INDIA in F1

Tag: MMSC

  • Deepak Paul Chinnappa takes ITC pole: MMSC Indian National Racing Championship

    Deepak Paul Chinnappa takes ITC pole: MMSC Indian National Racing Championship

    Deepak Paul Chinnappa (Bengaluru), who took pole position in Indian Touring Cars class in Chennai on 15 Sept 2017. Image by Anand Philar

    Chennai, 15 Sept. 2017: Bengaluru drivers Deepak Paul Chinnappa of Race Concepts and schoolboy Yash Aradhya grabbed pole positions in their respective categories while Hyderabad’s Anindith Reddy was overall quickest in the MRF F1600 practice session in the fifth and final round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship at the MMRT track here on Friday.

    Championship contenders Anindith Reddy and Sandeep Kumar (Chennai) set the early pace in the two practice sessions. Anindith was overall quickest, albeit by a mere three-hundredth of a second with a best of one minute, 40.130 seconds to Sandeep Kumar’s 01:40.164, but the real battle lies over the weekend when three races are scheduled after Saturday’s qualifying session.

    Behind the leaders was local challenger Chetan Korada who showed improvement with every lap, clocking a best of 01:40.815 and then going even quicker in the second session when he did a 01:40.350.

    The qualifying session in the premier Indian Touring Cars class reflected the closeness of contest among the front-runners. Chinnappa who leads the championship by just seven points, was the quickest in both the practice sessions, and followed it up with a blistering lap of 01:53.068 in the qualifying ahead of the Red Rooster Performance pair of defending champion Arjun Narendran (01:53.132), second in the championship, and Ashish Ramaswamy (01:53.140).

    Yash Aradhya (Momentum Motorsport), second on the leaderboard, topped the charts in both the Formula LGB 1300 categories (National and Rookie Cup) categories in the qualifying, well clear of team-mate Pune’s Aanjan Patodia (DTS) and championship leader Arya Singh (DTS Racing).

    Also finishing on pole in their respective categories were: Mihkhail Merchant of Team Game Over (Indian Junior Touring Cars), Bala Vijay of Performance Racing (Super Stock) and Raghul Rangasamy of Performance Racing (Esteem Cup) while Mumbai’s Saurav Bandyopadhyay qualified first in the Volkswagen Ameo Cup.

    The results (qualifying):

    Indian Touring Cars: 1. Deepak Paul Chinnappa (Race Concepts) (01min, 53.068secs); 2. Arjun Narendran (Red Rooster Performance) (01:53.132); 3. Ashish Ramaswamy (Red Rooster Performance) (01:53.140).

    Formula LGB 1300 (National): 1. Yash Aradhya (Momentum MotorSport) (01: 50.749); 2. Aanjan Patodia (Momentum Motorsport) (01: 51.052); 3. Rupesh Siva Kumar (DTS Racing) (01: 51.376). Rookie Cup: 1. Yash Aradhya; 2. Aanjan Patodia; 3. Arya Singh (DTS Racing) (01: 51.520).

    Indian Junior Touring Cars: 1. Mikhail Merchant (Team Game Over) (02: 06.289); 2. Kamlesh Parmar (Team N1) (02:06.421); 3. Diljith (DTS Racing) (02: 08.963).

    Super Stock: 1. Barla Vijay B (Performance Racing) (02:00.394); 2. RP Rajarajan (Performance Racing) (02: 00.745); 3. Varun V Anekar (Race Concepts Motorsports) (02: 01.397).

    Esteem Cup: 1. Raghul Rangasamy (Performance Racing) (01:59.041); 2. Narendran Sankaran (RAD Racing) (01:59.246); 3. Anantha Pithawalla (Team N1) (02: 00.374).

    Volkswagen Ameo Cup: 1. Saurav Bandyopadhyay (Mumbai) (01:54.193); 2. Anning Sun (Shanghai) (01:54.249); 3. A Sandeep Kumar (Chennai) (01:54.716).

    eom/press release

  • Deepak, Narendran to battle it out in ITC class; Anindith leads MRF F1600

    Deepak, Narendran to battle it out in ITC class; Anindith leads MRF F1600

    Chennai, 14 Sept 2017:  Hyderabad’s Anindith Reddy, with six wins in 10 outings, heads the  points table in the MRF F1600 Championship with a comfortable 44.5 points lead over Sandeep Kumar from Bengaluru going into the triple-header in the fifth and final round of the MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship 2017 sponsored by MRF, beginning here on Friday.

    The MRF F1600 which offers the champion a ticket to the Mazda Road To Indy shootout later this year. Besides the Volkswagen Ameo Cup, the third and final round of the MMSC fmsci Indian National Drag Racing Championship will also be run on Saturday (practice) and Sunday (final).

    In the premier Indian Touring Cars class, everything points to a straight shootout between championship leader Deepak Paul Chinnappa (Race Concepts) from Bengaluru who is ahead of a late-charging defending champion Arjun Narendran (Red Rooster Performance) by just seven points.

    While Chinnappa enjoyed a brilliant start to the season with four wins on the trot, Narendran, shuttling between England where he is pursuing higher studies and India for the races, shrugged off a poor start to post three victories in a row to put his campaign back on track. With a maximum of 50 points at stake in this weekend’s double-header, neither can afford to drop points.

    The situation is similar in the other three saloon cars categories, the Indian Junior Touring Cars, Super Stock and Esteem Cup, all of which run on a combined grid, and have three races this weekend.

    Eight points separate Hisham EKP (DTS Racing) and Kamlesh Parmar (Team N1) in the IJTC, Varun Anekar (Race Concepts) enjoys a 57-point lead over RP Rajaran (Performance Racing) while Anant Pithawalla (Team N1) has a 16-point advantage over Narendran Sankaran (Red Rooster Performance) whose team-mate Sudanand Rajan is a further 16-point adrift in third place.

    Kolkata’s Arya Singh (DTS Racing) appears well-poised in both Open and Rookie categories of the Formula LGB 1300 class leading Bengaluru’s Yash Aradhya (Momentum Motorsport) by 31 and 28 points, respectively.

    On changes to the championship next season, Chairman of the Meet Vicky Chandhok said: “We decided on combined grids from the next season to make the races more competitive. The spectators would get to see more overtaking on the track.

    “The ITC and Volkswagen Ameo Cup cars are almost on par on pace, and that should make for some exciting racing and overtaking when run concurrently. The MRF 1600 and the Formula LGB 1300 will also run on combined grid. We may also combine more classes to give spectators more of what they want plus give drivers new challenges.

    “The MMRT has a FIA International license which permits the track to have up to 42 starters and we intend to use that from next year. It’s time for big changes to make it a more exciting spectacle.”

    Race Director Manoj Dalal said: “We have 18 new high-definition cameras which will enable us in Race Control to monitor the races even more closely from our screens and take immediate calls on any photo finish, many of which we’ve seen in the recent past or on-track incidents.”

    eom/AP Media Comm./MMSC press release

  • Double delight for Anindith, Arjun: FMSCI Racing Nationals

    Double delight for Anindith, Arjun: FMSCI Racing Nationals

    Chennai, 20 Aug 2017: Winning both the races today, Hyderabad’s Anindith Reddy extended his domination in the MRF FF1600 class while Arjun Narendran, the Coimbatore-based defending champion in the Indian Touring Cars category also completed a double as the fourth round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship concluded at the MMRT track on Sunday.

    With the fifth and concluding round to be run on September 16-17, Reddy, who leads Chennai’s Sandeep Kumar by 29 points, is well placed in the championship whose winner earns a ticket to the Mazda Road To Indy shootout in the United States later this year.

    It was smooth sailing for Reddy in both the races today as he put in a flawless performance to destroy the opposition as he more than made up for a disappointing outing on Saturday when he finished fifth after being forced to pit early in the race for repairs on the nose cone.

    Similarly, Narendran of Red Rooster Performance, with the two wins this weekend, narrowed the leeway to just seven points after championship leader Bengaluru’s Deepak Paul Chinnappa (Race Concepts) dropped crucial points with a non-finish in Saturday’s first race and third place finish in the next outing today. Narendran won both races virtually unchallenged, after the initial jostling for track positions.

    “I had a good weekend. The car felt great, no problems at all. I am happy that my campaign is back on track with the two wins this weekend after the sort of start I had to the season when I failed to score a win in two rounds,” said Narendran.

    Mikhail Merchant from Mumbai (Team Game Over) also scored a double in the Indian Junior Touring Cars category as did Bengaluru’s Varun Anekar (Race Concepts) in the Super Stock class.

    In the Esteem Cup, Mumbai’s Anant Pithawalla (Team N1) consolidated his position at the top of the leaderboard with three podium finishes on the weekend while Mamallapuram’s Raghul Rangasamy, who won two races in the triple-header, completed a fine double.

    Delhi’s Karminder Singh stamped his authority in the Volkswagen Ameo Cup by winning both the races today to enjoy a lead of 104 points going into the concluding round next month when the remaining three races are to be run.

    The results (Provisional):

    MRF FF1600 – Race 2 (15 laps): 1. Anindith Reddy (Hyderabad) (14: 57.509); 2. Sandeep Kumar (Chennai) (15: 01.399); 3. Chetan Korada (Chennai) (15:15.305). Race 3 (15 laps): 1. Anindith Reddy (14: 58.193); 2. Sandeep Kumar (14: 58.410); 3. Chetan Korada (15:10.826).

    Indian Touring Cars – Race 2 (15 laps): 1.Arjun Narendran (Red Rooster Performance) (16:52.608); 2. Ashish Ramaswamy (Red Rooster Performance) (16:58.568); 3. Deepak Paul Chinnappa (Race Concepts) (17: 08.741).

    Saloon Cars – Super Stock (Race 2, 12 laps): 1. RP Rajarajan (Performance Racing) (14:30.913); 2. Varun V Anekar (Race Concepts) (14: 31.640); 3. Bala Vijay B (Performance Racing) (14: 49.918). Race 3 (12 laps): 1. Varun V Anekar (14:25.775); 2. RP Rajarajan (14:37.434); 3. Bala Vijay B (14:40.081).

    Indian Junior Touring Cars (Race 2, 12 laps): 1. Mikhail Merchant (Team Game Over) (15:27.157); 2.  Hisham EKP (DTS Racing) (14:27.335+1 lap); 3. Kamlesh Parmer (Team N1) (14:28.859+1 lap). Race 3 (12 laps): 1. Mikhail Merchant (15:20.098); 2. Hisham EKP (14:17.583+1 lap); 3. Prabu AS (Red Rooster Performance) (14:28.191+1 lap).

    Esteem Cup (Race 2, 12 laps): 1. Narendran Sankaran (RAD Racing) (14: 19.391); 2. Sidharth Balakrishnan (Red Rooster Performance) (14: 24.264); 3. Anant Pithawala (Team N1) (14:25.896). Race 3 (12 laps): 1. Raghul Rangasamy (Performance Racing) (14:15.558); 2. Anant Pithawalla (Team N1) (14:22.634); 3. Narendran Sankaran (RAD Racing) (14:29.254).

    Volkswagen Ameo Cup – Race 2 (15 laps): 1. Karminder Singh (Delhi) (17:05.639); 2. Jeet Jhabakh (Hyderabad) (17:19.305); 3. Dhruv Mohite (Kolhapur) (17:20.487). Race 3 (15 laps): 1. Karminder Singh (17:06.047); 2. Saurav Bandyopadhyay (Mumbai) (17:08.962); 3. Dhruv Mohite (Kolhapur) (17:15.446).

    Top honours for Tharani, Jayant in Drag races

    Chennai, August 20: Local racer Karthik Tharani, driving the Volkswagen Ameo, and V Jayant in a Maruti Esteem, topped in the Unrestricted and Indian Open categories, respectively, in the third round of the MMSC fmsci Indian Drag Racing Championship at the MMRT track, here on Sunday.

    Tharani clocked 14.130 seconds while V Jayant, piloting the Maruti Esteem, was the fastest with a timing of 14.049.

     

    The results (Provisional):

    Unrestricted: 1. Karthik Tharani (Volkswagen Ameo) (14.130secs); 2. D Vidyaprakash (Maruti Zen) (14.210); 3. Siddharth Singh Jhala (Maruti Zen) (14.210). Esteem Cup: 1. Fahad Kutty (Team Game Over) (16.394); 2. Imran Majid (Game Over) (16.478).

    Indian Open: 1. V Jayant (Maruti Esteem, 14.049); 2. D Vidyaprakash (Maruti Zen, 14.345); 3. Siddharth Singh Jhala (Maruti Zen, 14.760).

    Indian Touring Cars: 1. Sivaramakrishnan (Maruti Esteem, 15.845); 2. Tharun Kumar (Maruti Zen, 15.957).

    Super Stock: 1. Imran Majid (Game Over, Honda City) (16.410); 2. Swajit (Team N1, Honda City) (16.498); 3. Kashif Kapadia (Game Over) (Honda City) (16.550).

    Indian Junior Touring Cars: 1. Kamlesh Parmar (Honda Jazz) (17.718); 2. Imran Majid (Team Game Over, Honda Brio) (18.014); 3. Kashif Kapadia (Game Over, Honda Brio) (18.177).

    MMSC Support Races – Pro-Stock (Petrol, Up to 1150cc): Fahad Kutty (Team Game Over) (16.737); 2. Arjun Zaveri (Game Over, Maruti Zen) (16.771); 3. Mohammed Ali (Game Over, Maruti Zen) (17.122). 1151-1650cc: 1. Mikhail Merchant (Team Game Over, Honda City) (16.463); 2. Fahad Kutty (Game Over, Honda City) (16.499); 3. Swajit (Team N1, Honda City) (16.752). Petrol (2051-3060cc combined): 1. V Jayant (Maruti Esteem, 14.613); 2. Kasha Sai (Honda Accord, 17.014); 3. Sanjay Madhavan (Mazda Miata, 18.960).

    Pro-Stock (Diesel, 1151-1450cc): 1. Mikhail Merchant (Team Game Over, Ford Figo) (17.995); 2. Uday Nerulkar (Game Over, Hyundai Getz) (18.384); 3. Arjun Zaveri (Team Game Over, Ford Figo) (18.475). 1651-2051cc: 1. Vivek Ramachander (Skoda Laura) (15.010); 2. Rayomand Banajee (Volkswagen Vento) (17.575).

    eom/AP Media Comm. release

  • Narendran capitalises on Chinnappa mechanical failure: fmsci Nationals

    Chennai, 19 August 2017: The expected intense battles in the two premium classes did not materialize as Sandeep Kumar and Arjun Narendran cruised to comfortable victories in the MRF F1600 and the Indian Touring Cars categories, respectively, in the fourth round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship at the MMRT track on Saturday.

    In contrast, competition was at its fiercest in other categories. Raghul Rangasamy (Performance Racing) topped the saloon car race after an initial blip, while Bengaluru schoolboy Yash Aradhya, only 14, and Pune’s 18-year old engineering student Aanjan Patodia, both of Team Momentum Motorsports, fought tooth and nail to win a race apiece in both the categories (Open and Rookie) of the double-header Formula LGB 1300.

    In the other categories of the saloon cars, Bengaluru’s Varun Anekar (Race Concepts) and Hashim EKP (DTS Racing) emerged comfortable winners in the Super Stock and Indian Junior Touring Cars, respectively.

    Sourav Bandyopadhyay from Mumbai pulled off a fine win in the Volkswagen Ameo Cup, pushing championship leader Karminder Singh (Delhi) to second place while Sandeep Kumar completed the podium.

    The MRF FF1600 race turned out to be disappointing especially after pole-sitter and championship leader Anindith Reddy (Hyderabad) pitted at the end of Lap 1 to repair a damaged nose cone following a contact with Chennai’s Sandeep Kumar at the start of the race.

    Reddy, on rejoining the race, finished a lap down in fifth while Sandeep won untroubled leaving Chennai’s Chetan Korada and Kolkata schoolboy Arya Singh to scrap for the other two podium spots.

    The spotlight was also on the Indian Touring Cars where Coimbatore-based defending champion Arjun Narendran and Bengaluru’s Deepak Paul Chinnappa (Race Concepts), the championship leader, were expected to repeat their Round 3 battle which, however, fizzled out. Chinnappa packed up when the timing belt snapped at the end of the first of the 15 laps.

    It left the field wide open for Narendran to exploit with his nearest challenger and team-mate Ashish Ramaswamy from Bengaluru struggling with a car bleeding power. With five others too retiring, Narendran cruised home to victory ahead of Ramaswamy. The win, his second in a row, took Narendran (119 points) within striking distance of Chinnappa (136).

    The results (Provisional – all 15 laps unless mentioned):

    MRF FF1600 (Race 1): 1. Sandeep Kumar (Chennai) (15mins, 01.880secs); 2. Chetan Korada (Chennai) (15:10.711); 3. Arya Singh (Kolkata) (15:11.709).

    Indian Touring Cars – Race 1: 1.Arjun Narendran (Red Rooster Performance) (16:50.960); 2. Ashish Ramaswamy (Red Rooster Performance) (17: 02.745); 3. C Raja Ram (Prime Racing) (17:26.277).

    Saloon Cars (Race 1) – Esteem: 1. Raghul Rangasamy (Performance Racing) (17:49.329); 2. Narendran (RAD Racing) (17: 51.486); 3. Ananth Pithawala (Team N1) (17: 59.385).

    Super Stock: 1. Varun V Anekar (Race Concepts) (18:12.176); 2. Deepak Ravikumar (Quickshift Racing) (18:33.902); 3. Bala Vijay B (Performance Racing) (18:42.584).

    Indian Junior Touring Cars: 1. Hisham EKP (DTS Racing) (18: 15.268); 2. Mikhail Merchant (Team Game Over) (18:27.330); 3. Prabhu AS (Red Rooster Performance) (18:35.509).

    Formula LGB 1300 (Race 1, 13 laps) – Open: 1. Yash Aradhya (Momentum Motorsports) (16:14.230); 2. Aanjan Patodia (Momentum Motorsports) (16:14.778); 3. Arya Singh (DTS Racing) (16:16.906). Rookie: 1. Yash Aradhya; 2. Aanjan Patodia; 3. Arya Singh.

    Race 2 (Open): Aanjan Patodia (Momentum Motorsports) (16:35.848); 2. Arya Singh (DTS Racing) (16:40.056); 3. Deepak Ravikumar (Wallace Sports) (16:48.463). Rookie: 1. Aanjan Patodia; 2. Arya Singh; 3. Yash Aradhya (Momentum Motorsports) (16:48.495).

    Volkswagen Ameo Cup (Race 1): 1. Sourav Bandyopadya (Mumbai) (16:05.858); 2.Karminder Singh (Delhi) (16:13.204); 3. A Sandeep Kumar (Chennai) (16: 14.485).

    eom/AP Media Comm. press release

  • Mathana takes maiden win; Jagan crashes in the last lap, recovers

    Chennai, 6 Aug 2017: Mathana Kumar of Honda Ten10 Racing finally emerged from the shadows of his peers while chalking up his maiden win of the season in the premier Super Sport Indian (up to 165cc) class as the third round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship concluded at the MMRT track here on Sunday.

    Mathana, 25-year old from Trichy, with three second-place finishes in five outings this season, came good in Race-2 and the 25 points he garnered took him 91 points, just 14 behind team-mate Rajiv Sethu even as defending champion Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) squandered a double by crashing on the last lap.

    Aravind Balakrishnan, also of Honda Ten10 Racing, dominated the Pro-Stock (up to 165cc) class by completing a fine double which took him to the top of the leaderboard while Gusto Racing’s Amarnath Menon from Kozhikode scored his fifth win in six outings in the Super Sport Indian (300-400cc) class.

    Anup Kumar M of RACR team took the honours in the highly-competitive Novice (Stock up to 165cc) race in a near-photo finish ahead of Sparks Racing duo of Satyanarayana Raju (Sparks Racing) and Sri Rahil Pillarishetty.

    The Super Sport Indian (up to 165cc) race was one of fluctuating fortunes. Jagan, winner of the first race on Saturday, initially led a tightly-packed bunch of five riders that also included Sethu, Mathana, and TVS Racing mates KY Ahamed and Sylvester.

    Jagan looked good for another win until a problem with his bike saw him drop down the grid and later crashed on the last lap, but picked himself up to finish fifth. By then, Mathana had moved to the front with Sylvester in hot pursuit. Sethu survived a contact with Ahamed who fell and retired, to come in third.

    “I am very happy to score my first win of this season. I have had issues with the bike, but I was determined to win today. I kept myself in the front-running bunch and then passed Jagan, Rajiv and Ahamed, and then led all the way to the finish,” said Mathana.

    The Super Sport Indian 300-400cc race was as dramatic with front-runner Dinesh Kumar (Team Alisha Abdullah) went into a water puddle at Turn-1 and crashed. It allowed Menon to move ahead along with Anthony Peter. The pair traded positions once before Menon took a decisive lead on the last lap and win a close race.

    “I had a bad start, but I managed to stay with Dinesh until he crashed at Turn-1. Thereafter, it was a close fight with Anthony Peter who overtook me once, but I regained my track position. It was very tight when we crossed the finish line. It is a huge relief for me after having crashed during practice, qualifying and the first race yesterday. So, I was keen to bring the bike home safely and glad that I did it,” said Menon.

    The results (Provisional):

    Super Sport Indian (up to 165cc) Race 2, 9 laps: 1: Mathana Kumar (Honda Ten 10 Racing) (18:06.287); 2. Harry Sylvester (TVS Racing) (18:06.744); 3. Rajiv Sethu (Honda Ten 10 Racing) (18:15.142).

    Super Sport Indian (300-400cc) 9 laps: 1. Amarnath Menon (Gusto Racing) (17:51.839); 2, Antony Peter (Kingdom Motorsports) (17:51.945); 3. Deepak Ravi Kumar (Moto-Rev) (17:52.117).

    Pro-Stock (up to 165cc) Race 2, 9 laps: 1. Aravind Balakrishnan (Honda Ten 10 Racing) (18:56.859); 2. Aravind Ganesh (pvt.) (19:04.364); 3. Naresh Babu (RACR) (19:08.598).

    Stock (up to 165cc) Novice  – Final (6 laps): 1: Anup Kumar M (RACR) (13:15.938); 2. Satyanarayana Raju (Sparks Racing) (13:15.940); 3. Sri Rahil Pillarishetty (Sparks Racing) (13:16.195).

    One-Make Championship – Honda CBR250 (Open) Race 1, 6 laps: 1: Harikrishnan Rajagopal (Honda Ten 10Racing) (12: 27.667); 2. Rajiv Sethu (Honda Ten 10Racing) (12: 27.808); 3. Abhishek Vasudev (pvt.) (12:28.253). Race 2 (9 laps): 1. Rajiv Sethu (Honda Ten 10 Racing) (18:37.642); 2. Harikrishnan Rajagopal (Honda Ten 10 Racing) (18:37.738); 3. Amit Richard Topno (Pro Lap Racing) (18:38.064).

    CBR 150 (Novice) Race 2, 6 laps: 1. Satyanarayana Raju (Hyderabad) (13:27.240); 2. Vysakh Sobhan (Kerala) (13:27.560); 3. Amala Jerald A (Chennai) (13:28.413).

    TVS Apache RTR200 (Open) Race 2, 6 laps: 1: Sivanesan S (Chennai) (13:13.935); 2. Kannan Karnan (Chennai) (13:14.000); 3. Yuvaraj S (Chennai) (13:14.020). Novice (Race 2, 6 laps): 1. Anup Kumar M (Chennai) (13:19.447); 2. Romario J (Chennai) (13:23.279); 3. Shankar Guru A (Chennai) (13:24.762).

    eom/AP Media Communications release

  • Jagan back in contention in upto 165cc Super Sport Indian class

    Chennai, 5 Aug 2017: Defending champion Jagan Kumar of TVS Racing put in a command performance to score a crucial win in the third round of the MRF MMSC Fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship at the MMRT track, here on Saturday and moved up two spots to third on the leaderboard.

    A very relieved Jagan Kumar (62 points) though had to fight hard for only his second win of the season that put him behind the front-running Honda Ten10 riders leader Rajiv Sethu (90) who barely nursed his bike to third-place finish and Mathana Kumar (66) in the championship stakes after a race that was cut to a four-lap sprint following a red-flag stoppage due to an oil spill on the start-finish straight and was re-started.

    Jagan, starting from pole position, slipped to third due to a poor start as Sethu and Mathana Kumar passed him on the very first lap. However, the red flag stoppage provided Jagan a second chance while Sethu’s bike bled speed and Mathana retired due to an electrical problem. It set Jagan free and he was followed home by team-mate Harry Sylvester and Sethu.

    “I am very relieved that I won today, though I was not happy with my pace. In Friday’s practice, I did 1:57 (one minute, 57 seconds) lap and today, I was two second off that lap pace. I had some issues with the bike, but I think I will not tinker with it for tomorrow’s second race,” said Jagan.

    Also scoring an impressive win was Bengaluru’s Aishwarya Pissay (Apex Racing) in the Girls (Stock up to 165cc) category to further consolidate her position at the top of the leaderboard with 65 points.

    The race witnessed a bit of elbowing among riders at the front before Aishwarya overcame a poor start to clinch a dominating win to move to 65 points, ahead of Indore’s Kalyani Potekar (51) who was docked 10 seconds penalty for causing collision that took out Alisha Abdullah on the start straight and was placed third behind local girl Shruthi Nagarajan (Honda Ten10 Racing).

    Aravind Balakrishnan, courtesy a fine victory in the Pro-Stock (up to 165cc) category, caught up with leader and his Honda Ten10 Racing team-mate Mithun Kumar who finished a distant fifth. Both are on 83 points with the second race of the round to be run on Sunday.

    In the Super Sport Indian 300-400cc class, Kozhikode’s Amarnath Menon (Gusto Racing) saw his four-win streak ending in a cloud of dust as he crashed on the last lap during hot chase of Chennai’s Dinesh Kumar of the newly-formed Team Alisha Abdullah. Despite the non-finish, Menon is still comfortably placed at the top with 100 points, well clear of other contenders Deepak Ravikumar (51, Moto-Rev) and Vivek Pillai (75, Rockers Racing) who finished second and third respectively.

    The results (Provisional):

    Super Sport Indian  (Up to 165cc) 4 laps: 1. Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) (08mins, 06.210secs); 2.Harry Sylvester (TVS Racing) (08:06.370); 3. Rajiv Sethu (Honda Ten10 Racing) (08:12.951).

    Super Sport Indian (300-400cc) 6 laps: 1. Dinesh Kumar D (Team Alisha Abdullah) (11:48.208); 2. Deepak Ravikumar (Moto-Rev) (11:55.445); 3. Vivek Pillai (Rockers Racing) (12:08.044).

    Pro-Stock (Up to 165cc) 4 laps: 1. Aravind Balakrishnan (Honda Ten10 Racing) (08:30.837); 2. Naresh Babu (RACR) (08:32.463); 3. Aravind Ganesh (Chennai) (08:39.352).

    Girls – Stock up to 165cc (5 laps): 1. Aishwarya Pissay (Apex Racing Academy) (11:18.287); 2. Shruthi Nagarajan (Rockers Racing) (11:29.306); 3. Kalyani Potekar (Team Speed Up Racing) (11:37.258).

    One-Make Championship – Honda CBR 150 (Novice) 5 laps: 1. Satyanarayana Raju (Hyderabad) (11:08.098); 2. Balaji G (Chennai) (11:22.842); 3. Senthil Kumar (Coimbatore) (11:23.098).

    TVS Apache RTR200 (Open) 6 laps: 1. Kannan Karnan (Chennai) (13:16.480); 2. Sivanesan S (Chennai) (13:16.578); 3. Yuvaraj S (Chennai) (13:17.312). Novice (6 laps): 1. Romario J (Chennai) (13:23.636); 2. Anup Kumar M (Chennai) (13:23.803); 3. Shankar Guru J (Chennai) (13:30.885).

    Support races (Girls) – Honda (5 laps): 1. Ryhana Bee A (Chennai) (11:26.214); 2. Kalyani Potekar (Indore) (11:41.677); 3. Shruthi Nagarajan (Chennai) (11:41.767).

    TVS (3 laps): 1. Aishwarya Pissay (Bengaluru) (06:52.318); 2. Ann Jennifer (Chennai) (07:02.739); 3. Priyamvada Saradhi (Bengaluru) (07:15.431).

    eom/AP Media Communications release

  • Jagan, Aishwarya on pole: MRF, MMSC, FMSCI Motorcycle Nationals

    Jagan, Aishwarya on pole: MRF, MMSC, FMSCI Motorcycle Nationals

    Aishwarya Pissay takes pole position in Girls (up to165cc) category on Friday. 4Aug2017 AP Media image

    Chennai, 4 Aug 2017: Defending champion Jagan Kumar of TVS Racing, who has not had the best of starts this season, warmed up nicely for the third round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship by roaring to pole position in the premier Super Sport Indian (up to 165cc) class at the MMRT track, here on Friday.

    Jagan Kumar, currently lying fifth on the leaderboard, clocked an impressive one minute, 59.356 seconds, just ahead of championship leader Rajiv Sethu of Honda Ten10 Racing (01:59.912) while Harry Sylvester, also from TVS Racing, was the third fastest (02:00.242) before retiring with a mechanical problem.

    In the Girls (Stock, up to 165cc) class, Bengaluru’s Aishwarya Pissay of Apex Racing, who is looking to consolidate her position at the top, grabbed pole position, clocking 02:13.561, well clear of Alisha Abdullah (Team Alisha Abdullah) whose best was a 02:16.025 with fellow-Chennaiite Shruthi Nagarajan (Rocker Racing) in third spot at 02:16.516.

    Honda Ten10 Racing team riders dominated the qualifying session in the Pro-Stock (up to 165cc) category as Aravind Balakrishnan (02:04.556) and championship leader Mithun Kumar (02:04.955) occupied the top two spots on the grid ahead of S Sivanesan (Team Alisha Abdullah).

    Dinesh Kumar (Team Alisha Abdullah) was the quickest in the Super Sport Indian 300-400cc category pipping leader Amarnath Menon to pole position while Deepak Ravikumar (Moto-Rev) was third.

    After two heats in the Stock Up to 165cc (Novice) category, Hari Prasath (Chennai), Syed Nawas (Vandavasi) and Satyanarayana Raju (Hyderabad, Sparks Racing) topped the time sheets ahead of the points-scoring final race to be run on Sunday.

    Pole positions in the One-Make Championship – Honda CBR 250 (Open): Kishoare VS (Apex Racing); Honda CBR 150 (Novice): Satyanarayana Raju (Hyderabad). TVS Apache RTR (Open): Yashas RL (Bengaluru). Novice: Anup Kumar M (Chennai).

    About Madras Motor Sports Club

    The Madras Motor Sports Club has been the pioneer in developing and promoting motorsport in India since 1953, and we look to further improve in the years to come. It is the club’s endeavor to provide more opportunities for competitors and to this end, it has chalked out a progressive program for 2017. From the days of Sholavaram , MMSC built its own racetrack which was inaugurated in 1979 and secured its FIA Grade-2 international certification in 2015, making it the only club which owns such a facility. The club has organised the Porsche Super Cup, Formula Campos, Formula Asia, Asian touring car championships, Formula 3, Tata Prima Truck racing championship, the Asian 2-wheeler racing championships besides a host of other motorsport events over the years. The club also has active participation for its events from vehicle manufacturers who also use the Madras Motor Race Track (MMRT) extensively for testing their products.

    eom/AP Media Communications release

  • Bikers raring to go ahead of Round 3: MRF MMSC FMSCI bike Nationals

    Bikers raring to go ahead of Round 3: MRF MMSC FMSCI bike Nationals

    Chennai, 3 August 2017: The battle lines will be drawn afresh this weekend when the third round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2017 commences on Friday at the MMRT track in Sriperumbudur, near here with hectic jostling for leaderboard positions in all the categories.

    File photo of bikers in action at the FMSCI national. Image by Anand Philar

    As many as 19 races are scheduled to be run over three days after Thursday’s practice sessions besides the second round of the MMSC fmsci Indian National Drag Racing Championship which will be held on Saturday (practice) and Sunday evening (final runs).

    The spotlight will be yet again on the intense rivalry between Honda Ten10 Racing and TVS Racing riders in the showpiece Super Sport Indian (up to 165cc) class while the path-breaking National championship for girls (Stock, up to 165cc), an MMSC initiative and introduced this season, has thrown up its share of exciting competition with Bengaluru’s Aishwarya Pissay (40 points) of Apex Racing heading the leaderboard from Team Speed Up Racing riders Kalyani Potekar (36) from Madhya Pradesh and Chennai’s Ryhana Bee (35).

    Likewise, the Stock (up to 165cc) class for Novice riders has proved to be a resounding success with 50-plus entries requiring two preliminary heats to decide the grid for the point-scoring final race.

    In the other two categories of National championship, 21-year old Amarnath Menon (Gusto Racing) from Kozhikode has dominated the Super Sport Indian 300-400cc class winning all four races so far while Mithun Kumar of Honda Ten10 Racing is comfortably perched at the top in the Pro-Stock (up to 165cc) following three wins in four outings.

    Country’s top two-wheeler manufacturers Honda and TVS have also weighed in with their highly competitive One-Make Championship in the Open and Novice categories besides support races exclusively for girls who are thus guaranteed plenty of track time over the weekend.

    In the two rounds of the National Championship thus far, 18-year old Rajiv Sethu (Honda Ten10 Racing) from Chennai has caused a big buzz with his dominating performances marked by three wins which put him ahead in the Super Sport Indian (up to 165cc) class with 75 points, just ahead of team-mate Mathana Kumar (66), and will be looking to consolidate his position.

    Defending champion Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) has not had the best of starts this season with just one win and 37 points to show for his efforts to be placed fifth behind team-mates KY Ahamed (45) and Harry Sylvester (39).

    About Madras Motor Sports Club

    The Madras Motor Sports Club has been the pioneer in developing and promoting motorsport in India since 1953, and we look to further improve in the years to come. It is the club’s endeavor to provide more opportunities for competitors and to this end, it has chalked out a progressive program for 2017. From the days of Sholavaram , MMSC built its own racetrack which was inaugurated in 1979 and secured its FIA Grade-2 international certification in 2015, making it the only club which owns such a facility. The club has organised the Porsche Super Cup, Formula Campos, Formula Asia, Asian touring car championships, Formula 3, Tata Prima Truck racing championship, the Asian 2-wheeler racing championships besides a host of other motorsport events over the years. The club also has active participation for its events from vehicle manufacturers who also use the Madras Motor Race Track (MMRT) extensively for testing their products.

    eom/AP Media Communications release

  • Arjun Narendran ends Deepak’s win-streak: FMSCI Racing Nationals

    Arjun Narendran ends Deepak’s win-streak: FMSCI Racing Nationals

    • Sandeep Kumar, winner of MRF FF1600 Race-2 on Sunday (23July 2017). An AP Media Comm. image

      Anindith, Sandeep share honours in MRF FF1600

    • Maiden win for Bengaluru schoolboy Yash Aradhya

    Chennai, 23 July 2017: Anindith Reddy from Hyderabad and Coimbatore’s Arjun Narendran provided a thrilling finale to the third round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship at the MMRT track, Sriperumbudur, near here, even as 14-year old schoolboy from Bengaluru Yash Aradhya chalked up his maiden win.

    Reddy finished the weekend on a high by chalking up his second win in the MRF FF1600 triple-header with Chennai’s Sandeep Kumar denying the Hyderabad racer a hat-trick, while Coimbatore-based Narendran (Red Rooster Performance), the defending champion in the premier Indian Touring Cars class, scored his first victory this season, to end the four-in-a-row win-streak of Bengaluru’s Deepak Paul Chinnappa (Race Concepts).

    Earlier, Yash (Momentum Motorsports), a ninth standard student of Bishop Cotton’s school, drove a well-judged race to claim top honours in both Formula LGB 1300 and the Rookie categories which also produced its share of tight finishes.

    Kolhapur’s Dhruv Mohite, starting third on the grid, drove a near-flawless race for his first win in the MRF MMSC Volkswagen Ameo Cup race ahead of Karminder Singh (Delhi) and South African guest driver Devin Robertson.

    Both the MRF FF1600 races today dished out exciting fare. Sandeep Kumar shrugged off a bad start owing to wheelspin and recovered well to take a jump on the front-runners Chetan Korada and winner of lung-opener on Saturday Reddy, in the very first lap before nursing the lead to the finish.

    In the next race, the third of the weekend in this class, it was Reddy’s turn to fight his way through the pack and survive a spin after coming into contact with race leader Korada who thus dropped out of contention while Sandeep Kumar came in second with Kolkata schoolboy Arya Singh finishing third.

    “It was a good weekend overall, but it wasn’t clear-cut as the results would suggest. I am happy to come away with two wins and a podium,” said Anindith who has four wins in seven outings which put him firmly in front in the championship the winner of which earns a chance to compete in the Road To Indy shootout in the United States later this year.

    Likewise, both the ITC races, especially the duel between Narendran and Chinnappa were as close as they could get with little separating the two. In the day’s first race, Chinnappa, starting third on the reverse grid, had the measure of Narendran for his fourth win in a row. However, in the next race, pole-sitter Narendran enjoyed his best outing of the weekend to pip Chinnappa by a mere half-a-car length in a thrilling finish.

    “Yes, I am absolutely relieved to score my first win in nearly a year. My last win was in August of 2016 and hopefully, this victory will turn my luck over the next couple of rounds. I had a tough time staying ahead of Deepak. We were quicker than each other in different sections of the track, but in the end, I am happy that scored my first win of this season,” said Narendran who is currently studying in England.

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

    MRF FF1600 – Race 2: 1. Sandeep Kumar (Chennai) (13mins, 47.962secs); 2. Anindith Reddy (Hyderabad) (13:48.564); 3. Chetan Korada (Chennai) (13:55.975). Race 3: 1. Anindith Reddy (14:00.875); 2. Sandeep Kumar (14:02.022); 3. Arya Singh (Kolkata) (14:05.415).

    Indian Touring Cars – Race 2: 1. Deepak Paul Chinnappa (Race Concepts) (15:37.529); 2. Arjun Narendran (Red Rooster Performance) (15:38.209); V Nikanthram (Red Rooster Performance) (16:14.611). Race 3: 1. Arjun Narendran (Red Rooster Performance) (15:34.638); 2. Deepak Paul Chinnappa (Race Concepts) (15:34.769); 3. B Vijayakumar (Prime Racing) (16:07.988).

    Formula LGB 1300 – Race 2: 1. Yash Aradhya (Bengaluru, Momentum) (15:17.864); 2. Arya Singh (Kolkata, DTS Racing) (15:18.316); 3. Rupesh Sivakumar (Salem, DTS Racing) (15:31.142). Rookie: 1. Yash Aradhya; 2. Arya Singh; 3. Bala Prasath A (Coimbatore, DTS) (15:46.420).

    MRF MMSC Volkswagen Ameo Cup – Race 2: 1. Dhruv Mohite (Kolhapur) (15:53.219); 2. Karminder Singh (Delhi) (15:59.667); 3. Devin Robertson (Johannesburg, South Africa) (16:01.045).

    eom/AP Media Comm. press release

  • Deepak Paul Chinnappa tops Indian Touring Cars race: FMSCI Racing Nationals

    Deepak Paul Chinnappa tops Indian Touring Cars race: FMSCI Racing Nationals

    Deepak Paul Chinnappa (No.39), winner of Indian Touring Cars race at Chennai on Saturday. An AP Media Comm. image

    Chennai, 22 July 2017: Anindith Reddy from Hyderabad kept his wits about him after a bad start to post a fine win the MRF FF1600 race as did Bengaluru’s Deepak Paul Chinnappa (Race Concepts) who scripted his third consecutive victory in the premier Indian Touring Cars class in the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship at the MMRT track, Sriperumbudur, near here on Saturday.

    While Reddy made the best of the opportunities that came his way to move from third to first, Chinnappa, after easing past pole-sitter and defending champion Arjun Narendran (Red Rooster Performance), maintained a consistent pace for a well-deserved win.

    Also tasting victories on the day were AS Prabhu (Red Rooster Performance) in the Indian Junior Touring Cars class, team-mate Sudanand Rajan (Esteem Cup) and Deepak Ravi Kumar of Quickshift Racing in the Super Stock category after original winner Varun Anekar was docked 30-second penalty for “dangerous driving”.

    Rookies dominated the Formula LGB 1300 class race with Kolkata schoolboy Arya Singh (DTS Racing) finishing ahead of Momentum Motorsport team-mates Pune’s Aanjan Patodia and Yash Aradhya from Bengaluru. Arya, only 16, had won the Student Cup on Friday.

    South African guest driver, Devin Robertson drove a near-flawless race to win the MRF MMSC Volkswagen Ameo Cup race comfortably ahead of Delhi’s Karminder Singh and A Sandeep Kumar (Chennai). Robertson enjoyed an untroubled outing leaving the rest to battle for minor positions.

    Reddy, after slipping to third at the start of the eight-lap race, managed to fight his way back into the lead after front-runner Raghul Ramaswamy was docked a drive-through penalty for jump start and Chetan Korada ran wide. Reddy then hung on to the slender lead to win from Chennai lads Korada and Sandeep Kumar.

    “It was a tough race. I had a bad getaway and lost two places behind Raghul and Chetan. However, in the very lap itself, Chetan made a mistake going into the back “D” and it allowed me to move up one spot. In the next lap, Raghul went in for a drive-through penalty for jump start and I broke clear.

    “Thereafter, I concentrated on keeping my track position and only once Chetan came close which was when I set my fastest lap. I am happy that it all came together today and it should be fun in the next race on Sunday with the reverse grid start,” said Anindith after chalking up his third win in five outings in the championship whose winner at the end of the season earns a right to participate in the Road To Indy shootout in the United States.

    Chinnappa had a great start and eased into the lead by Turn-1 and then drove extremely well to keep Narendran at bay. The duo was separated by mere inches most of the eight laps while pulling away from the field. Chinnappa, while clocking the fastest lap (01:54.228) of the race defended his line very capably to prevent Narendran from passing him.

    Behind the front-runners, Ashish Ramaswamy fought and beat his team-mate Nikanth Ram to third place.

    “I had a good start and passed Arjun going into Turn-1. Thereafter, it was a pretty close race. We both had some advantages in some of the sections. I had some issues with the car with handling and understeer, , but I am happy that I was able to defend my track position,” said Deepak Paul.

    Arjun Narendran conceded that he lost to a quicker driver. “At the start, I had wheel-spin and he passed me. I stayed with him through the eight laps, but was not able to find a way past him. I too had some issues with the understeer.”

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

    MRF FF1600 (Race-1): 1. Anindith Reddy (Hyderabad) (13mins, 51.925secs); 2. Chetan Korada (Chennai) (13:52.904); 3. A Sandeep Kumar (Chennai) (13:53.497).

    Indian Touring Cars (Race-1): 1. Deepak Paul Chinnappa (Race Concepts) (15:42.078); 2. Arjun Narendran (Red Rooster Performance) (15:42.599); 3. Ashish Ramaswamy (Red Rooster Performance) (16:05.018).

    Indian Junior Touring Cars (Race-2, 7 laps): 1. Prabhu AS (Red Rooster Performance) (15:57.245); 2. Kamlesh Parmar (Team N1) (16:04.112); 3. Arjun M Zaveri (Team Game Over) (16:44.437).

    Super Stock (Race-2, 7 laps): 1. Deepak Ravi Kumar (Quickshift Racing) (15:34.021); Varun Anekar (Race Concepts) (15:53.594); 3. Swajit Achrekar (Team N1) (15:55.816).

    Esteem Cup (Race-2, 7 laps): 1. Sudanand Rajan (Red Rooster Performance) (15:13.237); 2. Charan Chandran (Red Rooster Performance) (15:14.695); 3. Anant Pithawalla (Team N1) (15:15.014).

    Formula LGB 1300 (Race-1): 1. Arya Singh (Kolkata,  DTS Racing) (18:56.746); 2. Aanjan Patodia (Pune, Momentum) (18:57.218); 3.Yash Aradhya (Bengaluru, Momentum) (18:57.516).  Rookie Cup: 1. Arya Singh; 2. Aanjan Patodia; 3. Yash Aradhya.

    MRF MMSC Volkswagen Ameo Cup (Race-1): 1. Devin Robertson (South Africa) (15:39.262); 2. Karminder Singh (Delhi) (15:50.095); 3. A Sandeep Kumar (Chennai) (15:56.471).

    eom/AP Media Comm press release