Dean Macarenhas and co-driver Gagan Karumbaiah won Round 2 of the Indian National Rally Championship. (Photo by special arrangement)
Dean Macarenhas produced a commanding drive to win the Blueband Sports Rally of Coimbatore, overturning a nine-second overnight deficit to beat former national champion Karna Kadur in Round 2 of the Indian National Rally Championship. Navigated by Gagan Karumbaiah, Macarenhas completed the eight-stage, 110.80 km gravel rally in 1:36:19.777, finishing 23.482 seconds ahead of Kadur and co-driver Musa Sherif. Kadur had appeared firmly in control after Saturday’s opening four stages, leading the field by 5.6 seconds over Fabid Ahmer and Milen George, with Macarenhas sitting third and just over nine seconds behind. Agro (R) to reduce the gap to just 0.148 seconds before producing the decisive charge on Black Thunder (R), where he gained more than 14 seconds to seize the lead for good. Aditya Thakur and Virendar Kashyap claimed INRC 2 honours by 35.241 seconds, while Anushriya Gulati and Karan Aukta won INRC 3T after finishing eighth overall. Their women’s victory was decided by a razor-thin 0.207 seconds over Shivani Pruthvi and Vinay Manjunath. Other category winners included Venunath V and Sanath G (NRC 3), Chetan Chengappa and Sujith Chengappa (FMSCI Gypsy Challenge), Lavan Poonacha M.P and Ruthwick B.H (FMSCI Classic Challenge), and Pradeep Ravi and Thimmanna Uppapanda (FMSCI Masters Cup). ## Heartbreak for Fabid Ahmer The rally’s cruellest blow fell on Fabid Ahmer and Milen George, who entered the final stage in podium contention before retiring. The INRC season now heads to the coffee hills of Kodagu, where the Robusta Rally is scheduled to be held from November 20 to 22.
Jason Saldanha and Srinivas Murthy P V completed the overall podium after two days of competition around Coimbatore. Macarenhas slashed almost nine seconds on S.M. Tarushi Vikram and Athreya Kousgi enjoyed a standout weekend, winning both the JINRC category and the INRC Women class. They had held third place after seven stages and enjoyed a comfortable cushion over the eventual third-placed crew before their challenge ended on the closing test.
The momentum shifted dramatically when the stages were run in reverse on Sunday.
It was a proper fight with a great competitor, and I’m delighted to take the win in Round 2,” Macarenhas said. Because there was a lot of road left, being nine seconds down overnight wasn’t a bad place to be,. Dean trusted every call, and that made all the difference.” ## Class winners across the championship
“Karna and Musa set a really strong pace on Saturday, so we knew we had to stay patient and keep chipping away. On Sunday we found our rhythm, and once we got going on Black Thunder (R) we just kept pushing. Karumbaiah added: “Pace notes were everything this weekend, especially on Sunday when the gaps were so small.