FMSCI Indian National Rally championship: Arjun Rao Aroor, Gaurav Gill to be in action at Rally of Hyderabad

The all-familiar names of reigning champion Arjun Rao Aroor, Arjuna awardee Gaurav Gill, former champion Karna Kadur and his experienced co-driver, Musa Sherif will be seen on the leaderboards again.

FILE PHOTO: Aditya Thakur and Virender in action during the 2023 Rally of Hyderabad. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

A handful of big names will be in action at the Rally of Hyderabad, the fourth round of the FMSCI Indian National Rally championship, to be held in Hyderabad from October 18 to 20.

The all-familiar names of reigning champion Arjun Rao Aroor, Arjuna awardee Gaurav Gill, former champion Karna Kadur and his experienced co-driver, Musa Sherif will be seen on the leaderboards again.

Youngsters Aditya Thakur, Fabid Ahmer, Harkishan Wadi, and Jahaan Singh Gill and female drivers Harshitha Raj Gowda, Phoebe Nongrum and Nikeetaa Takkale will also be showcasing their skills.

There will be six cars in the top INRC class while INRC2 has 13 cars vying for the honours. The competition will be intense in the INRC3 class with 26 entries, out of which five will also compete for the Junior INRC title.

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Harkrishan Wadia is leading Aditya by four points in the INRC2 class. Local star, who recently entered rallies, Jeet Jabhakh, is leading the INRC3 class with Daraius Shroff, nine points behind, in second place.

There will be four women’s teams with Karnataka’s Harshitha leading the pack followed by Phoebe of Shillong. Apart from these classes, FMSCI Challenge trophies will be at stake in the Gypsy, SUV and Classic classes. There will also be a NR4 class.

The rally, to be run on tricky dirt and gravel stages, will have virgin routes which were not used last year. There will be a total of six timed Special Stages to be run on two physical stages at JVR and JJR gardens at Muchintal area near the airport. The JVR stage is 16.8km long while the JJR Stage will be 20km.

The total Special Stage distance will be 112.80km while the transport distance (liaison) will be a short 18.23km.