Chikmagalur, June 9: Satish Gopalkrishnan and navigator Savera D'Souza won the Pro Expert category in the Grand Krishna Rally of Chikmagalur, the first round of the Indian National TSD Rally Championship here Sunday (June 8).

The Team Tata Motors combo of Vaneeta Kang and Nidhi Mittal won in the ladies' category. Amarnath and Mukthiyar clinched the top spot in the Pro Stock category.

Defending champions Chidananda Murthy and navigator BS Sujith Kumar, who were leading for most part of the Rally, had to settle for seventh spot due to a technical error.

It was an event befitting the opening round of the National Championship. The competition was rather tight and the winners emerged by the tightest of margins.

The route was great and scenic according to the competitors. Apart from the town roads, the Rally traversed through lush green coffee plantations.

The route itself was a mixture of tarmac, broken tarmac, dirt and metal roads. It was a true TSD rally in the sense of the word and was not harsh on the cars.

Wherever there was broken or rough roads, the given speeds were low and it made for some pleasurable driving. Even the amateur competitors did not face too many difficulties in negotiating the roads.

Results (provisional): Pro Expert: 1. Sathish Gopalakrishnan/ Savera D'Souza (total penalty: 00:56 seconds); 2. Azgar Ali/ Mohammed Musthafa (00:59); 3. Vishwas/ Natarajan (1:03).

Pro Stock: 1. Amarnath/ Mukthiyar (2:23); 2. Ravindra Kumar/ Kumar M (AMC City, Bangalore, 2:32); 3. Philip Baklin/ David Sharon (2:46).

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