The Rally of Coimbatore’s headline belonged to Dean Mascarenhas and Gagan Karumbaiah, though one of the sharpest class performances arrived deeper in the order. Tarushi Vikram and Athreya Kousgi recorded the fastest INRC 3 stage time on SS08, then carried that pace into a seventeenth-place overall finish.
The result matters because SS08 came late in a rally built around fast, prepared gravel. By that point the road had been used repeatedly, the cars had absorbed two days of heat and the crews had to make speed with a clear understanding of how much grip remained. The timing service gives Tarushi and Athreya the class benchmark for that stage. The supplied Coimbatore photographs show the crew with the No. 95 Chettinad Sporting Polo and the awards that followed the finish.
Tarushi Vikram and Athreya Kousgi celebrate at the Rally of Coimbatore with their No. 95 Chettinad Sporting Polo.Photograph: Supplied to ViPeople
Tarushi Vikram and Athreya Kousgi with their Rally of Coimbatore awards after the event.Photograph: Supplied to ViPeople
The Polo-heavy Coimbatore field provided a demanding setting for the INRC 3 fight.Photograph: Supplied to ViPeople
A class result with proper overall weight
Tarushi and Athreya finished on 01:42:25.254, seventeenth overall in the completed classification. The position placed them ahead of a long group of established cars and kept both the Women’s and Junior competitions visible inside the overall rally story.
A stage benchmark is never only one fast split. It depends on recce, notes, tyre choice, braking and a car that responds when the road starts moving. The SS08 result therefore gives the crew a useful technical reference to carry into Round 3, as well as a result that belongs in the Coimbatore report now.
Service decisions shaped the final loop as much as the stage notes.Photograph: Supplied to ViPeople
The wider INRC 3 picture
Coimbatore’s INRC 3 field had to absorb a roll, gearbox trouble and the pressure of a fast route. Tarushi and Athreya’s clean finish gave the class a positive counterpoint. It also sits beside Anushriya Gulati and Karan Aukta’s Citroen C3 debut, which finished eighth overall and won INRC 3T.
A Polo leaves the final Coimbatore loop after the class battles were settled.Photograph: Supplied to ViPeople
The next question is consistency. A single fastest class stage can start a story. Repeating that speed across a different route, surface and service plan is what turns it into a championship step.
The completed field carries the depth of the Rally of Coimbatore classification.Photograph: Supplied to ViPeople
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