2019 INRC Round 2: Chetan Shivram wins Rally of Coimbatore

The 2019 Champions Yacht Club FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) resumed with its second round taking place in Coimbatore. After two action-packed days, Team Akshara’s Chetan Shivram (co-driver Dilip Sharan) emerged victorious, winning the Rally of Coimbatore with a total time of 1 hour 33.51 mins.

Shivram inherited the lead on the first day after Mahindra Adventure’s Gaurav Gill (co-driver Musa Sherif) was forced to pull out of the rally. Gill set the pace early on, setting the fastest time in the first three stages , but then his rally-spec Mahindra XUV300 picked up a puncture and a subsequent mechanical issue resulted in him having to retire from the rally. 

Heading into the second day, Shivram held a lead of just four seconds over Suhem Kabeer (co-driver Jeeva Rathinam). However, the latter got stuck in slush in the final day’s first stage itself, losing six minutes as a result. Shivram was then under pressure from Younus Ilyas (co-driver Harish Gowda). Ilyas even managed a win a couple of stages on the final day, but Shivram ultimately gained the upper hand and took victory by a margin of just 4.6 seconds. 

A time of 1 hour 33.56 seconds was enough to hand Ilyas second place overall and victory in the INRC 2 category. Meanwhile, Team Champions’ Fabid Ahmer (co-driver Sanath G) finished third overall and bagged 2nd place in INRC 3. Round 1 winner Dean Mascarenhas (co-driver Shruptha Padival) had dropped to the bottom of the standings at the end of the first day after his car got stuck in slush, but a stellar comeback drive saw him gain 32 places  to finish 2nd in the INRC 2 category and 10th overall. Meanwhile, Vaibhav Marate (co-driver Arjun SSB) took victory in the INRC 4 category for a second consecutive time.

Results

INRC Overall
1) Chetan Shivram & Dilip Sharan – 1:33:51.700hr; 2) Younus Ilyas & Harish Gowda – 1:33:56.300 hr; 3) Fabid Ahmer & Sanath G. – 1:34:54.400 hr
 
INRC 2
1) Younus Ilyas & Harish Gowda – 1:33:56.300; 2) Dean Mascarenhas & Shruptha Padival – 1:28:33.800 hr; 3) Suhem Kabeer & Jeeva Rathinam – 1:40:17.000hr

INRC 3  
1) Chetan Shivram & Dilip Sharan – 1:33:51.700hr; 2) Fabid Ahmer & Sanath G. – 1:34:54.400 hr; 3) Aditya Thakur & Virender Kashyap – 1:35:57.700 hr
 
INRC 4
1) Vaibhav Marate & Arjun SSB – 1:38:27.000hr; 2) Manoj Mohanan & Francis Sachin – 1:39:36.300 hr; 3)Rakshith Iyer & Chandrashekar – 1:40:17.000