Abhilash PG-Anoop Kumar win K1000 Rally

Abhilash PG-Anoop Kumar DS, of Team Rennoil R3A, cruised to a well-deserved win in the IRC category of the Horizon 41st K-1000 Rally in Bangalore -  round three of the FMSCI Indian Rally Championship 2015.

Driving a Mitsubishi Evo VIII, they clocked a winning time of one hour, 20 minutes, 57.2 seconds.

Finishing second in the IRC category were Lohitt V Urs-Srikanth GM in a Mitsubishi Evo VIII. However, Urs will continue to keep the lead in the IRC category with one round of the championship to go. AR Racing’s Arjun Rao Aroor-Satish K Rajagopal finished third with a controlled drive and a time of 1:23:02 seconds.

Winner Abhilash PG commented: “I am very happy to have won the K-1000 this time around. We did not take too many risks but drove a controlled rally. There were small issues with the brakes but it did not prove to be too much of a problem.”

Team Mahindra Adventure’s Gaurav Gill-Musa Sherif, the defending IRC champions, were going well till the last few stretches of the third and final Special Stage of the day. Sadly, their Mahindra XUV500 slid and suffered mechanical damage that saw them retire from the rally. Teammates Sunny Sidhu-PVS Murthy did not finish as well.

In the IRC2000cc class, Bangaloreans Rahul Kanthraj-Vivek Bhatt, entered as Team Yokohama and competing in a Mitsubishi Cedia, won the class and have virtually retained their title. On the second day, a clean run saw them win their class without too much fuss.

Bangalore boys Dhruva Chandrashekar-Jeevarathinam J, with a time of 1:26:47.6, ended up being toppers in both the 1600cc and FMSCI 1600cc Cup classes. The two were also fifth fastest overall.

Out of the 37 cars that entered, 23 finished the rally.

Results (provisional): 

IRC: 1. Abhilash PG-Anoop Kumar DS (Team Rennoil R3A, 1:20:57.2); 2. Lohitt V Urs-Srikanth GM (1:22:44.0); 3. Arjun Rao Aroor-Satish K Rajagopal (AR Racing, 1:23:02.0); 4. Amittrajit Ghosh-Ashwin Naik (Team Mahindra Adventure, 1:23:48.9); 5. Dhruva Chandrashekar-Jeevarathinam J (1:26:47.6).

IRC 2000cc: 1. Rahul Kanthraj-Vivek Bhatt (Team Yokohama, 1:27:12.4); 2. Sumit Punjabi-Nitin Jacob (1:28:26.9); 3. Younus Ilyas-Thomas Paul (1:29:35.5).

IRC 1600cc: Dhruva Chandrashekar-Jeevarathinam J (1:26:47.6); 2. Bikku Babu-Bonnie Thomas (1:28.18.9); 3. Ashwin Reddy Daram-Suraj M (1:28:23.8).

FMSCI 1600cc Cup: 1. Dhruva Chandrashekar-Jeevarathinam J (1:26:47.6); 2. Ashwin Reddy Daram-Suraj M (1:28:23.8); 3. Lokesh Gowda V-Ashika Menezes (1:29.57.4).

R Bharath Raj Trophy for Best Novice: Nayan Jyoti Sarma-Vinay BM.