Rajendra begins title defence in style

Two-wheeler rally returns to Coorg after a long hiatus

Two-wheeler rally returned to Coorg after a very long gap as the 2023 season opener attracted a record number of entries with 124 riders vying for honours at the Special Stage in the dirt tracks around the coffee estates near Madikeri. Reigning champion Rajendra RE won the Rally of Coorg, the first round of the MRF Mogrip National Rally Championship 2023 for 2-wheelers organised by Ace events and promoted by Godspeed Racing.

The two stages were run thrice cutting across coffee estates. Petronas TVS Racing riders won the top-four spots, including a podium sweep, in the Overall Class. Defending champion Rajendra RE began his title defence in style winning with a total time of 1hr 05min 13sec as he set fastest times in four of the six stages.

Samuel Jacob of Udupi with a 27sec difference finished second. Abdul Wahid, another TVS rider took the third place a further 26-sec behind, making it a TVS sweep. Imran Pasha the upcoming rider from Mysuru kept the momentum going for the team finishing fourth with a further difference of 28sec.

T Arun from Hero Motosports finished fifth as he was another 24sec behind. His teammate Yuva Kumar came sixth with a further deficit of 54sec. Karan Kumar, who was newly-inducted into Hero Motosports rally team was seventh in his first rally with a difference of 1min 5sec. Nataraj as a privateer from Kanakapura came eighth with a 36-sec difference. Sachin D from Petronas TVS Racing and Pavan BK, a privateer from Bengaluru, finished in 9th and 10th respectively.

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