Sport - Racing : Motor

Johnny triumphs

NEDUMBASSERY: After three rounds of protests and much confusion, Thrissur’s Johnny Christopher and his navigator Sangeeth Samuel were declared as the professional class winners in the Maruti Suzuki Monsoon Car Rally at the Ned Star Hotel here on Sunday night.

Johnny’s maiden triumph in the two-day TSD event came as a bit of a surprise for the eight-car field in the pro class had many National Championship stars, including Karnataka’s Lohit Urs and Girijashankar Joshy.

Bangalore’s Sanjay Agarwal (navigator Pradeep Kumar) finished runner-up while Girijashankar Joshy (G.M.Srikanth) was third.

But not everyone was happy though.

“Lohit Urs, the rally leader till the eighth time control, has given a protest arguing that three time controls should have been cancelled owing to heavy traffic,” said Deva Kumar, the president of the Motorsports Association of Kerala, the rally host. “We have forwarded his letter to the Motorsport Association of India for action.”

Lohit, who adjudged the winner in the second provisional list, was pushed to fourth in the final list.

And the cash prizes have not been given to the winners. “We will distribute them as soon as the issue is resolved,” said Mr Deva.

Final placings: 1. Johnny Christopher & Sangeeth Samuel (14:34 secs), 2. Sanjay Agarwal & Pradeep Kumar (19:10), 3. Girijashankar Joshy & G.M.Srikanth (19:20), 4. Lohit Urs & Moosa Sherif (1:02.47), 5. R.Karthikeyan &am p; K.Chandrasekharan (1:05.57). – Principal Correspondent