INDIA in F1

Author: David Bodapati

  • Aditya Thakur-Virender Kashyap take lead on Day 1; Gaurav, Fabid face issues

    Aditya Thakur-Virender Kashyap take lead on Day 1; Gaurav, Fabid face issues

    Coimbatore, 27 July 2024: Former National champions from Himachal Pradesh Aditya Thakur and co-driver Virender Kashyap of Chettinad Sporting managed to take the lead on the first day of the Rally of Coimbatore, the third round of the of the Blueband Sports fmsci Indian National Rally Championship for four-wheelers, organised by Coimbatore Auto Sports Club and Promoted by Blueband Sports here on Saturday.

    In an unfortunate incident, unrelated to the rally, rally driver Premlal died after completing two stages due to cardiac arrest on Saturday.

    Of the 68 cars that took the start flag, only 49 survived the day. However, many of them will be taking a restart on Sunday, the final day. Prominent among those who suffered causality, was seven-time National champion and Arjuna Awardee Gaurav Gill, who began with a blistering pace topping the first Special Stage but fell in the next stage. The Speedster from Delhi has been having an awful time for want of a reliable care for the last few rallies.

    Two-time National champion Amittrajit Ghosh of Kolkota and co-driver Ashwin Naik from Mangaluru were in second place behind the Himachal pradesh after Leg 1. Another former National champion and one of the favourites, Karna Kadur along with experienced Musa Sherif are trailing in third, by a narrow margin.

    Aditya and Kunal are also leading their class, INRC2 while teammates Daraius Shroff  and Arjun Dheerendra, also from Chettinad Sporting, are leading INRC3 class. Abhin Rai and co-driver Moideen Jasher of A & A Motorsports are leading the Junior INRC class while Pragati Gowda, with experienced former National champion Sujith Kumar BS as co-driver, is leading the Ladies class. She put in a good show taking a creditable overall 9th place after Day 1.

    The pair of Shaik Aneeshnath S and Amitha Aneesh, also from A&A Motorsports are leading the Classic class while the Mandovi Racing duo of Kavan Kariapa KG and co-driver Gaurav Aiyappa are ahead in the Gypsy Challenge.

    Earlier on Friday evening,  Chief Guest  V Balakrishnan, IPS, Coimbatore City Police Commissioner, flagged off the rally R Sundar, Joint Managing Trustee, SNR Sons Charitable Trust, as guest of honour. Blueband Sports Director Premnath was also present.

    The Rally of Coimbatore 2024 will feature eight stages. The total distance of the rally is 269.38 kms. Six stages will be run on Saturday with two physical stages being SM Agro and BT2 near L&T bypass road. On Sunday, the rally will return to the traditional stages at Kethanur windmill farms, near Kethanur 4-Corner Junction.

    The Round 4 will be held in Hyderabad from October 18 to 20 while Round 5 in Kodagu will be from November 22 to 24. The final Round 6 in Bengaluru is scheduled to be held in December.

    Provisional Unaudited classification (After Day1)

    Overall:

    1. Aditya Thakur/ Virender Kashyap (Chettinad Sporting) 01hours, 25 minutes; 11.2 seconds;

    2. Amittrajit Ghosh/ Ashwin Naik (Arka Motorsports) 01:26:28.2;

    3. Karna Kadur/ Musa Sherif (Arka Motorsports) 01:26:36.7;

    INRC 2:

    1. Aditya Thakur/ Virender Kashyap (Chettinad Sporting) 01:25:11.2;

    2. Philippos Matthai /PVS Murthy (Arka Motorsports) 01:26:56.1;

    3. Harkrishan Wadia / Kunal Kashyap (Arka Motorsports) 01:26:56.1;

    INRC3:

    1. Daraius Shroff /Arjun Dheerendra (Chettinad Sporting) 01:26:47.0;

    2. Jeet Jabhakh/ V Sekar (Chettinad Sporting) 01:27:06.4;

    3. Sheshank Jamal/ Aseem Sharma (Arka Motorsports) 01:27:15.9;   

    Junior INRC:

    1. Abhin Rai/ Moideen Jasher (A & A Motorsports)  01:29:11.9;

    2. Ajay Sankar/  Vybhav Mukund Rao (Mandovi Racing) 01:30:58.2;

    3. Nikeeta Takkale/ Shivani Parmar (Pvt.) 01:33.34.8;

    Ladies Class:

    1. Pragathi Gowda /Sujith Kumar BS (Chettinad Sporting) 01:27:13.0;

    2. Nikeeta Takkale/ Shivani Parmar (Pvt.) 01:33.34.8;

    3. Harshitha Gowda/ M Srivatsa (A & A Motorsports) 01:36:08.9;

    Gypsy Challenge:

    1. Kavan Kariapa KG/ Ms Gaurav Aiyappa (Mandovi Racing) 01:3618.6;

    2. Baljinder Singh Dhillon/ Goutham CP (Pvt.) 01:36:34.3;

    3. Sanjay Agarwal/ Dheeraj Manae (Pvt.) 01:36:45.3);

    Classic:

    1. Shaik Aneeshnath S/ Amitha Aneesh (A&A Motorsports) 01:38:32.2;

    2. Brian Michael/ Prakash M (Pvt.) 01: 43:41.9; (Note: only two cars finished in Classic class);

    .

    Championship Leaders after Round 2

    Overall:

    1. HarkrishanWadia 40 points;

    2. Daraius N Shroff 38

    3. Karna Kadur 35;

    4. Aditya Thakur 32.

    INRC2

    1. Fabid Ahmer 56 points;

    2. Harkrishan Wadia 42;

    3. Aditya Thakur 31;

    4. Pragathi Gowda 27.

    INRC3

    1. Daraius N Shroff 56 points;

    2. Arnav Pratap Singh 39;

    3. Vishak Balachandran 38;

    4. Jeet Jhabakh 31.

    Junior INRC

    1. Arjun Rajiv 44 points;

    2. Abhin Rai 32;

    3. Ajay Sankar 32;

    4. Arnav Pratap Singh 31.

    Ladies Class

    1. Phoebe Nongrum 70 points;

    2. Harshitha Raj Gowda 56;

    3. Nikeetaa Takkale 40.

    Gypsy Challenge

    1. Baljinder Singh Dhillon 78 points;

    2. Akarsh Sundar 63;

    3. Jayanth Somanathan 27;

    4. Sachin Singh 27.

    Classic Class

    1. Shaik Hussain Pasha 44 points;

    2. Praveen Dwarkanath 40;

    3. Aneeshnath 28.

  • Dr KV Premlal suffers cardiac arrest, passes away during INRC at Coimbatore

    Dr KV Premlal suffers cardiac arrest, passes away during INRC at Coimbatore

    Coimbatore, 27 July 2024: KV Premlal, a doctor from Kannur, passed away due to a heart attack during the transport section after Special Stage in the third round of the Blueband fmsci Indian National Rally Championship for four wheelers here on Saturday.

    Dr Premlal, the rally driver who passed away during INRC round at Coimbatore.

    He was 47 and survived by his wife, Dr Smija Aravind, a neurosurgeon and two children, Vishnu Premlal and Anika Premlal. He was the son a famous doctor, late Dr A V Govindan and late K V Prema.

    After completing SS2, the duo stopped and Premlal had a gulp of water and suddenly collapsed, according to an eye witness. His co-driver Thrissur’s KR Rishikesh, also a doctor, tried to revive him through resuscitation but in vain. He was driving an INRC3 spec Volkswagen Polo as part of Team Chettinad Sporting.

    Thyagarajan, Team Principal and all the team members of Chettinad Sporting conveyed their deep condolences to the bereaved family. Blueband Sports, the promoters of INRC, condoled the unfortunate death and conveyed their condolences to all the family, friends and teammates.

    The funeral will be held at Kannur on Monday, after his sister, who is in UK, arrives.

  • Jaden Pariat delights on the bounce; Tarushi takes maiden podium: MMSC car Nationals

    Jaden Pariat delights on the bounce; Tarushi takes maiden podium: MMSC car Nationals

    Chennai, 21 July 2024: Two teenagers, Jaden Rahman Pariat (MRF Formula 2000) and Abhay Mohan (MRF Formula 1600) continued their assault on the titles with splendid victories on Sunday at the Madras International Circuit here as the curtains came down on the third round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship 2024 – Powered by STORM-X.

    While 17-year-old Jaden from Shillong came up with two super-aggressive drives for a double on Sunday to add to his five wins in the previous two rounds in February, while Bengaluru’s 16-year Abhay Mohan, in only his first season in single-seater racing, completed a sweep of nine consecutive victories, including a triple crown this weekend. Both are in good space to clinch the championship titles in their respective categories with one more round remaining.

    Jaden also won the Indian Oil special award for clocking the fastest lap (01min, 33.155secs) of the weekend across all categories.

    Elsewhere, Mumbai’s Biren Pithawalla (N1 Racing) also achieved a triple without facing much of a challenge to remain unbeaten in the Indian Touring Cars category. Hatim Shabbir from Chennai (Performance Racing) also won all the three races in the highly- competitive Indian Junior Touring Cars class to come within three points of leader and team-mate Srinivas Teja.

    Redline Racing’s Justin Singh from Gurugram drove well enough to win two of the three races this weekend in the Super Stock category which provisionally placed him six points behind championship leader Bala Prasath (DTS Racing) from Coimbatore who won the other race in the triple-header.

    Meanwhile, DTS Racing’s Viswas Vijayaraj from Nellore extended his championship lead to 63 points by completing a treble in the Formula LGB 1300 category, showcasing his skills and maturity in no uncertain terms. His best outing came in Race-2 today that he won after starting from P5 on the reverse grid.

    Pune’s Diana Pundole, a mother of two, picked up sufficient points in the three MRF Saloons (Toyota Etios) races over the weekend to lead the points table though she failed to win any of the outings. Chikkamagaluru’s 20-year, final year student of St. Joseph’s University, Bengaluru, Tarushi Vikram also enjoyed a good weekend, with a P3 finish in one race and top-five in the other two that has provisionally placed her third in the championship. Fighting with boys on equal footing, Tarushi won a podium place with admirable skill. The Chikkamagaluru driver, earlier took part in the Rally Star Cup.

    In the Polo Cup that witnessed fierce competition up and down the grid, Lonavla’s Dhruv Chavan and Aditya Patnaik from Mumbai shared the honours by winning two races apiece.

    Kesara Godage (Sri Lanka, centre), winner of MRF Saloons Race-2, flanked by second-placed Anirudha Aravind (Chennai, left) and third-placed Arushi Vikram (Chikkamagaluru) on Sunday. Photo by Anand Philar

    Provisional results (all 10 laps unless mentioned):

    MRF F2000 (Race-2): 1. Jaden Rahman Pariat (Shillong) (15min, 48.421sec); 2.  Chetan Surineni (Bengaluru) (16:13.812); 3. Akhil Agarwal (Mumbai) (16:23.584).

    Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Jaden Rahman Pariat (Shillong) (12:45.676); 2.  Chetan Surineni (Bengaluru) (13:00.405); 3. Akhil Agarwal (Mumbai) (13:07.807).

    MRF F1600 (Race-2): 1. Abhay Mohan (Bengaluru) (17:26.053); 2. Zahan Commissariat (Mumbai) (17:29.637); 3. Monith Kumaran (Chennai) (17:31.157).

    Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Abhay Mohan (13:55.948); 2. Monith Kumaran (14:05.481); 3. Saishiva Sankaran (Pune) (14:07.197).

    Indian Touring Cars (Race-2): 1. Biren Pithawalla (Mumbai, Team N1) (19mins, 07.820secs); 2. Deepak Ravikumar (Chennai, Team Performance Racing) (19:13.510). Note: Only 2 finishers.

    Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Biren Pithawalla (15:29.920); 2. Deepak Ravikumar (15:31.302); 3. Anant Pithawalla (Mumbai, N1 Racing) (15:38.100).

    Indian Junior Touring Cars (Race-2): 1. Hatim Shabbir (Chennai, Team Performance Racing) (19:36.631); 2. Yug Italiya (Mumbai, N1 Racing) (19:48.982); 3. Dean Mascarenhas (Mangaluru, DB Motorsports) (20:01528).

    Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Hatim Shabbir (15:41.300); 2. Srinivas Teja (15:44.905); 3. Yug Italiya (15:56.309).

    Super Stock (Race-2): 1. Bala Prasath (Coimbatore, DTS Racing) (20:58.260); 2. Justin Singh (Gurugram, Redline Racing India) (20:58.386); 3. Angad Matharoo (Chandigarh, pvt) (21:04.759).

    Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Justin Singh (16:49.050); 2. Angad Matharoo (17:04.842); 3. Bala Prasath (17:05.324).

    MRF Saloons (Toyota Etios) Race-2: 1. Kesara Godage (Sri Lanka, Redline Racing India) (20:53.702); 2. Anirudha Aravind (Chennai, Redline Racing India) (21:00.207); 3. Tarushi Vikram (Chikkamagaluru, Redline Racing) (21:03.048).

    Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Kesara Godage (16:39.241); 2. Anirudha Aravind (16:40.086); 3. Diana Pundole (Pune, Redline Racing India) (16:41.460)

    Polo Cup (Race-2): 1. Dhruv Chavan (Lonavla) (19:27.389); 2. Ojas Surve (Mumbai) (19:29.874); 3. Aditya Patnaik (Mumbai) (19:30.348).

    Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Aditya Patnaik (Mumbai) (15:36.664). 2. Dhruv Chavan (Lonavla) (15:38.699); 3. Ojas Surve (Mumbai) (15:39.687). Race-4: 1. Dhruv Chavan (19:29.079); 2. Aditya Patnaik (19:30.259); 3. Ojas Surve (19:30.834).

    Formula LGB 1300 (Race-2): 1. Viswas Vijayaraj (Nellore, DTS Racing) (18:53.663); 2. Diljit TS (Thrissur, DTS Racing) (19:01.197); 3. Neev Datta (New Delhi, MSport) (19:02.725).

    Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Viswas Vijayaraj (15:09.240); 2. Diljith TS (15:09.684); 3. Bala Prasath (Coimbatore, DTS Racing) (15:10.103).

  • Toprak Razgatlioglu takes 8th win in a row: WorldSBK

    Toprak Razgatlioglu takes 8th win in a row: WorldSBK

    Race 1 Highlights

    • Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) made it eight wins in a row after dominating the 22 lap race. With a winning margin of over five seconds it was a comfortable success for the Turkish star who now leads the championship by 56 points from Bulega
       
    • From the second row of the grid Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) came through to finish second. The Italian matched his career best performance in the Superbike class and claimed his second podium of the season
       
    • Having opted for the harder front tyre, Iannone rounded out the podium positions. The Italian dropped from second position to fourth position at one third distance but made his way back to the podium
       
    • Having started from the second row of the grid Bulega also opted for the harder front tyre. He had a difficult race and ended in sixth position but held on to second position in the championship standings
       
    • Having suffered a grid penalty, Bautista spent the majority of the race in sixth position before making progress in the final seven laps. He first picked off his teammate Bulega on Lap 14 and then Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) with four laps remaining.

    Tissot Superpole Highlights

    • Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) smashed the lap record during the 15 minute Superpole session. His time, 1’30.064, left him comfortably on pole position for the fourth time this season
       
    • A third front row of the season was Andrea Iannone’s reward for a superb effort in Superpole. The Team GoEleven rider matched his best qualifying performance of the season in second position
       
    • A three place grid penalty dropped Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) to tenth position for Race 1. The double World Champion ended Superpole 0.953s slower than Razgatlioglu. His teammate, Nicolo Bulega, qualified off the front row of the grid for the first time in 2024.

    Key Points:

    Pole position: Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)
    Race 1 winner: Toprak Razgatlioglu
    Race fastest lap: Toprak Razgatlioglu 1’31.540s.

    P1 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team
    “I’m happy. We have won again and we had an amazing lap time in the Superpole session. I pushed a lot on the first lap and then I just found my rhythm. I had a very good pace in the race but during the the last five laps the front was closing, especially on the left corner. After last year, when I crashed at corner two, it’s an incredible win. I want to say thanks to my team because we did an incredible job today! We have two more races tomorrow, and that’s my focus now.”

    P2 | Danilo Petrucci | Barni Spark Racing Team
    “I’m really happy. I said that we could fight for the podium but when you are in the race you have to fight really hard to get that podium. At the beginning, I had a bit of trouble but then I saw that Nicolo and Andrea were a bit slower going into the corners and I tried to go ahead of them. Andrea gave me a hard time until the end. I know him very well and on the last lap it is always special with him! I tried to close the doors on that lap. I can’t believe I’m here after my motocross accident and now I’m again on the podium! I want to say thanks to everyone who helped me and we’ll try again tomorrow!”

    P3 | Andrea Iannone | Team GoEleven
    “I’m really happy about today because we recovered a lot from yesterday. After FP1, we were 15th in the classification. My team believed in me and I want to thank them for believing we can achieve a great result today. It was a really difficult race because the temperature was really high. With Danilo in front it made it difficult for my tyre temperature and it wasn’t easy in the braking points for corners. Danilo rode faster than me today, Toprak was unbelievable but I didn’t give up and I tried my best. We’ll try a little more tomorrow!”

  • Viswas Vijayaraj wins; Jaden Pariat denied a chance to pay penalty, keep points

    Viswas Vijayaraj wins; Jaden Pariat denied a chance to pay penalty, keep points

    Chennai, July 20: Nellore’s Viswas Vijayaraj continued his domination in the LGB 1300 class while Akhil Agarwal, a 29-year-old first timer from Mumbai, was handed a victory in the marquee MRF Formula 2000 race following a “questionable” disqualification of Jaden Pariat in the third round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship 2024 – Powered by STORM-X at the Madras International Circuit, here on Saturday.

    It should be noted that, Jaden did get a jump start, and he said that he did not see or notice the warning by the marshals for a ‘dirve-through’ but the provisions in the rules had a 20-sec penalty, with a Rs.20,000 fine, which Jaden’s team was ready to pay a request for. But, the provision available in the rules was denied for the driver, who is the championship leader.

    The report

    Jaden, the 17-year-old from Shillong, “won” the race by the proverbial country mile. The penalty moved Agarwal to P1 while the Bengaluru pair of Chetan Surineni and Tarun Muthaiah were placed second and third, respectively.

    Further behind, another Bengalurean, 16-year-old Abhay Mohan raced to his seventh consecutive win in the MRF Formula 1600 class that was run on a combined grid with the MRF F2000, with Chennai’s Monith Kumaran coming in second, ahead of Mumbai racer Raaj Bakhru.

    Other winners of the day were Biren Pithawalla (Indian Touring Cars), Hatim Shabbir (Indian Junior Touring Cars), Justin Singh (Super Stock), Viswas Vijayaraj (Formula LGB 1300), Aditya Patnaik (Polo Cup) and Sri Lankan Kesara Godage (MRF Saloons).

    Mumbai teenager and former National Karting champion Aditya Patnaik notched a handsome win in the Polo Cup without breaking sweat, leaving Bangladesh’s HM Tauhid Anwar Avik and Romir Arya (Mumbai) to scrap for P2 and P3. “I had a good start and opened up a big lead. Thereafter, I eased off completely. I am very happy with the win as it was just my second outing in this category,” said Aditya.

    Kesara Godage, the youngster from Sri Lanka, took the honours in the MRF Saloons category that was run concurrently with the Polo Cup. Championship leader in this class, Diana Pundole finished second followed by Sri Lankan Kalim Iqbal.

    Meanwhile, starting from pole position, Biren Pithawala (Team N1 Racing) from Mumbai, enjoyed a trouble-free run and was the lone finisher in the Indian Touring Cars race with his rivals, cousin brother Ananth Pithawalla and Chennai ace Deepak Ravikumar encountering mechanical issues. Neither driver was classified.

    Chennai’s Hatim Shabbir led a 1-2 finish for Performance Racing in the Indian Junior Touring Cars class with Srinivas Teja following him home while Mumbai’s Yug Italiya (Team N1 Racing) completed the podium at the end of an entertaining race marked by wheel-to-wheel racing through the eight laps.

    Justin Singh from Gurugram (Redline Racing) easily topped the Super Stock category displaying impressive pace, well clear of Chandigarh’s Angad Matharoo and Bala Prasath (DTS Racing) from Coimbatore.

    DTS Racing team achieved a podium sweep in the Formula LGB 1300 category where Nellore’s Viswas Vijayaraj scored his fifth win of the season. Behind him Diljith TS (Thrissur) and Bala Prasath finished in that order after a fierce battle.

    Provisional results (all 8 laps unless mentioned):

    MRF F2000 (Race-1): 1. Akhil Agarwal (Mumbai) (13mins, 04.066secs); 2. Chetan Surineni (Bengaluru) (13:04.646); 3. Tarun Muthaiah (Bengaluru) (13:09.482).

    MRF F1600 (Race-1): 1. Abhay Mohan (Bengaluru) (13:52.487); 2. Monith Kumaran (Chennai) (13:59.414); 3. Raaj Bakhru (Mumbai) (14:03.763).

    Indian Touring Cars (Race-1): 1. Biren Pithawala (Mumbai, Team N1 Racing) (15:30.329). Note: Only one finisher.

    Indian Junior Touring Cars (Race-1): 1. Hatim Shabbir (Chennai, Team Performance Racing) (15:32.392); 2. Teja Srinivas (Chennai, Team Performance Racing) (15:39.514); 3. Yug Italiya (Mumbai, Team N1 Racing) (15:50.132).

    Super Stock (Race-1): 1. Justin Singh (Gurugram, Redline Racing India) (16:41.923); 2. Angad Matharoo (Chandigarh, Pvt.) (16:55.327); 3. Bala Prasath (Combatore, DTS Racing) (16:55.568).

    MRF Saloons (Toyota Etios) Race-1: 1. Kesara Godage (Sri Lanka, Redline Racing India) (16:34.736); 2. Diana Pundole (Pune, Redline Racing India) (16:35.522); 3. Kalim Iqbal (Sri Lanka, Red Line Racing India) (16:54.554).

    Polo Cup (Race-1): 1. Aditya Patnaik (Mumbai) (15:30.830); 2. HM Tauhid Anwar Avik (Bangladesh) (15:38.195); 3. Romir Arya (Mumbai) (15:39.509).

    Formula LGB 1300 (Race-1): 1. Viswas Vijayaraj (Nellore, DTS Racing) (15:04.786); 2. Diljith TS (Thrissur, DTS Racing) (15:09.655); 3. Bala Prasath (Coimbatore, DTS Racing) (15:10877).

  • Kush Maini takes a creditable second at Budapest: F2

    Kush Maini takes a creditable second at Budapest: F2

    Budapest, 20 July 2024: Top Indian star Kush Maini of Bengaluru notched up a creditable podium, taking the second place behind Trident’s Richard Verschoor, who claimed a victory at the Budapest Sprint Race the in Formula 2 world Championship here on Saturday.

    The Dutchman was able to pull away from Kush Maini at the end on his way to the top step, with the Invicta Racing driver crossing the line in second ahead of ART Grands Prix’s Victor Martins in third.

    AS IT HAPPENED

    Temperatures were much cooler for the Sprint compared to Friday’s Qualifying and there was a mix of tyres on the grid, with 12 cars fitted with the Softs, while the rest chose the Hards.

    Two of those drivers on the Hards were pole-sitter Verschoor and his fellow front row starter Maini, and while they made good starts, Andrea Kimi Antonelli had fired up his Soft tyres from P4 and went round the outside of the Invicta car at Turn 2, to take second.

    His fellow drivers on the red-walled compounds were also flying as Gabriel Bortoleto and Enzo Fittipaldi moved up to P6 and P7 respectively by overtaking Hard tyre runner Isack Hadjar.

    The PREMA Racing rookie would not have to wait long to take the lead as he overcame Verschoor’s staunch defence to dive down his inside at Turn 1 at the start of Lap 4.

    By the end of Lap 5, Antonelli was over two seconds clear out front, while Maini was beginning to close in on Verschoor for P2, with Martins just behind on his Softs.

    On to Lap 7, and Fittipaldi was showing strong pace in his Van Amersfoort Racing car and overtook his fellow Option tyre runner Bortoleto for P6, going round his compatriot’s outside at Turn 1.

    But as the drivers set of on Lap 11, what had been a lead of over two seconds for Antonelli had now been closed to 1.6s, as the Hard tyre runners began to come into their own.

    Further back, Maini had also created a gap of over two seconds to Martins, who was now defending from Dennis Hauger in the battle for P4.

    On Lap 13 of 28, Hadjar used DRS to get ahead of Bortoleto for P7, while Hauger had dropped back from Martins and had fallen to P6 behind Fittipaldi.

    Verschoor was now right on the back of Antonelli as they started Lap 16, but the PREMA driver was resisting each attack. However, he could not hold on much longer, running wide at the final corner before locking up into Turn 1, allowing both Verschoor and Maini through.

    Unfortunately for Antonelli, his lock up had proven costly as he was falling through the field with Martins, Fittipaldi, Hauger and Hadjar all making their way past before PREMA made the call to pit him for a set of Hards.

    Bortoleto was also struggling on his Softs with Franco Colapinto and Oliver Bearman overtaking him and dropping him to P9 before Invicta also decided to pit him for the Hard tyres.

    Back in the midfield, Paul Aron was looking to make up the positions he lost at the start as one of the Prime tyre runners and went round the outside of Jak Crawford at Turn 2 for P12, despite the American’s attempts to take back the position at T4.

    But as the Hitech Pulse-Eight driver was battling to get back into the points, his Championship rival Hadjar was up to fourth after overtaking Fittipaldi and Hauger on Lap 21.

    Fittipaldi was also struggling on his Softs and after losing out to Hauger and Colapinto, he suffered a puncture on the left front tyre forcing him to pit.

    Bearman then lost places to Aron and Taylor Barnard to drop out of the points. He then went three-wide with the DAMS Lucas Oil cars of Crawford and Juan Manuel Correa at Turn 3, with the former emerging ahead in P9.

    By the final lap, Verschoor had built a two-second gap out front and crossed the line to take his fourth Formula 2 victory ahead of Maini, with Martins taking the final spot on the podium.

    Hadjar ended up in P4 ahead of Hauger and Colapinto, with Aron making his way through to P7 as Barnard rounded out the points in P8.

    KEY QUOTE – Richard Verschoor, Trident

    “Super happy with today, we made the right choice going on the Prime tyres. I’m very happy with the win but I have the feeling it should have been my third and not my first, so let’s enjoy the moment, the team did a good job and let’s move on to tomorrow.”

    THE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

    After finishing fourth, Championship leader Isack Hadjar moves to 138 points and extends his lead to second place Paul Aron to 119. Third and fourth-placed Zane Maloney and Gabriel Bortoleto failed to score in the Sprint Race but maintain their positions in the Standings although Franco Colapinto has moved to 95 points with his deficit to the Invicta Racing driver now just three.

    In the Teams’ Standings, Campos Racing maintain their lead and move to 176 points, however, MP Motorsport scored two more points than them in the Sprint Race and the gap with between the two stands at 11. Invicta Racing are just one point behind in third on 164, while Hitech Pulse-Eight sits fourth on 144 ahead of Rodin Motorsport on 120.

    UP NEXT

    Next on the schedule is the Budapest Feature Race which is set to take place on Sunday morning at 10:05 local time.

  • Historic debut at WorldSBK by an Indian: Kavin Quintal roped in by Gaman Racing

    Historic debut at WorldSBK by an Indian: Kavin Quintal roped in by Gaman Racing

    Chennai, 18 July 2024: Indian rider Kavin Quintal is all set to make a historic debut at WorldSBK SSP300 competitions to become the first Indian rider to participate in a World Superbike Championship. Thanks to the opportunity provided by the Irish team, ‘Team#109 Retro Traffic Kawasaki’ and its management company, Gaman Racing Global Service, Kavin’s entry is accepted for the SSP event in the fourth round which begins at Most, Czech Republic on Friday.

    The 19-year Chennai star, Kavin Quintal, will be filling in for the Irish team’s main rider, Spaniard Daniel Mogeda, who suffered an injury after leading the Supersport 300 class, in an unfortunate crash that paved the way for the Irish team to rope in Kavin Quintal.

    Kavin, a world-class rider, is currently competing in the European Stock Championship within the FIM JuniorGP and in the Asia Road Racing Championship. In the three rounds of JuniorGP, Kavin had a top-10 finish. As a rider who started his baby steps at 13, he was the youngest rider to earn points in the Indian National events. He went on to win the Talent Cup twice in 2021 and 2023 in India. Later, after Asia Talent Cup events, he soon blossomed into a mature rider moving to Europe. He will be looking for his best results in this ‘magnificent opportunity’, as the Indian described it.

    Kavin Quintal: ‘It is a great opportunity that I will try to learn and enjoy at the same time. I will be able to show my maximum level together with a great team that surrounds this structure. I would like to thank the team for this opportunity’.

    Paul Tobin, Team Manager 109: ‘I would like to welcome Kavin to the team for the weekend toreplace Daniel. Kavin Quintal has good experience in the Asia Talent Cup and in the Stock 600 in the FIM JuniorGP. We are very happy to have the first Indian rider into the World Championships’.

    The practice sessions will be on Friday followed a race each on Saturday and Sunday at Most, Czech Republic.

  • Herrera just pips Carrasco to the WorldWCR Race 2 win

    Herrera just pips Carrasco to the WorldWCR Race 2 win

    16 July 2024
    Race 2 Highlights:
     Maria Herrera (Klint Forward Factory Team) and Sunday’s Race 1 victor Ana Carrasco (Evan Bros Racing Yamaha Team) proved to be in a league of their own in Race 2 at Donington Park, with Herrera securing her third win in four races, just two tenths of a second ahead of a very combative Carrasco
     From second on the grid, Herrera made a lightning start to take an early lead ahead of Carrasco. Soon breaking away from their closest rivals, the pair crossed the finish line almost twelve seconds ahead of the rest of the field
     Fellow Spaniards Sara Sanchez (511 Terra&Vita Racing Team) and Beatriz Neila (Ampito / Pata Prometeon Yamaha) were embroiled in an exciting battle of their own for third, a duel that was ultimately won by Sara, with Beatriz closing just a fraction behind in fourth
     Israeli rider Ran Yochay (511 Terra&Vita Racing Team) and Australian Tayla Relph (Tayco Motorsport) both brought home solid points after crossing the line P5 and P6 respectively
     Chun Mei Liu (WT Racing Team Taiwan) sustained a back injury after a lap two crash and has been transported to Queen’s Medical Centre for further assessment. Mallory Dobbs (Sekhmet Motorcycle Racing Team) also failed to finish after crashing on lap five, while Yamaha Motoxracing WCR team-mates Roberta Ponziani and Ornella Ongaro both went down at turn 11 on lap seven
     Britain’s Alyssia Whitmore (Sekhmet Motorcycle Racing Team) was ruled unfit to compete in Race 2 after sustaining a left wrist contusion in Saturday’s Race 1
     The third round of the WorldWCR championship is scheduled to take place over the weekend of 9-11 August at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal
     Championship Standings:Now with 88 points, Herrera retains the championship lead, followed closely by Race 1 winner Carrasco (81)
     Sanchez (68) and Neila (57) place third and fourth in the standings, with both having worked hard to boost their tally this weekend
     Key Points:

    Race 1 winner:     Ana Carrasco (Evan Bros Racing Yamaha Team)
    Race 2 winner: Maria Herrera (Klint Forward Factory Team)
    Race fastest lap: Ana Carrasco (Evan Bros Racing Yamaha Team) – 1’39.209 (Race 2)More on worldsbk.com
    P1 | Maria Herrera | Klint Forward Factory Team
    “I felt confident that we could do well today. I was fast in warm-up and knew that I had to push right from the start of the race to build a gap. Ana followed me but I knew I was going to be able to battle until the end as I felt comfortable and strong on the brakes. I was pretty angry about the Race 1 result, to be honest, as I knew I had the potential to finish at least P2 but lost ground when I had to brake to avoid Beatriz when she made a mistake. So  honestly I set out to make up for that result today, aware that I needed to break away from the pack early on to avoid any risky situations.”
     
    P2 | Ana Carrasco | Evan Bros Racing Yamaha Team
    “I’m really happy with my weekend and it was difficult to ask for more. I wanted the win in Race 2 and did my best but lost a little time on the first lap with Beatriz, which meant I then had to push to reach Maria, who was really fast in the beginning. I eventually caught her and got in front but in the end, she got the better of me when I ran wide. But we’ve had a good weekend, scoring pole, a race win and the fastest lap in Race 2 so this is a positive result. I felt really good and now it will be important to continue in this way, as I know Maria and I will battle like this all season long. We’re really close in the championship right now and so we need to continue working to be ready for the next round at Portimao.”
     
    P3 | Sara Sanchez | 511 Terra&Vita Racing Team
    “Ana and Maria had more than us today; I did my best to stick with them through the early stages, but it was not possible, their pace was simply stronger. I lost ground when Neila passed me, and it was hard to close that gap once it opened up in front of us. I was also struggling a little with corner entry in some places. But the important thing is to be on the podium, and we were able to secure third again today, so we’re pleased with that.”
  • Jagan Kumar, Sarthak Chavan in historic dead-tie at MIC on Sunday

    Jagan Kumar, Sarthak Chavan in historic dead-tie at MIC on Sunday

    Chennai, 7 July 2024: History was scripted at the Madras International Circuit here on Sunday when a dead-heat finish, involving two TVS Racing team-mates Jagan Kumar and Sarthak Chavan, was decided in favour of the former on the basis of the fastest lap of the race as the second round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2024 – Powered by STORM came to a thrilling finish.

    Old-timers believe that it is the first time in the Indian racing history that two competitors had the same timing at the finish, requiring the fastest lap provision to be implemented to decide the winner. The incident occurred in the Pro-Stock 165cc Open race when veteran Jagan Kumar, a 10-time National champion, and his TVS Racing team-mate 17-year-old Sarthak Chavan crossed the finish line together, clocking the same timing. Jagan was declared winner because he had posted the fastest lap of the six-lap race.

    The result denied Sarthak an all-win record across both Pro-Stock categories, the 301-400cc Open and the 165cc Open. Earlier today, Sarthak had achieved a double in the higher class and looked set for a clean sweep before the photo-finish which went in Jagan’s favour.

    Meanwhile, Chennai’s Jagathishree Kumaresan (One Racing) completed a double in the Girls (Stock 165cc) category as did another local rider, Abdul Basim (Rockers Racing) in the Novice (Stock 165cc) class while Pradeep C from Bengaluru notched his maiden win in the National Championship with a P1 finish in the Stock 301-400cc (Novice) race.

    Bengaluru’s Chiranth Vishwanath (TVS Racing) won the Indian Oil award for the fastest lap on Sunday across all categories for clocking a blistering 01:48.648 in the Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open category, but he lost the race to Sarthak when he missed a gear on the back sweep on the last lap to concede the slender lead.

    In an innovative move, promoters Madras Motor Sports Club decided to present trophies to the top five finishers in a race instead of the top three.

    Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup: Mohsin Paramban from Malappuram completed a fine double in the NSF 250R category to open up a 37-point lead in the provisional standings. Two Bengaluru riders Savion Sabu and AS James finished second and third respectively in the eight-lap race.

    TVS One-Make Championship:

    Sarthak Chavan extended his domination with a second consecutive win in the TVS Electric RTE race that was reduced to three laps following an on-track incident. Chiranth Vishwanath came in second ahead of Alwin Sundar (Chennai).

    Provisional results (all 6 laps unless mentioned):

    National Championship – Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open (Race-2): 1. Sarthak Chavan (Pune, TVS Racing) (11min, 06.298sec); 2. Chiranth Vishwanath (Bengaluru, TVS Racing) (11:06.388); 3. Deepak Ravikumar (Chennai, TVS Racing) (11:10.557).

    Pro-Stock 165cc Open (Race-2): 1. Jagan Kumar (Chennai, TVS Racing) (11:37.786); 2. Sarthak Chavan (Pune, TVS Racing) (11:37.786); 3. Deepak Ravikumar (Chennai, TVS Racing) (11:44.162).

    Girls (Stock 165cc) Race-2 (5 laps): 1. Jagathishree Kumaresan (Chennai, One Racing) (11:04.106); 2. Ryhana Bee (Chennai, Motul Sparks Racing) (11:04.182); 3. Ann Jennifer AS (Chennai, Alpha Racing India) (11:04.327).

    Novice (Stock165cc) Race-2: 1. Abdul Basim (Chennai, Rockers Racing) (12:56.217); 2. Tasmai Cariappa (Mysuru, Motul Sparks Racing) (13:07.206); 3. Lal Nunsanga (Aizawl, Motul Sparks Racing) (13:07.502).

    Stock 301-400cc (Novice) Race-2: 1. Pradeep C (Bengaluru, Pvt) (12:20.775); 2. Raj Kumar (Coimbatore, RDX Torque Racing) (12:27.930); 3. Varun Nanjundegowda (Chennai, Gusto Racing India) (02:03.803).

    Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup – Open (NSF 250R) Race-2 (8 laps): 1. Mohsin Paramban (Malappuram) (15:07.015); 2. Savion Sabu (Bengaluru) (15:10.965); 3. AS James (Bengaluru) (15:15.953).

    TVS One-Make Championship: Open (Apache RR310) Race-2: 1. Manoj Yesuadiyan (Chennai) (11:47.555); 2. Jayanth P (Chennai) (11:53.712); 3. Lokesh V (Bengaluru) (11:55.233).

    Rookie (Apache RTR 200) Race-2: 1. Harshit V Bogar (Bengaluru) (13:20.972); 2. CS Kedarnath (Tirupati) (13:26.089); 3. Rajivsham AS (Tirpur) (13:44.946).

    TVS Electric RTE (3 laps): 1. Sarthak Chavan (Pune) (05:34.704); 2. Chiranth Vishwanath (Bengaluru) (05:35.877); 3. Alwin Sundar (Chennai) (05:42.046).

  • Resilient Kush Maini takes second place in Sprint race

    Resilient Kush Maini takes second place in Sprint race

    Barcelona, 22 June 2024: Vicor Martins was a comfortable Sprint Race winner in Barcelona, putting in a measured performance to earn his first victory of the 2024 season. The ART Grand Prix driver seized the lead at lights out and escaped into the distance for the win.

    Kush Maini rebounded from a tough opening lap to secure second for Invicta Racing, while Juan Manuel Correa returned to the Formula 2 podium for the first time since 2019, taking third for DAMS Lucas Oil.

    AS IT HAPPENED

    Maini suffered wheelspin off the line from Pole and dropped to fourth while Martins profited to take the lead on the run to the first corner. Ritomo Miyata swept around the outside at Turn 1 to go from fourth to second, ahead of Correa and Maini.

    Onto Lap 2 and Maini made a late dive to the inside of Correa at the opening corner to recover one position. Teammate Gabriel Bortoleto followed him through at Turn 4, going around the outside of the DAMS driver for fourth.

    In the battle for seventh, Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Isack Hadjar fought hard early on, though the Campos Racing driver was unable to find a route through on the PREMA Racing talent.

    By Lap 10, Martins was able to escape from DRS range of Miyata behind and led by 1.5s, while the Japanese driver held a 1.1s advantage over Maini in the podium places.

    Antonelli had dropped out of DRS range to Paul Aron ahead and after a long time of trying, Hadjar finally cleared the PREMA driver into Turn 1 on Lap 12. Jak Crawford was opportunistic and capitalised, squeezing his way by into Turn 4 to take the final points-paying position in eighth from the Italian.

    With 10 laps to go, track limits became a problem for Miyata, and the Rodin driver was assigned a five-second time penalty for one too many breaches. He earned a second time penalty in his struggle to remain ahead of Maini to bring that total up to 10-seconds with five laps remaining.

    Further back, Hadjar lost seventh to Crawford as both DAMS cars looked to be taking better care of the tyres than those ahead. Correa was pressuring Bortoleto for the final podium place, but the Brazilian was able to fend him off to maintain position.

    Onto the penultimate lap and a sizeable lock-up into Turn 5 was evidence of how hard Bortoleto was pushing to keep Correa behind. However, it gave the American a run into Turn 10 and after diving to the inside, he claimed fourth on the road.

    Aron was next to clear Bortoleto, rounding the Invicta driver at Turn 3 on the final lap to take P5, as two corners later Crawford followed through to take sixth from him.

    Martins though was untroubled in front to take his first F2 victory since Silverstone in 2023. Maini moved up to second and Correa was third with Miyata’s time penalties.

    Aron was fourth ahead of Crawford, Bortoleto, Hadjar and Miyata, who was eighth in the end after his 10-seconds worth of penalties were applied, though he added the fastest lap point to his scoring result.

    KEY QUOTE – Victor Martins, ART Grand Prix

    “Today’s a win. A bit of a relief after the start of the season. I’m so happy for the ART team, they gave me a really good car today. We’ll keep working, we did everything right today but we’ll go back to work because tomorrow there are other opportunities in front of us, but this feels good. We need to appreciate this moment and work even harder to repeat this moment and get a few more.”

    THE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

    Paul Aron remains in the lead of the Drivers’ Championship, adding five points to his tally to move onto 85 in first. Isack Hadjar is second, moving up onto 80 points with P7 in the Sprint. Zane Maloney remains in third on 69 with Dennis Hauger fourth on 56 points, and Gabriel Bortoleto rounds out the top five on 53 points.

    In the Teams’ Standings Campos Racing have a six-point lead on 106 over Hitech Pulse-Eight in P2. Invicta Racing are third on 95 points, just one ahead of MP Motorsport in fourth. Rodin Motorsport round out the top five on 87 points.

    UP NEXT

    The FIA Formula 2 Feature Race is set to get underway around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya at 11:35 local time with Paul Aron going from Pole Position.