Arjun Aroor Rao would always remember K-1000 as a turning point in his rally career as he led a creditable 1-2 finish for Team MRF in the fourth leg of the Speed-Indian National Rally Championship here on Sunday.

The 27-year-old’s career was at the crossroads since he failed to return a top finish in the country’s premier rally championship and even faced a barrage of criticism despite showing the right attitude. But Aroor (co-driver Satish Rajagopal) answered his critics here on Sunday, winning the K-1000 in style when he finished 10 seconds ahead of his teammate Lohitt V Urs (Srikanth Gowda) in the Super Special Stage.

“I made up mind to quit the sport if I failed to prove my critics wrong here. I am so happy to win this rally,” said an elated Aroor. Driving a Mitsubishi Cedia, he had a 15.5-second lead over Urs at the end of the eighth Special Stage on Saturday. With the title more or less assured, everybody expected Aroor to be cautious on the Super Special Stage. However, he blazed the 4.5-km track clocking the second-best time of 6 minutes and 5 seconds while the aggressive Urs emerged the fastest with a time of 5 minutes 59 seconds.

Bangalore brothers Balram and Raghuram, the toppers in 1400cc, were third in the overall standings. Team Red Rooster Racing’s Vikram Mathias finished third in the 2000cc N+ category.