INRC: Kadur is overall champion

Karna Kadur (co-driver Nikhil Pai) secured the overall title despite finishing sixth in the 42nd K1000 Rally, in the final round of the MRF FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship (INRC), at Hosadurga near here on Sunday.

Published : Dec 18, 2016 20:29 IST

Karna Kadur (Left) and co-driver Nikhil Pai emerged overall INRC champions after the 42nd K1000 Rally, the fifth and final round of the MRF FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship.

Karna Kadur (co-driver Nikhil Pai) secured the overall title despite finishing sixth in the 42nd K1000 Rally, in the final round of the MRF FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship (INRC), at Hosadurga near here on Sunday. Ammittrajit Ghosh (co-driver Ashwin Naik) claimed the day's honours, clocking 51:40.2, but Kadur, who won the Coffee Day Rally in Chikkamagaluru last fortnight, had done enough.

"Unfortunately, it did not go according to our plan today but towards the end of the last two stages, we did well," the Team Yokohama 2K driver said afterwards. "We secured the points required to win the championship. Credit goes to Leela Krishnan and the team, who have been developing the car well.”

Pai expressed surprise at the victory. "We never expected that this would happen," he admitted. "We were not even concentrating on the Overall championship but more on the 2000cc championship. But as it turned out, we started leading from Chikmagalur."

The results:

INRC overall: 1. Amittrajit Ghosh/ Ashwin Naik 51:40.2; 2. Phalguna Urs/ C.M. Chandramouli 53:38.1; 3. Rahul Kanthraj/ Vivek Bhatt 54:30.5.

INRC 2000: 1. Rahul Kanthraj/ Vivek Bhatt 54:30.5; 2. K.M. Bopaiah/ Gagan Karumbaiah 54:35.8; 3. Aroor Vikram Rao/ J. Jeevarathinam 54:56.0.

IRC: 1. P.G. Abhilash/ Srikanth Gowda 54:31.4; 2. Mohammed Kasim/ G. Sanath 59:28.4; 3. Ritesh Guttedar/ Sheraz Ahmed 1:00:00.9.