Gill wins Rally of Arunachal; Mangalureans Dean Mascarenhas, Ashwin Naik finish second, third

Agencies
December 29, 2017

Team Mahindra Adventures Gaurav Gill took another measured step towards his fifth MRF FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship, adding the Rally of Arunachal to his conquests here today.

The three-time APRC champion and his co-driver Musa Sherif were in a class of their own, scorching the two night stages on Friday and winning two out of the four stages on Saturday to the delight of awe-struck fans here in picturesque Ziro.

"They were the fastest and most technical stages that I have seen in the INRC in many, many years," Gill said, immediately after his victory.

"We had a great car, wonderful setup and tyres and we really enjoyed this win," he added.

Dean Mascarenhas consolidated his position in the INRC 3 class by finishing second in the overall category. In the bargain, he posted his fourth straight victory in as many rounds in his class to virtually seal the title.

Gills Mahindra Adventure teammate Amittrajit Ghosh and Ashwin Naik took the third place by keeping pace with the winners in each and every stage. They were just 11.8 seconds behind Dean and 43.2 seconds behind Gills final tally of 58:50.4 minutes in the six stages.

The INRC 2 division was claimed by Younus Ilyas and Harish Kumar as they pipped table toppers Rahul Kanthraj and Vivek Y Bhatt, gaining a 19.3 second advantage in the opening stage.

Defending champion Karna Kadur and top contender Arjun Raos cars stalled just after the start and blocked the road, forcing the organisers to cancel the stage. Both withdrew from the rally, giving a free run to the rest of the field.

The four drivers ahead of them finished the stage while all others were given the same scratch time of 14 seconds. Rahul Kanthraj, who was among the finishers, could muster only 14:19.3 minutes which eventually hurt him in the final count. He, however, took the second place (fifth overall) to stay ahead in the race for the INRC 2 title.

Gill was calm personified as he built a solid lead of over 50 seconds in the first three stages itself. He took his foot off the pedal in the fourth stage, allowing Dean and Amittrajit to fight it out for honours here.

He reasserted himself in the next stage to ensure that the Rally of Arunachal was safe in his pocket. He is ahead with 75 points from three starts, despite missing Round 4 in Chikmagalur, and simply needs to drive smart in the final round in Bengaluru.

Dean Mascarenhas, with 63 points, has to be reckoned with though as an upset victory can still set him up for the 2017 championship.

Comments

Zahoor
 - 
Friday, 29 Dec 2017

Proper support from KN govt may helps to achieve more

Danish
 - 
Friday, 29 Dec 2017

Wow.. Congrats.. I saw him. He used to drive like race in NH also

Kumar
 - 
Friday, 29 Dec 2017

Congrats.. Great achievement

Ganesh
 - 
Friday, 29 Dec 2017

Very young energetic guy

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
coastaldigest.com news network
May 19,2020

Mangaluru, May 19: With lockdown 4.0 coming into force, the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) started bus services from Mangaluru to various destinations today.

According to officials, buses started plying from Mangaluru to Bengaluru, Mysuru, Shivamogga, Hubballi and other areas with limited passengers. A bus, which left for Bengaluru from Mangaluru had less than 30 passengers on board.

“Depending on the demand, the buses will be operated with 50% of the capacity. Measures have been taken to ensure that social distancing norms are adhered to while purchasing tickets from the counter,” said S N Arun, KSRTC Divisional Controller.

However, the KSRTC is yet to take a decision on operating Nagarasarige buses in the city. 

“Only those destinations, which can be reached by 7 pm has been considered by the KSRTC while operating the buses. As a result, after 11 am, no buses will travel to Bengaluru from Mangaluru. Further, permission will not be accorded for the travelling of pregnant women, children below 10 years old and senior citizens above 60 years old. Thermal scanning is used for checking the temperature of the passengers before boarding the buses. All the buses are sanitised after each trip,” he said.

Further, he said the contact number, name and address of the passengers are collected by the officials during the travel.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
February 16,2020

Udupi, Feb 16: Nine people were killed after a private bus collided with a large roadside boulder in Udupi district in Karnataka on Saturday, the police said. The accident took place on Saturday evening, at around 5.45 pm, on the Mulnur Ghat at Abbas Kattingeri in Mala village, while the bus was on its way to Mangaluru from Sringeri, reported the news channel.

The bus, which was reportedly carrying around 35 passengers, was trying to manoeuvre a turn while travelling on a ghat road when the driver allegedly lost control of the vehicle. The vehicle hit a massive boulder and the impact caused seven people to die on the spot. Two others passed away while they were on the way to the hospital.

The deceased passengers have been identified as Radha Ravi, Yogendra, Preetham Gowda, Basavaraju, Angana, Sharul and Ranjitha. The cleaner of the bus was also killed in the accident.

According to reports, the passengers in the bus were mostly in their early 20s and were employees of Vital Records Private Limited near JCK Industrial Park. Century Vital Records is a data security company which works in the Hebbal Industrial Mysuru. The group was visiting Udupi, Hornadu and Kudremukh.

While some of the injured persons were rushed to Manipal hospital, others were taken to the Karkala city government hospital, police said.

The police have said that rash and negligent driving by the driver is likely to have caused the accident. A case has been registered at the Karkala Rural Police Station, the police said.

Last month, three persons were killed and four others were injured after a fatal collision between a van and a bus near Bengaluru. Both the vehicles caught fire after the impact, but while passengers of the bus, travelling from Bengaluru to Shivamogga, managed to escape, the three passengers who were trapped in the van could not escape and were charred to death.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
coastaldigest.com news network
July 6,2020

Mangaluru, Jul 6: Dakshina Kannada deputy commissioner Sindhu B Rupesh has rubbished the social media rumours about lockdown in the district from July 8 to 25.

The Viral Rumour

A false message which is going viral on social media including WhatsApp claims that several organisations in Dakshina Kannada in a meeting have unanimously decided observe lockdown from July 8 to July 25. During this period essential services will be available only till 1 p.m.

DC’s clarification

“Don’t believe in such false rumours. Currently the lockdown is from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. Every Sunday there will be total lockdown till August 2. People should continue to maintain social distance and follow all the guidelines to prevent the spread of covid-19,” said the deputy commissioner.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.