Bengaluru: With two decades of success behind them, the Coffee Day India rally will add a new feather to their cap in this edition, which will be held in Chikkamangaluru from Dec. 3-5, as they will feature the sixth round of the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship.
They will also host the fourth round of the FMSCI Indian Rally Championship during the same. The event will feature 50 entries, 40 for IRC and 10 for APRC, competing in the events over the three days.
The APRC will be run over 225.41 km, including 17 special and two super special stages, and will be headlined by newly crowned-champion Gaurav Gill and co driver Glenn Macneall in the Skoda Fabia R5.
The other major names include Gill’s team-mate Fabian Kreim, New Zealand’s Michael Young and Japan’s Yuva Sumiyama, who is the only female driver, among others.
Meanwhile the IRC will cover 113.81 km over nine special stages and will see leader Arjun Rao (Volkswagen R2), Amittrajit Ghosh and Sunny Siddhu (both Mahindra Xuv 500) among others.
The entire route will be located in and around the outskirts of Chikkamangaluru.
“It means a lot to everyone to get the APRC. In terms of stages, you will not find a smoother stage in the calendar,” promised CMSC vice-president Farooq Ahmed adding that the works have been ongoing on the routes for over a month and that huge rise in spectators are expected.
