Ghosh leads on day of retirements at South India Rally

CHENNAI: After the Recce, the drivers clearly knew what was in store for them at the South India Rally (SIR), the second round of the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC).
While some were vocal in expressing their displeasure over the overdose of twists and turns in the "testing" special stages, others were silent but did nod in agreement as "nursing cars to the finish line" became the mantra for success here.
After the first day of action on Saturday, only two of the five drivers in the premier 2000cc N+ class managed to adhere to that mantra with Team MRF's Amittrajit Ghosh and navigator Ashwin Naik taking the overall lead. They led by 99 seconds over MRF's Lohitt Urs and co-driver PV Srinivasa Murthy.
But Urs-Murthy's second place was short-lived as stewards excluded them from the rally, penalising them for helping fellow competitor Gaurav Gill, by pushing his car, after he had pulled out due to electrical problems.
Manoj Dalal, the Clerk of the Course, confirmed the decision. "Urs helped a competitor who had already pulled out of the rally and this is not allowed as per rules. And so he has been excluded and will not start on Day 2 (Sunday)," said Dalal.
Urs's exclusion means only one driver remains in the premier class with Team MRF losing their two top drivers to the testing conditions here earlier. Championship leader Gill (co-driver Musa Sherif) and veteran Arjun Balu (Sujith Kumar) were forced to pull out after the sixth stage.
The trend of pull-outs began earlier in the day with privateer Arjun Rao Aroor crashing in the second stage (AAVISA). Aroor hit a bump and flipped his car towards the end, forcing the stewards to cancel the stage, awarding scratch points to the field.
By the end of the fourth stage (around the MMSC track in Irrungaatukottai) Gill had taken a good lead, only to see it slowly fade as he faced a problem with the engine mount, followed by electrical issues. Gill limped his way through the sixth stage (IVRCL) but pulled out soon after.
Balu had a smiliar fate, with his alternator failing, ruining his Mitsubishi Cedia's electrical systems.
Balu's co-driver Sujith said he was expecting problems to creep up in the hardware as the conditions here were tough.
"We all knew that to win here we would need a lot of luck. The stages are that tough. Lot of tough turns and each stage I have to use some 20 to 25 notes. Clearly one of the toughest rallies I have raced," said Sujith.
Balu and Gill will feature on Sunday, racing for leg points in the Super Rally format but the drivers won't be considered in the overall result of the South India Rally.
With the pull-outs on top, privateers Rahul Kanthraj and Vivek Bhatt, who are racing in the 2000cc N class, find themselves in the overall second place behind Amittrajit.
Kantharaj-Bhatt are the leaders in their segment, after Sirish Chandran (Nikhil Pai), the championship leaders, pulled out with mechanical issues in the last (7th) stage of the day. Karna Kadur and co-driver Somonnita Ghosh, (sister of Amittrajit), is close behind with just a second separating them.
Standings after Day 1 (provisional): Overall: 1. Amittrajit Ghosh/Ashwin Naik (MRF; 1hr, 22mins, 59.0secs); 2. Rahul Kanthraj/Vivek Bhatt (Pvt; 1:25:37.0). 2000cc (N+): Ghosh/Naik 1. 2000cc (Group N): 1. Kanthraj/Bhatt 1; 2. Karna Kadur/Somonita Ghosh (Pvt; 1:25:38.0); 3. Vikram Devadasen/Somayya AG (Pvt; 1:25:53.0). 1600cc: 1. Den Thimmaiah/Pradeep Kumar K (1:26:26.0); 2. Ashish Nath P/Chandrasekaran V (1:26.58.0); 3. Vignesh Devarajan/Anoop Kumar (1:42:12.0). 1400cc (Star Cup): 1. Hrishikesh Thackersey/Kaushik H Shinde (1:31.26.0); 2. Karan AM/Shanmuga SN (1:32:52.0). Gypsy – stock: 1. Sanjay Agarwal/Shivaprakash E (1:29:00.0); 2. Sachin Singh/Venu Ramesh (1:30:31.0); 3. Shafeeq-ur-Rehman/Adhiraj Bardhan (1:30:49.0).