Chikkamagaluru, April 11 (IANS): The 2015 Indian National TSD Rally Championship kicks off here on Sunday with the Grand Krishna Rally of Chikmagalur that has attracted a total of 31 entries, including some of the country's top crews.

Reigning national champions Karthik Maruti and navigator Sankar Anand from the Erode team headline the grid that has enough quality to ensure an exciting finish.

Maruti and Anand can expect a strong challenge from some seasoned crews like the Kolkata-Kochi combo of SK Ajgar Ali and Mohammed Musthafa who were runners-up last year, Hyderabad's Sachin Singh (navigator Prakash) and the long time combination of Kalasa's Girijashankar Joshy and his co-driver Bengalurean Srikanth Gowda.

Conspicuous by their absence are the Team Tata Motors entries led by Pro-Stock defending champions Chidananda Murthy and navigator Sujith Kumar from Bengaluru who have decided to opt out of the first round.

Last year's runner-up Saurav Chatterjee (Sabatullah Khan) will be among the favourites in the Pro-Stock category.

Maruti and Anand are gunning for their third straight National title in the Overall and Pro-Expert categories as the Erode pair appeared determined to make up for the fourth place finish here last year.

"We hope to do better this season and certainly, we are looking to achieve a hat-trick of National titles, having won the championship in the previous two years," said Maruti who won four of the nine rounds last year.

"I drove with a fractured foot for three rounds in 2014, but this time, we both are fully fit and hope to improve on our previous performances."

The Rally, to be run on Time-Speed-Distance format with emphasis on precise navigation as much as driving skills, will cover a distance of 180 kilometres.