National Rally Championships: K.J Jacob and Shanmuga triumph in Rally of Hyderabad as big guns topple

K.J. Jacob and co-driver Shanmuga S.N. bagged their maiden big victory as they became the Overall winners of the Rally of Hyderabad, the fourth round of the fmsci Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) 2023 at Sanghi Nagar, near here on Sunday.

Thrissur’s K.J Jacob, who made his debut in the INRC in 2015 at the K1000 rally in Bengaluru, took his first Overall victory.

Ably assisted by co-driver Shanmuga of Bengaluru, the duo, driving an INRC2 spec Volkswagen Polo 1.6, punched above their weight as they emerged triumphant.

Hyderabad’s tough terrain and, the longest special stage among the current rally venues in India, proved daunting as the top three in both the INRC1 and INRC2 and many overnight leaders, fell by the wayside in the final stage.

Of the eight premier-class cars, driven by top guns in the country, only Younus Ilyas finished the punishing course.

Vishakh Balachandran and Anil Abbas and Youngturk Arjun Rajiv and Rohit Gowda, both driving the lower INRC3 spec Polo 1.6 cars finished Overall second and third. Jacob and Shanmugha also won the INRC2 class while Vishakh and Anil took the INRC3 victory.

Vivek Ruthuparna and co-driver Athreya Kousgi won the INRC4 while talented Pragathi Gowda and Trisha Alonkar bagged the Ladies' class. Baljinder Singh Dhillon and Goutham CP won the Gypsy class.

Revised Provisional Results:

Overall: 1. Jacob KJ, Thrissur /Shanmugh, Bengaluru, Team Arka Motorsports (1 hour, 54 minutes, 29 seconds); 2. Vishakh Balachandran/ Anil Abbas (1:55:18.0); 3. Arjun Rajiv/ Rohit Gowda (1:55:28.7);

INRC2: 1.Jacob KJ/ Shanmugha SN, (1:54:29.2); 2. Ritesh Guttedar / Suraj M (1:57:01.2); 3. Chetan Shivram/ Shiv Prakash (1:58:02.9).

INRC3: 1. Vishakh Balachandran, Thrissur/ Anil Abbas, Ernakulam (1:55:18.0); 2. Arjun Raj:iv/ Rohit Gowda (1:55:28.7); 3. Jason Saldanha/ Thimmu Uddapanda (1:56:04.7).

INRC4: 1. Vivek Ruthuparna, Chikkamagaluru/ Athreya Kousgi, Mumbai (2:11:07.5); 2. Safeekuddin/ Arun V (2:21.41.8);

Ladies: 1. Pragathi Gowda/ Trisha Alonka (Both Bengaluru) (1:58.07.5); 2. Nikeetaa Takkale/Raghuram Saminathan (2:11:45.3).

Junior INRC: 1. Arjun Rajiv; 2. Jahaan Singh Gill; 3. Vivek Ruthuparna.

Gypsy (non-championship): 1. Baljinder Singh Dhillon/ Goutham CP (2:16:23.5); 2. Sanjay Lal/ V Sekar (2:17:10.7); 3. Abhishek Gowda/ Dhiraj Manae (2:18:01.6).