Thapar sets stage on fire
Bengaluru: A sizeable gathering at the Amber Valley school grounds were treated to some fast and fine driving by Thapar as he clocked 2:39.3 seconds.
Samir Thapar (co-driver Gurinder Singh Mann) of JCT Rallying team, driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X, topped the time sheets in the spectator Super Special Stage of the Coffee Day Rally, the fifth round of the Indian National Rally Championship, on Thursday .
A sizeable gathering at the Amber Valley school grounds were treated to some fast and fine driving by Thapar as he clocked two minutes, 39.3 seconds over the 2.5kms course.
Former WRC Karamjit Singh (Jagdev Singh) from Malaysia, in a Volkswagen Polo R2, was the second quickest in 02:42.8, and 2013 Asia Pacific Rally champion Gaurav Gill (codriver Musa Sherif) driving the Mahindra XUV 500 put in a show that befitted the event which is a candidate for a round of the 2014 Asia Cup.
Sirish Chandran (Nikhil Pai) of Slideways Industries in a Volkswagen Polo topped the INRC segment with a run of 02:45.3 that put him on top in both the overall and 1600cc classes.
Close behind Chandran was the 1600cc championship leader Arjun Rao (Satish Rajagopal), also in a Volkswagen Polo, clocking 02:45.7. Meanwhile, Vikram Mathias (Vivek Ponnusamy) of Team Jungle Hut in a VW Polo, powered by 1.6 turbocharged diesel engine and which is being tested for an entry next year set a few hearts aflutter clocking an impressive 02:45.7 seconds.
The start grid was reduced to 38 after three more entries pulled out.
Provisional results: INRC overall: Sirish Chandran / Nikhil Pai (Slideways Industries, VW Polo) 1 (02:45.3); Arjun Rao / Satish Rajagopal (VW Polo) 2 (02:45.7); Girijashankar Joshy / Chandramouli (Cedia) 3 (02:46.0).
INRC 2000cc: G Joshy / Chandramouli (Cedia) 1 (02:46.0); Vikram Devadasen / Ashwin Naik (Cedia) 2 (02:46.2); Rahul Kanthraj / Vivek Bhatt (Cedia) 3 (02:46.5); INRC 1600cc: S Chandran / N Pai (SI) 1 (02:45.3); A Rao / S Rajagopal 2 (02:45.7); Phalguna Urs / Anoop Kumar DS (Polo) 3 (02:47.8).