Ur tops Indian National Autocross Championship

Bangalore, April 29 (IANS) Seasoned rally driver Lohitt Urs from Mysore topped the time charts and annexed the trophy in the showpiece 3,000cc Open class in the first round of the inaugural Indian National Autocross Championship that just about crossed the finish line after again failing behind schedule.

The spectators had to wait almost the entire day to watch the "big boys" in action and Urs did not disappoint them with a spectacular drive in his inimitable style marked by much drifting through the corners to clock two minutes, 31.49 seconds over nearly two km.

Urs pipped two other experienced rally drivers Ranjith Ballal (02:32.03) and Chetan Shivram (02:32.29).

Ballal and Shivram, however, topped the Class 2 (up to 1150cc) and Class 4 (up to 1600cc), respectively.

The qualifying session began on time in the morning, but came to a grinding halt after about an hour's run as the crossover bridge took quite a pounding. The proceedings were halted for nearly two hours as work proceeded at pace to strengthen the bridge.

On resumption, there was yet another stoppage to water the track that was extremely dusty, making viewing difficult. Eventually, the organizers managed to finish the event before the light faded.

The results:

Class 1 (up to 850cc): BS Rudresh 1 (2mins, 41.52secs); Ashok JR 2 (02:44.88); Ranjith Ballal 3 (02:45.74).

Class 2 (850-1150cc): Ranjith Balall 1 (02:42.94); Shuchindra SP 2 (02:44.20); AR Shabbir 3 (02L53.40).

Class 3 (1150-1400cc): BG Den Thimmaiah 1(02:35.75); Vishal GA 2 (02:37.65); Deepak Paul Chinnappa 3 (02:39.25).

Class 4 (1400-1600cc): Chetan Shivram 1 (02:32.06); BG Den Thimmaiah 2 (02:35.79); Vishal GA 3 (02:36.93).

Class 5 (up to 3000cc): Lohitt Urs 1 (02:31.49); Ranjith Ballal 2 (02:32.03); Chetan Shivram 3 (02:32.29).