Indian F1 driver Karthikeyan returns to MMRT to thrill fans

Chennai, 15 Feb 2014: British driver Ruper Svendsen-Cook became the favourite for the MRF Challenge 2013 after two convincing wins at the MMRT in Chennai. His title rival Tio Ellinas had a tough day after only one podium finish, one 4th position and a DNF which saw a 22 point advantage turn into a 9 point deficit as we head into the last two races of the championship. Indian F1 driver Narain Karthikeyan thrilled the home crowd with a great effort to finish 3rd on his return to the MMRT. In the MRF 1600 National Racing Championship category Tarun Reddy fought back from 8th place on lap 1 to win on the last lap ahead of Advait Deodhar and Vikash Anand. In the first round of the Indian Motorcycle National Racing Championship, Sarath Kumar won ahead of Jagan K and Mathana Kumar.

In Race 1 Svendsen-Cook had a great start from 2nd on the grid to move into 1st place ahead of Ellinas, Dejonghe and Karthikeyan. Karthikeyan pulled off a great move to get past Dejonghe on Lap 5 to move into 3rd place and started chasing down Ellinas. Ellinas and Karthikeyan had a great battle with the Indian all over the rear of the Cypriot driver. Svendsen-Cook crossed the line to win comfortably. Karthikeyan finished just behind Ellinas to finish on the podium in his first ever MRF Challenge 2013 race.

In Race 2 Svendsen-Cook once again got the jump on Ellinas and moved ahead in the 10 lap race. Dejonghe slotted in third and it was soon a three way battle between Svendsen-Cook, Ellinas and Dejonghe with Harry Tincknell closing in on the trio. Behind them young Indian driver Raj Bharath enjoyed his best race of the season in 5th place ahead of APRC Champion Gaurav Gill. As they entered the last lap the order was the same with Ellinas trying everything possible to get past Svendsen-Cook. Ellinas made a move into C3 on the final lap and hit the Brit driver sending him into a spin. Ellinas had to retire with damage on his right front tyre while Svendsen-Cook managed to recover and get back on track. This gave Sam Dejonghe his first win of the season ahead of Harry Tincknell and a recovering Svendsen-Cook. Raj Bharath was forced to retire on the last lap with mechanical problems from a brilliant 5th position. Gill finished in 4th place but was later penalised for a jump start.

The MRF 1600 NRC category was up next with Tarun Reddy dominating qualifying earlier in the day. Tarun started on pole but got bogged down with a clutch problem which dropped him to 8th position. Advait Deodhar had a great start and led ahead of Kartik Tharani, Mihir Dharkar and Vikash Anand. Advait pulled away at the front with Tharani behind him. Tarun started picking off drivers and passed Vikash and Mihir before setting his sights on the front duo. Tarun got past Tharani with 2 laps to go and started to close in on Advait. Tarun went down the inside of Advait at Anands corner taking the lead and going on to win one of the best races of his career. Tharani finished in second place with Vikash Anand passing Dharkar to finish in 3rd place. Race 2 will take place tomorrow.

Tarun Reddy won his best race of his career so far. He commented, “I still can’t believe I won today. This is easily the best race I have ever participated in. I had a problem with the clutch on the formation lap so knew the start would be a problem. I did not expect to drop to 8th but after that I tried to push as much as possible. I knew podium was possible but Advait was too far ahead. I caught him on the last lap and managed to surprise and pass him. It feels great and now I am looking forward to the race tomorrow.”

The final race of the day was Race 3 of the MRF Challenge 2013. Svendsen-Cook got his trademark fast starts and moved into second place at the start behind Dylan Young. Ellinas starting at the back had a good start and was up to 6th place at the end of lap 2. Svendsen-Cook passed Young on lap 3 to take the lead pull away from the pack. Harry Tincknell was in 3rd place before passing Young for 2nd. The battle was for 4th place with Dejonghe, Ellinas, Ryan Cullen and Oscar King all close together. Tincknell closed the gap to Svendsen-Cook from 7 seconds to 1 second but was not enough and the latter took his second win of the day. Tincknell took his second podium of the day with Young taking his first podium of the season. Indian drivers Vikash Anand and Raj Bharath put on a good show to finish in 9th and 10th positions respectively. With Ellinas only finishing in 5th place the championship swung again and this time towards Svendsen-Cook’s favour. Svendsen-Cook has 185 points with Ellinas in second with 176 points. There are two races remaining tomorrow that will decide the MRF Challenge 2013 winner.

Race winner Rupert Svendsen-Cook was surprised to be leading the championship. He commented, “It was a fantastic day for me and I am thrilled to be in the lead of the championship. There are still two races to go tomorrow so still lot of work to do. Winning 2 out of the 3 races was great so am excited about tomorrow.”

Championship contender Tio Ellinas was disappointed after a tough day of racing. He said, “In Race 1 I had a slow start and Rupert got ahead of me and was just too fast. Narain was right behind me and we had a great battle for 7-8 laps. In Race 2 I tried to pass Rupert in the final lap but he closed the door and we ended up colliding. I had to retire which was unfortunate and it also meant I had to start from the back in Race 3. In Race 3 5th was the best I could do after fighting my way from the back. I have lost the championship lead but tomorrow is a new day so I will push for the win.”

Sam Dejonghe was happy to win his first race of the season. He said “We have been competitive all weekend so it feels great to take my first win today. There was almost nothing to choose from between Tio, Rupert and me in Race 2 so when they collided I was in the right place to take advantage. The MRF Challenge is a great championship so would like to thank my engineers and team for all their help.”

Earlier in the day Sarath Kumar won the first race of the opening Round of the Group C 165CC Open of the FMSCI-MMSC INMRC. K Jagan put pressure on Sarath throughout the race and finally finished a second behind him. Mathana Kumar finished in a lonely third place ahead of Harry Sylvester. In the Group D 165CC Ankit Gupta took his first ever win ahead of Deva U and Harikiran P.

MRF Challenge 2013 Calendar:
Round 1: October 25-27, 2013, New Delhi, Buddh International Circuit (Formula One Support Race)
Round 2: November 28-30, 2013, Bahrain, Bahrain International Circuit (World Endurance Championship Support Race)
Round 3: December 19-21, 2013, Bahrain, Bahrain International Circuit (Gulf Racing Festival)
Round 4: February 14-16, 2014, Chennai, Madras Motor Race Trust

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