Team Mahindra Adventure’s Amittrajit Ghosh showed great tactical acumen to win the Rally of Arunachal – the third round of the MRF FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship 2018 – in Itanagar on Sunday.
Ghosh, fought back from Day 1 to rise from ninth to third, enjoyed a much-needed stroke of luck as overnight leader Gaurav Gill pulled out of the competition as his car broke down in the sixth stage.
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He tackled the day’s three stages cautiously, finishing second in SS5, third in SS6, and again second in SS7 for a cumulative top timing of 00:57:33.6.
It was 5.9 seconds faster than INRC 2’s Phalguna Urs and Srikanth, giving them the victory.
The Snap Racing pair, who were hot on Gill’s tail all of Saturday, didn’t have a fruitful second day, managing only fourth-place and one fifth-place finish in the stages.
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Phalguna’s drive was still good enough to earn his team the INRC 2 win.
Former champion Karna Kadur (with PVS Murthy) made a valiant charge, taking the second place in SS6 and even winning SS7; but that could only fetch him the runner-up trophy.
Kadur’s Arka Motorsports teammate Rahul Kanthraj (Vivek Y Bhatt) dropped down one position to settle for the third place.