Tumkur (T.N), Dec 13 : Top Indian rally driver Gaurav Gill will be hoping to claim a hat-trick of titles as the iconic Karnataka 1000 (K1000) rally was flagged off for the 48th edition on Friday with competitive Special Stages on dirt tracks.

The 56 drivers in the fray will look to perform to the best of their abilities to clinch the National Championship which is wide open in all the classes except the Gypsy class. The rally was flagged off at the ceremonial start here on Friday evening.

The historic Karnataka 1000 rally, the sixth and final round of the fmsci Indian National Rally Championship, organised by the Karnataka Motor Sports Club (KMSC), will have Arjuna Awardee, Gaurav Gill, as the cynosure of all eyes.

The Delhi driver stole the limelight in the last two rallies with an amazing fightback and has an outside chance of winning a historic but elusive 8th INRC title.

The 2021 champion Aditya Thakur, along with co-driver Virender Kashyap, also fancies his chances. The 2022 champion, Karna Kadur, with experienced Musa Sherif as co-driver, is leading the championship and is hot favourite and just needs to finish the rally in the top ten. Kadur leads with 119 points followed by Thakur on 94 and Gill on 80.

There will be two physical stages. The Theertharama stage will be 20.78 km long and Hatyalu is 16.07 km long. The two stages will be run twice each on Saturday and once each on Sunday, all in the forward direction. This year also the liaison distance is a short 82.56kms.

Aditya Thakur from Chettinad Sporting tops the INRC2 class with 122 points with defending champion Harkrishan Wadia of Arka Motorsports is on 106 points and Fabid also from Chettinad Sporting is in third place with 101 points.

In the INRC3 class, Daraius Shroff from Chettinad Sporting is leading with 132 points followed by Arnav Pratap Singh of Snap Racing with 118 points and Jeet Jhabakh, also from Chettinad Sporting, in third with 100 points.

With Shroff pulling out at the last minute due to ill health, Pratap Singh has a chance to clinch both the INRC3 and Junior titles.

Aneeshnath and Amritha, the husband and wife pair are leading the fmsci Classic Challenge Cup and Aneesh said that this final round is crucial and it is a do-or-die rally. Baljinder Singh has already taken an unbeatable lead and clinched the Gypsy class with a round to spare.

'K1000 is a historic rally running from 1975 and is one of the three longest-running rallies in the world. We are striving to make this a better and more competitive rally every year as the drivers look forward to K1000,' said Gautam, president of KMSC.

'We are happy to see the championship wide open till the last round and the successful National Championship on its last leg continues to be highly competitive. The popular K1000 has a special place in every driver's heart and we look forward to another eventful round,' said Premnath, the Promoter and head of Blueband Sports.

The Special Stages will be run on Saturday and Sunday followed by the prize distribution on Sunday evening at Tumkur.

/IANS