PANAJI: Goa’s Vaibhav Marathe suffered a technical problem in the Special Stage 2 (SS2) in the Round 1 of FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship (INRC 4 category) on the opening day of the 2020-21 season in Itanagar – Arunachal Pradesh on Wednesday night.
Driving for Team Yokohama, the INRC 4 defending champion had a second-place finish in the SS1 in a good start to the prestigious event. However in the second stage, misfortune struck Vaibhav (competitor no. 5 in Honda City) as he first suffered from punctured tyres before his car’s engine gasket got damaged. As such, he did not finish (DNF) the first round. Vaibhav will now be in action in the Round 2 on December 19 again in Arunachal itself. Earlier, Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, Pema Khandu was the chief guest for the ‘Ceremonial Flag Off’.
Speaking to livenewsgoa.com, Vaibhav expressed his mixed bag feeling after a challenging day.
“It was a great experience though as I was driving the night stage for the first time,” he said.
