Date:20/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/20/stories/2008102055911800.htm

Sport - Racing : Motor

Easy for Vikram

Sports Reporter

Coimbatore: Team Red Rooster Racing’s Vikram Mathias (co-driver PVS Murthy) did not have to sweat much to win the IMG Mill and Monsoon Rally, the fifth leg of the Indian National Rally Championship, at the Kethanur Windmill Farms, near here, on Sunday.

With teammate Amittrajit Ghosh (co-driver Ashwin Naik) dropping out with gearbox problems and the clock ticking in his favour, Mathias preferred not to do anything silly at the start.

He kept his Mitsubishi Lancer Cedia (N+) safely on the terrain, which was really tricky due to the overnight rain, and drove at his own pace to clinch the overall title.

Assured of title

By picking up full points here, Mathias is now virtually assured of the national title.

“It was very slippery. I had to really get the car to the corners to get out of the slush. And, when it rains it becomes really difficult but that’s what rallying is all about,” said Mathias, after seeing through the opening stages.

With stones jutting out, Mathias found the last stage really rough. But Mathias saw through it with ease and brought the car safely home. “It was pretty rough, but thankfully the tyres stood the test. There were no punctures as well and it was a smooth drive all the way,” he added.

Team Winspeed’s Girijashankar Joshy (co-driver Prajal Pai) had a merry outing as well in the 1600cc class.

After a string of non-finishes this season, he emerged a comfortable winner ahead of his nearest rival and championship leader Sanket Shanbhag (co-driver Ramesh Shanbhag).

It was a tough fight all the way between Shailendra Hegde (co-driver Sheraz Ahmed) and Byram Godrej (co-driver George Varghese) in the Rally Star Cup. But the former managed to pull off his second win of the season.

The results: Provisional (un-audited) classification:

Overall: 1. Vikram Mathias / PVS Murthy (Red Rooster Racing, Cedia N+) 1:41.15secs), 2. Girijashankar Joshy / Prajal Pai (Team Winspeed) 1:48:41s, 3. Sanket Shanbhag / Ramesh Shanbhag (Team Winspeed) 1:52:23s.

1600cc: 1. Joshy / Pai 1:48:41s, 2. S. Shanbhag / R. Shanbhag 1:52:53s, 3. Yogeshwar Singh Gill / Khushwant Randhawa 1:55:14s.

1400cc: 1. J.M. Manju / Jeevarathinam 1:54:26s, 2. Saurabh Chaudhari / Uday Kumar 1:55:14s, 3. S. Sujay / S.M. Bharath 1:55:24s.

Rally Star Cup: 1. Shailendra Hegde / Sheraz Ahmed 1:53:02s, 2. Byram Godrej / George Varghese 1:54:49s, 3. Deepak Paul Chinnappa / M. Chandrasekar 1:54:52s.

Gypsy: Sandeep Sharma / Rashid Raza 1:54:30s, 2. Sanjay Agarwal / Elias Paarel 1:55:38s, 3. J. Aravind / Pramod Raman 1:57:14s.