The WISA’s Rally championships has already been hit hard by the cancellation of two legs of the INRC, but on Saturday it was hit again, this time by a volley of stones.
Urs takes the honours in first stage amid angry scenes over damaged temple
PUNE: The WISA’s Rally championships has already been hit hard by the cancellation of two legs of the INRC, but on Saturday it was hit again, this time by a volley of stones.
WISA’s Rally of Maharashtra, sponsored by MRF and Pandit Group, saw some extra action at the third stage, when Vikram Mathais’s Esteem burst a tyre and hit a nearby temple wall.
He managed to get away, but the cars that followed him were pelted with stones by irate spectators at speeds upwards of 200mph.
This last leg set off from Yashada, Baner Road, and Pune before culminating with the twelve special stages at Ralegan, Therpal, Kanhur and Ganjibhoire in the Ahmednagar District here on Saturday.
The Championship leader, Gaurav Singh Gill, was spared the incident after he opted to miss this race, already possessed of plenty of points.
“It is sad this has happened,” said Gaurav while talking to DNA at the service point.
Incidentally, this is not the first time such an event has occurred, at the Chandigarh leg of the previous championship also witnessed such an incident. “This is nothing new, it happens in rallying,” confirmed one of the officials.
Mathias and co-driver Nikhil Pai drove the 2.5 kms of the last stage with a flat, resulting in the alloy of the tyre melting and wrapping itself around the arm.
The car then stalled during their flying finish, short of the finish line. With stopgap efforts to change the tyre failing, Mathias was left with no option but to give up.
He can start the second leg of the rally under the Super Rally format if he so wishes and get his car up and running.
With Mathias out of the fray, Lohit Urs and co-driver Jaidas Menon finished the day’s proceedings on top, clocking 38.01 minutes to complete the day’s six stages totaling about 58 kms.
Stealing a march on the more powerful cars, 1400cc driver Amitrajit Ghosh and co-driver Sourabh Choudhary finished second overall in 39.53, with Arjun Rao Aroor (Satish Kumar), driving a Baleno, finishing third in 40.14.
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