Source: timesofindia.com

Nashik (01-Nov-2009):

No surprises, no shocks, no last-minute drama. The final-day script of the Rally of Maharashtra, which also concludes the fourth round of the Speed Indian National Rally Championship , took the predicted route on Sunday.

The overnight leaders were content on holding on to their lead rather than going for anything spectacular, while those trailing looked more keen to finish the race so as to garner as many points before the fifth and last round in Chikmagalur in three weeks time. The only point of interest was that of the overall title, which is still wide open, though MRF’s Gaurav Gill holds a slight edge.

Red Rooster Racing’s Vikram Mathias (co-driver PVS Murthy), who’s also the reigning INRC champion, drove calmly to take his first win of the 2009 season after DNFs (Did Not Finish) in the previous three rounds. Mathias, who held a 16-second lead after the end of Leg One on Saturday, was home in one hour, 23 minutes, 12 seconds, which was one minute, 50 seconds more than the timing clocked by second-placed Arjun Balu (co-driver Sujith Kumar) of Team MRF.

Arjun Rao Aroor (co-driver Satish Rajagopal), also of MRF, finished third. Lohit Urs (co-driver Shrikant Gowda), who were running second, had to retire midway due to a gearbox problem. Red Rooster Racing had another....

reason to smile, as they also topped the podium in the Rally Star Cup. Karna Kadur, showed his credentials yet again posting his third top-place finish this season, thereby assuring himself of the title in the RSC category. 

The 2009 season has now seen four different overall winners in four rounds. Amittrajit Ghosh (co-driver Ashwin Naik) won the first round in Coimbatore with Balu taking the honours in Bangalore, Gaurav Gill (co-driver Musa Sherif) topped in Kolkata, with Mathias triumphing here. It has also thrown the title race wide open.  

Provisional final results:
Overall/2000cc (N+): 1. Vikram Mathias / PVS Murthy (Red Rooster Racing) (1:23:12); 2. Arjun Balu / Sujith Kumar BS (Team MRF) (1:25:02); 3. Arjun Rao Aroor / Satish Rajagopal (Team MRF) (1:26:39).

1,600cc (Maruti Baleno): 1. Joseph C Jos / Royce Kizhakoodan (DDL Sports) (1:30:19); 2. Sujay Suresh / Varun Satyanarayan (1:31:11); 3. Rahul Kanthraj / Vivek Bhatt (1:32:39).

1,400cc (MPFI Esteem): 1. Vikram Devadasen / Nikhil Pai (1:30:43); 2. Byram Godrej / Raymond Desouza) (1:32:41); 3. Shailendar Hegde / Sheraz Ahmed (1:34:25).

Rally Star Cup (Carbureted Esteem): 1. Karna Kadur / Somonita Ghosh (Red Rooster Racing) (1:32:05); 2. Balram CG / Raghuram CG (1:37:30); 3. Phalguna Urs / Anoop Kumar (1:37:30).

Gypsy Cup: 1. Sandeep Sharma / Anmol Rampal (Team Thunderbolt) (1:35:29); 2. Kushwant Randhawa / Vinay Shekar (1:37:27); Akash Agarwal / Pradeep Mhasar (1:39:12).