JK Tyre’s star driver Gaurav Gill (co-driver Musa Sherif) was happy that he had a car that could match his speed. But an electrical issue cut the early joy. He still managed to stay on road to emerge the leader after the first day in the FMSCI INRC Rally of Coimbatore for four wheelers on Saturday.
Organised by Coimbatore Auto Sports Club and promoted by Champions Yacht Club, the two-day rally attracted over 60 entries. But all eyes were on Gill, who was confident of a strong show.
The first few kilometres looked fine before the the problem surfaced “We are trying to understand what happened,” said the championship leader.
Gill has gone through many issues on the route in the past too and, he tackled it well to bring the car home safe and secure.
In fact, it became worse and the car was actually limping through the 20-odd kilometre third stage, but the healthy lead in the first loop managed to save the day.
“It is not too bad because we are still leading. Whether you win by a second or a mile, winning is winning,” Gill said.
“It was important for me and the team to bring the machine home in one piece and we got N. Leelakrishnan (the man behind the car) under the bonnet working hard as usual,” he added.
Gill’s teammate Amittrajit Ghosh (Ashwin Naik), with some smart driving, even managed an eight second lead over him in the third stage but his car let him down badly in the fourth.
That was enough for Dr. Bikku Babu (Bonny Thomas), the INRC 2 driver, to jump to the second spot.
For Gill, it’s going to be more of a survival mode from here. And, so it will be for the others in fray.
