Nashik: Experienced Karamjit Singh was a cut above the rest finishing only second-best to overall winner Gaurav Gill (co-driver Musa Sherif) on the concluding day of the INRC (Round- 2) Rally of Maharashtra 2013, Nashik on Sunday.
Going flat out on an overcast day, the JK Tyre -backed Karamjit did well on the final three stages to win the Indian Rally Championship (IRC) Class and finish second overall. In end analysis, Gill, driving a modified XUV 500, was quickest (1 hour 26 minutes 0s), with Karamjit trailing in at (1:27.40).
On the final day, Karamjit, driving a Volkswagen Polo, lived up to his top billing clocking the fastest time among the two-wheel-drive (2WD) cars on a terrain that he described as, “challenging and extremely tricky”.
Held on the outskirts of Nashik the event is the only tarmac rally in the INRC calendar and this year the rains threw another challenge at the drivers. The 2002 Production Car World Champion, began the day with a bang going the fastest on the first stage of the day to take the Polo to its second victory in only its second rally.
Rallying the Volkswagen Polo for the first time Karamjit Singh was on the pace from the word go clocking blistering times.
“I am pleasantly surprised with the Polo,” said Karamjit, who hopes to do well in Coimbatore, the third round of the INRC.
“Basically I like flat and rugged terrains. Tarmac is no fun, but here the challenge was different and I wanted to get back to the basics,” Karamjit said after the victory ceremony.
“The car is faster than the two-wheel-drive cars I've driven in the APRC and has a lot of potential. Everything worked extremely well including the tyres and I am looking forward to going even quicker on the next rally in Coimbatore,” he said.
Gaurav Gill, who led the field after seven stages, won the rally in overall category as he aggregated a time of 1 hour 26 minutes and 29.0 seconds for 10 stages. Karamjit posted 1:27:40.0, which showed that he was a better driver in dry conditions with slick tyres.
“Yesterday we were not on with wet tyres and that spoiled the day. Thankfully rain held up today and the stages were fine with spectators showing great patience to watch from points that were designated,” is how Karamjit described his day.
RESULTS
INRC - Overall: 1-Gaurav Gill / Musa Sherif (Mahindra Adventure, XUV 500; 1:26:29.0; 2- Karamjit Singh / Jagdev Singh (Slideways Industries, VW Polo) (1:27:40.0); 3-Amittrajit Ghosh / Ashwin Naik (Group N Mitsubishi Cedia) (1hr, 28mins, 16.0secs); 4-Vikram Mathias / Srikanth Gowda (Group N Cedia) 2 (1:28:45.0)
IRC: 1-Karamjit Singh / Jagdev Singh (Slideways Industries, VW Polo) (1:27:40.0); 2-Sumit Punjabi / Dr S Dinesh (Cedia) (1:46:00.0).
