Dirang Valley (Arunachal Pradesh): Kodagu’s K.M. Bopaiah, who is a regular at the Indian National Rally Championship, emerged overall second in the JK Tyre Arunachal Festival of Speed. He was barely two or three seconds off the leader in each of the stages and even claimed the final stage, but the 28 second deficit over the first two days proved to be a bridge too far to cross. Bopaiah completed all the stages in an equally commendable one hour and 29 seconds.

Meanwhile, former Indian National Rally Champion Amanpreet Ahluwalia won the Festival of Speed. The Noida-based veteran rallyist and his navigator Ajay Kumar were unbeatable on each of the three days, conquering eight of the 10 stages. On the third and final day too, he won the first three special stages before easing up on the last one. Delhi’s Sandeep Sharma held on to his position to take the third place.