Coimbatore : Five-time winner Gaurav Gill cruised into a comfortable lead after Day 1 in the Round 2 of the MRF FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship here today.

The Team Mahindra Adventure star, along with his co-driver Musa Sherif, won both the special stages of the day in his inimitably aggressive style and needed just 37:21.2 (18:48.3 and 18:32.9) to run through the two stages to set himself up for another victory.

His teammate Amittrajit Ghosh, was snapping on his heels though, taking only 37:42.8 to finish the day on a high. Amit, who recently won the European Rally Championship round in Greece (ERC 3 class), seemed a lot more confident as he tackled the dust with great speed and control in his XUV 500.

The final four stages of the rally will be held tomorrow at Ketanur, about 70 km from here.

FMSCI president Akbar Ebrahim, rallying after nearly 25 years, was on the 21st place after the first day.

Former INRC champion Karna Kadur (with Nikhil V Pai) was trailing in the third place after taking 38:18.5 for his two stages. That was, however, good enough for the Arka Motorsports’ spearhead to hold on to his INRC 2 advantage, with Bopiah KM and Phalghuna Urs over 30 seconds behind him.

Aroor Vikram Rao (with Somayya AG; Falkon Motorsports) continued to lead INRC 3 category with a timing of 38:41.8. Defending champion Dean Mascarenhas, however, suffered a setback as he failed to finish secondstage due to mechanical snag He was replaced by Suhem Kabeer in the second position on the leaderboard as Fabid Ahmer (third after Round 1) too slipped to the fourth place. Chetan Shivram was on the third place.

Results (After SS2)

INRC: 1) Gaurav Gill/Musa Sherif (Team Mahindra Adventure 37:21.2); 2) Amittrajit Ghosh/Ashwin Naik (Team Mahindra Adventure; 37:42.8); 3) Karna Kadur/Nikhil V Pai (Arka Motorsports; 38:18.5).
INRC 2: 1) Karna Kadur/Nikhil V Pai; 2) Bopiah KM/Karumbaiah G; (Team Champions; 38:58.2); 3) Phalghuna Urs/Srikanth Gowda; (Snap Racing; 39:00.1).