Lohitt Urs-Srikanth Gowda win Rally of Coimbatore

The Mysuru-Bengaluru combine of Lohitt Urs and co-driver Srikanth Gowda cruised to win the IRC Overall title in the four-wheeler Rally of Coimbatore, the second round of the FMSCI Indian Rally Championship, here today.
They were in a Mitsubishi Evo VIII car and timed a total of one hour, 34 minutes, 59.1 seconds.
Mahindra Adventure's Sunny Sidhu-PVS Murthy (01:39:27.6) finished second Overall, while their teammates Amittrajit Ghosh-Ashwin Naik (01:39:59.0) were third. Karna Kadur-Vivek Ponnusamy (01:40:30.5) finished fourth Overall and also won the IRC 1600 title here.
Defending National Overall champion Gaurav Gill (Musa Sherif) retired with car problems on Friday and started Leg 2 on Saturday. However, Urs and Gowda had put themselves in a good position and clinched the title.

An elated Urs said: "The road was rough but we managed to do good times today. We were faster than yesterday. There were niggling problems with the car and we had to ease off.
"All our efforts have paid off and our main target is to do well in the Asia Cup in Chikkamagaluru this year. The IRC is going to be good practice for us as we continuously aim to improve the car and our driving."

Bengalureans Rahul Kanthraj-Vivek Bhatt (Team Yokohama), in a Mitsubishi Cedia, wrapped up the IRC 2000 title with a total time of 01:43:06.5. They retained the Rally of Coimbatore title and made it two in a row this season after winning in Nashik. Second was the combine of Hrishikesh Thackersey-Ninad Mirajgaonkar, while Sumit Panjabi-Nitin Jacob finished third.

It was a mix of joy and relief for Karna Kadur (co-driver Vivek Ponnusamy), who clinched the IRC 1600 title.
Last year's champions Adith KC-Harish KN won the FMSCI Cup with a total time of 01:43:53.2.
There were five retirements from the 30 who started the rally on Saturday. Prominent among them were Arjun Rao Aroor-Satish Rajagopal with car problems.
Results (provisional): IRC Overall: 1. Lohitt Urs/ Srikanth Gowda (01:34:59.1); 2. Sunny Sidhu/ PVS Murthy (Mahindra Adventure, 01:39:27.6); 3. Amittrajit Ghosh/ Ashwin Naik (Mahindra Adventure, 01:39:59.0); 4. Karna Kadur/ Vivek Ponnusamy (01:40:30.5); 5. Bikku Babu/ Milen George Cherian (01:42:15.4).
IRC 2000: 1. Rahul Kanthraj/ Vivek Bhatt (Team Yokohama, 01:43:06.5); 2. Hrishikesh Thackersey/ Ninad Mirajgaonkar (01:44:00.8); 3. Sumit Panjabi/ Nitin Jacob (01:46:10.7). IRC 1600: 1. Karna Kadur/ Vivek Ponnusamy (01:40:30.5); 2. Bikku Babu/ Milen George Cherian (01:42:15.4); 3. Vikram Rao Aroor/ Somayya AG (01:42:41.4).

FMSCI Cup: 1. Adith KC/ Harish KN (01:43:53.2); 2. Ashwin Reddy/ Suraj M (01:44:49.7); 3. Habib Mohammed/ Shahid Salman (01:45:21.0).