Gaurav, Amittrajit star attractions in MRF Rally of Coimbatore

FMSCI President Akbar Ebrahim to compete as guest driver.

Team Mahindra Adventure's Amittrajit Ghosh (co-driver Ashwin Naik) attack the stages in the MRF Rally of Coimbatore.

Fresh from their stints in Europe, India’s top rallyists Gaurav Gill and Amittrajit Ghosh will hope to extend their lead in the Round 2 of the MRF FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship 2018 to be held at the Kari Motor Speedway, near Coimbatore.

The Mahindra Adventure teammates were at their dominating best in the first round, grabbing the first two positions and storming to the top of the table.

Gill, who finished 12th (RC2 cars) in the Finland round of the World Rally Championship last month, will begin as firm favourite along with co-driver Musa Sherif. He claimed nine out of the 10 stages in the season opening round to underline his class.

Amittrajit Ghosh (co-driver Ashwin Naik), who made a dramatic comeback in the final three stages of the last round to jump to the second place, will be high on confidence, too. He scored a spectacular victory (ERC 3 class) in the European Rally Championship round in Greece and will be eager to carry that momentum here.

Round 2 promises to be an exciting affair, with FMSCI President Akbar Ebhrahim set to take part as a guest driver for VW Motorsport. The former racing star will be making a grand comeback, competing in a rally car after nearly 25 years.

Team Mahindra Adventure will be wary of former INRC champion Karna Kadur and his co-driver Nikhil V Pai of Arka Motorsports though. Karna was quick and on Gill’s tail all through the stages in Round 1 until he faltered at the end.

He took the third place on the podium and will strive to recover lost ground. He is, however, leading in his INRC 2 category, with Rahul Kanthraj and Vivek Y Bhatt (Arka Motorsports) right behind him.

Aroor Vikram Rao (Falkon Motorsports) is the current leader in the INRC 3 category.

Current Leaders: INRC: 1) Gaurav Gill/Musa Sherif (Team Mahindra Adventure); 2) Amittrajit Ghosh/Ashwin Naik (Team Mahindra Adventure); 3) Karna Kadur/Nikhil V Pai (Arka Motorsports). INRC 2: 1) Karna Kadur/Nikhil V Pai (Arka Motorsports); 2) Rahul Kanthraj/Vivek Y Bhatt (Arka Motorsports); 3) Sumit Panjabi/Shahid Salman (Snap Racing). INRC 3: 1) Aroor Vikram Rao/Anand Somayya (Falkon Motorsports); 2) Dean Mascarenhas/Shruptha Padival (Falkon Motorsports); 3) Fabid Ahmer/Omer Fayaz Arakkal (Chettinad Sporting) FMSCI 2WD: 1) Adith KC/Suraj K (Race Concepts); 2) Suraj Thomas/Sob George; 3) Ravi MS/Priyamvada Saradhi (Snap Racing)