Gill triumphs in the Karnataka-1000 Rally despite adversity: 2021 INRC

The Karnataka-1000 Rally – Round 2 of the 2021 Indian National Rally Championship saw Gaurav Gill and co-driver Musa Sherif return to winning form (INRC). However, the veteran duo’s victory was far from simple, as they endured a slew of mechanical troubles. After a two-year hiatus owing to the epidemic, the event reopened with 53 entries.

Gill, a seven-time INRC and three-time Asia Pacific Rally Champion failed to finish the first round in Coimbatore earlier this month. With the 2021 INRC being limited to three rounds, he realised that winning in Karnataka would be vital.

Even though Gill’s Mahindra XUV300 had electrical and turbo troubles on the first day, he was still able to take the overall lead. He had to run the last stage of the rally without brakes the next day as well. However, he managed to win the race by 15 seconds over Younus Ilyas and co-driver Anirudha Ranganekar.

Gill said, “Undoubtedly, today’s win is very satisfying, considering the difficult weekend we had and the non-finish in the Coimbatore round. We had electrical problems, a damaged windscreen when the bonnet flew open in the very first Stage. So, we lost a bit of time as we had to stop and lock the bonnet. Then, in the last Stage, I had to negotiate the last six-seven kilometres without brakes, which again cost us time. But in the end, I am happy we finished the rally and won.”

It was Gill’s sixth victory in the Karnataka-1000 Rally, and it was also the best method for Sherif to reach the 300th rally milestone.

The INRC-2 division was won by Fabid Ahmer and co-driver Sanath G, while the INRC-3 category was won by Aditya Thakur and Virender Kashyap, who won the Rally of Coimbatore.

Shivani and Vani Parmar, a mother-daughter team, won the INRC-4 division. Raghuram Saminathan and Bharath SM took first and second place in the Junior INRC category, respectively, ahead of Shivani Pruthvi and Ruthvik Praveen. In the non-championship FMSCI Gypsy Challenge category, Samrat Yadav and co-driver M Chandrashekar won.

The legendary South India Rally, the final round, will now take place from March 25 to 27.