With 43 cars in the fray, some high octane action is expected in the Karnataka-1000 Rally, the fifth and penultimate round of the FMSCI Indian Rally Championship commencing here Saturday.
Gaurav Gill (co-driver Musa Sherif) driving the XUV 500 for Mahindra Adventure team, with a tally of 145 points, is well clear of Arjun Rao (Satish Rajagopal) who has 78, in the Overall Championship standings.
Given the form that the 2013 Asia Pacific champion is in, Gill, winner of three of the four rounds, could well seal the championship with a round to spare, as the series concludes next month with the final round in Chikkamagaluru.
Gill will have to contend with JCT Rallying team's Samir Thapar (Gurinder Mann) driving a Evo X. Though Thapar is out of contention for the championship, the veteran showcased the speed and power of his Mitsubishi Evo X while winning the Chennai round in July ahead of Gill.
Rahul Kanthraj (Vivek Bhatt) of Team Yokohama has an unbeatable lead in the IRC 2000 class after achieving a hat-trick of wins while Mangaluru-based Rao (115 points) and Mysuru's Phalguna Urs (Anoop Kumar) with 108 are locked in a tight battle for the championship in the IRC 1600 category.
In the FMSCI 1600 Cup class, it is a three-way battle involving leader Adith KC (Harish KN) who has 134 points, and Anirudha Ranganekar (Nitin Jacob) of Slideways Industries and Parag Dhiwar (Aditya Dhiwar) both on 94.
The three Special Stages are located about 108 kms from Bengaluru and will be run twice Saturday and once Sunday, totalling 112.45 Kms.