INDIA in F1

Category: Non-F1

  • Srinivas Teja, Raghul Rangasamy seal respective championship title

    Srinivas Teja, Raghul Rangasamy seal respective championship title

    • Two wins for Deepak Ravikumar
    • Pole for Nayan Chatterjee in MRF F1600

    Chennai, September 7: Srinivas Teja from Chennai and Mamallapuram’s Raghul Rangasamy, both from Performance Racing team, sealed the titles in their respective categories with a race to spare in the fifth and final round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship at the MMRT, here on Friday.

    Deepak Ravikumar (25) on way to winning the Formula LGB 1300 race on 7 Sept 2018. Photos by Anand Philar

    A second-place finish behind Deepak Ravikumar (Infinite Piston) ensured the title for 25-year old Teja in the Super Stock class of saloon cars category as he took his tally to an unbeatable 106. Ravkumar moved to second position in the championship with 76.5 points, ahead of Bengaluru’s Varun Anekar (Race Concepts, 75) and the duo will be fighting it out in the second race tomorrow. Anekar, who enjoyed a huge lead, in today’s race, retired when the throttle cable snapped in the sixth lap.

    Srinivas Teja (left) and Raghul Rangasamy who won the National championship in the Super Stock and Esteem Cup categories

    “Today, my focus was on complete the race without any mishap as I needed to finish second or third to pick up enough points to seal the championship. This is my first season in the Super Stock category and I am very happy that I was able to win the title,” said Teja.

    Rangasamy, a versatile racer though just 25, capped another fine season by sealing the title in the Esteem Cup, taking an insurmountable lead after scoring his seventh win in 10 starts this season. Rangasamy had won the Super Stock and Formula LGB 1300 titles in 2016 besides finishing second runner-up in the MRF F1600.

    With Teja and Rangasamy annexing the championship, Ravikumar’s “double” of winning the Super Stock and the Formula LGB 1300 races was somewhat overshadowed. However, the title fight in the LGB 1300 class is between Ashwin Datta (Momentum Motorsports, 136 points) and Sohil Shah (M Sport, 135) who finished fourth and fifth, respectively, going into tomorrow’s Race 2.

    POLE FOR NAYAN CHATTERJEE

    Mumbai’s Nayan Chatterjee qualified for pole position in the MRF F1600 category with a hot lap of 01minute, 39.432seconds, ahead of Raghul Rangasamy (Mamallapuram) and Chennai’s Goutham Parekh. The winner of the championship which concludes on Sunday earns a ticket to the Mazda Road to Indy Shootout in the United States later this year.

    Meanwhile, Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) snatched the pole position in the premier Indian Touring Cars class, driving a car that went through a few subtle aero changes since the previous round . His arch-rival Arjun Narendran, also from Coimbatore, and Arka Motorsports team-mate Ashish Ramaswamy, the championship leader from Bengaluru, qualified second and third respectively for tomorrow’s race that promises another close contest.

    “We made a few aero changes to the car and it reflected in our lap timings. I could have gone a bit more quicker, but got caught up in traffic during a flying lap,” said Balu, who has returned to racing after a gap of five years.

    THREE INDIAN ENTRIES FOR CATERHAM RACES

    Meanwhile, veteran racers Vicky Chandhok (Chennai), who scored two podiums during last week in the Caterham 7 Asia Zonal Championship, and B Vijayakumar (Coimbatore), besides Salem’s Kasha Sai are the three Indian entries in this weekend’s double-header. In today’s Free Practice session, Sri Lankan Sheran Fernando was the quickest, followed by Vijayakumar, Chandhok, Andew Jude Choksy (Sri Lanka) and Kasha Sai.

    The fourth round of the Formula 4 South-East Asia championship also got underway with a free practice session that leader Alessandro Ghritetti (France) topped.

    The results (Provisional, all 8 laps unless mentioned):

    Formula LGB 1300 (Race-1): Deepak Ravikumar (Chennai) (15mins, 42.479secs); 2. A Balaprasath (Coimbatore) (15:43.087); 3. Sai Sanjay (Salem) (15:48.496).

    Super Stock (Race-1): 1. Deepak Ravikumar (Infinite Piston) (16:41.287); 2. Srinivas Teja (Performance Racing) (17:02.783); 3. Kasha Sai (Arka Motorsports) (17:05.700).

    Indian Junior Touring Cars (Race-1): 1. Chrys D’Souza (Unimek Racing) (17:11.446); 2. Prabhu AS (Arka Motorsports) (17:27.207); 3. Nikunj Vagh (Team N1) (17:54.575).

    Esteem Cup (Race-1): 1. Raghul Rangasamy (Performance Racing) (16:42.575); 2. Lea Daran (Performance Racing) (18:00.485).

    Qualifying – MRF F1600: 1. Nayan Chatterjee (Mumbai) (01:39.432); 2. Raghul Rangasamy (Mamallapuram) (01:39.523); 3. Goutham Parekh (Chennai) (01:39.623).

    Indian Touring Cars : 1. Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) (01:52.311); 2. Arjun Narendran (Arka Motorsports) (01:52.668); 3. Ashish Ramaswamy (Arka Motorsports) (01:53.922). Turbo: 1. Karthik Tharani (Chennai) (01:54.179); 2. Rayomand Banajee (Mumbai) (01:55.560); 3. Ishaan Dodhiwala (Hyderabad) (01:56.312).

  • Final round of National Racing Championship (4W) set for a grand finale; F4 cars add colour

    Final round of National Racing Championship (4W) set for a grand finale; F4 cars add colour

    File photo of MRF 1600 cars in action by Anand Philar

    Chennai, 5 Sept 2018: The MRF Indian National Racing Championship 2018 organised by Madras Motor Sports Club (MMSC), is set for a grand and thrilling finale as the fifth and final round of the National Racing Championship for four-wheelers commences at the Madras Motorsports Race Track (MMRT) under the aegis of Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (fmsci) here on Friday.

    With titles up for grabs in all categories, the busy weekend will also see races in Formula 4 South-East Asia Championship and the Caterham 7 Asian Zonal Championship with drivers from Europe and Asia on the show.

    Chairman of the Meet Vicky Chandhok said: “It has been a long season, starting in February this year. We are pleased that the number of entries has shown a significant upward trend, especially in MRF Formula 1600, Super Stock and the Formula LGB 1300. We are indebted to MRF Tyres who have added muscle in more ways than one to our efforts to attract more youngsters to racing.

    “This is the biggest positive for us at the MMSC apart from the appreciation we have received from competitors and spectators alike for the upgrades we carried out at the MMRT over the past one year. We plan to build on this to provide better and safer racing environment as we go along.”

    Of special interest, this weekend would be the triple-header in the MRF Formula 1600 class where four drivers – Raghul Rangasamy (134 points), Goutham Parekh (123), Sandeep Kumar (115) and Ashwin Datta (110) – are in contention for the championship with a maximum of 75 points on offer.

    The Championship winner will earn the right to contest in the Mazda Road To Indy shootout as part of MMSC’s initiative to provide Indians an international platform to further their racing careers. The shootout, whose winner is eligible for a scholarship of USD 200,000, will be held in the United States later this year.

    The race for titles is as tight in the premier Indian Touring Cars class where a maximum of 50 points is up for grabs over two races. Bengaluru’s Ashish Ramaswamy of Arka Motorsports (131 points) and veteran Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) from Coimbatore (111) are the front-runners.

    Not far behind them are two others from Coimbatore and Arka Motorsports team-mates Nikanth Ram (98) and defending champion Arjun Narendran (93) who missed the first two rounds, but covered a lot of ground by winning three races from four starts, besides a second-place finish.

    The three other saloon car categories which have two races apiece with 50 points at stake, are also poised for a close finish. Chennai’s Srinivas Teja (Performance Racing) heads the Super Stock class with 97 points, ahead of Varun Anekar (75) of Race Concepts, Bengaluru, with Chennai’s Deepak Ravikumar (64) of Infinite Pistons and RP Rajarajan (63.5) of Performance Racing in tow.

    Raghul Rangasamy (93, Performance Racing) of Mammallapuram and Erode’s Vinod Subramaniam (82.5, Team N1) top the Esteem Cup while it is a straight fight between Namakkal’s Prabhu AS (82, Arka Motorsports) and Goa’s Chrys D’Souza (75.5, Unimek Racing) in the Indian Junior Touring Cars class.

    Only nine points separate the top three of Sohil Shah (126, MSport) from Bengaluru, and Chennai lads Ashwin Datta (123, Momentum Motorsports) and Nabil Hussain (117, MSport) in the popular Formula LGB 1300 category that has attracted the most number of entries this season.

  • Jagan Kumar leads 1-2 finish for TVS Racing: Super Sport 165cc race

    Jagan Kumar leads 1-2 finish for TVS Racing: Super Sport 165cc race

    Prabhu Arunagiri, Shruthi Nagarajan, Mithun Kumar excel on Saturday

    Jagan Kumar (No.3), winner of the Super Sport Indian (165cc) race at MMRT on Saturday. Photos by Anand Philar

    Chennai, 1 Sept 2018: Defending champion Jagan Kumar finally got his campaign on track as he notched his first win of the season in five starts while leading a 1-2 finish for TVS Racing along with KY Ahamed in the premier Super Sport Indian 165cc class of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship at the MMRT, here on Saturday.

    While TVS Racing team celebrated, arch-rivals Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing had to be content with a third-place finish through Mathana Kumar as pole-sitter Sarath Kumar retired barely 50 metres after the start with a broken gear lever and championship leader Rajiv Sethu crashed in the back sweep in the very first lap.

    However, there was some cheer for the Honda camp as Mithun Kumar scored a his first of the current season in the Pro-Stock 165cc class with RACR’s Naresh Babu and Sivanesan of TVS Racing following him over the finish line.

    Earlier, pole-sitter Prabhu Arunagiri (Team Alisha Abdullah) fought his way to a close win over Gusto Racing’s Amarnath Menon and Satyanarayana Raju in the Pro-Stock 301-400cc class with less than one second separating the trio while Chennai’s Shruthi Nagarajan (Apex Racing Academy) recorded her first-ever win in the Girls (Stock 165cc) category.

    Jagan had to work hard for today’s victory as he was stretched to the limit by his younger team-mate Ahamed who put in the fastest lap of the race, but eventually eschewed risk for championship points to settle for second place ahead of Mathana Kumar.

    The win took Jagan’s tally to 87 points, followed by Ahamed (76) and Rajiv Sethu (70) ahead of tomorrow’s second race.

    For 23-year old Shruthi Nagarajan, it was a memorable day while chalking up her maiden win in the National Championship. Starting third on the grid, Shruthi made it to the front on the last lap after easing past leader Alisha Abdullah (Team Abdullah) for a thrilling win. Alisha came in second ahead of Ryhana Bee (Sparks Racing). Pole-sitter and championship leader Ann Jennifer retired after a crash in the second lap, but retained her top position on the leaderboard with 50 points, albeit just two ahead of Shruthi.

    Shruthi Nagarajan

    “I am very happy to score my first-ever win in the National Championship after a few podium finishes in the past. I started third and gradually moved to the front after overtaking Alisha,” said a delighted Shruthi.

    It was a dramatic win for Prabhu Arunagiri in the six-lap race that he along with Menon and Raju dominated. After the trio pulled away from the rest of the field, Arunagiri and Menon, the championship leader in this class, swapped lead. In the last lap, Arunagiri made a decisive pass to claim victory ahead of Menon and Raju.

    Championship leader Anish Shetty (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing), despite failing to score any points after starting the race from the pit-lane due to an ECU problem, continued to lead with 90 points, 33 clear of Kevin Kannan (Rockers Racing) who too drew blank today.

    The results (Provisional, all 6 laps unless mentioned):

    Pro-Stock (301-400cc) – Race-1: Prabhu Arunagiri (Team Alisha Abdullah) (11mins, 37.278secs); 2. Amarnath Menon (Gusto Racing India) (11:37.392); 3. Satyanarayana Raju (Gusto Racing India) (11:39.378).

    Super Sport Indian (165cc) – Race-1: 1. Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) (11:46.715); 2. KY Ahamed (TVS Racing) (11:46.807); S Mathana Kumar (Honda Ten 10 Racing) (11:50.406).

    Pro-Stock (165cc) – Race-1: 1.Mithun Kumar (Idemitsu Honda Ten 10 Racing) (12:09.580); 2. Naresh Babu (RACR) (12:10.041); 3.Sivanesan S (TVS Racing) (12:19.089).

    Girls (Stock 165cc) (5 laps): 1. Shruthi Nagarajan (Apex Racing Academy) (11:28.978); 2. Alisha Abdullah (Team Alisha Abdullah) (11:29.648); 3. Ryhana Bee (Sparks Racing) (11:29.901).

    MMSC One-Make Championship (Novice) – TVS (Apache RTR 200) Race-1: 1. Karthik Mateti (Hyderabad) (13:44.310); 2. Anand R (Chennai) (13:49.157); 3. Suhail Ahmed (Chennai) (13:49.298).

    Girls (5 laps): 1. Ann Jennifer (Chennai) (11:52.938); 2. Ryhana Bee (Chennai) (11:53.005); 3. Lani Zena Fernandez (Puducherry) (12:43.126).

    Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup (CBR 150) – Race-1: 1.Mohamed Mikail (Chennai) (12:54.158); 2. Kartik Vasant Habib (Gadag) (13:04.798); 3.Anandhu KK (Chennai) (13.23.689).

    Race-2: 1. Mohamed Mikail (Chennai) (13:03.204); 2. Anandhu KK (Chennai) (13:21.196); 3. Kartik Vasant Habib (Gadag) (13:28.357).

     

  • FIA Formula 4 to be held along with bike Nationals from Friday

    FIA Formula 4 to be held along with bike Nationals from Friday

    File photo from the Bike Nationals 2018 in Chennai. Photo by Anand Philar

    Chennai, 29 Aug 2018: The Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship organised by Madras Motor Sports Club (MMSC) resumes after a seven-week break with the fourth round at the MMRT track at Irungattukottai, near here from Friday. The bike races will be run concurrently with Formula 4 South-East Asia Championship, the only FIA event being held in India after Formula One left in 2013.

    In another welcome move which takes two-wheeler racing in the country to the next level, National championship sponsors MRF have decided to issue slick tyres to the Pro-Stock (165cc) category in addition to Super Sport Indian (165cc) class and the Pro-Stock 301-400cc category competitors who used these tyres in the previous round.

    The MRF slick tyres have been received well by the competitors whose performance graph moved upwards after changing from the normal tyres to slicks which afforded far better grip leading to higher cornering speed which in turn reflected in the lap timings.

    The premier Super Sport Indian (165cc) class will yet again be the main focus with Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing and TVS Racing riders locked in a titanic battle. Young Rajiv Sethu (Honda) heads the leaderboard with 70 points following a brilliant double in the previous round, ahead of TVS Racing’s defending champion Jagan Kumar (62) and his team-mate KY Ahamed (58).

    Gusto Racing riders, Amarnath Menon (72) and Satyanarayana Raju (61) are sitting pretty in the Pro-Stock 301-400cc class, having won between them three of the four races so far while Bengaluru-based Anish D Shetty (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing), with three wins in four starts, heads the Pro-Stock (165cc) category with 93 points, well clear of second-placed Kevin Kannan (60) of Rockers Racing.

    In the Novice class (Stock 165cc), which has again attracted over 50 entries, Sparks Racing’s Aditya Rao Immeneni and Karthik Mateti tied on 43 points with one win apiece while in the Girls (165cc) category, it has been an Ann Jennifer show with the Chennai-based Sparks Racing rider winning both the races so far to be firmly in front.

    The weekend will also see races for Novice riders in the Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup 2018 (CBR 150) organised by MMSC and the TVS One-Make Championship (Apache RTR 200) categories.

  • Mumbai’s Venkatesh Shetty wins JK Tyre Monsoon Scooter Rally

    Mumbai’s Venkatesh Shetty wins JK Tyre Monsoon Scooter Rally

    Avtar Singh in action in the JK Tyre Monsoon Rally in Nashik. A JK Tyre photo

    Nashik, 25 Aug 20018: Braving wet and slushy conditions, defending champion Venkatesh Shetty annexed the JK Tyre 29th Monsoon Scooter Rally title here on Saturday afternoon.

    The veteran rider from Mumbai completed the 5-kilometre loop thrice over in picturesque Sarul Village in just 19 minutes and 13 seconds.

    He was in his elements as he was the first to be flagged off. He needed just 6.13 minutes in his first run and 6.03 in the third; he recorded the fastest time, a sensational 5.57 minutes in the second run, making it the fastest time of the day.

    Cheered on by enthusiastic fans even as light rain lashed the mountainous terrain, Shetty showed amazing control, confidence and courage to tame the dirt track.

    Zeeshan Sayed, also from Mumbai, claimed the second place while TVS Racing’s Syed Asif Ali took third place, finishing the entire stretch in 21.36 and 22.19 respectively.

    The popular FMSCI-approved scooter rally, organised by Sportscraft and Powered by TVS Racing, had been shifted from Mumbai to Nashik at the last moment but still proved to be a huge success.

    As many as 34 riders from different parts of the country, including Mumbai, Pune, Bhopal, Vadodara, Raigad, Panvel and Nashik took part.

    There were two lady riders too who enjoyed the challenge of wading through massive pools of water.

    Two teams, Aprilia and TVS, fielded their teams too to underline that scooter rallying retains its charm.

    “I am very happy that we managed to pull off the rally. We barely had

    10 days to put everything in place after our original venue had to be abandoned due to reasons beyond our control,” Shrikant Karani, the well-known organiser, said. “The competitors showed faith in our event and came over to Nashik and rode brilliantly to the delight of the local fans. The local association and the entire city gave us a lot of support,” he added.

    Aprilia’s Pinkes Thakkar, among the early favourites, will count himself unlucky as he had to pull out of the rally when he was comfortably placed behind the leader. Some debris flew into his eye in the second loop and he had no other option but to retire.

    The winners were rewarded with trophies and cash awards.

    Provisional Results: Overall Winners: 1. Venkatesh Shetty; 2. Zeeshan Sayed; 3. Syed Asif Ali

    Above 80cc Upto 110 CC – S1  —   2 Stroke (Group B): 1. Rohan Thakur; 2. Nilesh Thakare; 3. Mohasin Shaikh

    Scooter Above 110cc Upto160 CC S2 — Geared Scooter (Group B): 1.

    Manjit Singh Bassan; 2. Chinmay Bisht; 3. Vicky Jaskaransingh

    Scooter 80cc To 210cc  (S-1 to S-3)  — 4 Stroke (Group B): 1.

    Venkatesh Shetty; 2. Zeeshan Sayed; 3. Syed Asif Ali

    Ladies Class -Open (Group B): 1. Amruta Guruji; 2. Priyanka Singh

    Best performance by a first timer In two-wheeler rally: 1. Niraj Wanjale; 2. Saddam Hussain Vanniyar; 3. Sachin Khengle

  • Muddappa gets triple; Ramachander hogs limelight: National Drag Racing Championship

    Muddappa gets triple; Ramachander hogs limelight: National Drag Racing Championship

    Hemant Muddappa (left) and Vivek Ramachander who topped among bikes and cars, respectively (Photo by Anand Philar)

    Chennai, 19 Aug 2018: Hemant Muddappa from Bengaluru yet again scored a triple in the MMSC fmsci Indian National Drag Racing Championship for two-wheelers at the MMRT here on Sunday. Muddappa topped in the Unrestricted, 1051cc and Above, and 851-1050cc classes.

    In the four-wheeler category, another Bengalurean, Vivek Ramachander (Tune O Tronics) emerged the fastest as he took the honours in the Unrestricted class besides winning the Indian Open (Stock Body).

    The results:

    4-Wheelers – Unrestricted: 1. Vivek Ramachander (Tune O Tronics, Bengaluru) (12.953secs); 2. Shubho Ghosh (Tune O Tronics, Bengaluru) (13.059); 3. Radha Selvaraj (Chennai) (13.309). Indian Open (Altered Body): 1. Jayanth V (Tune O Tronics, Bengaluru) (13.251); 2. Radha Selvaraj (Chennai) (13.264). Indian Open (Stock Body): 1. Vivek Ramachander (Tune O Tronics, Bengaluru) (12.999); 2. Shubho Ghosh (Tune O Tronics, Bengaluru) (15.002); 3. D Ashwin (Tune O Tronics, Chennai) (15.187). Indian Touring Cars: 1. Kasha Sai (Arka Motorsports, Salem) (16.076).

    2-Wheelers (4-Stroke) – Unrestricted: 1. Hemant Muddappa (Bengaluru) (8.115); 2. Anosh Khumbatta (Mumbai) (8.796); 3. Hafizullah Khan (Bengaluru) (8.977). 1051cc and Above: 1. Hemant Muddappa (Bengaluru) (8.369); 2. Anosh Khumbatta (Pune) (8.881); 3. Hafizullah Khan (Bengaluru) (9.490). 851-1050cc: 1. Hemant Muddappa (Bengaluru) (8.305). 361-550cc: Deepak S (Bengaluru) (12.515); 2. Mohammed Rafiq (Bengaluru) (12.858); 3. Harshil Thakur (Mumbai) (12.930).

    226-360cc: Shankar Guru (13.963); 2. Shahinsha R (16.251); 3. Ahamed Vasin (16.458) (all Chennai). 166-225cc: Deepak S (Bengaluru) (14.194); 2. Faraaz Akhter (14.341); 3. Rayyan Sheikh (14.407). Upto 165cc: 1. Jagan Kumar (Chennai) (14.648); 2. Aravind Ganesh (Chennai) (14.712); 3. Gowtham R (Bengaluru) (15.491). Upto 165cc: 1. Aravind Ganesh (Chennai) (14.712); 2. Shanker Guru (Chennai) (15.701); 3. Kaleem Pasha (Bengaluru) (18.911).

    2-Stroke –131-165cc: Hussain Khan (Mumbai) (12.653); 2. Kaleem Pasha (Bengaluru) (13.241); 3. Syed Naeem (Bengaluru) (13.589). Upto 130cc: 1. Hussain Khan (Mumbai) (13.436); 2. Kaleem Pasha (Bengaluru) (13.467); 3. D Suresh Kumar (Chennai) (13.866).

  • Maiden MRF F1600 win Bengaluru for teenager Yash Aradhya: Indian Racing Nationals

    Maiden MRF F1600 win Bengaluru for teenager Yash Aradhya: Indian Racing Nationals

    Yash Aradhya (centre), winner of Race-3 in MRF F1600 class flanked by second-placed Goutham Parekh (left) and Raghul Rangasamy at MMRT on Sunday. Photos by Anand Philar

    Chennai, 19 Aug 2018: The schoolboy from Bengaluru Yash Aradhya marked his first season in the MRF F1600 class with a maiden win in the fourth round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship at the MMRT here on Sunday.

    Aradhya, who celebrated his 17th birthday last Friday, started Race-3 from third position on the grid, but within two laps, hit the front, getting past pole-sitter Goutham Parekh and Sandeep Kumar before defending his position to score a fine win. Earlier, Parekh comfortably won the in Race-2 of the MRF F1600.

    After this weekend’s triple-header, Raghul Rangasamy (134), following his win in Race-1 yesterday, leads the MRF F1600 championship, ahead of Parekh (129), Ashwin Datta (110) and Sandeep Kumar (109). The winner of the championship will earn a ticket to the Mazda Road To Indy shootout in the United States later this year.

    Arjun Narendran, the eventual winner of the Indian Touring Cars race (14) and Arjun Balu (39) locked in a tussle

    The second race of the Indian Touring Cars class witnessed another tight battle between last year’s champion Arjun Narendran (Arka Motorsports) and Arjun Balu (Race Concepts). The two Coimbatore drivers were locked in a titanic fight with Narendran, who had finished second behind Balu in yesterday’s first race, managing to avenge that defeat, but not before the two came together twice in the eight-lap race. Balu, who led initially after starting from pole position, ran wide after a contact with Narendran who then survived another brush towards the end of the race.

    With another two races to be run in the final round of the championship next month, Bengaluru’s Ashish Ramaswamy (Arka Motorsports) continues to lead with 131 points following two podium finishes this weekend while Balu is placed second on 111, followed by Nikanth Ram of Arka Motorsports (98) and Narendran (93).

    Another Bengaluru entry, 27-year old Varun Anekar completed a double in the Super Stock category of saloon cars to lead the championship in this category with five wins in six starts. Nikunj Vagh (Surat) and Biren Pithawalla (Mumbai) of Team N1, won the Indian Junior Touring Cars and the Esteem Cup races, respectively.

    Bengaluru’s Shubhomoy Ball and Dhruv Mohite from Kolhapur, split the two Volkswagen Ameo Cup races today. Mohite, thus, extended his lead in the championship, having scored five wins from eight starts.

    The results (Provisional, all 8 laps unless mentioned):

    MRF F1600 (Race-2, 7 laps): 1. Goutham Parekh (Chennai) (11mins, 55.958secs); 2.Sandeep Kumar (Chennai) (11:59.036); 3. Arya Singh (Kolkata) (11:59.807). Race-3: 1. Yash Aradhya (Bengaluru) (13:38.672); 2. Goutham Parekh (Chennai) (13:39.045); 3. Raghul Rangasamy (Chennai) (13:39.335).

    Indian Touring Cars (Race-2): 1. Arjun Narendran (Arka Motorsports) (15:18.697); 2. Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) (15:18.972); 3. Ashish Ramaswamy (Arka Motorsports) (15:27.011).

    Turbo (Race-2): 1. Karthik Tharani (VW Motorsport) (15:26.584); 2.Rayomand Banajee (VW Motorsport) (15:40.368); 3.Ishaan Dodhiwala (VW Motorsport) (15:48.720).

    Super Stock (Race-2): 1. Varun Anekar (Race Concepts) (15:47.827); 2.Srinivas Teja (Performance Racing) (16:25.497); 3. RP Rajarajan (Performance Racing) (16:25.743).

    Indian Junior Touring Cars (Race-2): 1. Nikunj Vagh (Team N1) (16:46.717). 2. Chris Desouza (Unimek Racing ) (16:59.674); 3. Prabu AS (Arka Motorsports) (17:22.050).

    Esteem Cup (Race-2): 1. Biren Pithawala (Team N1) (16:45.958); 2. Raghul Rangasamy (Performance Racing) (16:56.231); 3. R Shyam (Prime Racing) (17:22.349).

    Volkswagen Ameo Cup (Race-2): 1. Shubhomoy Ball (Bengaluru) (15:40.496); 2.Affan Sadat Safwan Islam (Chittagong) (15:41.536); 3. Dhruv Mohite (Kolhapur) (15:41.784). Race-3: 1. Dhruv Mohite (Kolhapur) (15:38.206); 2. Saurav Bandyopadhyay (Mumbai) (15:45.963); 3. Shubhomoy Ball (Bengaluru) (15:48.007).

  • Raghul Rangasamy, Arjun Balu battle to victories; Sohil takes LGB1300 championship lead

    Raghul Rangasamy, Arjun Balu battle to victories; Sohil takes LGB1300 championship lead


    Raghul Rangasamy, on way to MRF F1600 race victory in Round 4 of the National Racing Championship on Saturday. Photos by Anand Philar

    Chennai, 18 Aug 2018: Raghul Rangasamy converted his pole position into a commanding victory to head the MRF F1600 class leaderboard in the fourth round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship at the MMRT, here on Saturday.

    As well as 25-year old Rangasamy drove, the spotlight also fell on Coimbatore’s Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) who won a tight and thrilling race in the high-end Indian Touring Cars class while his team-mate Varun Anekar from Bengaluru who started ninth and from the pit-lane, finished first in the Super Stock category.


    Sohil Shah of Bangalore takes championship lead in the FLGB1300 class winning a race and a second place on Saturday. An INDIAinF1 photo.

    The Formula LGB 1300 double-header produced two different winners in Ashwin Datta (Momentum Motorsports) from Chennai and Sohil Shah (M Sport) from Bengaluru. The results put Shah at the top of the championship standings in this class with a tally of 126 points to Datta’s 123 with the third title contender Nabil Hussain (M Sport), also from Chennai, on 117, going into the final round next month.

    Rangasamy of Mamallapuram moved past championship leader Ashwin Datta who finished a distant eighth. Ahead of the two races to be run tomorrow, Rangasamy has 109 points to Datta’s 100. The championship winner at the end of the season, earns a ticket to the Mazda Road To Indy shootout in the United States this winter.

    Summing up his win, Rangasamy said:“I started thinking what I would say at the post-race interview and stuff like that. As my thoughts wandered, so did the pace. Suddenly, I saw Sandeep Kumar (who finished second) catching up and it woke me up! I am absolutely exhausted! I am not a gym person like others drivers. I reacted a bit late to the lights at the start, but otherwise, it was a good launch and I quickly built up a big lead.”

    The day also belonged to Arjun Balu who scored his third lights-to-flag victory of the season in the ITC category, holding off last year’s champion Arjun Narendran (Arka Motorsport), also from Coimbatore, in a heart-stopping eight-lap race. The duo dueled hard and in the sixth lap, Narendran made a move on the outside at Turn-4. The pair made contact and Narendran ran wide which gave Balu the respite to take a firm lead to the finish.

    Arjun Balu (No.39) on way to winning the Indian Touring Cars class race on Aug 18.

    Balu said: “It was a tough race right through. Arjun was on my tail for much of the race, but I managed to soak up the pressure. In the latter half of the race, he caught up and tried to pass me on the outside at Turn-4, but we made contact. He went a bit wide and I managed to keep my lead to the finish line.”

    The win took Balu to second on the leaderboard with 93 points while Narendran, who missed two rounds, is on 68 while Bengaluru’s Ashish Ramaswamy (Arka Motorsport) who finished third today, continues to lead with 116 points, going into tomorrow’s Race-2.

    Dhruv Mohite from Kolhapur notched his fourth win in six starts in the Volkswagen Ameo Cup race ahead of Saurav Bandyopadhyay (Mumbai) and Jeet Jhabakh (Hyderabad).

    The results (Provisional, all 8 laps unless mentioned):

    MRF F1600 (Race-1): 1. Raghul Rangasamy (Mamallapuram) (13mins, 36.906secs); 2. Sandeep Kumar (Chennai) (13:39.058); 3. Nirmal Uma Shanker (13:43.654).

    Formula LGB 1300 (Race-1): S Ashwin Datta (Momentum Motorsport) (15:20.086); 2. Sohil Shah (M Sport) (15:21.981); 3. Deepak Ravikumar (DTS Racing) (15:29.673). Race-2: 1. Sohil Shah (M Sport) (17:33.648); 2.A Balaprasath (DTS Racing) (17:34.089); 3. S Ashwin Datta (Momentum Motorsports) (17:34.455).

    Indian Touring Cars (Race-1): Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) (15:13.033); 2. Arjun Narendran (Arka Motorsport) (15:13.987); 3. Ashish Ramaswamy (Arka Motorsport) (15:27.015). Turbo (Race-1): 1. Karthik Tharani (Chennai) (15:23.854); 2. Rayomand Banajee (Mumbai) (15:38.143); 3. Ishan Dodhiwala (Hyderabad) (15:39.252).

    Super Stock (Race-1): 1. Varun Anekar (Race Concepts) (16:14.596); 2. Deepak Ravikumar (Infinite Piston) (16:27.106); 3. Srinivas Teja (Performance Racing) (16:44.359).

    Indian Junior Touring Cars (Race-1): 1. Prabhu AS (Arka Motorspor) (17:06.590); 2. Nikunj Vagh (Team N1) (17:18.579); 3. Chris Desouza (Unimek Racing) (17:29.153).

    Esteem Cup (Race-1): 1. Raghul Rangasamy (Performance  Racing) (16:51.582); 2. Vinod Subramaniam (Team N1) (17:01.644); 3. Biren PIthawalla (Team N1) (17:01.645);

    Volkswagen Ameo Cup (Race-1): 1. Dhruv Mohite (Kolhapur) (15:38.719); 2. Saurav Bandyopadhyay (Mumbai) (15:43.499); 3. Jeet Jhabakh (Hyderabad) (15:43.879).

  • Pole for Raghul Rangasamy in MRF F1600: MRF MMSC Racing Nationals

    Pole for Raghul Rangasamy in MRF F1600: MRF MMSC Racing Nationals

    Raghul Rangasamy, who took pole position in the MRF F1600 class at MMRT on Friday. Photos by Anand Philar

    Chennai, 17 Aug 2018: Raghul Rangasamy from the nearby temple town of Mamallapuram, took a big step towards realising his dream of earning a ticket to the Mazda Road To Indy shootout in the United States later this year, by grabbing his first pole of the current season in the MRF F1600 class as the fourth round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship got underway at the MMRT, here on Friday.

    “As I am already 25, this is my last chance to make it to the Mazda Road To Indy shootout and I am giving it everything I have,” said Rangasamy, referring to the upper age limit for participation in shootout whose winner is eligible for a scholarship of USD 200,000.

    Rangasamy, who is currently second in the championship, just 12 points adrift of leader Ashwin Datta, clocked one minute, 39.828 seconds, ahead of Sandeep Kumar (01:40.028) and Kolkata’s Arya Singh (01:40.268). Datta, who had started the season with a triple in the first round, had a poor qualifying session and will start the first race tomorrow from eighth position on the grid after clocking 01:41.010.

    Reflecting on his qualifying run, Rangasamy said: “I used the tyre strategy to my advantage by doing a couple of hot laps and then cooling off in the pits before going out again. Today, it worked well for me.”

    Nabil Hussain, who took pole position in the Formula LGB 1300 on Friday. Photo by Anand Philar

    Earlier, Chennai’s Nabil Hussain (MSport), who heads the Formula LGB 1300 leaderboard, also qualified for pole position in his category with a hot lap of 01:53.679 followed by Ashwin Datta, also from Chennai, of Momentum Motorsports (01:53.705) and Bengaluru’s Sohil Shah of MSport (01:54.279).

    Also grabbing pole position in their respective categories were: Varun Anekar of Race Concepts (Super Stock), Nikhunj Vagh of Team N1 (Indian Junior Touring Cars) and Raghul Rangasamy  of Performance Racing (Esteem Cup).

    Meanwhile, last year’s champion Arjun Narendran (Arka Motorsports) from Coimbatore, was the quickest in the Free Practice session for high-end Indian Touring Cars as he clocked a best of 01:52.812 ahead of Saturday’s qualifying run.

    Kolhapur’s Dhruv Mohite (01:54.959), who tops the Volkswagen Ameo Cup leaderboard, took pole position ahead of his nearest rival Saurav Bandyopadhyay of Mumbai (01:55.719).

    The results (Qualifying):

    MRF F1600: 1. Raghul Rangaswamy (Chennai) 1 min, 39.828 sec; 2. Sandeep Kumar (Chennai) (01:40.028); 3. Arya Singh (Kolkata) (01:40.268)..

    Formula LGB 1300: 1. Nabil Hussain (M Sport) (01:53.679); 2. S Ashwin Datta (Momentum Motorsports) (01:53.705); 3. Sohil Shah (M Sport) (01:54.279)

    Super Stock: 1. Varun Anekar (Race Concepts) (01:56.579); 2.Srinivas Teja (Performance Racing) (02:01.802); 3. RP Rajarajan (Performance Racing) (02:01.818).

    Indian Junior Touring Cars: 1. Nikunj Vagh (Team N1) (02:04.564); 2. Prabu AS (Arka Motorsport) (02:04.641); 3. Chris DeSouza (Unimek Racing) (02:05.718).

    Esteem Cup: 1. Raghul Rangasamy (Performance Racing) (02:02.399); 2. Vinod Subramaniam (Team 1) (02:03.119); 3.Biren Pithawala (Team N1) (02:03.718).

    Volkswagen Ameo Cup: 1. Dhruv Mohite (Kolhapur) (01:54.959); 2. Saurav Bandyopadhyay (Mumbai) (01:55.719); 3.Pratik Sonawane (Pune) (01:55.774).

  • MRF MMSC Indian Racing Nationals enter crucial phase: 4th Round at MMRT from Friday

    MRF MMSC Indian Racing Nationals enter crucial phase: 4th Round at MMRT from Friday

    File photo of Formula LGB races at MMRT this season. Photo by Anand Philar

    Chennai, 16 Aug 2018: Teenage sensation Ashwin Datta who began the season with a bank winning all the races in the first round, will look to guard his narrow lead at the top in the MRF 1600 class as the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship resumes amidst mounting excitement and expectations as crucial fourth round starts at the MMRT here on Friday.

    The chase for titles in various categories gets more frenetic than ever while the front-runners keep an eye on the leaderboard. Every point won will be worth its weight in gold.

    The weekend card has races in the MRF F1600, saloon cars (Indian Touring Cars, Super Stock, Indian Junior Touring Cars and Esteem Cup), and the Formula LGB 1300 besides the Volkswagen Ameo Cup, a one-make championship. Also being run is the Indian National Drag Racing Championship, post-lunch on Saturday and Sunday, for both two-wheelers and cars.

    The season, so far, has been so topsy-turvy that Chennai teenager Ashwin Datta (96 points), despite three wins on the trot in the MRF F1600 class, is only 12 ahead of Mamallapuram’s Raghul Rangasamy.

    The previous round witnessed three different winners – Rangasamy, Gowtham Parekh (68) and Sandeep Kumar (67) – in the triple-header. With the championship winner in this category eligible for a ticket to the Mazda Road To Indy shootout in the United States, an MMSC initiative, the title contenders have everything to play for. The winner of the shootout is eligible for a scholarship of USD 200,000.

    The situation in other categories is no different. Bengaluru’s Ashish Ramaswamy (101) leads his Arka Motorsports team-mate from Coimbatore Nikanth Ram (84) in the premier Indian Touring Cars class that has seen some high-quality driving. If Ramaswamy started the season with a double in the first round, veteran Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) marked his return to racing by winning both the races in the next round while defending champion Arjun Narendran (Arka Motorsports) emulated the feat in the third round. Balu (68) and Narendran (50) are placed fourth and fifth, respectively, behind another veteran from Coimbatore B Vijayakumar of Prime Racing (78).

    A mere half-a-point separate leader Srinivasa Teja (Performance Racing) and Varun Anekar (Race Concepts) in the Super Stock category while Vinod Subramaniam (73.5) of Team N1 leads Rangasamy (68) of Performance Racing in the Esteem Cup and Prabhu AS (62) of Arka Motorsports is ahead of Chrys D’Souza (59) of Unimek Racing in the Indian Junior Touring Cars.

    Equally competitive has been the Formula LGB 1300 class which is developing into a three-cornered battle involving Nabil Hussain (MSport) who heads the leaderboard with 95 points followed by Ashwin Datta (Momentum Motorsports) and Sohil Shah (MSport) who are tied second with 83 apiece.

    Kolhapur’s Dhruv Mohite, with three wins in five starts, leads the Volkswagen Ameo Cup with 220 points but needs all the points he can to stay ahead of Saurav Bandyopadhyay (214) from Mumbai and Hyderabad’s Jeet Jhabakh (204) who have won one race apiece.