Kadur comes up with a fine drive, extends lead over Gill

Karna Kadur and co-driver Kumar Ramaswamy (Arka Motorsports) came up with a drive to remember as he opened a 22-second lead over legendary Gaurav Gill (Srikanth GM) from Delhi and topped the 49th South India Rally at the Madras International Circuit here on Saturday. With four more Special Stages to be run on Sunday and a sizeable lead, Kadur is within striking distance of the title.

Kadur, the 37-year-old Bengalurean supported by MRF Tyres, heads both the APRC and INRC Overall standings ahead of three-time APRC champion Gill. Hyderabad’s Jeet Jhabakh, with veteran Musa Sherif from Kasargod as the co-driver, is placed third in APRC after surviving a broken drive-shaft in the day’s second Stage and nursing the car to the garage.

Trailing Kadur and Gill in the INRC Overall standings is another MRF Tyres-supported crew of Vishakh Balachandran (Thiruvananthapuram) and co-driver Chiranth Jain (Karkala) of Duran Racing who also leads in the INRC 3T class.