Tags:
Journalism of Courage
CHENNAI, February 11: Hari Singh, sponsored by JK Tyres, won the Castrol National Rally Championship for Cars for the fourth year in succession, pushing his arch-rival, N Leelakrishnan Team MRF to second spot, according to a notification from the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India FMSCI, here today.
Though the 1997 season concluded in December, the final standings were kept in abeyance pending review petitions filed by Hari Singh and Leelakrishnan with the Indian Motor Sports Appeal Court IMSAC.
Bangalore8217;s private entry, Sanjay Agarwal, who performed extremely well during the season despite lack of sponsors, finished third overall and second in the group. He was tied with Leelakrishnan on 32 points, but Agarwal, having won the Scissors event, came in ahead.
In Group N8217; unmodified cars, Manik Raikhy, also of JK Tyre, emerged champion, followed by Ravi Jouhari and Atikur Rehman.
Final standings with points:
Four-wheelers Overall: Hari Singh 1 60 points;Leelakrishnan 2 60; Sanjay Agarwal 3 41. Group A8217;: Hari Singh 1 35; Sanjay Agarwal 2 32; N Leelakrishnan 3 32. Group N8217;: Manik Raikhy 1 30; Ravi Jouhari 2 19; Atikur Rehman 3 19.
Two-wheelers: Overall and Group C8217;: K Prasad 1 87, 47; Rohitaaz Kumar 2 72, 39; Zubin Patel 3 62, 32. Group D8217;: Amol Talpade 1 34; D Uday Kumar 2 28; M A Danif 3 24. Navigators: Four-wheelers Overall and Group A: G S Mann 1 60, 35; Farooq Ahmed 2 60, 32; Shivu Shivappa 3 41, 27. Group N8217;: C K Chinnappa 1 30; Deepak Jouhari 2 19; Sanjeev Shah 3 19.
Two-wheelers: Overall and Group C8217;: Sudarshan Gowda 1 40; Vivek Bhat 35, 18; Avinash Cavale 3 35, 18. Group D8217;: E M Shameer 1 24, K Sujith 2 14; T Armugam 3 10.
