Naren Kumar fininshes day's four stages in 35.18 minutes

Panaji, Nov 18 (UNI) Super fast driving by Team JK Tyre drivers Naren Kumar (D Ram Kumar) and Gaurav Gill (Farooq Ahmed) in their superior powered 2000cc Mitsubishi Cedias rendered the WIAA Rally De Goa 2006 into a virtual no contest.

Kumar opened a lead of one minute 19 seconds over third-placed Karandeep Singh (Jaidas Menon) of Team MRF with Gill finishing just two seconds behind Kumar. Kumar finished the day's four stages in 35 minutes and 18 seconds, followed by Gill (35.20), Karandeep (36.37) and Lohit Urs (36.42) With five drivers in contention for the national champion title before the start of the concluding round of the MAI's Indian National Rally Championship, much action was anticipated, but none materialised as Gill and Kumar barreled their way through the first special stage in a manner that brooked no response from their Team MRF rivals driving the 1600cc Balenos and Ford Fiesta and that set the trend for the proceedings that followed.

However, the close contest in all categories, which prompted drivers to push for high speeds, took its toll as JK Tyres' Vikram Mathais (Nikhil Pai) lost control just a kilometer into the second stage and crashed into a culvert, before 1400cc contender Sanjay Agarwal (Pradeep Kumar) banged into an electric pole by the side of the road.

This was followed by Team MRF's Arjun Rao Aroor's (Satish Rajgopal) catching fire half way into the second stage and points leader in the Rally Star Cup Amanpreet Ahluwalia (Manoj Shadija) going off the road and losing about five minutes in the process.

The first day's three points has taken Kumar's championship tally to 32, while Gill's two points put him on 33, just one behind leader Karandeep Singh (35), who got a point.

The first for the top spot is three-way, but barring any uncertain incident on Sunday and with the Sardar from Chandigarh yet to get his act together in this round on tarmac, the fight for the championship seems to have boiled down to Kumar and Gill and it should be an interesting battle between the defending champion and the new kid on the block.

''I just could not get my rhythm together today,'' said Karandeep while attempting to explain why he had let the leaders open up such a huge lead. Kumar was his usual modest self, while Gill said he was enjoying his drive on the fast stages.

Urs, who is lying third, seems determined to make a fight of it over the last four stages. He managed to overcome a deficit of 40 seconds while winning the last round in Chandigarh.

Girijashankar Joshy (Srikanth GM) just need to finish the rally to secure the championship in the 1400cc category, while Rajesh Gadakh (Paritosh Kohok) who are tied for points with Amanpreet Ahluwalia need to do the same as they have opened up a huge lead over the latter after the first leg in the Rally Star Cup.

Following are the provisional timings: Overall: Naren Kumar/D Ramkumar (Team JK Tyre, Cedia) 35.18 minutes; Gaurav Gill/Farooq Ahmed (Team JK Tyre, Cedia) 35.20; Karandeep Singh/Jaidas Menon (Team MRF/Baleno) 36.37; Lohit Urs/Moosa Sherief (Team MRF, Baleno) 36.42.

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