The big names are back with their bigger beasts for the AVT Premium South India Rally for the first round of the FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship. The Rally is all set to start from March 22, 2013 and has been organized by the Madras Motor Sports Club. The AVT South Indian Rally has always attracted huge crowds and some premium names. This year 37 vehicles will be competing against each other.
The A. V. Thomas Group of companies is the title sponsor for the three day event that is scheduled to start from March 22nd. The event comprises of the three special stages and a thrilling super special stage that will be conducted on the Madras Motor Race Track, a track mostly used for the national level racing events.
Heading the entry list is the 2011 National Champion Gaurav Gill along with his co-driver Musa Sherif. He is leading a three man Mahindra works team in the introductory SUV segment with the Lohitt Urs with co-driver Bonnie Thomas and Sunny Sidhu with co-driver PV Srinivasa Murthy. All these men will be driving XUV 500. Joining the trio is the man from Bangalore, Sanjay Agarwal with co- driver Shiva Prakash in a Maruti Gypsy.
First time ever in the INRC, there will be a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 10, which will be commanded by Samir Thapar from Delhi, who is getting back to the league after a decade with his co-driver Vivek Ponnusamy. Thapar is the single entry in the top end Indian Rally Championship (IRC) segment that is available for the four wheel drive vehicles with engine displacement up to 2500cc excluding the turbo.
Adding flavours to the grid are the three Volkswagen Polo cars that will be making its debut at the INRC. The vehicles are driven by Srish Chandan with Nikhil Pai and Arjun Rao with Satish Rajagopal. The vehicles have been listed in the 1600cc category.
Third VW in the Junior INRC segment will be driven by Rohan Pawar from Pune with Nitin Jacob. Rohan Pawar played a key role in putting the three cars team on the track. In the 1600cc segment, 2012 JINRC champion Karan AM with Shanmuga SN is also participating.
Mangalore’s collegian Dean Mascarenhas with Shruptha Padival will be debuting in the 2000cc segment, that also features champion Amitrajit Ghosh with co-driver Ashwin Naik along with the veterans like Rahul Kanthraj with Vivek Bhatt and Bikku Babu driving with co-pilot George Verghese.
President of A. V. Thomas Group of companies, Mr. Ajit Thomas said that they are excited to be associated with the inauguration round of the 2013 INRC. The entry list consists of the leading rally drivers from all over Indian and the event also boasts of strong manufacturer presence. He further hoped that the event will bring back the older glorious days of the Rallying. He thanked organizers for doing a wonderful job.
The total rally distance is about 300 km and out of that 300 km 117.5 km is the competitive distance. The other special stages are stationed at the 700 acre Aavisa Golf complex and the IVRCL campus with the distance of about 17 km and 11 km. the special stage will run two times on Saturday, 23rd of March and once on March 24th i.e. on Sunday.
Event will be commencing with the Super Special Stage providing an excellent view to the spectators. On March 22, the contenders will be allowed to go for reconnaissance of the route after which they will be attending a scheduled Driver briefing and Media conference.
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