2015 Rally of Coimbatore: Lohitt Urs and Srikanth Gowda secure first place overall
The Rally of Coimbatore 2015 saw Lohitt Urs and his co-driver Srikanth Gowda clinching first place in their Mitsubishi Evo VIII. This was the second round of the FMSCI Indian Rally Championship, which the duo finished with a time of 01:34:59.1. Urs, who had managed a faster time than the previous day despite a minor problems, said, "All our efforts have paid off and our main target is to do well in the Asia Cup in Chikkamagaluru this year. The IRC is going to be good practice for us as we continuously aim to improve the car and our driving." His co-driver Gowda who was happy with the win said that the Evo was one of the fastest cars he had rallied in and also gave credit to his driver when he mentioned, "It was a big leap in terms of learning. Basically, the calls had to be much faster and Lohitt has helped me cope up with the new challenge."
Lohitt Urs and Srikanth Gowda in their Mitsubishi Evo VIII
Around four minutes behind them on the scoreboard were Mahindra Adventure's Sunny Sidhu and PVS Murthy. Their teammates Amittrajit Ghosh and co-driver Ashwin Naik finished third with a time of 01:40:30.5. However, defending national overall champions Gaurav Gill and Musa Sherif started the second leg of the rally on Saturday after retiring on the first one due to technical problems.
Karna Kadur and Vivek Ponnusamy who finished fourth overall in their Volkswagen Polo, secured a win in the IRC 1600 title. Relieved by the win, Kadur had this to say, "There was a lot of pressure on me and this win has come in good time. We drove clean today and made up a lot of time. We now have to begin work for the next tarmac rally."
Karna Kadur and Vivek Ponnusamy in their IRC 1600 Class-winning VW Polo
The IRC 2000 title was secured by the Bangalore duo Rahul Kanthraj and Vivek Bhatt from Team Yokohama. Retaining their Rally of Coimbatore title, they drove their Mitsubishi Cedia to a win for the second time in a row this season after Nashik. On their achievement, Kanthraj stated, "The lead we now have in the championship is heartening. We have been winning and are settling into a nice rhythm."
Adith KC and his co-driver Harish KN clinched the FMSCI Cup title for the second year in a row with a time of 01:43:53.2.
Arjun Rao Aroor and Satish Rajagopal were one of five retirements in the rally on Saturday.
Winners of the IRC Overall class
Results:
IRC Overall:
1. Lohitt Urs/ Srikanth Gowda (01:34:59.1)
2. Sunny Sidhu/ PVS Murthy (Mahindra Adventure, 01:39:27.6)
3. Amittrajit Ghosh/ Ashwin Naik (Mahindra Adventure, 01:39:59.0)
4. Karna Kadur/ Vivek Ponnusamy (01:40:30.5)
5. Bikku Babu/ Milen George Cherian (01:42:15.4)
IRC 2000:
1. Rahul Kanthraj/ Vivek Bhatt (Team Yokohama, 01:43:06.5)
2. Hrishikesh Thackersey/ Ninad Mirajgaonkar (01:44:00.8)
3. Sumit Panjabi/ Nitin Jacob (01:46:10.7)
IRC 1600:
1. Karna Kadur/ Vivek Ponnusamy (01:40:30.5)
2. Bikku Babu/ Milen George Cherian (01:42:15.4)
3. Vikram Rao Aroor/ Somayya AG (01:42:41.4)
FMSCI Cup:
1. Adith KC/ Harish KN (01:43:53.2)
2. Ashwin Reddy/ Suraj M (01:44:49.7)
3. Habib Mohammed/ Shahid Salman (01:45:21.0)
Lohitt Urs-Srikanth Gowda win Rally of Coimbatore 2015
| Coimbatore, August 1: The Mysuru-Bengaluru combine of Lohitt Urs and co-driver Srikanth Gowda cruised to win the IRC Overall title in the four-wheeler Rally of Coimbatore 2015, the second round of the FMSCI Indian Rally Championship, here on Saturday. They were in a Mitsubishi Evo VIII car and timed a total of one hour, 34 minutes, 59.1 seconds. Mahindra Adventure's Sunny Sidhu-PVS Murthy (01:39:27.6) finished second Overall, while their teammates Amittrajit Ghosh-Ashwin Naik (01:39:59.0) were third. Karna Kadur-Vivek Ponnusamy (01:40:30.5) finished fourth Overall and also won the IRC 1600 title here. Defending National Overall champion Gaurav Gill (Musa Sherif) retired with car problems on Friday and started Leg 2 on Saturday. However, Urs and Gowda had put themselves in a good position and clinched the title. An elated Urs said: "The road was rough but we managed to do good times today. We were faster than yesterday. There were niggling problems with the car and we had to ease off. "All our efforts have paid off and our main target is to do well in the Asia Cup in Chikkamagaluru this year. The IRC is going to be good practice for us as we continuously aim to improve the car and our driving." Co-driver Gowda said: "I am happy with the win. With the Evo being a much faster car than the others I have rallied in, it was a big leap in terms of learning. Basically, the calls had to be much faster and Lohitt has helped me cope up with the new challenge. It is good that we got this win. Bengalureans Rahul Kanthraj-Vivek Bhatt (Team Yokohama), in a Mitsubishi Cedia, wrapped up the IRC 2000 title with a total time of 01:43:06.5. They retained the Rally of Coimbatore title and made it two in a row this season after winning in Nashik. Second was the combine of Hrishikesh Thackersey-Ninad Mirajgaonkar, while Sumit Panjabi-Nitin Jacob finished third. Kanthraj stated: "The lead we now have in the championship is heartening. We have been winning and are settling into a nice rhythm. The team has done an excellent job." It was a mix of joy and relief for Karna Kadur (co-driver Vivek Ponnusamy), who clinched the IRC 1600 title. "There was a lot of pressure on me and this win has come in good time. It is a relief and I am happy as well. We drove clean today and made up a lot of time. We now have to begin work for the next tarmac rally," said Kadur. Last year's champions Adith KC-Harish KN won the FMSCI Cup with a total time of 01:43:53.2. There were five retirements from the 30 who started the rally on Saturday. Prominent among them were Arjun Rao Aroor-Satish Rajagopal with car problems. Results (provisional): IRC Overall: 1. Lohitt Urs/ Srikanth Gowda (01:34:59.1); 2. Sunny Sidhu/ PVS Murthy (Mahindra Adventure, 01:39:27.6); 3. Amittrajit Ghosh/ Ashwin Naik (Mahindra Adventure, 01:39:59.0); 4. Karna Kadur/ Vivek Ponnusamy (01:40:30.5); 5. Bikku Babu/ Milen George Cherian (01:42:15.4). IRC 2000: 1. Rahul Kanthraj/ Vivek Bhatt (Team Yokohama, 01:43:06.5); 2. Hrishikesh Thackersey/ Ninad Mirajgaonkar (01:44:00.8); 3. Sumit Panjabi/ Nitin Jacob (01:46:10.7). IRC 1600: 1. Karna Kadur/ Vivek Ponnusamy (01:40:30.5); 2. Bikku Babu/ Milen George Cherian (01:42:15.4); 3. Vikram Rao Aroor/ Somayya AG (01:42:41.4). FMSCI Cup: 1. Adith KC/ Harish KN (01:43:53.2); 2. Ashwin Reddy/ Suraj M (01:44:49.7); 3. Habib Mohammed/ Shahid Salman (01:45:21.0). | |
Starts Rs 6.17 Lakhs
999cc
Automatic
76
175
16.47 Kmpl
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