Big wins for Sohil Shah, Arjun Narendran; Double for Sandeep

INDIAinF1 Desk January 21, 2023

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Sohil Shah on way to MRF Formula 2000 win on Saturday. Photo by Anand Philar

Chennai, January 21: Sohil Shah from Bengaluru and Coimbatore’s Arjun Narendran won their respective races in the two premier categories, the MRF Formula 2000 and the Indian Touring Cars, respectively, on Day 2 of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship 2022 at the Madras International Circuit, here on Saturday.

While 21-year old Sohil won untroubled from pole position in a six-car MRF F2000 grid, Arjun Narendran (Arka Motorsports), the 29-year old former National champion, made the best of the situation after pole-sitter and last year’s champion Arjun Balu retired in the second lap with mechanical issues, to post his maiden win of the season.

Defending champion, Bengaluru’s 19-year old Tijil Rao (Momentum Motorsports) won the Formula LGB 1300 race that was red-flagged after five laps following a crash involving two cars (drivers okay).

Meanwhile, Chennai’s Sandeep Kumar achieved a double in the Volkswagen Polo Cup by winning both races today. He topped Race-1 from pole position and the second from P8 on the reverse grid.

Sandeep Kumar at Madras International Circuit on Saturday. Photos Anand Philar

Raja Rajan from Chennai (Performance Racing) won ien the Indian Junior Touring Cars category and team-mate Ritesh Rai, also from Chennai, clinched the Super Stock class.

For Sohil Shah, it was a lights-to-flag victory. Starting from pole position, he gradually increased his lead that grew to a little over three seconds at the finish. Behind him, Chennai’s Mohamed Ryan and championship leader Sai Sanjay (Salem) came in second and third.

Gurugram’s Justin Singh consolidated his position in the MRF Saloon Cars (Toyota Etios) category by notching his fourth win in six starts.

The results (Provisional):

MRF F2000 (Race-1, 8 laps): 1. Sohil Shah (Bengaluru) (12mins, 27.972sec); 2. Mohamed Ryan (Chennai) (12:31.048); 3. Sai Sanjay T (Salem) (12:36.671).

Indian Touring Cars (Race-1, 10 laps): 1. Arjun Narendran (Coimbatore, Arka Motorsports) (18:56.144); 2. Sandeep Kumar (Chennai, Rayo Racing) (19:03.394); 3. Jeet Jabakh (Hyderabad, Rayo Racing) (19:22.955).

Indian Junior Touring Cars (Race-1, 10 laps): 1. Raja Rajan (Chennai, Performance Racing) (19:30.161); 2. Deepak Ravikumar (Chennai, Performance Racing) (19:31.523); 3. Gurunath Meiyappan (Chennai, Race Concepts) (19:31.882).

Super Stock (Race-1, 9 laps): 1. Ritesh Rai (Chennai, Performance Racing) (18:59.178); 2. Narendran S (Chennai, Redline Racing) (19:15.744); 3. Dilijith TS (Thrissur, DTS Racing) (19:16.928).

MRF Saloons (Toyota Etios) (Race-1, 8 laps): 1. Justin Singh (Gurugram) (16:31.126); 2. Diana Pundole (Pune) (16:36.109); 3. Zahan Commissariat (Mumbai) (16:44.802).

Formula LGB 1300 (Race-1, 5 laps): 1. Tijil Rao (Bengaluru, Momentum Motorsports) (09:35.064); 2. Viswas Vijayraj (Nellore, DTS Racing) (09:35.418); 3. Vinith Kumar (Tirupur, DTS Racing) (09:35.871).

Volkswagen Polo Cup (Race-1, 8 laps): 1. Sandeep Kumar (Chennai) (15:43.450); 2. Pratik Sonawane (Mumbai) (15:49.732); 3. Jeet Jabakh (Hyderabad) (15:51.490). Race-2 (10 laps): 1. Sandeep Kumar (Chennai) (19:47.287); 2. Raaj Bakharu (Mumbai) (19:54.806); 3. Pratik Sonawane (Mumbai) (19:55.983).

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