Delhi (co driver Musa Sherif) logging a DNF with gear box problems when he was only a few kilometers to the finish and tried to run only on 5th gear but could not complete on Day One. Experienced Arjun Balu (Sujith Kumar), also of team MRF, saw their car roll to a halt after SS 6 on Saturday but bounced back to get 7 leg points on Sunday as they were the fastest. It was the new recruit Ghosh, who led the Red challenge till the end winning the top class 2000N+ in the Super Rally format . The lone opposition of privateer Arjun Rao Aroor (Satish Rajagopal) who started his own AR Racing after quitting MRF failed he did not complete the rally. The tight corners and twisty route apart from the bumpy terrain of `Track Stage’ took a toll on the cars and 12 out of 27 dropped out, to tell the tale of the challenging terrain.
In the 2000cc N class, talented youngster who was out of the INRC, Karna Kadu of Bangalore, after a crash in Nashik in 2009, made a stunning comeback after a year’s hiatus, to edge out overnight leaders Rahul Kantharaj and Vivek Bhat also of Bangalore and made it a double whammy for his navigator exactly after a year. His codriver, Somonita Ghosh, sister of winner Ghosh, is the only lady driver in the National Championship. The name Kadur rings a bell in the ear of every motorsport fan for the exploits of his father Mr Kadur, and one hopes that the young giant takes forward the family tradition. “It was a brilliant rally and I am happy where I am finished,’’ said a content Kadur, winning his second only run on the powerful Cedia machine in the INRC. Rahul Kantharaj and Vivek Bhat, who finished second in the 2000 cc N category had a flat tyre while Vikram Devadasen and Somayya AG came third. “But for the flat tyre today on SS7, we would have retained our lead,” said Kanthraj with Bhat in tow as they tried to hide their disappointment.
In the Gypsy Class, the seasoned Sanjay Agarwal (Shivaprakash E) from Bangalore dedicated his victory to Manoj Dalal, the Clerk of the Course (CoC), who as a co-participant saved his life 10 years back at the same venue in South India Rally, when Sanjay broke his back and still insisted that he would drive. “I am alive and here, because of Manoj, whose timely help saved my life,’’ said Sanjay, with everyone applauding him. Sachin Singh (Venu Ramesh) who lost a minute due to electrical malfunction and finished second while Shafeeq (Adhiraj Bardhan) came third.
In the 1600cc class, Vignesh Devadasen, ably assisted by Anoop Kumar of Bangalore who survived a 300 ft fall in Nashik, won the rally and proved that the safety is of paramount importance. Leader of the championship, Aniruddha Rangnekar and Overdrive’s Hally Prabhakar as codriver finished a deserved second as they managed to nurture their car.
Here you can watch the YouTube video by OVERDRIVE produced by CNBCTV18.
The results (provisional unaudited partial classification):
Overall: Amittrajit Ghosh / Ashwin Naik (MRF) 1 (2hr, 05 mins, 59.0 secs); Karna Kadur (Somonita Ghosh) 2 (2: 08: 44.0 secs); Rahul Kanthraj / Vivek Bhatt (Pvt) 3 (2: 09: 03.4).
2000cc (N+): Amittrajit Ghosh / Ashwin Naik (MRF) 1 (2hr, 05 mins, 59.0 secs);
2000cc (Group N): Karna Kadur (Somonita Ghosh) 1 (2: 08: 44.0) 1; Kanthraj / Bhatt 1 (2: 09: 34.0); Vikram Devadasen / Somayya AG (Pvt) 3 (2: 09:53.0).
1600cc: Vignesh Devarajan / Anoop Kumar (pvt) 1 (2: 31:56.0); Aniruddha Rangnekar / Halley Prabhakar 2 (2: 41: 31.0);
1400cc (Star Cup): Hrishikesh Thackersey / Kaushik H Shinde 1 (2: 04.14.0); Karan AM / Shanmuga SN 2 (02:03:.4).
Gypsy – stock: Sanjay Agarwal / Shivaprakash E 1 (2:00:31.0); Sachin Singh / Venu Ramesh 2 (2:02:35.0); Shafeeq-ur-Rehman / Adhiraj Bardhan 3 (3:03:34.0).
Note to editors: Since 1400cc and Gypsy Cup are not officially part of INRC, the scratch time given for the cars in the other classes for the cancelled stage are not added to these class cars and the timings are for only ten stages.
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Ghosh, Naik win Rally of Coimbatore with 20-sec `Grace Time’
Coimbatore, 28 June 2009: Amittrajit Ghosh and co-driver Ashwin Naik of Red Rooster Racing won the Rally of Coimbatore, the season opener of the IMG-PSP Speed Indian National Rally Championship at the Windmill farms of Kethanoor, near here on Sunday.
The Kolkata-Mangalore duo were helped by a stewards’ decision late on Saturday night to push Saturday’s leaders Arjun Rao Aroor and co-driver Satish Rajagopal to second place. Ghosh gained 20 precious seconds as stewards upheld his request for `grace time’ as he lost a lot of time after the duo were boxed down by a slower car during the Special Stage 8 on Saturday.
Now Rao and Rajagopal finished 14 seconds behind Ghosh. On Sunday morning, Ghosh steered his Cedia well and made up crucial time clocking an identical time in the final stage after he lost 19 seconds to Rao in the penultimate stage. The overnight lead of `grace time’ given to him, helped him clinch the issue.
However, Team MRF protested the 20-second `grace time’ given to Ghosh and if the Stewards uphold the protest, then it is likely that Rao might yet be declared champion again. Delhi’s Sandeep Sharma and co-driver Arjun Chopra of Team Thunderbolt finished third in a Maruti Gypsy.
Results (provisional): Overall: 1. Amittrajit Ghosh/ Ashwin Naik (Red Rooster Racing, Cedia N+) (2:10:45); 2. Arjun Aroor Rao/ Satish Rajagopal (Team MRF, Cedia N+) (2:10:58); Sandeep 3. Sharma/ Arjun Chopra (Team Thunderbolt, Maruti Gypsy) (2:16:12).
2000cc Class (Cedia N+): Amittrajit Ghosh/ Ashwin Naik 1; Arjun Rao Aroor/ Satish Rajagopal; 2. Arjun Balu/Sujith Kumar (Team MRF) (2:18:08).
1600cc (Maruti Baleno): 1. Vishal GA/ Robinson Rajkumar (2:21:58); 2. Sujay S/ Varun S (2:22:42); 3. Rahul Kantharaj/ Vivek Bhatt (2:26:48).
1400cc (MPFI Esteem): 1. Bikku Babu/ Bonnie Thomas; 2. Amith Anand/ Prakash Rodrigues (2:20:23); 3. Francis Jose/ Manoj M (DDL Sports) (2:22:08),
Rally Star Cup (Carbureted Esteem): 1. Karna Kadur/ Somonnita Ghosh; 2. Venkatapathy/ Santosh Kumar S; 3. CG Balaram/ CG Raghuram (2:18:17).
Maruti Gypsy: 1. Sharma/ Chopra; 2. Khushwant Randhawa/ Harminder S Kaler (2:22:04); 3. Vijay Jose/ Pradeep Nagabhushan (2:36:16).
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Philippos-Naik win maiden Overall title at Nashik
Nashik, 4 July 2004: Talented Philippos Mathai and co-driver Ashwin Naik won the MAK Nashik Rally, the opening round of MAI Indian National Rally Championship (INRC), sponsored by Gulf Oil, which concluded here at the Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan on Sunday.
The Nashik Rally is the season opener of Motorsports Association of India’s (MAI) ambitious 8-round calendar for 2004. The rally fraternity will move to Bangalore for the second round K1000 in August.
Strong contender Jiby Maliakkal and co-driver Nikhil Pai, who won the final rally last year in Pune, fell into 37-second arrears on Saturday night and made an aggressive attempt to cut the gap but could make only 22 seconds and ended up second overall.
Thus Philippos Mathai and Ashwin Naik bagged their maiden overall title. The Maliakkal and Pai duo, who lost crucial time when their 1600cc Honda City V-Tec went off the road. The duo finished 15 seconds behind clocking one hour 31minutes and 18 seconds. The duo of Mathai and Naik also won the 1400cc title. Arjun Rao Aroor and experienced CK Chinappa came second in the 1400cc class while Sandeep Sharma and co-driver Kulbir Singh Dhaliwal were third.
The Rally Star Cup was won by Zohrab Zorabian and co-driver Rayomand Banajee ahead of Amith Kumar and co-driver Amith Anand. Rajesh Gadakh and co-driver Paritosh Kohok finished third.
The results (provisional):
Overall: 1. Phillipos Mathai/Ashwin Naik 1:31.18; 2. Jiby Maliakkal/Nikhil Pai (Team Chettinad) 1:31.33; 3. R. Karthikeyan/G. Satish 1:31.42.
1400cc category: 1. Phillipos Mathai/Ashwin Naik 1:31.18; 2. Arjunrao Aroor/CK Chinappa (Methods) 1:32.40; 3. Sandeep Sharma/Kulbirsingh Dhaliwal 1:35.12.
Rally Star Cup: 1. Sohrab Zorabian/Rayo Banerjee 1:38.16; 2. Amith Kumar/Amith Anand 1:40.07; 3. Rajesh Gadakh/Paritosh Kohok 1:44.57.
Note: This article is manually migrated from the archives of old website.
