Round 6 of the 15th JK Tyre-FMSCI National Racing Championship that included popular racing events – the JK Tyre-VW Polo R Cup, LGB Formula 4, Indian Touring Cars and Indian Junior Touring Car championships – concluded at BIC yesterday.
In the first race of the JK Tyre-VW Polo R Cup, Mumbai’s Ameya Walavalkar secured first place as he got the better of guest driver Jeffrey Kruger by 0.745 seconds. Avdumber Hede finished third while Sandeep Kumar was fourth. Prashant Singh won the second encounter, Munjal came second and Kruger finished third.
Saran Vikram took the top honours in the second LGB Formula 4 race of Round 6 trailed by Sarosh Hataria and Dlijith TS. Coimbatore’s N Leelakrishnan repeated his performance by winning the 6-lap race of the Indian Touring Cars category. B Balavijay and Sunny Siddhu followed. In the Indian Junior Touring Cars race, the talented young Fahad Kutty stood out and stole the show with a superlative performance. Chennai’s Feroze Khan and Coimbatore’s S. Sreeram finished second and third respectively.
Round 6 races, which was the last race of the very exciting JK Tyre-VW Polo R Cup 2012 witnessed championship points leader Ameya Walavalkar thriving on the circuit in the first race. He finished 0.745 seconds before Jeffrey Kruger from South Africa, who had qualified on pole for the first race. Avdumber Hede – who has had a decent run this season and was fourth in standings at the end of Round 5 – finished third in the race. The second race saw two Indians, Prashanth Singh and Munjal Savla, leave their mark and finish first and second respectively while Kruger recorded his second podium of the round and finished in third place.
Saran Vikram won the final race of the LGB Formula 4 category today with a total time of 16:19.153. Dark Don racing’s Sarosh Hataria finished second (16:19.800) after starting fourth on the grid followed by guest driver for the category Diljith TS, who has done quite well in the two LGB Formula 4 races he has participated in. A happy Vikram, who has every chance to end the championship in the top three, seemed satisfied with his performance at the Buddh “It is the first time that the National Racing Championship is being held at the Buddh International Circuit and the experience has been exhilarating. While the two podium finishes are satisfactory, I am very glad to have finished in the top three in the championship”.
In the popular Indian Touring Cars championship that witnessed hot chases for the top honours saw veteran driver N Leelakrishnan (14:51.489) continue his winning streak as he notched up his second successive win in Round 6 of the championship. The senior driver, who has a bundle of experience behind him, made a stunning comeback to competitive racing coming in second during last year’s championship, is on top in this year’s standings too but might miss out on the grand prize by a awfully small margin. “I have had a great weekend and that I got a twin podium makes it even more special. Though winning the championship would have been great the margin of one point shows how closely the series was contested”. Putting in his best to gather as many valuable points as possible was the Chennai based B Balavijay (14:52.670) who finished second 1.181 secs behind trailed by another of India’s talented drivers Sunny Siddhu.
In the season ending race of the Indian Junior Touring Cars championship – the races of which have thrown up a few very promising names for the future – saw Mumbai’s Fahad Kutty (16:36.084) taking the chequered flag. Championship standings leader and Chennai lad S Feroze Khan (16:37.254) who finished third overall last year, was 1.17 seconds behind while S Sreeram finished third (16:46.745). Speaking about his race Feroze said, “I had a good race yesterday and yet Fahad pipped me to the chequered flag, so I was determined to do well today. The race today capped off what has been a wonderful season for me and for the team. Personally, I have grown as a driver and am thrilled to have won the title”.
Day 2 of races at the SIDVIN Festival of Speed, which signalled the conclusion of multiple racing championships, gave 10,000 motorsport fans a fantastic opportunity to watch top-class racing by some very fine drivers from Asia, Europe and Africa.
Championship point standings post Round 6 –
JK Tyre VW Polo R Cup
Ameya Walavalkar – 440; Sandeep Kumar – 342; Rahil Noorani – 221
LGB Formula 4
Ashwin Sundar – 186; Sarosh Hataria – 175; Saran Vikram – 146
Indian Touring Cars
Arjun Balu – 168; N Leelakrishnan – 167; B Balavijay – 123
Indian Junior Touring Car
Feroze Khan – 197; Fahad Kutty – 187; Diljith – 172