The Hindu : Sport / Racing : Motor : Lohit is champion

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Nov 07, 2006
ePaper

Sport

Sport - Racing : Motor

Lohit is champion

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Lohit Urs and co-driver Moosa Sherief of Team MRF emerged champions in an exciting finish in the Power Pine Forest Rally, the fifth and penultimate round of the Motorsports Association of India's National Rally championship in Chandigarh on Sunday.

Trailing overnight leader Sunny Sidhu of Team JK Tyre by 40 seconds, Urs kept up the chase for the title with a hard ride through the 15.75km Fagla stage that was run thrice on the final day.

Urs, with this win, ended a two-year drought and won the third overall INRC title of his career.

JK Tyre teams took the next two places behind the MRF team, with Sunny Sidhu finishing second in 2:24:39 and Vikram Mathias coming third in 2:24:52. The end of this rally also threw up the first National champion in the Gypsy Cup category, with the father-son duo of Ramesh Shanbhag and Sanket Shanbhag opening an unassailable lead ahead of the concluding round. Even a second-placed finish would have fetched the title for the Shanbhags.

The victory for Urs has thrown the National title race wide open with the concluding round scheduled in Goa.

Karandeep still leads with 34 points, while Gauravsingh Gill is second with 31. Urs is tied with Naren Kumar for the third spot with 29 points .

Provisional results:

Overall category: 1. Lohit Urs and Moosa Sherief (Team MRF, Baleno) 2:24:27, 2. Sunny Sidhu and Vivek Anandan (Team JK Tyre, Baleno) 2:24:39, 3. Vikram Mathias and Nikhil Pai (Team JK Tyre, Baleno) 2:24:52.

1400cc: 1. Anil Wadia and Anmol Rampal (Esteem) 2:46:15, 2. Arindam Ghosh and Sourabh (Esteem) 3:01:28.

Rally Star Cup: 1. Amanpreet Ahluwalia and Manoj Shadija 2:33:14, 2. Rajesh Gadakh and Paritosh Kohok 2:36: 56, 3. Nibi Sayed and Noufel Sayed 2:44:29.

Gypsy Cup: 1. Sanket Shanbhag and Ramesh Shanbhag 2:31:49, 2. Khushwant Randhawa and Amandeep 2:32:50, 3. Capt. A S Brar and Capt. D Saraswat 2:35:39.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport