Rally of Maharashtra begins on Friday
Nashik: Country's top drivers would be vying for valuable points as the the Speed-Indian National Rally Championship 2009 enters the crucial three-day long 'Rally of Maharashtra' phase, commencing on Friday.
After three rounds, no competitor in any of the five classes – 2000cc (N+), 1600cc, 1400cc, Rally Star Cup and Gypsy Cup – had a clear stake in the championship.
The Rally of Maharashtra, promoted by IMG Sports and Pro-Sports Promotion, covers a total distance of 564.66 Kms, including 112.4 Kms of all-tarmac Special Stages and has 29 starters.
Team MRF's Gaurav Gill (co-driver Musa Sherif) leads the pack in the showpiece 2000cc (N+) class with 29 points, ahead of Red Rooster Racing's Amittrajit Ghosh (co-driver Ashwin Naik) who has 25 points.
Way down the 2000 (N+) leaderboard are Red Rooster Racing's reigning National champion Vikram Mathias (co-driver PVS Murthy) and Team MRF's Lohitt V Urs with a new co-driver Shrikant Gowda.
The competition is fierce in 1600cc class where Sujay Suresh (co-driver Varun Satyanarayan) heads the table with 37 points from one win (Kolkata) and two second place finishes.
In the 1400cc class, Francis Jose (co-driver Manoj Menon), who won in Kolkata, leads with 31 points followed by Vikram Devadasen (co-driver Nikhil Pai), the winner in Bangalore, who is on 23. Dr Bikku Babu, champion in Coimbatore, is on 14.
Bureau Report