Day one of the Coffee Day Rally at Chikmagalur saw Bangalore driver Vikram Devadasan (co-driver Ashwin Naik) piloting a Mitsubishi Cedia in the 2000cc class charge into an overnight lead in the INRC class, while Karamjit Singh was the fastest driver on the road, driving a developmental Volkswagen Polo R2.
APRC champion Gaurav Gill (co-driver Musa Sherif) was one of the retirements of the day that saw half the field of 38 starters not making it to the end of the day in the wake of extremely rough stages run through the local coffee estates.
Bikku Babu (co-driver George Verghese) was running second overall, with Prithvi Dominic (co-driver Ravindra MS) in third.
Results:
INRC Chikmagalur, Day 1
Overall:
Vikram Devadasan (co-driver Ashwin Naik) 1:34:12.3
Bikku Babu (co-driver George Verghese) 1:34:44.6
Prithvi Dominic (co-driver Ravindra MS) 1:34:53.3