KOTTAYAM: It’s for a reason that Gaurav Gill is considered to be among the best rally drivers in the country. After enduring a torrid time throughout the year, the ace driver showed that his bad form was just temporary as he took centre-stage in the final round of the FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship held in Kottayam on Sunday.
Gill secured his fifth Popular Rally title and third on the trot to break his barren run. On Sunday, he won stage nine and put in a strong showing in the last two stages to win the crown. “It was a nice Christmas gift for me. It’s been a hard year and it is great to get back to winning ways. I love to come here and you have some lovely roads here. But driving in traffic is what’s the worst,” joked Gill.
After finishing the year on a high, he has set some big goals for himself in the upcoming year. “I want to win some rallies in the World Rally Championship. That will be one of my main targets for next year. I know that I’m capable of doing that,” said Gill.His teammates Dean Mascarenhas and Suhem Kabeer finished third and fourth respectively in the Popular Rally’s overall category.
Meanwhile, the day didn’t just belong to Gill. MRF driver Chetan Shivram was crowned as the 2019 INRC overall champion after a stellar year. After he suffered a major crash on Saturday, there were doubts about whether he could compete on Sunday.But his team put up a stellar effort in getting the car ready for the final stages. After the damage that the car suffered on Saturday, it had looked unlikely that Chetan could race again. But he went onto finish fifth in the final two stages to protect his lead and win the championship.His wins in Coimbatore and Bengaluru had set the foundation for his title triumph.
“This is a dream come true moment for me. This is my first national title and to achieve it with an INRC 3 level car is even sweeter. I’ll cherish this moment for so many years. After the crash on Saturday, it was a bit difficult to get the car back on track, But our technical team worked all night to bring the car back to the road,” said Chetan.
His closest challenger for the title was Fabid Ahmer who could not catch Chetan but Fabid did manage to win the INRC 3 category.There were plenty of reasons to cheer for the fans who had gathered as local hero Dr Bikku Babu finished third in the overall category and also won the INRC 2 category. “We’ve seen a lot of entries for each race this year, which is a great thing to see. It just goes to show that the sport is growing in India,” said Gill.