Double for Raghul, Tijil Rao; Jeet, Keith share ITC wins in 2 races

Irungattukottai (Sriperumbudur, TN) 8 Nov 2020: Championship leader Arjun Balu of Race Concepts had a gear-box failure but notched up two podium places even as FB Motorsport had its finest day yet with Hyderabad’s Jeet Jhabakh and Keith D’Souza from Goa, both driving the Volkswagen Polo, taking victories in the two premier Indian Touring Cars races as the second round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship concluded at the MMRT, about 130km from Chennai here on Sunday. Spectators and media were not allowed due to the government COVID 19 safety regulations and the event was held in a bio-bubble.

Also in the limelight was Mamallapuram’s Raghul Rangasamy of Performance Racing, who won both the races on Sunday, in the Super Stock category. Bengaluru lad Tijil Rao, also of Momentum Motorsport, completed a double in the Formula LGB 1300 class by winning the day’s first of the two races in addition to the one he won on Saturday. Viswas Vijayaraj of DTS Racing took the honours in the second of Sunday’s Formula LGB race.

Chennai’s Chetan Korada and Chandresh Tolia from Mumbai won a race apiece in the Toyota Etios MRF Saloon Car series.

Jeet Jhabakh, a 28-year old automotive businessman from Hyderabad, a former Volkswagen Ameo and Vento Cup champion, enjoyed a trouble-free run once race leader, Arjun Balu of Race Concepts, dropped out of contention with a gearbox issue. Jhabakh managed to nose ahead of teammate Dhruv Mohite following a brief contact, and gradually extended the lead for a comfortable win, his first of the season. He, like Mohite, have missed the opening round in February. Mohite came in second and Balu managed a distant third for some valuable points.

“It was a good race for me after I got in front. Not sure what happened with Arjun’s (Balu) car, but I passed him and Dhruv to get in front. I am really happy for this win,” said Jhabakh.

Balu started fourth on the reverse grid, but cut through to the front in the very first lap and looked set for another win when the gearbox played up. “In the third lap, I found the car weaving on the straight and I realised something was wrong. So, I let others pass me and in the final three laps, I shifted to fifth gear and stayed there as I wanted to finish and pick up points,” said Balu, who collected 15 points for his third-place to continue to lead the table.

The Race Concepts team then got to work and changed the gearbox in little over 30 minutes, but attracting a five-position grid penalty for Balu for the next race for which the Coimbatore ace had qualified on pole.

In the next outing, it was Keith D’Souza all the way as he made the best of a strong start to win comfortably from Balu, who made three places, and Jhabakh.

The results (Provisional, all 8 laps unless mentioned):

Indian Touring Cars (Race-2, 10 laps): 1. Jeet Jhabakh (FB Motorsport) (19mins, 11.577secs); 2. Dhruv Mohite (FB Motorsport) (19:14.720); 3. Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) (21:12.781).

ITC Race-3: 1. Keith D’Souza (FB Motorsport) (15:22.987); 2. Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) (15:28.096); 3. Jeet Jhabakh (FB Motorsport) (15:30.188).

Super Stock (Race-2, 10 laps): 1. Raghul Rangasamy (Performance Racing) (20:08.258); 2. Alisha Abdullah (Race Concepts) (20:30.072); 3. Vineet Abhiram (Race Concepts) (20:52.326).

SS Race-3: 1. Raghul Rangasamy (Performance Racing) (16:10.165); 2. Rithvik Thomas (Race Concepts) (16:10.728); 3. Alisha Abdullah (Race Concepts) (16:32.717).

MRF Saloon Car Series (Toyota Etios) (Race-2, 10 laps): 1. Chetan Korada (Chennai) (21:14.775); 2. A Balaprasath (Chennai) (21:15.945); 3. Diljith TS (Thrissur) (19:12.377+1 lap).

Toyota Race-3: 1. Chandresh Tolia (Mumbai) (17:18.519); 2. A Balaprasath (Chennai) (17:19.306); 3. Diljith TS (Thrissur) (17:28.532).

Formula LGB 1300 (Race-3): 1. Tijil Rao (Momentum Motorsport) (15:13.237); 2. Chirag Ghorpade (Momentum Motorsport) (15:13.806); 3. Arya Singh (DTS Racing) (15:19.854).

FLGB 1300 Race-4 (10 laps): 1. Viswas Vijayaraj (DTS Racing) (20:26.904); 2. Chirag Ghorpade (Momentum Motorsport) (20:28.587); 3. Arya Singh (DTS Racing) (20:29.120).

About Madras Motor Sports Club

Since its humble beginnings in 1953, the Madras Motor Sports Club has grown in stature as the hub of motorsport activity in India. Having moved from Sholavaram to its present location in Sriperumbudur in 1979, MMSC has kept pace with changing times by upgrading facilities. At a cost of about Rs 20 Crore, the MMSC built a pit complex comprising 20 garages, VIP hospitality suites and a viewing gallery, on the eastern side, apart from a second Paddock on the western side with its own short circuit. The Control Room too was upgraded with state-of-the-art hardware while the track itself was improved to meet the exacting FIA standards for Grade-2 certification. The facilities are also extensively used by various vehicle manufacturers for testing their products, displays and corporate days.