The celebration, however, has been low key as a final confirmation of his victory will be known only after the stewards’ meeting later in the day. Red Rooster Racing, who had a poor day in the office (both their cars did not run because of technical problems on Sunday), had lodged a protest against MRF for a technical infringement.

It is unfortunate that the season which started with a protest in Coimbatore had to end in one in the finale as well. It has been a season of battles in the boardrooms than on the Special Stages. Be that as it may, the December-born Gill was more focused on getting the job done on the Stages rather than worrying about the battles off it. The usual flamboyance was missing, but that was the last thing on Gill’s mind. You can probably blame it on his malfunctioning gearbox for the lack of speed that Gill has often come to be associated with.

He was slower than both his teammates, Lohitt and Arjun Rao Aroor (Sathish Rajagopal),on the day, but Gill did bring the car home alright to the delight of mechanics at the service park for his double triumph. “It’s great to be back on top,” said an elated Gill. “Last year I missed out as we didn’t take part in all the events. This is very special,” he said. “It is always nice to win the National Championship. These are my roots and they gave me the exposure. I’ll definitely be back to win it again.”

Even if the appeal — the hearing is slated for Nov 28 — goes against Team MRF for using more than the specified number of air scoops during the K-1000, Gill will still walk away with the overall title. For, the 14 points Gill won here might stand him in good stead if his K-1000 points are docked. Of course, he has to contend with the protest decision here.

 

On Sunday, Gill might have been handicapped by a gearbox problem alright, but Lohitt, gunning for his maiden title this season, nearly upstaged his more illustrious teammate. He clocked the fastest times on two of the four Special Stages, but finished a minute and five seconds behind, thanks to the threeminute penalty he was handed later on Saturday for checking in five minutes late.

Defending champion Vikram Mathias (PVS Murthy) of Red Rooster was also handed a penalty — five minutes — late on Saturday, for checking in five minutes early. On Sunday, Mathias was out of the rally even before he could start with an electrical problem. His teammate Amittrajit Ghosh (Ashwin Naik) too didn’t start as his car windscreen couldnt be fixed on time. Team MRF Tyres Arjun Balu (Sujith Kumar), who clocked the fastest times on two Stages, failed to finish due to fuel problems.

Girijashankar Joshy (Chandramouli M) took the honours in the 1600cc Class, but Sujay S (Varun S) walked away with the championship. Vikram Devedasen (Nikhil Pai) clinched his third win of the season to pocket the championship in the 1400cc category. The only highpoint on an otherwise bleak day for Red Rooster was Karna Kadur’s (Somonnita Ghosh) show in the Rally Star Cup. Although he failed to finish on the podium here, he took the championship title on his debut.

 

The results (Provisional):

Overall 2000cc N+:

1. Gaurav Gill/Musa Sherif (Team MRF) (1 hr, 36 min 16 secs); 2. Lohith V. Urs/Srikanth Gowda (Team MRF) (1:37.21); 3. Arjun Rao Aroor/ Sathish Rajagopal (Team MRF) (1:37:55).

1600 cc: 1. Girijashankar Joshy/ M. Chandramouli (1 hr, 42min 26 secs); 2. Rahul Kanthraj/Vivek Bhatt (1:43:41); 3. Joseph C. Jos/Royce Kizhakoodan (Team DDL) (1:44:17).

1400cc: 1. Vikram Devadasan/Nihkil Pai (1 hr, 44 min, 57 secs); 2. Abhijeet N. Pai /G.A. Satvik (1:45:10); 3. Deepak Chinnappa/M. Chandrasekar (1:47:37).

Rally Star Cup: 1. C.G. Balram/C.G. Raghuram (1 hr, 48 min, 03 secs) 2. A.M. Karan/A.G. Somaiah (1:48:59); 3. Phalguna Urs/Anoop Kumar (1:49:20).

Gypsy: 1. Sandeep Sharma/Anmol Rampal (1 hr 47 min, 02 secs); 2. Kushwant Randhawa/M.S. Ravindra (1:49:05); 3. Shafeeq-Ur-Rahman/K.P. Ajith (1:52:27).