The last weekend saw some serious rally racing in the hills near Bhandardara near Nashik. The Rally of Maharashtra concluded on Sunday with rally ace Gaurav Gill claiming the top honours with his Mahindra factory co-driver Musa Sherif. Arjun Rao Aroor with Satish Rajgopal claimed the second position overall while Amittrajit Ghosh with Ashwin Naik finishing third fastest overall in Round 2 of the Indian Rally Championship.
Gaurav Gill dominated the Rally of Maharashtra clocking the fastest times in four out of the six special stages. Round 1 winner Amittrajit Ghosh, also driving a Mahindra XUV, suffered punctures in multiple stages but still managed to come back strong to get on the podium. Arjun Rao Aroor, driving a Volkswagen Polo, maintained steady pace throughout to finish 1:04 minutes behind Gaurav Gill through the entire course of the rally.
The 2000cc class battle went down to the wire with rally veteran Dr Bikku Babu with co-driven Milen George finishing just one second ahead of Karna Kadur and Nikhil Pai. For the IRC class, Abhilash PG and Srikanth Gowda claimed first and were faster than Suraj Kute and Shamim Khan by over four minutes.
The Rally of Maharahstra, organised by WISA, was held in a one day format for the first time with a shakedown followed by two loops over the three special stages. This rally is known for its fast pace and lower margins for error and with the rain coming to party, seeing the rally cars going at full pace was a sight worth seeing for the enthusiastic spectators.
