Ace driver Gaurav Gill would look to complete a hat-trick of wins in his modified Mahindra XUV 500 when the third round of the FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship begins here from Saturday.
Asia Pacific Championship title contender Gill, along with team-mates Lohitt Urs (Bonnie Thomas) and Sunny Sidhu (PVS Murthy), will be competing in the SUV category that was introduced this season.
The first two rounds of the championship - the South India Rally and the Rally of Maharashtra had plenty of action with the arrival of new manufacturers, new cars and newly-introduced rally stages and the Coimbatore leg would like to live up to the reputation by providing thrilling spectacle of speed.
Vikram Mathias, who is making a comeback after a two-year hiatus, will contest in the rally in a Volkswagen Polo, included in the INRC from this year, while Samir Thapar will drive his Mitsubishi Evo X at the stages amidst the wind farm of Kethanur.
This will be Mathias second outing this season after finishing second overall in the Rally of Maharashtra, driving a Cedia.
Former World champion Karamjit Singh of Malaysia with compatriot Jagdev Singh in the navigator's seat would also be seen in action in a Volkswagen Polo representing Slideways Industries while reigning National champion Amittrajit Ghosh (co-driver Ashwin Naik) will begin his assault in a Group N-spec Mitsubishi Cedia.
However, Karamjit Singh won't be competing in the INRC, instead he will take part in the Indian Rally Championship (IRC), a category open to Indian drivers in foreign cars.
Delhi-based Samir Thapar of JCT Rallying, with his navigator Erode's Vivek Ponnusamy, will drive a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X prepared by top tuner and former National champion Narayanaswamy Leelakrishnan of Red Rooster Performance.
