Overcoming persistent mechanical issues, overnight leaders Amittrajit Ghosh and his co-driver Ashwin Naik roared to a splendid victory in the AVT Premium South India Rally, the first round of the 2013 FMSCI Indian Rally Championship, here today.
It was a gritty show by Ghosh and Naik as their Mitsubishi Lancer Cedia (Group N) had troubled them throughout the rally with some or other issues.
Debutants Mahindra XUV 500 and Volkswagen Polo achieved a 1-2 finishes in their respective categories.
Ghosh brought home his ailing Lancer in one piece as he clocked one hour, 54 minutes, 09.3 seconds to annex the overall title.
"Over the two days, we had to change 13 parts and we never had a clean stage. Thus, it was great to come away with a win, my second here after 2011, and start the new season with maximum points although we didn't get to drive the way we wanted," said Ghosh.
Finishing second behind Ghosh was Bangalore's Vikram Devadasen with his navigator Shrikanth Gowda, also in a Cedia, with a time of 01:54:41.5 while the Kerala pair of Dr Bikku Babu and George Verghese came in third at 01:55:31.0.
In the INRC 1600cc class, Sirish Chandran (Nikhil Pai) and Arjun Rao (Satish Rajagopal), both in a Volkswagen Polo, finished first and second respectively ahead of Byram Godrej (Prajwal Pai) who drove a Maruti Baleno.
"It was a good result for the Volkswagen Polo considering that we came to the event with hardly any testing, but the car handled well even in the rougher sections which speaks a lot for its reliability. Our thanks to Volkswagen for providing all the support," said Chandran.
