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Aditya Thakur and Virender Kashyap won INRC 2 in the naturally aspirated Polo. Philippos Matthai and Harish K N finished second, while Ritesh M. Guttedar and Suraj M finished third.
Photograph: Supplied to ViPeopleINRC 2 gave the Rally of Coimbatore a second race beneath the overall result. Aditya Thakur and Virender Kashyap won the class in a naturally aspirated 1.6 Volkswagen Polo, Philippos Matthai and Harish K N finished second, and Ritesh M. Guttedar and Suraj M finished third. The three crews occupied fifth, sixth and tenth overall respectively, giving the category a strong front order across a demanding weekend.
The class was shaped by the same fast, smooth and well prepared gravel that tested the overall leaders. Every crew had to translate recce information into repeatable pace, keep the tyres working as the loose surface moved and make the service plan last until the final control. The order shows how closely the class was contested at the front and how much distance separated a clean finish from a difficult one.
Aditya Thakur and Virender Kashyap finished fifth overall in 01:38:27.655 and took the INRC 2 win. Their Polo was naturally aspirated, which placed the crew in a direct technical fight with turbocharged cars elsewhere in the order. The result came from keeping the car fast and usable across the complete route, with every clean stage adding value against the class and the overall field.
The win also gave Coimbatore one of its clearest engineering stories. A naturally aspirated car had to carry speed through the corner, preserve momentum and avoid giving away the exits. That driving style demands precision because there is less spare power available to repair a loose line or an untidy brake.
Philippos Matthai and Harish K N finished second in INRC 2 and sixth overall with a total of 01:39:02.896. The car 55 Polo stayed inside the front national conversation and placed the crew ahead of the next class group by a useful margin. Their weekend was defined by a clean result that gave the class a second strong technical reference beside Aditya’s naturally aspirated win.
| Class pos | Car | Crew | Vehicle | Overall | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Aditya Thakur / Virender Kashyap | Polo | 5 | 01:38:27.655 |
| 2 | 55 | Philippos Matthai / Harish K N | Polo | 6 | 01:39:02.896 |
| 3 | 50 | Ritesh M. Guttedar / Suraj M | Polo | 10 | 01:40:05.152 |
| 4 | 90 | Pragathi Gowda / Trisha Alonkar | Polo | 11 | 01:40:11.116 |
| 5 | 18 | Arjun Mavaji / Jeevarathinam J | Fronx | 21 | 01:43:09.812 |
| Class pos | Car | Crew | Vehicle | Overall | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 20 | Rakshit Iyer / Chandu Shekar | Polo | 24 | 01:44:29.130 |
| 7 | 63 | Ramcharan C / Vignesh Mahalingam | Fronx | 34 | 01:52:01.599 |
| 8 | 11 | Daraius Shroff / Arjun Dheerendra | Polo | 48 | 02:04:08.220 |
| 9 | 5 | Jeet Jhabakh / A G Somayya | i20 | 49 | 02:08:40.051 |
Fabid Ahmer and Milen George were also part of the INRC 2 story, running strongly before a mechanical failure ended their rally on SS8. Their withdrawal sits outside the nine classified crews, though it remains part of the category’s account of speed, risk and reliability.
Ritesh M. Guttedar and Suraj M placed third in class and tenth overall in 01:40:05.152. Pragathi Gowda and Trisha Alonkar followed in fourth, eleventh overall, with a 01:40:11.116 total. The gap between those two crews was only 5.964 seconds after the complete rally, a small margin in a category where every exit and every service decision could alter the order.
Arjun Mavaji and Jeevarathinam J brought a Fronx to fifth in class and twenty-first overall. Rakshit Iyer and Chandu Shekar finished sixth in the class in a Polo. Ramcharan C and Vignesh Mahalingam took a Fronx to seventh. Daraius Shroff and Arjun Dheerendra finished eighth after their gearbox failure had already changed the shape of their rally, while Jeet Jhabakh and A G Somayya reached the classification in ninth after the i20 driveshaft issue and restart.
That spread of machinery matters. The class included Polos with different preparation philosophies, Fronx cars bringing a newer shape into the field and an i20 crew that had to recover from a problem. The final order therefore records more than a podium. It shows which crews could keep converting the next stage into a finish.
Coimbatore’s repeated gravel stages gave INRC 2 enough distance for small differences to grow. A crew could gain time through a clean line, then lose it through a tyre decision or a mechanical warning. The front of the category stayed close to the overall conversation because the leading crews managed those details without allowing the car to become fragile.
Aditya won the class. Philippos gave car 55 the second reference. Ritesh, Pragathi and the crews behind them made INRC 2 one of the weekend’s most complete competitions.
ViPeople INRC 2 reportThe next INRC round will change the road and reset the grip, though the lessons from Coimbatore will travel with the teams. Aditya leaves with the class win and proof that the naturally aspirated Polo can run at the front. Philippos and Harish leave with sixth overall and a clear benchmark in car 55. Ritesh, Pragathi and the remaining classified crews leave with a result that gives the next round its shape before the first recce note is called.
