Gaurav Gill wins fourth round of the FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship

Gill, along with co-driver Anirudha Rangnekar began the second day with a blistering run in the first stage and the seven-time National champion, eased off to nurture the car with superb consistency thereafter.

Gaurav Gill (right) and Aniruddh Rangnekar with their tuners after winning the fourth round of the Blueband FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Gaurav Gill displayed high skills and admirable car control to come out triumphant in the BlueBand Rally of Hyderabad, the fourth round of the FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship at Shamshabad.

The only Arjuna Awardee in motorsports, Gill, along with co-driver Anirudha Rangnekar, supported by JK Tyre, began the second day with a blistering run in the first stage and the seven-time National champion, eased off to nurture the car with superb consistency thereafter, and notched a well-deserving victory.

Former champion Chetan Shivram and co-driver E Shivaprakash of A & A Motorsports took an admirable overall second, with two stage wins, and they also won their class, INRC2. Kerala’s ace driver, Fabid Ahmer and co-driver Milen George, supported by MRF, showed great resilience to grab an overall podium pipping a marauding Arka Motorsports pair, Karna Kadur and co-driver Musa Sherif, by a mere two seconds. However, Karna and Musa, supported by MRF, took the overall lead in the INRC 2024 championships with two more rallies to go.

Gurugram’s Arnav Pratap Singh and co-driver Rohit of Bengaluru won the INRC3 class and also came out on top in the Junior INRC. Anushriya Gulati of Dehradun with Karan Aukta as co-driver won the Ladies’ class while the Chikmagalur-Bengaluru pair of Dr Akarsh Sundar and co-driver Ravikumar won the gypsy class.

The husband-wife pair of Aneeshnath and Amitha Aneesh of A & A Motorsports from Bengaluru won the FMSCI Classic Challenge Cup.

Out of the 55 that took the start, 12 cars logged a DNF as the terrain proved treacherous for many drivers. The next rally will be in Coorg followed by the season finale, the popular K-1000 at Tumkur, also in Karnataka.

Final Provisional Results:

INRC Overall:

1. Gaurav Gill (privateers, Delhi)/ Anirudha Rangnekar (Pune) (01hour, 48 minutes, 18.7 seconds);

2. Chetan Shivram/ E Shivaprakash (A&A Motorsports, Both Bengaluru) (01:49:39.4);

3. Fabid Ahmer (Chettinad Sporting, Palakkad)/ Milen George (Kottayam) (01:51:06.1);

INRC2:

1. Chetan Shivram/ E Shivaprakash (A&A Motorsports, Both Bengaluru) (01:49:39.4);

2. Fabid Ahmer (Chettinad Sporting, Palakkad)/ Milen George (Kottayam) (01:51:06.1);

3. Jason Saldhanha (Arka Motorsports, Hassan)/ Thimmu Uddapanda (Kodagu) (01:51:14.0);

INRC3:

1. Arnav Pratap Singh (Snap Racing, Gurugram)/ Rohit (Bengaluru) (01:51:46.1)

2. Daraius Shroff (Chettinad Sporting, Mumbai)/ Arjun Dheerendra (Bengaluru) (01:51.59.4);

3. Arjun Rajiv (Chettinad Sporting)/ Vinay Padmashali (Both Bengaluru) (01:52:00.2);

Ladies Class:

1. Anushriya Gulati (Arka Motorsports, Dehradun)/ Karan Aukta (01:55:26.0);

2. Nikeetaa Takkale (Pvt, Pune)/ Arvind Dheerendra (Bengaluru) (01:58:23.3);

3. Phoebe Nongrum (Snap Racing, Shillong)/ KP Aravind (Bengaluru) (02:11:00.7);

Junior INRC:

1. Arnav Pratap Singh (Snap Racing, Gurugram)/ Rohit N (Bengaluru) (01:51:46.1)

2. Arjun Rajiv (Chettinad Sporting)/ Vinay (Both Bengaluru) (01:52:00.2);

3. Abhin Rai (Ideal Racing)/ Moideen Jasheer (both Chikmagalur) (01:53:08.3);

FMSCI Classic Challenge:

1. Aneeshnath S (A & A Motorsports)/ Amitha Aneesh (Both Bengaluru) (02:03:48.0);

2. Shaik Hussain Pasha (Addons Motorsports, Hyderabad)/ Ashfaque Afrid (Sattupalli, AP) (02:30:43.9);

3. Praveen Dwarakanath (Pvt., Bengaluru). Arun V (Tirupur) (02:39:38.7);

FMSCI Gypsy Challenge:

1. Dr Akarsh Sundar (Pvt., Chikmagalur)/ Ravi Kumar (Bengaluru) (02:02:51.2);

2. Baljinder Singh Dhillon (A & A Motorsports, Delhi)/ Goutham CP (Chikmagalur) (02:04:39.8);

3. Sachin Singh (Pvt., Hyderabad)/ Anand Raj (Erode) (02:05:47.5).