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Tag: Arjun Balu
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Arjun Balu sets National record for saloon cars on way to his10th National title
Chennai, 12 Feb. 2022: Celebrated racing driver Arjun Balu of Coimbatore, driving an amazing Race Concepts Honda City VTech tuned by Joel Joseph of Bengaluru lit up the Madras Race Track with a stunning Indian record in the Qualifying session and went on to post an easy victory to clinch his tenth Indian National title on the second day of the three-day fourth and final round of the MRF MMSC fmscil Indian National Car Racing Championship 2021 at the renamed Madras Race Track, about 40 km from here, on Saturday.
It was a mixed day of skilled experience and youthful exuberance at the Madras Motor Sports Club promoted Car Racing Nationals as another teenager Suriya Varathan, also from Coimbatore notched up, a hard-fought victory with a display of his maturity as a driver and kept at bay an advancing Shahan Ali Mohsin. Meanwhile, championship leader Chirag Ghorpade finished third, losing three points of his lead to Mohsin. The later two are fighting for the MRF F1600 title with two races still remaining in the season on Sunday. Fahad Kutty also clinched the Saloon cars title in the one-make Toyota Etios series with a race to spare as his team Redline Racing dominated the day. The 18-year old Varathan is a former Karting National champion.
Thus, Balu, the experienced racing ace, dubbed as the ‘Gentleman of Indian Motorsports’ proved once again that one need not indulge in dirty racing to win a title. He may have lost many a deserving National Championship to such tactics in the past but the clean-and-safe driver whose dedication and sincerity stood him in good stead all these decades in sport, notched up his 10th National Championship crown winning the premier Indian Touring Cars (ITC) class Championship and the in the process the Arjun-Joel magic combination broke another National record for four-door cars. Amit Arora of Madras Motor Sports Club confirmed the circuit record set today by Arjun Balu in saloon cars during the qualifying session. Arjun timed the fastest lap 1min 49.023seconds.
Arjun Balu who made his motorsports debut in 1992, started in Indian National Rally Championship with a Gypsy in 1994 and matured into a multi-faceted motorsport personality bringing laurels both for the country and himself, in both racing and rallying.
Balu, the 47-year old defending champion, qualified for pole in the morning by setting a lap record of one minute, 49.023 seconds in a Honda City, chalked up his fifth win of the season beating his own circuit record of 1:49.860 set in Feb 2020.
On Saturday, another impressive drive came from Nellore’s Viswas Vijayaraj (DTS Racing) who won the Formula LGB 1300 race in style, ahead of two Momentum Motorsport rivals, championship leader Tijil Rao from Bengaluru and local ace Deepak Ravikumar. Teenager Tijil consolidated his position on the leaderboard and requires only 12 points from the last race to be run on Sunday, to clinch the title in this category.
Meanwhile, Mumbai’s 38-year old Fahad Kutty (Redline Racing) recorded his fourth win of the season in the MRF Saloon Cars (Toyota Etios) category to seal the championship in this class. His team-mate Anand Prasad from Chennai, returning to active racing after a 14-year break, took the honours in the second race of the day.
Ghaziabad’s Anmol Singh Sahil roared to his second consecutive win in the Volkswagen Polo category, but Sandeep Kumar (Chennai), with a third place finish behind Pune’s Oshan Kothadiya, continues to lead the championship, enjoying a healthy 61-point advantage with two more races to be run on Sunday.
Varathan drove brilliantly in the eight-lap MRF F1600 race starting from pole despite being constantly harried by Agra youngster Shahan Ali Mohsin and Bengaluru’s Chirag Ghorpade. He not only survived the close attention but also a Safety Car period following an on-track incident, which left the drivers with a three-lap sprint to the finish. “I had won the first race of the season, but suffered a crash thereafter which shook my confidence. However, I had some good practice and test sessions in the car and managed to put it all together today,” said Varathan who is currently placed third in the championship behind Shahan Ali and Chirag Ghorpade.
Balu, on the other hand, left nothing to chance as he was quick off the line from pole and built up a massive lead for a comfortable win. “It is certainly great to win the championship. It has been a very challenging season as the team had to deal with a lot of issues. However, I am happy at the way the car performed for which I thank the entire Race Concepts team for working on it for long hours. And yes, the record lap in the qualies was as satisfying,” said Balu who moved to 79 points for an insurmountable lead over his nearest rival, Hyderabad’s Jeet Jhabakh, with a maximum of 12.5 points on offer in the final race of the season.
Provisional results (all 8 laps unless mentioned):
MRF Formula 1600 (Race-1): 1. Suriya Varathan (Coimbatore) (17mins, 29.252secs); 2. Shahan Ali Mohsin (Agra) (17:29.511); 3. Chirag Ghorpade (Bengaluru) (17:30.188).
Indian Touring Cars (Race-1): 1. Arjun Balu (Race Concepts, Coimbatore) (15:16.979); 2. Jeet Jhabakh (Rayo Racing, Hyderabad) (15:25.150); 3. Ishaan Dodhiwala (Rayo Racing, Hyderabad) (15:26.345).
Indian Junior Touring Cars (Race-1): 1. Varun Anekar (Race Concepts, Bengaluru) (15:50.484); 2. Hatim Shabbir Jamnagarwala (Performance Racing, Chennai) (16:18.581); 3. K Srinivas Teja (Performance Racing, Chennai) (16:25.152).
Super Stock (Race-1): 1. RP Raja Rajan (Performance Racing, Chennai) (16:13.456); 2. Deepak Ravikumar (Performance Racing, Chennai) (16:13.947); 3. Rithvik Thomas (Race Concepts, Bengaluru) (16:15.609).
Formula LGB 1300 (Race-1): 1. Viswas Vijayaraj (DTS Racing, Nellore) (15:22.116); 2. Tijil Rao (Momentum Motorsports, Bengaluru) (15:22.553); 3. Deepak Ravikumar (Momentum Motorsports, Chennai) (15:23.275).
Volkswagen Polo (Race-1): 1. Anmol Singh Sahil (Ghaziabad) (15:58.466); 2. Oshan Kothadiya (Pune) (15:58.852); 3. Sandeep Kumar (Chennai) (15:59.430).
MRF Saloon Cars (Toyota Etios) Race-1: 1. Fahad Kutty (Redline Racing, Mumbai) (16:39.303); 2. Anand Prasad (Redline Racing, Chennai) (16:39.677); 3. Justin Singh (Redline Racing, Delhi) (16:46.523). Race-2 (10 laps): 1. Anand Prasad (Redline Racing, Chennai) (20:59.670); 2. Angad Matharoo (Redline Racing, Chandigarh) (21:05.286); 3. Zahan Commissariat (Redline Racing, Mumbai) (21:08.907).
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Arjun Balu to rely on pure talent and skill to defend title
Chennai, 9 Feb. 2022: Veteran gentleman of motorsports Arjun Balu is raring to go and is looking to defend his National title in the prestigeous Indian Touring Cars class as four-wheeler competitors in other classes too are gunning for titles in the MRF MMSC fmsci National Car Racing Championship 2021, the fourth and final round to be held, near here, at the MMRT from February 11 to 13.
Despite myraid ugly tactics on the track, Arjun Balu won the National Championship last year after narrowly losing to similar tactics a year earlier in 2019. This year too, the gentle giant, withstood such dirty tricks to let his driving and skill talk on the track.
Drivers drive to win! But in ITC class a few of the “team drivers” have been driving to prevent a leading driver from winning. The class has seen some dirty driving in the last few years. Chennai’s Deepak Ravikumar of Performance Racing has sealed the National title in the Super Stock Class with a round to spare as he took an unbeatable lead after five wins from six starts. The championship in two other saloon cars classes – the Indian Touring Cars and Indian Junior Touring Cars – is still wide open. In the MRF 1600cc Class, Chirag Ghorpade will be looking to halt the advancing Shahan Ali Mohsin.
These youngsters, have made a mark in the premier MRF Formula 1600 category and title fight narrowed to these two teenagers. Bengaluru’s Chirag has 153 points (2 wins) and Shahan Ali Mohsin from Agra has rallied brilliantly after a bad weekend to garner 140 points with 4 wins. The two are best-placed to win the championship. However, Rishon Rajeev (110), also from Bengaluru, has an outside chance alond with Coimbatore’s K Suriyavarathan (105, one win). These two cannot be discounted since a maximum of 75 points are available from three races and it all depends on the day’s form besides other conditions.
Experienced Coimbatore driver Arjun Balu of Race Concepts, a private team will be fighting with VW factory-supported drivers. Balu heads the table in the ITC class and leads Rayo Racing’s Jeet Jhabakh by 18.5 points with a maximum of 25 points to be had from the double-header. Another Coimbatore racer, Charen Chandran is ahead of Chennai’s Hatim Shabbir Jamnagarwala of Performance Racing by 13.5 points in the Indian Junior Touring Cars (IJTC) class going into the final round.
In the Formula LGB 1300 category, the race for the title is poised on a knife-edge. Two Momentum Motorsport team-mates, Tijil Rao (85) from Bengaluru, Deepak Ravikumar (72), head the championship table, ahead of Nellore’s Viswas Vijayaraj (DTS Racing, 64), Ruhaan Alva (MSport, 59) from Bengaluru, and Kolkata racer Arya Singh (DTS Racing, 58), all having a realistic shot at the title with a maximum of 50 points to be won.
Chennai’s Sandeep Kumar and Fahad Kutty from Mumbai currently head the points table in the Volkswagen Polo and MRF Saloon Cars (Toyota Etios) categories, both of which are triple-headers.
Ajit Thomas, President of promoters Madras Motor Sports Club, said: “Due to the Covid-19 situation, we could not offer five rounds to the four-wheeler competitions, but the action thus far has been quite exciting with close races. Given the pandemic, it is still heartening that the response has been fairly good with many youngsters, after graduating from karting, are already making their presence felt at this level. And surely, the concluding round this weekend will throw up its share of excitement and surprises. We also salute our sponsors, MRF Tyres, for their unstinted support to the championship.”
There will be live streaming of the races on Facebook and the MMSC website.
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Chirag Ghorpade, Arjun Balu set hot pace: Indian car racing Nationals
Chennai, 20 Jan 2022: Chirag Ghorpade, the schoolboy from Bengaluru, and Coimbatore veteran Arjun Balu lit up the free practice sessions with some serious pace to kick-start the third round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship 2021 at the MMRT, here on Thursday.
Chirag, who heads the championship table, topped the two practice sessions in the premier MRF F1600 category with a best lap of one minute, 39.950 while his closest rival, teenager Shahan Ali Mohsin from Agra, posted the second best of 01:40.018 as the talented duo seemed to be heading for a close battle for honours in the triple-header to be run over the next two days.
On the other hand, veteran Arjun Balu, piloting the Race Concepts-prepared Honda VTec, was in a league of his own in the Indian Touring Cars category. He was about a couple of seconds quicker than his nearest rivals, the Rayo Racing pair from Hyderabad, Jeet Jhabakh and Ishaan Dodhiwala, both driving the Volkswagen Polo. Balu’s best laps in the two practice sessions were 01:51.211 in the morning and 01:50.768 in FP2.
Bengaluru’s Varun Anekar (Race Concepts) and Performance Racing’s Deepak Ravikumar from Chennai, set the fastest laps in the Indian Junior Touring Cars and Super Stock categories, respectively.
Earlier, two teenagers from Bengaluru, Tijil Rao (Momentum Motorsport) and Ruhaan Alva (MSport) topped the two practice sessions in the Formula LGB 1300 category. Tijil was the fastest on the day, clocking a best lap of 01:51.242 in FP1, but was only third quickest in 01:51.886 in the next session. Ruhaan topped FP2 with a lap of 01:51.511, an improvement of over two seconds on his FP1 best of 01:53.700.
In the 22-car Volkswagen Polo category, local challenger Sandeep Kumar set the fastest time of 01:55.657 over two sessions as he seeks to consolidate his position at the top of the leaderboard in this class.
Haryana’s Justin Singh put in the quickest lap of the day in the MRF Saloon Cars (Toyota Etios) with a 02:03.391.
The qualifying sessions for all categories followed by five races will be run on Saturday.
About Madras Motor Sports Club
Since its humble beginnings in 1953, the Madras Motor Sports Club has grown in stature as the hub of motorsport activity in India. Having moved its racing activities from Sholavaram to its present location, the MMRT circuit in Sriperumbudur in 1979, MMSC has kept pace with changing times by upgrading facilities. At a cost of about Rs 20 Crore, the MMSC built a pit complex comprising 20 garages, VIP hospitality suites and a viewing gallery, on the eastern side, apart from a second Paddock on the western side with its own short circuit. Parallelly, MMSC imported timing equipment specifically for Drag racing. The Control Room too was upgraded with state-of-the-art hardware while the track itself was improved to meet the exacting FIA standards for Grade-2 certification. MMSC also constructed a 500-capacity grand stand with provision for garages / storage below. In another upgrade, the MMSC purchased Digi flags from TAG Heuer Chronolec that will be positioned strategically around the track. The facilities are also extensively used by various vehicle manufacturers for testing their products, displays and corporate days.
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Double for Arjun Balu, Charen Chandran; Ghorpade wins
Chennai, 12 Dec.2021: Coimbatore veteran Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) and Chirag Ghorpade, the schoolboy from Bengaluru, lit up the second round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship 2021 with dominating performances in their respective categories on a rain-marred Sunday at the MMRT here.
Chirag, who had won the first race in the MRF F1600 category on Saturday, topped the third today of the triple-header after local teenager Dillon Zacharaiah took the honours in the second outing for his maiden win in this class.
Balu, the 47-year old ace from Coimbatore, brought into play all his vast experience to complete a double in the premier Indian Touring Cars class after starting from P3 (reverse grid) in a “wet race” following a bout of heavy showers in the afternoon. Having won the first race yesterday, Balu, started behind two Rayo Racing polos of Anindith Reddy and Jeet Jhabakah and, played a waiting game before getting a jump on the two Hyderabad drivers for another brilliant win.
Earlier, Dillon, 18, drove a fine race starting from P2 on the reverse grid, to notch his maiden win in this class from a fast finishing Suriyavarathan (Coimbatore) and Viswas Vijayaraj (Nellore).
Late in the evening, with light fast fading, Ghorpade scored a lights-to-flag win to complete a double, in a race that was reduced to six laps from the scheduled eight. Agra’s Shahan Ali Mohsin, who finished second, was later docked a 10-second penalty for speeding in the pitlane which pushed him to sixth. The penalty moved Nellore’s Viswas Vijayaraj to second place and Ashwin Datta (Chennai) to third.
Reflecting on his double and scoring his third win in four starts, Balu said: “A very special drive today. The odds were against me with two VW Polo cars in front and the conditions very tricky. But I had the confidence that I could pass both the cars and I thought I read the track conditions very well. Yes, a textbook drive it was.”
Also achieving a double was Coimbatore’s private entrant Charen Chandran who won both the races in the Super Stock category while Rithvik Thomas (Race Concepts) from Bengaluru ended Deepak Ravikumar’s (Performance Racing) winning streak in the Indian Junior Touring Cars class by winning Race-2 today.
Salem’s Sai Sanjay and Ritesh Rai (Chennai) won a race apiece in the Volkswagen Polo category double-header after surviving tight finishes.
The seasoned Chennai driver Raghul Rangasamy (Quest Motorsport) took the honours in the Formula LGB 1300 race from P5 start ahead of Bengaluru’s Tijil Rao (Momentum Motorsport) and Viswas Vijayaraj (DTS Racing) from Nellore.
Mumbai’s Fahad Kutty completed a profitable weekend as he won two of the three races and finished on podium in the other in the MRF Saloon Cars category.
The day’s programme was delayed due to bursts of rains overnight and this morning, but the track dried up quickly later in bright sunshine. The post-lunch session too was affected by sudden showers leading to some races being declared as “wet race”.
The results (Provisional – all 8 laps unless mentioned):
MRF F1600 (Race-2): 1. Dillon Zacharaiah (Chennai) (16mins, 37.473secs); 2. Suriyavarathan (Coimbatore) (16:37.844); 3. Viswas Vijayaraj (Nellore) (16:38.344). Race-3 (6 laps): 1. Chirag Ghorpade (Bengaluru) (10:37.982); 2. Viswas Vijayaraj (Nellore) (10:45.318); 3. Ashwin Datta (Chennai) (10:45.995).
Indian Touring Cars (Race-2): 1. Arjun Balu (Race Concepts, Coimbatore) (17:00.366); 2. Jeet Jhabakh (Rayo Racing, Hyderabad) (17:09.508); 3. Anindith Reddy (Rayo Racing, Hyderabad) (17:09.774).
Super Stock (Race-2): 1. Rithvik Thomas (Race Concepts, Bengaluru) (18:32.647); 2. Deepak Ravikumar (Performance Racing, Chennai) (18:33.644); 3. RP Raja Rajan (Performance Racing, Chennai) (18:50.454).
Indian Junior Touring Cars (Race-2): 1. Charen Chandran (Pvt, Coimbatore) (18:03.480); 2. K Srinivas Teja (Performance Racing, Chennai) (18:07.131); 3. Hatim Shabbir Jamnagarwala (Performance Racing, Chennai) (18:11.507).
Formula LGB 1300 (Race-2): 1. Raghul Rangasamy (MSport, Chennai) (19:34.504); 2. Tijil Rao (Momentum Motorsport, Bengaluru) (19:36.053); 3. Viswas Vijayaraj (DTS Racing, Nellore) (19:40.848).
Volkswagen Polo (Race-1): 1. Sai Sanjay TS (Salem) (16:45.578); 2. Sandeep Kumar (Chennai) (16:46.427); 3. Sourav Bandyopadhyay (Thane) (16:53.278). Race-2: 1. Ritesh Rai (Chennai) (16:57.162); 2. Avik Anwar (Bangladesh) (16:57.729); 3. Sandeep Kumar (Chennai) (16:58.533).
MRF Saloon Cars (Toyota Etios – Race 3, 4 laps): 1. Fahad Kutty (Red Line Racing, Mumbai) (12:11.978); 2. Jamie Shaw (Red Line Racing, Mumbai) (12:16.327); 3. Jai Prashant Venkat (Red Line Racing, Coimbatore) (12:16.595).
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Arjun Balu finally gets a National title for Race Concepts in their 6th year
Chennai, 29 Nov 2020: The Gentleman of Indian Motorsports, and one of the best talent India has produced, Arjun Balu of Coimbatore was crowned National champion in the ribbon event, the Indian Touring Class in the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship which concluded at the MMRT, here on Sunday.
His team Race Concepts, which started six years ago, got all the monkeys off their back and won the championship fair and square and the Joel Joseph-led team, which had many talented drivers had to put up with some `off-the-track-excursion’ tactics by many a veteran driver. In the first few years, it was Deepak Chinnappa, turning out in Race Concepts Eneo colours, who was shunted out in Coimbatore and the `tactics’ went on in different ways to deny the talented and hard-working outfit, points in the title race and Arjun Balu too, a decent winner in many rounds of the Indian National Rally Championship, lost the title by a narrow margin the last two years, despite his best efforts and for reasons which are not in his control. This reporter has watched all the races of Race Concepts in the first five years before missing this year’s rounds due to Covid-induced restrictions on media and spectators as per government guidelines.
“This is our first championship win in six years. It has been a long and difficult journey with many ups and downs, but eventually, we clinched the title. I owe it to all the members of the Race Concepts team that worked long and hard to get us here,” said Joel Joseph.
From left: Raghul Rangasamy (Super Stock), Arjun Balu (Indian Touring Cars) and Tijil Rao (Formula LGB 1300) who were crowned the 2020 National Champions at Madras Motor Race Track (MMRT) on Nov 29. All photos by Anand Philar A hugely relieved Balu, after sealing the championship with a race to spare, said: “After winning Race-1, I knew I needed just seven points from Race-2 to clinch the championship. So, I held the position through the 10 laps for P2. This championship win is most special and most satisfying for me. The previous two seasons, I missed the title by a whisker (to Ashish Ramaswamy and Dhruv Mohite) despite enjoying big leads early on. This title is also a tribute to Joel Joseph and his Race Concepts team which worked so hard, sparing no effort to make sure I get a competitive car.” A gentleman racer as humble as ever!
Also clinching the drivers’ titles in their respective categories were Mamallapuram’s Raghul Rangasamy of Performance Racing (Super Stock), 17-year old Bengaluru collegian Tijil Rao of Momentum Motorsport (Formula LGB 1300) and Thrissur’s Diljith TS (MRF Saloon Car series).
Tijil Rao, number 12 blue car, in action before clinching the title in FLGB1300 title. Balu, who was runner-up in the previous two seasons, endured a difficult, rain-affected weekend and did just enough to pick up crucial points by winning Race-1 and finishing second in Race-2 before retiring in Race-3 after a shunt. Dhruv Mohite of FB Motorsport won a double to help his team take the team championship.
Meanwhile, Rangasamy made up for a non-finish in Race-1 by surging to win in the next two outings for the title. In contrast, young Tijil Rao went without a win this weekend, but three podium finishes in the four races ensured him the crown.
The 2020 season was drastically impacted by the pandemic and was reduced to three rounds instead of the scheduled five. The first round was held in February and the remaining two this month behind closed doors while following the Covid-19 protocols.
Dilijith, the champion in the MRF Saloon Car Series for 2020. Indian Touring Cars: Race-1 (8 laps): 1. Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) (15mins, 31.003secs); 2. Keith D’Souza (FB Motorspor) (15:35.528); 3. Dhruv Mohite (FB Motorsport) (15:42.847). Race-2 (10 laps): 1. Mohite (19:34.316); 2. Balu (19:36.706); 3.D’Souza (19:37.940). Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Mohite (15:49.069); 2. D’Souza (15:49.378); 3. Varun Anekar (Race Concepts) (16:31.373).
Super Stock: Race-1 (8 laps): 1. Alisha Abdullah (Race Concepts) (16:41.042); 2. Vineet Abhiram (Race Concepts) (17:02.885); 3. Sridhar Nagaraj (Race Concepts) (17:24.841). Race-2 (10 laps): 1. Raghul Rangasamy (Performance Racing) (20:27.517); 2. Raja Rajan (Performance Racing) (20:28.739); 3. Rithvik Thomas (Race Concepts) (20:43.616). Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Rangasamy (16:33.837); 2. Alisha (16:50.086); 3. Sridhar Nagaraj (16:52.214).
MRF Saloon Car Series: Race-1 (8 laps): 1. Sreeram Sridhar (Chennai) (17:30.244); 2. Diljith TS (Thrissur) (17:31.226); 3. Chandresh Tolia (Mumbai) (17:42.636). Race-2 (10 laps): 1. Chetan Korada (Chennai) (19:35.644); 2. Diljith (19:38.741); Sreeram (19:42.939). Race-3 (8 laps): 1. A Balaprasath (Chennai) (17:24.875); 2. Korada (17:26.241); 3. Diljith (17:27.661).
Formula LGB 1300: Race-1 (8 laps): 1. Viswas Vijayaraj (DTS Racing) (15:30.277); 2. Tijil Rao (Momentum Motorsport) (15:30.408); 3. Prithveen Rajan (Joba Racing) (15:30.588). Race-2 (10 laps): 1. Prithveen Rajan (Joba Racing); 2. Mohamed Ryan (M Sport); 3. Tijil Rao. Race-3 (8 laps): 1. A Balaprasath (M Sport) (15:23.138); 2. Raghul Rangasamy (M Sport) (15:29.350); 3. Ryan (15:29.724). Race-4 (7 laps): Viswas Vijayaraj (15:26.300); 2. Chirag Ghorpade (Momentum Motorsport) (15:27.162); 3. Tijil Rao (15:28.427).
National Champions:
Indian Touring Cars: Driver – Arjun Balu (Coimbatore, Race Concepts, 151 points). Team – FB Motorsport (262)
Super Stock: Driver – Raghul Rangasamy (Mamallapuram, Performance Racing, 154). Team – Race Concepts (289).
MRF Saloon Car Series: Diljith TS (Thrissur, 113).
Formula LGB 1300: Driver – Tijil Rao (Bengaluru, 122). Team – Momentum Motorsport (215).
About Madras Motor Sports Club
Since its humble beginnings in 1953, the Madras Motor Sports Club has grown in stature as the hub of motorsport activity in India. Having moved from Sholavaram to its present location in Sriperumbudur in 1979, MMSC has kept pace with changing times by upgrading facilities. At a cost of about Rs 20 Crore, the MMSC built a pit complex comprising 20 garages, VIP hospitality suites and a viewing gallery, on the eastern side, apart from a second Paddock on the western side with its own short circuit. The Control Room too was upgraded with state-of-the-art hardware while the track itself was improved to meet the exacting FIA standards for Grade-2 certification. The facilities are also extensively used by various vehicle manufacturers for testing their products, displays and corporate days.
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Can Arjun Balu clinch the title this year? Racing Nationals
Chennai, 27 Nov 2020: Arjun Balu of Coimbatore will be looking to clinch the championship in the plum ITC class as the abridged MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Championship 2020 draws to a close with the third and final round being held at the MMRT this weekend behind closed doors due to the pandemic.
The humble motorsports giant with a chequered motorsports career of over 20 years missed the Championship title last year because of certain issues beyond his control, but with a 36-point lead will be looking to garner as many points as possible in the final three races. He has to get 15 more points than second-placed Keith D’Souza of Goa to seal the title in the first race.
The two-day, seven-race programme, kicks-off on Saturday, and concludes on Sunday. The track which received a drenching from cyclone Nivar earlier this week has recovered well for the races to be held as scheduled.
The titles in all four categories – the premier Indian Touring Cars, Super Stock, Formula LGB 1300 and the MRF Saloon Car series – are up for grabs with very little separating the contenders, both individual and team championships.
As for the Championship stakes, the ITC class has Coimbatore’s Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) enjoying a 35-point lead over Goan Keith D’Souza (FB Motorsport) going into this weekend’s triple-header with a maximum of 75 points on offer. The two front-runners are followed by Jeet Jhabakh (FB Motorsport) from Hyderabad (52) and team-mate, Kolhapur’s Dhruv Mohite (45).
The situation in the Super Stock category is much tighter with Mamallapuram’s Raghul Rangasamy (Prime Racing) ahead of Rithvik Thomas (Race Concepts) from Bengaluru by just one point.
Momentum Motorsport’s Tijil Rao (72) and Chirag Ghorpade (62) lead the pack in the Formula LGB 1300 category that will have four races over the weekend with a maximum of 100 points up for grabs. Trailing the duo are DTS Racing’s Viswas Vijayraj (52) and former champion Arya Singh (42).
The MMSC-promoted MRF Saloon Car series (Toyota Etios), run by Arka Motorsport in conjunction with FB Motorsport, witnessed extremely close competition in the first round earlier this month with all three races producing different winners. So much so, a mere six points separate the four contenders – Diljith TS (55), A Balaprasath (54), Chandresh Tolia (52) and Chetan Korada (49).
Reviewing the season thus far, MMSC president Ajit Thomas said: “A few months back, at the height of the lockdown, we couldn’t even visualise resumption of the National championship. However, with the government easing the restrictions thereafter, we decided to kick-start motorsport activities after a nine-month break, even if it meant drastically scaling down the various National championships.
“We began last month by conducting the two-wheeler Drag races and followed it up with the Round-2 of the four-wheeler championship three weeks back. We put in place strict safety measures such as face masks, physical distancing, thermal screening and hand sanitizing besides restricting entry only to competitors, their helpers and officials. Unfortunately, we had to also exclude our friends from the Media who, nevertheless, extended wide coverage for which we are grateful, as also to our title sponsors, MRF Tyres.”
The weekend programme will be streamed live on MMSC’s Facebook page and website.
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Double for Raghul, Tijil Rao; Jeet, Keith share ITC wins in 2 races
Irungattukottai (Sriperumbudur, TN) 8 Nov 2020: Championship leader Arjun Balu of Race Concepts had a gear-box failure but notched up two podium places even as FB Motorsport had its finest day yet with Hyderabad’s Jeet Jhabakh and Keith D’Souza from Goa, both driving the Volkswagen Polo, taking victories in the two premier Indian Touring Cars races as the second round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship concluded at the MMRT, about 130km from Chennai here on Sunday. Spectators and media were not allowed due to the government COVID 19 safety regulations and the event was held in a bio-bubble.
Also in the limelight was Mamallapuram’s Raghul Rangasamy of Performance Racing, who won both the races on Sunday, in the Super Stock category. Bengaluru lad Tijil Rao, also of Momentum Motorsport, completed a double in the Formula LGB 1300 class by winning the day’s first of the two races in addition to the one he won on Saturday. Viswas Vijayaraj of DTS Racing took the honours in the second of Sunday’s Formula LGB race.
Chennai’s Chetan Korada and Chandresh Tolia from Mumbai won a race apiece in the Toyota Etios MRF Saloon Car series.
Super Stock Race 2 winner Raghul Rangasamy flanked by 2nd placed Alisha Abdullah, left, and Vineet Abhiram, 3rd, ( at right) at MMRT on Sunday. Photo by Anand Philar Jeet Jhabakh, a 28-year old automotive businessman from Hyderabad, a former Volkswagen Ameo and Vento Cup champion, enjoyed a trouble-free run once race leader, Arjun Balu of Race Concepts, dropped out of contention with a gearbox issue. Jhabakh managed to nose ahead of teammate Dhruv Mohite following a brief contact, and gradually extended the lead for a comfortable win, his first of the season. He, like Mohite, have missed the opening round in February. Mohite came in second and Balu managed a distant third for some valuable points.
“It was a good race for me after I got in front. Not sure what happened with Arjun’s (Balu) car, but I passed him and Dhruv to get in front. I am really happy for this win,” said Jhabakh.
Balu started fourth on the reverse grid, but cut through to the front in the very first lap and looked set for another win when the gearbox played up. “In the third lap, I found the car weaving on the straight and I realised something was wrong. So, I let others pass me and in the final three laps, I shifted to fifth gear and stayed there as I wanted to finish and pick up points,” said Balu, who collected 15 points for his third-place to continue to lead the table.
The Race Concepts team then got to work and changed the gearbox in little over 30 minutes, but attracting a five-position grid penalty for Balu for the next race for which the Coimbatore ace had qualified on pole.
From left: 2nd placed Arjun Balu, winner Keith D’Souza and 3rd Jeet Jhabakh, in the ITC class Race 3 on Sunday. Photo by Anand Philar In the next outing, it was Keith D’Souza all the way as he made the best of a strong start to win comfortably from Balu, who made three places, and Jhabakh.
The results (Provisional, all 8 laps unless mentioned):
Indian Touring Cars (Race-2, 10 laps): 1. Jeet Jhabakh (FB Motorsport) (19mins, 11.577secs); 2. Dhruv Mohite (FB Motorsport) (19:14.720); 3. Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) (21:12.781).
ITC Race-3: 1. Keith D’Souza (FB Motorsport) (15:22.987); 2. Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) (15:28.096); 3. Jeet Jhabakh (FB Motorsport) (15:30.188).
Super Stock (Race-2, 10 laps): 1. Raghul Rangasamy (Performance Racing) (20:08.258); 2. Alisha Abdullah (Race Concepts) (20:30.072); 3. Vineet Abhiram (Race Concepts) (20:52.326).
SS Race-3: 1. Raghul Rangasamy (Performance Racing) (16:10.165); 2. Rithvik Thomas (Race Concepts) (16:10.728); 3. Alisha Abdullah (Race Concepts) (16:32.717).
MRF Saloon Car Series (Toyota Etios) (Race-2, 10 laps): 1. Chetan Korada (Chennai) (21:14.775); 2. A Balaprasath (Chennai) (21:15.945); 3. Diljith TS (Thrissur) (19:12.377+1 lap).
Toyota Race-3: 1. Chandresh Tolia (Mumbai) (17:18.519); 2. A Balaprasath (Chennai) (17:19.306); 3. Diljith TS (Thrissur) (17:28.532).
Formula LGB 1300 (Race-3): 1. Tijil Rao (Momentum Motorsport) (15:13.237); 2. Chirag Ghorpade (Momentum Motorsport) (15:13.806); 3. Arya Singh (DTS Racing) (15:19.854).
FLGB 1300 Race-4 (10 laps): 1. Viswas Vijayaraj (DTS Racing) (20:26.904); 2. Chirag Ghorpade (Momentum Motorsport) (20:28.587); 3. Arya Singh (DTS Racing) (20:29.120).
About Madras Motor Sports Club
Since its humble beginnings in 1953, the Madras Motor Sports Club has grown in stature as the hub of motorsport activity in India. Having moved from Sholavaram to its present location in Sriperumbudur in 1979, MMSC has kept pace with changing times by upgrading facilities. At a cost of about Rs 20 Crore, the MMSC built a pit complex comprising 20 garages, VIP hospitality suites and a viewing gallery, on the eastern side, apart from a second Paddock on the western side with its own short circuit. The Control Room too was upgraded with state-of-the-art hardware while the track itself was improved to meet the exacting FIA standards for Grade-2 certification. The facilities are also extensively used by various vehicle manufacturers for testing their products, displays and corporate days.
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Arjun Balu, Rithwik Thomas, Diljith reign supreme
Irungattukottai, near Chennai, 7 Nov 2020: Top speedster and talented Indian racing driver, Arjun Balu of Race Concepts, chalked up another fluent victory to extend lead the championship lead in the top-end Indian Touring Cars class as the second round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship commenced here at the MMRT on Saturday.
Balu from Coimbatore, thus, swept to his third consecutive win despite teething troubles with his car, following a double in the opening round in February, but was far from pleased with his performance. “I was still down on my lap times and was not too happy with the balance of the car. We made some changes to the car from the previous round, and so, had to deal with some teething issues. It was a struggle all weekend and we had to do a lot of work. I hope to do better in the next two races and come back stronger,” said Balu. Starting on pole Balu had a good launch and pulled off a quick lap of eight tenths over Keith in the first lap and did consistently faster laps thereafter, except in the Lap 2. He was not only faster than Keith in the second place but clocked the best lap of 1:53.146 (118.2 kmph). Joel Joseph who came fifth is the tuner of the Race Concept cars.
Arjun Balu in action on Saturday. Image by Anand Philar Finishing behind Balu were two FB Motorsport teammates, Keith D’Souza and last year’s champion Dhruv Mohite, neither of whom came anywhere near the Coimbatore ace who was simply sublime. Mohite who did not take part in the ITC class Round 1, opened his account while Keith is second on the table, adding to his second and fourth in the first two races in February.. “I too had a good start but we did not have the raw pace and all I can do was to keep up with him as much as I could. But I am happy with my race,” said Keith D’Souza of FB Motorsports tuned by Farad Bathena.
Rithvik Thomas after winning the Super Stock Race 1 on Saturday. Also finishing on the top step of the podium was Bengaluru’s Rithvik Thomas, also of Race Concepts, in the Super Stock class and, Diljith TS from Thrissur, in the Toyota Etios MRF Saloon Car Championship.
A couple of rain spells delayed the races but the stop-go proceedings did not affect their competitive nature and produced plenty of action.
Tijil Rao of Momentum Motorsport and Mohamed Ryan of M Sport won a race each in the Formula LGB 1300 category that had two races on Saturday.
Tijil Rao celebrates after winning Race 1 of Formula LGB on Saturday. Pole-sitter Tijil Rao led a 1-2 for Momentum Motorsport after holding off team-mate Chirag Ghorpade in a tense battle and behind them, Diljith TS, of DTS Racing, completed the podium. It was a good run by Ghorpade who started seventh on the grid and cut through the field to catch up with Tijil. The two were locked in a tense battle, but Tijil just about kept his nose in front while Dilijith made two places from fifth to finish third.
Mohamad Ryan giving his bites after winning Race 2 of Formula LGB 1300 at the MMRT. In the second Formula LGB 1300 race, Mohamed Ryan (M Sport) won handily from reverse grid start ahead of Karthik Krishna (Hasten Performance) and Viswas Vijayaraj (DTS Racing). Tijil managed to finish fifth for some important points. “He pressurised me a lot but I managed to keep it up for the win the first race. Now on to the next race,” said Mohamed Ryan. A Balaprasath clocked the best lap in Race 2: 1:53.007 (118.4 kmph) and it was Chirag Ghorpade with the fastest lap in Race 1 timing 1:53.085 (118.3kmph).
The combined saloon car race grid comprised two other classes, including the Super Stock, which was won by Rithwik Thomas of Race Concepts. It was his third success in a row and he extended his championship lead in this class. Raghul Rangasamy of Race Performance came second ahead of Alisha Abdullah, who did a good job to take the podium again ahead of five more racers, including Shivani Pruthvi of Davangere, who switched from rallies to racing once again, after her debut in racing last year at Coimbatore. “It was a good race. I started on the pole and had a fight for a few corners in the beginning before I settled down. Looking forward to tomorrow’s races,” said Rithvik Thomas. He consistently had faster laps and his best lap of 1:58.922 was over a second faster than the best lap of second-placed Rangasamy.
“I am very happy with my performance today and I have more to learn. I am focused now tomorrow’s races and looking forward to it,” said Alisha Abdullah.
Alisha Abdullah get a third place competing with the male racers for the third time running. The MRF Saloon Car Championship with identical Toyota Etios vehicles, made its debut, where Diljith TS topped without much ado. Chennai’s Balaprasath, who also took part in the Karting Nationals at Bengaluru last Sunday, came second ahead of Mumbai’s Chandresh Tolia.
The results (Provisional, all 8 laps unless mentioned):
Formula LGB (Race-1): 1. Tijil Rao (Momentum Motorsports) (15mins, 20.044secs); 2. Chirag Ghorpade (Momentum Motorsport) (15:20.726); 3. Diljith TS (DTS Racing) (15:25.857).
Race 2 (10 laps): 1. Mohamed Ryan (M Sport) (19:10.071); 2. Karthik Krishna (Hasten Performance) (19:11.888); 3. Viswas Vijayaraj (DTS Racing) (19:12.884).
Indian Touring Cars (Race-1): 1. Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) (15:13.588); 2. Keith D’Souza (FB Motorsport) (15:21.592); 3. Dhruv Mohite (FB Motorsport) (15:26.575).
Super Stock (Race-1): 1. Rithwik Thomas (Race Concepts) (16:09.642); 2. Raghul Rangasamy (Performance Racing) (16:15.868); 3. Alisha Abdullah (Race Concepts) (16:33.443).
MRF Saloon Car Championship (Race-1): 1. Diljith TS (Thrissur) (17:04.940); 2. A Balaprasath (Chennai) (17:12.098); 3. Chandresh Tolia (Mumbai) (17:22.490).
About Madras Motor Sports Club
Since its humble beginnings in 1953, the Madras Motor Sports Club has grown in stature as the hub of motorsport activity in India. Having moved from Sholavaram to its present location in Sriperumbudur in 1979, MMSC has kept pace with changing times by upgrading facilities. At a cost of about Rs 20 Crore, the MMSC built a pit complex comprising 20 garages, VIP hospitality suites and a viewing gallery, on the eastern side, apart from a second Paddock on the western side with its own short circuit. The Control Room too was upgraded with state-of-the-art hardware while the track itself was improved to meet the exacting FIA standards for Grade-2 certification. The facilities are also extensively used by various vehicle manufacturers for testing their products, displays and corporate days.
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Arjun Balu and Rithwik Thomas raring to go: National racing resumes
Irungattukottai (Sriprumbudur, TN), 5 Nov 2020: Speedmaster and star racing driver Arjun Balu of Coimbatore is raring to go as the MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship resumes after a COVID-induced break of over eight months at the Madras Motor Sports Track here on Saturday.
Arjun Balu is leading the Championship table with 50 points in the Indian Touring Car (ITC) category while his Race Concepts teammate Rithvik Thomas, who too won both the races in the first round held in February, leads the Super Stock class, also with 50 points. Tuned by Joel Joseph, the Race Concepts team did a commendable job in 2019 but their prospects were damaged due to guest drivers in the last round.
“Happy to be back racing and looking forward to an enjoyable weekend of racing. We need more time to develop the car, as there are many changes made. So not yet optimum yet, but we will try to bring updates for the next round,” said Arjun Balu.
“Coming into this Round, my main aim is to get back into the rhythm of racing and enjoy the weekend after such a long break. How everything else goes is secondary but we are well prepared and I am looking forward to a good weekend,” said Rithvik Thomas, talking to www.INDIAinF1.com
The guest drivers did not score points and were not eligible for the championship but Race Concepts’ lead driver, Arjun Balu, who had some issues with the car in the qualifying session in the final round of 2019 got stuck behind them and lost the championship. Leaving all that behind, Arjun Balu began with a bang and convincingly won both the races in Round 1 in February 2020, which included two races for saloon cars in ITC and Super Stock classes, besides two support events, the MRF F1600 and Volkswagen Ameo Super Race were also held.
With the Corona pandemic eating away vital 8 months of the season, the calendar is reduced to 8 races in all the classes, including both the ITC and Super Stock, which will run three races in this round and three more in the third and final round to be held on November 28 and 29. Formula LGB will have four races this week-end, two on Saturday and two on Sunday and four more in the final round to decide the champion. A new category in the National Championship, the MRF Toyota Etios Junior class will also have four races in this round and four races in the final round on that concludes on Nov 29.
Meanwhile, MMSC has updated many facilities at the track, prominent among them being the covered facilities for Marshal Post and the construction began for a 600-seat Grandstand for spectators.
“It is exactly 220 days since we had the last competitive race at the MMRT on February 16, 2020, which is the longest break ever in the history of the MMSC National Championship. In these times, we at MMSC have not been sitting idle and have been continuously planning and arranging to restart racing events. As per the current scenario, we will need to follow the new protocols/ Standard Operating Procedures and will adhere to all government guidelines,” said an MMSC note to the drivers while releasing the revised calendar in September last week.
New Marshall posts at Madras Motor Sports Club’s track in Chennai. Photo Twitter @VickyChandhok MMSC National Championships Calendar 2020 Date Event Round 10 – 11 October 2020 2W Darg National Championship 1 6 – 8 November 2020 4W Racing National Championship 2 26 – 28 November 2020 4W Racing National Championship 3 5 – 6 December 2020 2W Darg National Championship 2 10 – 13 December 2020 2W Racing National Championship 1 17 – 20 December 2020 2W Racing National Championship 2 For the Car National Championship, we have planned to run 8 races for all the categories in 2020. So the races will be spread over 2 weekends in November as follows, the note added.
FLGB 1300 ITC Super Stock Toyota Etios Junior 14 – 16 Feb (completed) 0 2 2 0 6 – 8 Nov 4 3 3 4 26 – 28 Nov 4 3 3 4 -
10-car pile-up stops MRF F1600 races; Double for Arjun Balu, Rithvik Thomas
Arjun Balu (centre), winner of Race-3 in ITC category, flanked by second-placed Aditya Patel (left) and Dhruv Shivaji Mohite. Photos by Anand Philar Chennai, 18 August 2019: On a day which began in heavy showers and ended in bright sunshine, Coimbatore veteran Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) completed a grand double in the Indian Touring Cars class to head the leaderboard as the fourth round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship concluded at the MMRT, here today. Also achieving a double was Bengaluru’s Rithvik Thomas (Race Concepts) in the Super Stock category.
Overshadowing the day’s proceedings was the 10-car pile-up in the MRF F1600 race that started in heavy showers and lasted barely 300 metres. as pole-sitter Yash Aradhya spun when he put wheels into a puddle, thus losing grip. The cars behind him, with nowhere to go, crashed into one another resulting in the abandonment of the race. None of the drivers suffered injuries barring cuts and bruises, but with 10 cars badly damaged, it was decided to cancel today’s scheduled three races and run them in the next round in September.
Hyderabad’s Jeet Jhabakh (No.5) in action while winning Race-2 in VW Ameo Class.“The next round in September, will thus have seven races in MRF F1600 category. It was an unfortunate incident with Yash running into a puddle and spinning. With so many cars badly damaged, we decided to put off today’s three races and have them in the next round,” said Chairman of the Meet Vicky Chandhok.
In Race-1 of the ITC category, that was declared “wet”, Balu and Patel were locked in a thrilling fight at the head of the field. Starting from pole, Balu maintained his position with Patel in close attendance. Three laps from the finish, Patel moved past Balu, but slipped back to second in the next lap when he ran wide at the last corner. Balu moved to the front and went on to win.
In Race-2, run in fair weather and reverse grid, the three VW Ventos of Patel, Dhruv Shivaji Mohite and Ishaan Dodhiwala, switched to slicks, while Balu, starting eighth, remained on wet tyres. It was not long before the four moved to the front with Mohite pulling off a fine win ahead of Patel and Balu. The third race in this category, was a virtual procession with Balu, starting from pole, winning comfortably and unchallenged, followed by Patel and Dodhiwala. His two wins this weekend, took Balu’s tally to 148, way ahead of Mohite (119).
Arjun Balu (No.39), who won a double in action .Spearheading a podium sweep for Race Concepts team, Sudanand Daniel, an airline pilot based in Singapore, won a dramatic wet first race in the Super Stock category for his maiden success of the season, with Rithvik Thomas and R Rajashekar in tow. RP Rajaran (Performance Racing) took the honours in Race-2 ahead of Rithvik Thomas and Daniel. In the next outing, Thomas survived a close fight with Daniel for his second win of the weekend. Rajarajan completed the podium.
Jeet Jhabakh (Hyderabad) and Pune’s Prateek Sonawane won a race apiece in the Volkswagen Ameo Class category. After eight races over three rounds this season, Mumbai’s Saurav Bandyopadhyay (305 points), winner of the first race yesterday, leads the championship in this category followed by Sidharth Mehdiratta (298) from Lucknow and Sonawane (294).
The results (Provisional):
Indian Touring Cars (Race-1, 6 laps): 1. Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) (12mins, 49.794secs); 2. Aditya Patel (Rayo Racing) (12:50.491); 3. Dhruv Shivaji Mohite (Rayo Racing) (12:58.907).
Race-2 (10 laps): 1. Dhruv Shivaji Mohite (Rayo Racing) (21:19.565); 2. Aditya Patel (Rayo Racing) (21:20.682); 3. Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) (21:28.378).
Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Arjun Balu (15:11.978); 2. Aditya Patel (15:17.508); 3. Ishaan Dodhiwala (Team Rayo Racing) (15:28.324).
Super Stock (Race-1, 6 laps): 1. Sudanand Daniel (Race Concepts) (14:15.475); 2. Rithvik Thomas (Race Concepts) (14:15.787); 3. R Rajashekar (Race Concepts) (14:45.952).
Race 2 (10 laps): 1. RP Rajarajan (Performance Racing) (22:15.115); 2. Rithvik Thomas (Race Concepts) (22:27.432); 3. Sudanand Daniel (Race Concepts) (22:28.759).
Race 3 (8 laps): 1. Rithvik Thomas (16:15.162); 2. Sudanand Daniel (16:15.951); 3. RP Rajarajan (16:40.747).
Volkswagen Ameo Class (Race-2, 8 laps): 1. Jeet Jhabakh (Hyderabad) (20:09.577); 2. Aiman Sadat (Bangladesh) (20:12.811); 3. Siddharth Mehdiratta (Lucknow) (20:13.363).
Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Prateek Sonawane (Pune) (16:00.024); 2. Sidharth Mehdiratta (Lucknow) (16:01.383); 3. Shobhomoy Ball (Bengaluru) (16:06.481).
