Vikram Mathias of Red Rooster tops in Nashik

NASHIK - Vikram Mathias (co-driver PVS Murthy) of Team Red Rooster Racing completed a resounding overall victory in the Speeds Rally of Maharashtra, the fourth round of the Speed Indian National Rally Championship, here Sunday.

For 34-year-old Mathias, the reigning National champion who clocked one hour, 23 minutes, 12 seconds, success was a long time coming following retirements in the previous three rounds.

“This win is very special to me. I have driven much harder than I did here yesterday when I lost about 90 seconds when the fuel line came loose. To make up the lost time in such a short period only showed that we were on pace and what we are capable of,” said Mathias.

He spared one minute, 50 seconds to Arjun Balu (co-driver Sujith Kumar BS) of Team MRF who moved to second place following retirement of team-mate Lohitt Urs (co-driver Shrikant Gowda). Arjun Rao Aroor (co-driver Satish Rajagopal) came in a distant third.

Incidentally, the 2009 season has seen four different Overall winners. Amittrajit Ghosh (co-driver Ashwin Naik) of Team Red Rooster Racing, who retired Saturday, won the first round in Bangalore with Balu taking the honours in Bangalore, Gaurav Gill (co-driver Musa Sherif) of Team MRF topping in Kolkata and Mathias triumphing here.

Gill, the championship leader going into the fourth round, retired on the very first day with a broken drive shaft and rejoined the Rally Sunday for Leg 2. He suffered a flat tyre in the first Special Stage and was fastest in the second, but his charge ended when he got stuck in first gear for nearly five km in the days concluding Stage.

In the 1600cc, Joseph C. Jos (co-driver Royce Kizhakoodan) of DDL Sports recorded his second win of the series following his success in Bangalore to finish ahead of championship leader and winner in Kolkata, Sujay Suresh (co-driver Varun Satyanarayan). Rahul Kanthraj (co-driver Vivek Bhatt), who was lying second in the championship standings, dropped crucial points with a third place finish here.

Also chalking up his second success in the championship was Vikram Devadasen (co-driver Nikhil Pai) in the 1400cc class. The 34-year-old Devadasen had taken the honours in Bangalore.

In the Rally Star Cup class, overnight leader, 21-year old debutant Karna Kadur (co-driver Somonita Ghosh) of Team Red Rooster Racing, emerged a comfortable winner to post his third success of the championship and distance himself from his rivals on the leaderboard.

The honours in the Gypsy Cup class went to Sandeep Sharma (co-driver Anmol Rampal) of Team Thunderbolt, Chandigarh, whose win was a foregone conclusion as he had built up a huge lead at the end of Leg 1. For Sharma, it was his third win of the season.

Provisional final results:

Overall/2000cc (N+): 1. Vikram Mathias / PVS Murthy (Red Rooster Racing) (1hr, 23mins, 12secs); 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).