Vikram Mathias, along with his rookie co-driver Swaroop Mohan, not only realised a lifetime dream but also won the Coffee Day Rally, the sixth and concluding round of the FMSCI Indian Rally Championship here Sunday.
In notching his first win in four years when he opted out of rallying scene, 40-year old former National champion Mathias, driving an all-wheel-drive Mitsubishi Evo IX for the first time, underlined his class and experience that helped him overcome huge odds.
Following home as the second quickest in the Rally was young Dean Mascarenhas (Shanmuga SN) in a Volkswagen Polo while Arjun Rao Aroor (Satish Rajagopal) who drove the R2 variant of VW Polo, completed the podium in the Overall classification.
Newly-crowned IRC 2000 National champion Rahul Kanthraj (Vivek Bhatt) topped his category in the Mitsubishi Cedia and Raghu Nandan B (Suraj K) powered his Honda V-Tec to victory in the FMSCI 1600 Cup.
Mathias was obviously pleased as punch if a tad relieved to have survived anxious moments due to defecting brakes Saturday and a failed clutch Sunday.
“It was an experience of a lifetime as I always wanted to drive a 4-wheel drive car. I hadn’t done any testing prior to this event 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 Mathias who is based in Masinagudi, near Ooty.
Going into the rally, Mathias’ preparations were far from perfect. In the bargain, he drove the Evo on three sets of different tyres, MRF for the Super Special Stage, Pirelli on Saturday before switching to Yokohama Sunday.
“I had just one set of four MRF tyres which I used up on Friday for the Super Special Stage, and then changed to the Pirelli as the Yokohama tyres arrived here late and hence, I could use them only today,” said Mathias.
As well as Mathias drove, 20-year old Mangaluru-based Mascarenhas gave further proof of his talent in finishing second quickest despite 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 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 yesterday 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 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).
