INRC 2020 Round 3: Gaurav Gill wins seventh championship title in Coimbatore

With the 2020 INRC restricted to just three rounds, JK Tyre’s Gaurav Gill took home his record seventh INRC title.

Team JK Tyre’s Gaurav Gill, with co-driver Musa Sherif, wrapped up the 2020 INRC in pure style, securing victories in all three rounds to take home his record seventh INRC title. With this, Gill is on the cusp of entering the record books as one of India’s most successful rally drivers as he now equals the long-time INRC title record held by Velappan Rajendran Naren Kumar, who’s considered to be one of the most successful rally racers in the country.

‘It was a very special win for us. We started the final day with some electrical problems in our car and I knew I had to avoid committing anything silly,’ Gaurav said. ‘So, I made sure that I drove safe and did just enough to protect the lead that I had,’ he further added.

Considered to be one of the most challenging rounds of the INRC calendar, the Rally of Coimbatore, like each year, took a toll on many of the competing drivers, one of whom was Gill’s JK Tyre teammate Amittrajit Ghosh – he was forced to retire following a mechanical failure. 

Gill’s Coimbatore outing wasn’t all smooth sailing either. Already navigating his way through the stages cautiously on Day One, his XUV300 fell victim to electrical issues on the following day and with MRF Tyre’s Bikku Babu hot on his trail, the proceedings only became more challenging for Gill. However, Gill still managed to win both the stages on the last day to record yet another victory.

As for Bikku Babu, he had to settle for 2nd place overall, despite a late charge. Babu, however, did manage to secure the top spot in the INRC2 category, followed by defending INRC champion Chetan Shivram, driving for Team Yokohama, in second place. 

JK Tyre’s Fabid Ahmer gave the team yet another reason to celebrate as he secured top honours in the INRC3 class.

Read more:

INRC 2020 Round 1: Gaurav Gill & Musa Sherif claim victory in Rally of Arunachal

INRC 2020 Round 2: Consecutive victories for Gaurav Gill in Itanagar