INDIA in F1

Tag: MRF 1600

  • Arjun Balu leads ITC; Chirag, Shahan to fight it out in MRF 1600

    Arjun Balu leads ITC; Chirag, Shahan to fight it out in MRF 1600

    Chennai, 18 Jan 2022: Coimbatatore ace and multi-faceted motorsport athlete, Arjun Balu, will be the cynosure of all eyes as he leads the championship with a slender 7-point even as a clutch of teenaged talent, will line-up on various grids in the third round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship 2021 commencing at the MMRT circuit near here on Thursday, with Covid-19 safety protocols in place.

    Due to the Sunday lockdown in Tamil Nadu in the wake of the pandemic, the promoters, Madras Motor Sports Club, have rejigged the schedule for the programme to start a day earlier on Thursday, which will be devoted to practice sessions only, and conclude on Saturday afternoon with over 100 participants in fray at the Irangattukottai circuit near Sriperumbudur.

    A card of 13 races will be gone through with triple-headers each in the premier MRF F1600, Volkswagen Polo and the MRF Saloon Cars (Toyota Etios) categories, while the popular saloon cars class (Indian Touring Cars, Indian Junior Touring Cars and the Super Stock) and the Formula LGB 1300 will have two races apiece.

    File photo of Saloon cars in action of 2021 Round 2 at MMRT.

    Due to the pandemic-induced delays, the 2021 championship has spilled into the current year, but the challenging conditions have not deterred the racing enthusiasts if the number of entries is any indication.

    If the second round in December was impacted by the monsoon rains, the going this week is expected to be fair in balmy winter sunshine.

    Teenagers Chirag Ghorpade (Bengaluru) and Shahan Ali Mohsin (Agra) have dominated the MRF F1600 category with two wins each in six starts with the former heading the championship table with 105 points.

    In contrast, veteran Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) from Coimbatore showcased his vast experience in wet conditions in the second round to notch a double in the ITC category where he enjoys a seven-point advantage over Rayo Racing’s Anindith Reddy (Hyderabad). In third spot and five points adrift is another Hyderabad racer, Jeet Jhabakh, also of Rayo Racing.

    Privateer from Coimbatore, Charen Chandran, heads the IJTC category while the versatile local challenger Deepak Ravikumar tops two classes, the Super Stock for Performance Racing and Formula LGB 1300 for Momentum Motorsport.

    The Volkswagen Polo category, with 22 cars on the grid, is extremely competitive as the four races so far has produced as many different winners with Chennai’s Sandeep Kumar heading the points table though not having won a race.

    The experienced Fahad Kutty from Mumbai, with two wins in three starts, is comfortably perched on top in the MRF Saloon Cars category that boasts of 21 competitors.

    MMSC president Ajit Thomas said: “We once again welcome the four-wheeler competitors have are attending the third round in good number. The championship has thrown up some exciting young talent which augurs well for the sport as also the continued support from our title sponsors MRF Tyres. We expect another round of close racing this week which should spread cheer among the racing aficionados.”

    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.

  • Winning comeback by Arjun Balu; Teenager Ashwin Datta catches the eye: Racing Nationals

    Winning comeback by Arjun Balu; Teenager Ashwin Datta catches the eye: Racing Nationals

    Multiple National Racing Champion Arjun Balu made a winning comeback after 5 years for Bengaluru based Race Concepts team at Coimbatore on Saturday. Image by Anand Philar

    Coimbatore, 23 June 2018: Teenager Ashwin Datta and Arjun Balu delivered standout victories in the MRF F1600 and Indian Touring Cars categories, respectively, to set alight the second round of the MRFMMSCfmsci Indian National Racing Championship at the Kari Motor Speedway, here on Saturday.

    Also notching wins were Bengaluru’s Varun Anekar (Race Concepts) in the Super Stock class, Chris D’Souza (Unimek Racing) from Goa (Indian Junior Touring Cars) and Erode’s Vinod S (Team N1) in the Esteem Cup. The trio emerged unscathed from an incident-filled race of combined 16-car grid that witnessed two Safety Car periods.

    The two Formula LGB 1300 races witnessed close competition with Sohil Shah (MSport) from Bengaluru winning the first outing after a hectic scrap with team-mate Nabil Hussain from Chennaiwhile Ashwin Datta took the second race that witnessed a couple of crashes, but drivers escaping unhurt. Datta, only 19, drove brilliantly after dropping from second to fourth and overtook three cars to jump to the front and eventually win the race.

    The 19-year old Ashwin Datta overtook three cars in one corner and went on win the MRF1300 race (in pic) after a facile win in the MRF1600 for a grand double on Saturday. Image by Anand Philar

    In sharp contrast, Ashwin Datta earlier enjoyed an untroubled ride to victory in the first of the three MRF F1600 races scheduled for the weekend. Having started from pole position, Datta drove a near-flawless race to win by the proverbial country mile. Behind him, RaghulRangasamy, hailing from the temple town of Mamallapuram, fought his way to second spot ahead of Chennai’s Nirmal Umashanker. The remaining two races will be run on Sunday.

    Meanwhile, Kolhapur’s Dhruv Mohite put in a command performance to win the Volkswagen Ameo Cup race, initially losing track position after starting from pole. Finishing second behind him were Jeet Jhabakh (Hyderabad), who led briefly, and Thane lad Saurav Bandyopadhyay.

    For 43-year old Balu from Coimbatore, it was a comfortable lights-to-flag victory. Starting from pole position, he gradually built up a sizeable lead with Ashish Ramaswamy (ARKA Motorsports) and veteran Vidyaprakash (Prime Racing) in tow. However, Ashish, winner of two races in the first round in February, retired after his engine expired and it allowed Vidyaprakash and team-mate B Vijayakumar, also from Coimbatore, to second and third positions which they maintained till the finish.

    “Everything went well in the race and my focus was to put in consistent laps without sacrificing my pace. I could see that after three laps, I had pulled a decent gap. More importantly, this victory is dedicated to my team Race Concepts who worked so hard in the past few days to prepare the car. We were a bit nervous after the last minute changes to the car to comply with the regulations. I always respected my competitors and so did not take anything for granted despite qualifying on pole position,” said Balu who began his motorsport career in 1992 as a racer before getting into rallying in 1995, followed by an odd appearance in racing competition.

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

    MRF F1600 (Race 1): 1. Ashwin Datta (Chennai) (15mins, 52.195secs); 2. RaghulRangasamy (Mamallapuram) (15:59.749); 3. Nirmal Umashanker (Chennai) (16:03.412).

    Indian Touring Cars (Race 1): 1. Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) (16:38.541); 2. D Vidya Prakash (Prime Racing) (16:46.128); 3. B Vijay Kumar (Prime Racing) (16:47.238).

    Super Stock (Race 1): 1. Varun Anekar (Race Concepts) (22:43.752); Deepak Ravikumar (Infinite Piston) (22:45.806); 3. K Srinivas Teja (Performance Racing) (22:48.777).

    Indian Junior Touring Cars (Race 1): 1. Chrys D’Souza (Unimek Racing) (22:54.799); 2. Prabhu AS (ARKA Motorsports) (22:57.507); 3. Nikunj Vagh (Team N1) (23:01.287).Esteem Cup (Race 1): 1. Vinod S (Team N1) (22:50.081). Only one finisher.

    Formula LGB 1300 (Race 1): 1. Sohil Shah (MSport) (19:20.665); 2. Nabil Hussain (MSport) (19:21.179); 3. A Balaprasath (DTS Racing) (19:22.636).Race 2:. Ashwin Datta (Momentum Motorsports) (17:32.137); 2. Rupesh Sivakumar (MSport) (17:51.678); 3. Nabil Hussain (MSport) (17:55.093).

    Volkswagen Ameo Cup (Race 1): 1. Dhruv Mohite (Kohlapur) (17:44.976); 2. Jeet Jhabakh (Hyderabad) (17:49.205); 3. Saurav Bandyopadhyay (Thane) (17:54.758).