Tanveer has the last laugh in Rally of Coimbatore

Abdul Wahid Tanveer cashed in on teammate's brake failure to win Rally of Coimbatore, 3rd round of FMSCI MRF MOGRIP Indian National Rally Championship. Tanveer & Rajendra had neck-and-neck competition, but Rajendra's brake failure cost him dearly. Tanveer won by 5 seconds. #Rally #Coimbatore #Tanveer #Rajendra #FMSCI #MRF #MOGRIP #IndianNationalRallyChampionship #Win

Petronas TVS Racing’s Abdul Wahid Tanveer cashed in on his teammate R.E. Rajendra’s rear brake failure in the final stage to emerge the champion of the Rally of Coimbatore, the third round of the FMSCI MRF MOGRIP Indian National Rally Championship for two-wheelers, at the Kethanur windmill farm near Palladam here on Sunday.

It was neck-and-neck between the championship leader Rajendra and Tanveer from the start. If the former finished on top in the first stage (Black Thunder, 18.20kms), the latter did so in the second (Thunder World, 14.99kms). 

It looked like anybody’s race going into the second loop (repeat of the morning stages) but Rajendra did one better in the third to gain a nine-second edge over Tanveer going into the final stage. But, as luck would have it, Rajendra ran into brake issues which cost him towards the end. 

“We had a healthy competition but it was unfortunate that he had a brake failure. I pushed that extra bit, however, in the final stage and it did a world of good as it was only five seconds that separated us at the finish line,” said Tanveer.

Rajendra was obviously disappointed. “I gave my best from the beginning but could not do much after the brake failure.”

Both riders agreed that the Thunder World stage, with fast flowing straights and some sharp and mild curves, was quite challenging.

The results (provisional): Overall: 1. Abdul Wahid (Petronas TVS Racing) 00:56:49.928; 2. R.E. Rajendra (Petronas TVS) 00:56:54.443; 3. Samuel Jacob (Petronas TVS) 00:57:14.986.