Walavalkar claims maiden single-seater driver’s Natioinal crown
CHENNAI, 27 Nov 2011: 
Thirty-year-old Mumbaikar Ameya Walavalkar (Mars Racing) won a dramatic Formula LGB Swift race in the 14th JK Tyre National Racing Championship at the MMST Track in Sriperumbudur near here on Sunday, but chose to spend several anxious moments waiting to be confirmed winner of his maiden drivers’ championship, 22 points ahead of team-mate R Deepak.
Chennai’s Vishnu Prasad followed Sailesh Bolisetti as the winner of the Polo R Cup series, run concurrently with the 14th JK Tyre National Racing Championship, with a mature approach in both races on Sunday. He finished third in the first race and fourth in the afternoon, but that was enough to help him emerge champion with 388 points, 12 ahead of Pune’s Oshan Kothadiya.
“In three previous attempts in the Formula LGB Swift and Rolon classes, I have been in the running for the championship only to lose out in the final round,” Walavalkar recalled. “I am glad that I did not have to face such luck this time around. It has been a challenging year, considering that I had no points from a disastrous first round and had to face two disqualifications.”
In a race that was run over two segments of two laps and 10 laps after Meco Motorsports team-mates Pushan Das and Raghul Rangaswamy crashed out and their cars had to be removed from the track, Walavalkar was content to let the aggressive Sarosh Hataria (Meco Motorsports) take the lead until he spun off a puddle. Walawalkar made the most of the chance to sneak ahead and take the checkered flag for the sixth time this season.
Deepak overcame his doubts about wet conditions and made a gallant bid to rise from 15th in the grid but could finish no higher than fifth. He had to rest content with the second place in the championship. Karthik Krishna (TVS Girling), who finished third, was penalized for overtaking when the yellow flag was being waved and conceded his podium place to Chitesh Mandody (Meco Motorsports).
Rad Racing’s N Leelakrishnan completed a memorable comeback to racing by winning the final race of the season – his third in nine starts in the Indian Touring Cars class. At the restart, he was moved to the back of the grid along with the new champion V Rajvirdhan (Prime Racing) for a yellow flag violation. He and Rajvirdhan set the wet track on fire and climbed up several positions. Leelakrishnan found his opportunity to get his nose ahead on the final lap even as GD Rajkumar (Prime Racing) and B Balavijay (MotoRev India) were trading the lead.
HCZ Racing’s Feroze Khan claimed his season’s third win to finish third overall in the Indian Junior Touring Cars class behind Diljith Shaji (LCT Sigaram Sports) and Balavijay (MotoRev India) but one point ahead of LCT Sigaram Sports’ Jai Prashanth Venkat. It was a creditable show for the Chennai youngster who did not take part in the two rounds in Coimbatore.
Mumbai youngster Rahil Noorani, a championship contender in the Polo R Cup series going into the final round, was excluded from the Polo R Cup after a post-race incident in the pits this afternoon when he vent his frustration at Ajay Kini (Chennai), who returned after missing the last two rounds of racing. The two drivers were involved in racing incidents in both races on Sunday.
Sunday’s results:
Formula LGB Swift (Merged result for 12 laps): 1. Ameya Walavalkar (Mars Racing) 14:13.709; 2. Sarosh Hataria (Meco Motorsports) 14:15.580; 3. 3. Chitesh Mandody (Meco Motorsports) 14:23.218; 4. Kartik Krishna (TVS Girling) 14:31.483; 5. R Deepak (Mars Racing) 11:59.421; 6. S Narendran (TVS Girling) 12:06.044. Fastest lap: Sarosh Hataria 1:09.371.
Indian Touring Cars (merged result for 11 laps): 1. N Leelakrishnan (Rad Racing) 15:06.619; 2. V Rajvirdhan (Prime Racing) 15:08.880; 3. GD Raj Kumar (Prime Racing) 15:15.024; 4. B Balavijay (MotoRev India) 15:17.913; 5. Biren Pitawala (Team N1) 15:24.188; 6. K Arjun (Prime Racing) 15:25.736.
Indian Junior Touring Cars: 1. Feroze Khan (HCZ Racing) 20:21.952; 2. Fahad Kutty (Game Over) 20:23.468; 3. Diljith Shaji (LCT Sigaram Sports) 20:24.755; 4. Gokul Krishna (MotoRev India) 20:31.311; 5. M Gautham (Performance Racing) 20:39.230; 6. Jai Prashanth Venkat (LCT Sigaram Sports) 20:47.892. Fastest lap: Fahad Kutty 1:20.012.
Polo R Cup race 1 (15 laps): 1. Avdumber Hede (Goa) 18:58.343; 2. Oshan Kothadiya (Pune) 19:00.337; 3. Vishnu Prasad (Chennai) 19:10.284; 4. Ajay Kini (Chennai) 19:13.469; 5. Mihir Dharkar (Mumbai) 19:17.667; 6. Xie Jiawu (China) 19:23.858.Fastest lap: Avdumber Hede 1:14.808.
Polo R Cup race 2 (15 laps): 1. Sunny Sidhu (Chandigarh) 19:48.996; 2. Maiken Rassmussen (Denmark) 19:50.219; 3. Mihir Dharkar (Mumbai) 19:50.495; 4. Vishnu Prasad (Chennai) 19:51.318; 5. Oshan Kothadiya (Pune) 19:51.318; Avdumber Hede (Goa) 19:52.245. Fastest lap: Rahil Noorani 1:17.673.
Drivers’ Championship:
Formula LGB Swift: 1. Ameya Walavalkar (Mars Racing) 162 points; 2. R Deepak (Mars Racing) 140; 3. Chitesh Mandody (Meco Motorsports) 120; 4. S Narendran (TVS Girling) 108; 5. Karthik Krishna (TVS Girling) 100; 6. Sandeep Kumar (TVS Girling) 98.
Indian Touring Cars: 1. V Rajvirdhan (Prime Racing) 217 points; 2. N Leelakrishnan (Rad Racing) 169; 3. B Vijayakumar (Prime Racing) 132; 4. Sidharth Kishore (Performance Racing) 127; 5. TR Radha Selvarajan (Rad Racing) 126; 6. C Rajaram (Prime Racing) 71.
