Chetan Shivram in lead after day 1 in Rally of Coimbatore

: On a day of surprises, INRC 3's Chetan Shivram of Akshara Racing took the early lead in the Rally of Coimbatore, the second round of the Champions Yacht Club-FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship here on Saturday.

Chetan and co-driver Dilip Sharan, his brother, were most comfortable in the treacherous terrain, marked by slushy conditions and loose sand, posting a total time of 1:05:32.900 hours to complete the five stages on day one to be ahead of a record field.

Suhem Kabeer (with Jeeva Rathnam) and Younus Ilyas (Harish Gowda) were in hot pursuit of the leader, taking the second and third positions by the end of the day.

The two JK Tyre drivers, both INRC 2 contenders, were in their elements, with Suhem showing consistency in all the stages while Younus won the last two stages to climb into the top three.

Hot favourite Mahindra Adventure's Gaurav Gill (Musa Sherif) began on a positive note, posting the fastest times in the first three stages before he picked up a .