Chethan Ganapathy made the best use of the absence of Team TVS Racing and powered to a convincing victory in the MAK Rally of Maharashtra, the third round of the MAK Indian National Rally Championship for motorcycles here Sunday.

Venu Ramesh Kumar of Coimbatore finished overall second while local boy Sameer Kulkarni took the third place.

'Unlike the rallies in southern India where we only have to control the speed because of long straights, the Nashik rally gave some excitement with uphill and downhill winding roads, which is the true test for both the men and machines,' said Venu, who also won the Coimbatore leg and is leading the class.