- Chetan Shivram wins round 4 of INRC
- Bikku Babu secures runner-up position
- Gaurav Gill’s vehicle refused to start after belting it received on day 1
Chetan Shivram and Bikku Babu have made a dramatic comeback for MRF in the Champions Yacht Club FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship, with most of the heavyweights pulling-out of the competition. Starting from the fifth and fourth positions, Chetan and Bikku successfully managed to save their cars and went on to claim the winner and runner-up title in the K-1000 Rally.
Defending champion Gaurav Gill was one of the biggest casualties as his car refused to start-up after the belting it received on Day 1. This drowned hopes for JK Tyre teammates, while the MRF men made the most of it. Akshara’s Chetan Shivram, who had won Round 2 as well in almost similar fashion, emerged as the overall INRC Championship leader with this victory. He (with Dilip Sharan as co-driver) claimed his own category too, the INRC 3, with an overall timing of 1:47:37:300 hours. This was 12 seconds faster than Dr Bikku Babu (with Milen George) of Team Champions.
Speaking on the occasion, Hema Malini Nidamanuri, co-promoter of the INRC said, “The top guns may not have fired today but we couldn’t have hoped for a more thrilling finish. It was good to see so many of the INRC 2 and 3 teams making a mark here, ahead of the known champions.”
After the shocking exit of Gaurav Gill, order seemed to have been restored, with another JK favourite Dean Mascarenhas winning SS5. But he promptly fell in the next stage, leaving the field for Championship leader Fabid Ahmer. But the MRF driver, who nursed his car carefully, suffered a puncture in the next and tumbled out. In the SUV Challenge, Gagan Karumbaiah of Team Champions took the first place to all but seal the 2019 title.
