INRC 2016: Gill takes Rally of Maharashtra win

Former national and Asia-Pacific rally champion Gaurav Gill won the second round of the MRF FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) on Sunday by triumphing in the Rally of Maharashtra in Nashik along with co-driver Musa Sherif.

Arjun Rao and Satish Rajgopal behind the wheel of a Volkswagen Polo were second overall in the INRC ahead of Amittrajit Ghosh and Ashwin Naik, who unlike their Mahindra Adventure teammates Gill and Sherif, suffered multiple tyre punctures on their XUV 500.

The Indian Rally Championship category saw one contender for the win exit the rally early as Samir Thapar and Gurinder Mann slid off the wet tarmac stages on the first day itself and got their powerful Mitsubishi Evo X stuck in a mud bank.

The IRC category was won by Abhilash PG and Srikanth Gowda, followed by Suraj Kute/Shamim Khan and Amol Satoskar/S Dinesh.

Bikku Babu/Milen George won the INRC 2000cc class ahead of Karna Kudur/Nikhil Pai and Younus Ilyas/Suraj Prasad.

The FMSCI Cup class victory was claimed by KJ Jacob/Manoj Mohanan ahead of Yashas Nakaya M/Uday Kumar D and Ganapathi Michu/Ramesh Kumar Venu.

The next round of the INRC will be held in Gurgaon on the 17th and 18th of September. It marks a return of India's premier rallying competition to the Delhi-NCR region.