| K-1000 Day2: Arjun Rao set for triumph |
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Bangalore, 4th Dec-10 (source: toi.b'lore)
Rallying is all about unexpected twists and turns, and Vikram Mathias of Team Red Rooster Racing learnt it the hard way on the second day of the Karnataka-1000, the fourth round of the Speed Indian National Rally Championship (INRC), at Siddhlaghatta, near here on Saturday. Mathias (co-driver PVS Murthy), who had a handy 41-second lead on Friday, went out of contention when the fuel hose of his Mitsubishi Cedia came off in the sixth special stage. He lost about 25 minutes while fixing the issue, pushing him to 10th in the overall standings.
The situation allowed Team MRF’s Arjun Aroor (Satish Rajagopal) take a comfortable 15.5-second lead ahead of his teammate Lohitt Urs (Srikanth Gowda). The impressive show has assured Aroor of the K-1000 title, provided he finishes Sunday’s Super Special Stage without any hiccup. Balram CG (Raghuram CG) from Bangalore, driving a Maruti Esteem in the 1400cc category, was overall third. The rally, which resumed after a chaotic first day, saw 21 teams at the start line while three, including Red Rooster Racing’s Amittarajit Ghosh, failed to finish. It was at the sixth stage that Mathias (PV Srinivasa Murthy) encountered the technical glitch. “The car came to a grinding halt 15-km from the finish. We tried to figure out the issue. Though we managed to fix it, we lost 25 minutes,” said Mathias.
Saturday’s impressive show has made Aroor a
contender for the 2010 championship title too. “I got what I wanted,” he
said. “Our car had a suspension issue in the sixth stage. We took the
lead once we sorted it out,” he added. Talking about his chances in the
next stage in Kerala, Aroor said he would go all out to garner maximum
points. “I lost points in the first three rounds. So I will try to do
well in Kerala,” he said.
Provisional Results after Day2:
1. Arjun Rao Aroor/ Satish K Rajagopal (Team MRF) 1 hour 47 min 17.6 secs; |
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