Second straight win for Arjun Rao and Satish Rajagopal

Gaurav Gill and Karna Kadur suffer road penalties

Mangaluru's Aroor Arjun Rao and Satish Bengaluru mountains from painted. the of Chimpu and Hollongi in red, with a second consecutive victory. MRF Tyres clinched the top-five Overall places, after a long time, sweeping the honours in the Rally of Arunachal Pradesh, the second round of the Blueband Sports fmsci Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) for four-wheelers held at Itanagar in June.

With rains pouring in full swing so did the challenges on the delayed start on Day 1. In turn two stages were cancelled to give way for the Super Special Stage which was run within the heart of the city, which had never happened before. People turned out in large numbers than the open and vacant space could accommodate. Sensing overcrowding, the organisers decided to call off the rest of the SSS event at about 12 midnight due to safety concerns, with 13 cars remaining to take a start.

This decision to utilise the underpass for SSS is laudable and the fraternity stands thankful for the Government of Arunachal Pradesh and the sport-loving passionate people of Arunachal. One of the scenic stages in Arunachal Pradesh 'Ziro' had to be cancelled due to heavy rains causing landslides.

Instead the four stages were run from Chimpu and Hollongi and back, same as Day 1.

Once again the local administration's will and intention to permit and run the stages as last minute clearances were done in no time. Thus Lakhpa's wish not to disappoint the participants with discounted stages, was kept alive.

On Day 2, Arjun Rao Aroor and co-driver Satish Rajagopal supported by MRF from Mandovi Racing, who won the first round South India Rally in Chennai, were trailing overnight with about 13 sec with the leaders Amittrajit Ghosh and Ashwin Naik from Arka Motorsports and six seconds behind Arjuna Awardee Gaurav Gill and Aniruddh Rangnekar supported by JK Tyre.