It is a season of hope for the country’s top two drivers, Gaurav Gill and Karna Kadur, as the duo go head-to-head in the 49th South India Rally, which commences here on Friday at the Madras International Circuit.

The event, organised by the Madras Motor Sports Club and which has attracted 35 entries including six female competitors, doubles up as the second round of the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship and the opening round of the FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship.

The entry lists contain two husband-and-wife teams from abroad. Spain’s Edgar Vigo Lopez and Fatima Ameneiro Teijeiro have entered for the APRC, while the Singapore tandem of Raghuvaran Veerappan and Amanda Chew is competing in both APRC and INRC.

Gill, a five-time National champion, will have the experienced Srikanth Gowda as his co-driver, while Kadur teams up with veteran Kumar Ramaswamy representing Arka Motorsports. Both will be piloting the Volkswagen Polo, and have also entered the APRC.

Incidentally, Gill has confirmed for three APRC rounds, two (Indonesia and China) of which will be in a WRC 2-spec Skoda Fabia, while Kadur has not entered the championship, but is doing a one-off round here.

The three-day itinerary starts with a ceremonial flag-off on Friday afternoon, followed by two loops of the 1.45 kms long Super Special Stage. The action shifts to the Special Stages over the following two days while the Rally concludes on Sunday afternoon. In all, the competitors will negotiate 129.32 kms of competitive Special Stages.