Gaurav Gill Dominates 49th South India Rally After Year-Long Hiatus

Gaurav Gill's Impressive Comeback at the South India Rally

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], April 17: Gaurav Gill made a remarkable return to rallying after a year off, showcasing his skills by leading the time sheets at the 49th South India Rally, which kicked off at the Madras International Circuit on Friday.

This three-day event marks the second round of the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship, powered by Vamcy Merla, and also serves as Round 1 of the FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship, as per a press release.

The 44-year-old Gill, who hails from Delhi and is a three-time APRC champion with seven National titles to his name, achieved a combined time of 2 minutes and 51.5 seconds over two loops of the 1.45 km dirt Super Special Stage. He drove a Volkswagen Polo, finishing 5.1 seconds ahead of his closest competitor, Karna Kadur, in the APRC segment, with Mangaluru's Jason Saldanha securing third place.

Gill also led the INRC, holding a 4.1-second lead over local driver Ritesh Rai, who is participating for enjoyment, while Kadur occupied the third spot.

Partnered with experienced co-driver Srikanth Gowda from Chikkamagaluru for the first time, Gill delivered an almost flawless performance, demonstrating exceptional pace, precision, and control as he prepared for the upcoming Special Stages.

"It was a great start, and I’m thrilled to be back in rallying, which I truly enjoy. My team, R-Tech, did an outstanding job getting the car ready in just three days due to delays in spare parts and my decision to participate. This is my first competitive drive in a Polo, and having a new co-driver like Srikanth, who is in his 36th season, will be beneficial over the next two days," Gill remarked.

Kadur expressed disappointment, citing some technical issues that hindered his performance. "We had a restart initially; then my co-driver's watch malfunctioned, and I had to reset mine. Later, we faced intercom issues. It wasn't the start I anticipated with these problems. However, there’s still plenty of rally left, and I hope to improve," said the former National champion.

In the INRC 2 and INRC 3 classes, Bengaluru's Arun Y Mavaji and Arvind Dheerendra emerged as leaders, respectively, while Tarushi Vikram from Chikkamagaluru excelled in both the Ladies class and the Junior INRC category.

The event was officially flagged off by former Andhra legislator Vallabhaneni Vamsi Mohan and High Court Advocate K Jyothi Prasad from Hyderabad.

Provisional results (Leg-1, Section-1):

Asia-Pacific Rally Championship: 1. Gaurav Gill / Srikanth GM (India) (02mins, 51.5secs); 2. Karna Kadur / Kumar Ramaswamy (India) (02:56.6); 3. Jason Saldanha / PV Srinivasa Murthy (India) (02:58.3).

Indian National Rally Championship:

INRC Overall: 1. Gaurav Gill / Srikanth GM (02:51.5); 2. Ritesh Rai / Phalguna Raghavendra (02:55.6); 3. Karna Kadur / Kumar Ramaswamy (02:56.6)

INRC 2: 1. Arjun Y Mavaji / Jeevarathinam J (03:09.5); 2. Ritesh Guttedar / Suraj M (03:10.3); 3. Rakshith Iyer / Chandrashekar (03:18.2).

INRC 3: 1. Arvind Dheerendra / Shahid Salman (03:01.5); 2. Ashwin Pulagiri / Raghunath Swaminathan (03:01.9); 3. Tarushi Vikram / Athreya Kousgi (03:05.6).

INRC 3T: 1. Vikash Balachandran / Chiranth Jain (02:59.6); 2. Adith KC / Avinash CA (03:09.7); 3. Sidhartha Santosh / Sawan Sathyanarayan (03:11.9).

Ladies: 1. Tarushi Vikram / Athreya Kousgi (03:05.6); 2. Athira Murali / Arun Chakkalakkal (03:05.9); 3. Shivani Pruthvi / Vinay Padmashali (03:09.4).

Junior INRC: 1. Tarushi Vikram / Athreya Kousgi (03:05.6); 2. Hoshmand Elavia / Venu Ramesh Kumar (03:14.0).