IStage set for Coffee Day Rally

The Coffee Day India Rally, which doubles up as the concluding round of the FIA Asia Cup and the FMSCI Indian Rally Championship, promises high-octane action as the cream of country's talent converges here for the three-day event beginning tomorrow.
The event, also supported by Karnataka Tourism and Indian Oil, kicked off with a ceremonial start at the Coffee Day Global premises, followed by the hugely-popular Super Special Stage at the Amber Valley School grounds tomorrow.
The cars will then head out of town for the Special Stages on Dec 12 and 13.
The 180 kms-long Asia Cup Rally which is also a contender event for a round of 2016 Asia Pacific Rally Championship, has attracted eight entries led by Mysuru's Lohitt Urs with Srikanth Gowda of Mudigere as his co-driver in a Mitsubishi Evo VIII, and Arjun Rao Aroor of Mangaluru (co-driver Satish Rajagopal, Bengaluru) driving the Volkswagen Polo (R2B variant).

None of the registered Asia Cup crews from overseas is taking part as Japan's Hitoshi Takayama has already clinched the title with a round to spare. However, the Asia Cup participants in the Rally are eligible for IRC points.
With two wins from three starts this season, the vastly experienced Urs heads the IRC points table with a tally of 95, well clear of Team Mahindra Adventure's former National champion Amittrajit Ghosh from Kolkata (co-driver Ashwin Naik, Mangaluru) who is on 72, driving the Mahindra XUV 500. Also in title hunt is Arjun Rao Aroor with 64 points.
Behind the top three is Delhi-based reigning National champion and Team Mahindra Adventure's marquee driver Gaurav Gill (co-driver Musa Sherif, Mangaluru) who has had a dismal season as he drew blank in two of the three rounds after opening the season with a win in Nashik. With 52 points in the kitty, Gill, the 2013 APRC champion, is effectively out of the title race. The maximum points available are 39 (25 for win and 14 Leg points).

The tight and twisty terrain interspersed with fast and flowing corners, is expected to favour the all-wheel-drive Mitsubishi Evo and the compact Polo cars, though Gill, piloting the heavier and bulkier XUV 500 has often authored his own script with some stunning drives, defying all odds in the process.