Ammathi (Kodagu), Nov 23 (IANS) Arjuna Awardee Gaurav Gill and co-driver Aniruddha Rangnekar overcame initial hiccups and performed admirably to take the lead after Day 1 in the Robusta Rally, the fifth and penultimate round of the fmsci Indian National Rally Championship 2024 here, on Saturday.

Gill, the Speed Maestro from Delhi, was forced to start on a cautious note as their intercom failed resulting in no calls and he had to drive from memory. After losing 17.4 seconds to Karna Kadur, who was fastest in Stage 1, Gill bounced back brilliantly to clock the fastest times in the remaining five Stages and took a handsome lead of over 53 seconds by the end of the day.

“It has been a perfect day. The stages were rougher than I expected with massive stones and boulders but we managed to overcome all odds as our tyres performed well. We had decent speeds and the goal is to bring back the car home tomorrow,” said Gill, the seven-time National champion.

Championship leaders Karna Kadur and co-driver Musa Sherif of Arka Motorsports were second overall followed by Hassan’s Jason Saldhanha and local co-driver Timmu Uddapanda.

Jason Saldhanha overtook former National champion Aditya Thakur (Chettinad Sporting) in the final stage of the day and was also leading in INRC2 class with Thakur in second place ahead of Jahaan Singh Gill of Snap Racing. Chettinad Sporting’s Daraius Shroff from Mumbai, the championship leader in the INRC3 category took a 20-second lead over Abhin Rai.

Fabid Ahmer, Harkrishan Wadia, Philippos Matthai, and Chetan Shivram were some of the top casualties on Day 1. On Sunday, the rally will run another six Special Stages at Woshully and Margoli estates.

Provisional Results after Day 1 (Leg 1 - Saturday):

INRC Overall:

1. Gaurav Gill (privateers, Delhi)/ Anirudha Rangnekar (Pune) (00, 57 minutes, 35.1 seconds);

2. Karna Kadur (Arka Motorsports, Bengaluru)/ Musa Sherif (Kasargod) (00:58:28.3);

3. Jason Saldhanha (Arka Motorsports, Hassan)/ Thimmu Uddapanda (Kodagu) (00:59:05.1);

INRC2: 1. Jason Saldhanha (Arka Motorsports, Hassan)/ Thimmu Uddapanda (Kodagu) (00:59:05.1);

2. Aditya Thakur (Chettinad Sporting Solan) / Virender Kashyap (Shimla) (00:59:36.7);

3. Jahaan Singh Gill (Snap Racing, Chandigarh)/ Suraj K Prasad (Bengaluru) (01:00:31.5);

INRC3: 1. Daraius Shroff (Chettinad Sporting, Mumbai)/ Arjun Dheerendra (Bengaluru) (01:00.44.3);

2. Abhin R Rai/ Arvind Dheerendra (Ideal Racing, both Bengaluru) (01:01:06.6);

3. Arnav Pratap Singh (Snap Racing, Gurugram)/ Rohit N (Bengaluru) (01:01:33.8);

Ladies Class: 1. Anushriya Gulati (Arka Motorsports, Dehradun)/ Karan Aukta (01:04:08.0);

2. Nikeetaa Takkale (Pvt, Pune)/ Raghuram Saminathan (Coimbatore) (01:05:52.8);

3. Phoebe Nongrum (Snap Racing, Shillong)/ Nash Ross (Hyderabad) (01:08:18.2);

Junior INRC: 1. Abhin R Rai/ Arvind Dheerendra (Ideal Racing, both Bengaluru) (01:01:06.6);

2. Arnav Pratap Singh (Snap Racing, Gurugram)/ Rohit N (Bengaluru) (01:01:33.8);

3. Arjun Rajiv (Chettinadu Sporting)/ Vinay Padmashali (Both Bengaluru) (01:04:44.9).