Gill, Ghosh will look to extend their lead at MRF rally

: India's top rallyists Gaurav Gill and Amittrajit Ghosh will look to extend their lead in the MRF Rally of Coimbatore, the second round of the MRF FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship 2018, here over the weekend.

The Mahindra Adventure teammates were at their dominating best in the first round, grabbing the first two positions and gliding to the top of the table.

Gill, who finished 12th (RC2 cars) in the Finland round of the World Rally Championship last month, will begin as firm favourite along with co-driver Musa Sherif.

He claimed nine out of the 10 stages in the season opening round to underline his class.

Ghosh (co-driver Ashwin Naik), who made a dramatic comeback in the final three stages of the last round to jump to the second place, will be high on confidence.

He scored a spectacular victory (ERC 3 class) in the European Rally Championship round in Greece and will be eager to carry that momentum here too.

FMSCI President Akbar Ebhrahim is set to take part as a guest driver for VW Motorsport.

The former racing star will be making a comeback, competing in a rally car after nearly 25 years.

"We welcome Akbar into the fray," RRPMs Arindam Ghosh, the championship promoter, said.

"It will spice up the competition," he added.

Team Mahindra Adventure will be wary of former INRC champion Karna Kadur & his co-driver Nikhil V Pai of Arka Motorsports though.

Karna was quick and on Gill's tail all through the stages in Round 1 until he faltered at the end.

He took the third place on the podium and will strive to recover lost ground.

He is, however, leading in his INRC 2 category, with Rahul Kanthraj and Vivek Y Bhatt (Arka Motorsports) right behind him.

Aroor Vikram Rao (Falkon Motorsports) is the current leader in the INRC 3 category.

The MRF Rally of Coimbatore will cover a total distance of 186 kilometres on the outskirts of the 'Manchester of South India', with a total distance of 104.80 kilometres earmarked for six special stages to be run on dirt/gravel roads.

It will traverse past closed sections of public and private roads, giving the drivers the freedom to go all out in their quest for success.

The road map was shared on Friday, allowing the teams to complete their reconnaissance and draw their strategies.