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Sandeep Kumar, winner of MRF FF1600 Race-2 on Sunday (23July 2017). An AP Media Comm. image Anindith, Sandeep share honours in MRF FF1600
- Maiden win for Bengaluru schoolboy Yash Aradhya
Chennai, 23 July 2017: Anindith Reddy from Hyderabad and Coimbatore’s Arjun Narendran provided a thrilling finale to the third round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship at the MMRT track, Sriperumbudur, near here, even as 14-year old schoolboy from Bengaluru Yash Aradhya chalked up his maiden win.
Reddy finished the weekend on a high by chalking up his second win in the MRF FF1600 triple-header with Chennai’s Sandeep Kumar denying the Hyderabad racer a hat-trick, while Coimbatore-based Narendran (Red Rooster Performance), the defending champion in the premier Indian Touring Cars class, scored his first victory this season, to end the four-in-a-row win-streak of Bengaluru’s Deepak Paul Chinnappa (Race Concepts).
Earlier, Yash (Momentum Motorsports), a ninth standard student of Bishop Cotton’s school, drove a well-judged race to claim top honours in both Formula LGB 1300 and the Rookie categories which also produced its share of tight finishes.
Kolhapur’s Dhruv Mohite, starting third on the grid, drove a near-flawless race for his first win in the MRF MMSC Volkswagen Ameo Cup race ahead of Karminder Singh (Delhi) and South African guest driver Devin Robertson.
Both the MRF FF1600 races today dished out exciting fare. Sandeep Kumar shrugged off a bad start owing to wheelspin and recovered well to take a jump on the front-runners Chetan Korada and winner of lung-opener on Saturday Reddy, in the very first lap before nursing the lead to the finish.
In the next race, the third of the weekend in this class, it was Reddy’s turn to fight his way through the pack and survive a spin after coming into contact with race leader Korada who thus dropped out of contention while Sandeep Kumar came in second with Kolkata schoolboy Arya Singh finishing third.
“It was a good weekend overall, but it wasn’t clear-cut as the results would suggest. I am happy to come away with two wins and a podium,” said Anindith who has four wins in seven outings which put him firmly in front in the championship the winner of which earns a chance to compete in the Road To Indy shootout in the United States later this year.
Likewise, both the ITC races, especially the duel between Narendran and Chinnappa were as close as they could get with little separating the two. In the day’s first race, Chinnappa, starting third on the reverse grid, had the measure of Narendran for his fourth win in a row. However, in the next race, pole-sitter Narendran enjoyed his best outing of the weekend to pip Chinnappa by a mere half-a-car length in a thrilling finish.
“Yes, I am absolutely relieved to score my first win in nearly a year. My last win was in August of 2016 and hopefully, this victory will turn my luck over the next couple of rounds. I had a tough time staying ahead of Deepak. We were quicker than each other in different sections of the track, but in the end, I am happy that scored my first win of this season,” said Narendran who is currently studying in England.
The results (Provisional – all 8 laps unless mentioned):
MRF FF1600 – Race 2: 1. Sandeep Kumar (Chennai) (13mins, 47.962secs); 2. Anindith Reddy (Hyderabad) (13:48.564); 3. Chetan Korada (Chennai) (13:55.975). Race 3: 1. Anindith Reddy (14:00.875); 2. Sandeep Kumar (14:02.022); 3. Arya Singh (Kolkata) (14:05.415).
Indian Touring Cars – Race 2: 1. Deepak Paul Chinnappa (Race Concepts) (15:37.529); 2. Arjun Narendran (Red Rooster Performance) (15:38.209); V Nikanthram (Red Rooster Performance) (16:14.611). Race 3: 1. Arjun Narendran (Red Rooster Performance) (15:34.638); 2. Deepak Paul Chinnappa (Race Concepts) (15:34.769); 3. B Vijayakumar (Prime Racing) (16:07.988).
Formula LGB 1300 – Race 2: 1. Yash Aradhya (Bengaluru, Momentum) (15:17.864); 2. Arya Singh (Kolkata, DTS Racing) (15:18.316); 3. Rupesh Sivakumar (Salem, DTS Racing) (15:31.142). Rookie: 1. Yash Aradhya; 2. Arya Singh; 3. Bala Prasath A (Coimbatore, DTS) (15:46.420).
MRF MMSC Volkswagen Ameo Cup – Race 2: 1. Dhruv Mohite (Kolhapur) (15:53.219); 2. Karminder Singh (Delhi) (15:59.667); 3. Devin Robertson (Johannesburg, South Africa) (16:01.045).
eom/AP Media Comm. press release
