“It was an experience of a
lifetime as I always wanted to drive a 4-wheel drive car. I didn’t do any
testing and also had a first-time navigator (Mohan). The conditions were
treacherous. So, there were a lot of question marks, but I had no expectations
going into this event. I didn’t care whether I won or lost, but just wanted to
spend time in the Evo.
“There were issues with the
brakes yesterday and today, the clutch packed up. So, I had to drive very
conservatively and just wanted to keep the car on the road to finish the
event,” said 40-year old Mathias who is based in Masinagudi, near Ooty.
As well as Mathias drove,
20-year old Mascarenhas gave an outstanding performance to finish second
quickest and was very pleased with the result, though he had a few bad moments
that cost him precious time.
“It feels great to win in my
mother's hometown. I am really happy with the way I drove. Based on advice, I
did not try to rush things and it was controlled aggression,” said the
Mangaluru-based Mascarenhas.
Meanwhile, National champion
Gaurav Gill (Musa Sherif), though not in contention for honours in this Rally,
delighted his many fans by driving the three Special Stages in his Mahindra
Adventure XUV 500 on Sunday after having to retire the previous day due to
mechanical problems.
Provisional Overall
Classification:
IRC: Vikram Mathias / Swaroop
Mohan (Mitsubishi Evo IX) 1 (01hr, 59mins, 32.6secs); Dean Mascarenhas /
Shanmugha SN (VW Polo) 2 (02:05:38.0); Arjun Rao Aroor / Satish Rajagopal (VW
Polo R2) 3 (02:06:26.9).
IRC 2000: Rahul Kanthraj /
Vivek Bhatt (Team Yokohama, Cedia) 1 (02:08:33.4); Byram Godrej / Somaya AG
(Slideways Industries, VW Polo) 2 (02:10:19.7); Prithvi Dominic / Chandrashekar
M (Cedia) 2 (02:10:48.3).
IRC 1600: Dean Mascarenhas /
Shanmuga SN (VW Polo) 1 (02:05:38.0); Raghu Nandan B / Suraj K (Honda City
V-Tec) 2 (02:11:43.0); Bopaiah KM / K Karumbaiah (Maruti Esteem) 3
(02:12:03.1).
FMSCI 1600 Cup: Raghu Nandan B
/ Suraj K (Honda City V-Tec) 1 (02:11:43.0); Bopaiah KM / K Karumbaiah (Maruti
Esteem) 2 (02:12:03.1); Lokesh Gowda / Ashika Menezes (Maruti Esteem) 3
(02:13:52.4).