Rally of Coimbatore: Aditya Thakur has the last laugh

Aditya Thakur (co-driver Virender Kashyap) of Himachal Pradesh emerged the overall champion of the Rally of Coimbatore, a round of the FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship 2021 for four-wheelers.

Overall winner Aditya Thakur in action at the Rally of Coimbatore.

Aditya Thakur (co-driver Virender Kashyap) of Himachal Pradesh pulled out his best from the bag when it mattered most to emerge the overall champion of the Rally of Coimbatore, a round of the FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship 2021 for four-wheelers, here on Sunday.

Overnight leader Karna Kadur (Nikhil Pai) of Bengaluru ran into mechanical issues early and that turned the tide in favour of Amittrajit Ghosh (Ashwin Naik). The latter was expected to keep the position intact given his rich experience. But, his plans went awry and Aditya, who was on MRF Tyres, came up with a strong second loop show to clinch the crown.

He was excited having posted his first big win. “I have been working really hard. I came in here to win my class (INRC-3),” said Aditya, who knew he was in with a chance after finishing second overall the other day.

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“I drive on the hills and the hairpin bends every other day. It is all about careful driving and following the lines. That helped me in this rally as I made no big mistakes. I thank all those who worked on my car and supported me all the way,” he added.

Seven-time national champion Gaurav Gill (Musa Sherif), who rejoined today under the Super Rally format, was the quickest for most part of the day.

The results (provisional, after Leg 2): Overall / INRC: 1. Aditya Thakur / Virender Kashyap (both Himachal) (02Hrs, 03mins, 29.5secs); 2. Fabid Ahmer / G Sanath (both Palakkad) (02:04:29.2); 3. Sahil Khanna (Gurugram) / KN Harish (Bengaluru) (02:05:03.4). INRC-2: 1. Fabid / Sanath; 2. Sahil Khanna / K.N. Harish; 3. Aroor Vikram Rao / A.G. Somayya. INRC-3: 1. Aditya / Virender; 2. Syed Salman Ahmed (Mysuru) / Rishab BK (Mangaluru); 3. Byram Godrej (Pune) / Varun Satyanaranaya (Bengaluru). INRC-4: 1. Mujeeb Rehman (Kasargod) / Ravindra Kumar (Bengaluru); 2. Deepak Chandra / Kenith Harsha (both Bengaluru); 3. P Ananth Kumar / GM Manjunath (both Bengaluru). FMSCI Gypsy Challenge: 1. Rupender Sheoran / Mohit Malik, 2. Sanjay Agarwal / Smitha Prasad, 3. Mettuchetty Venkatapathy / S Santosh Kumar.