INDIA in F1

Tag: MRF

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

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

    Prabhu Arunagiri, Shruthi Nagarajan, Mithun Kumar excel on Saturday

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Shruthi Nagarajan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

     

  • MMSC to host first-ever FIA-homologated Cars event in Chennai over two weekends

    MMSC to host first-ever FIA-homologated Cars event in Chennai over two weekends

    • Formula 4 South-East Asia Championship to debut at MMRT
    • Caterham cars add colour and class to the proceedings
    File photo courtesy F4 SEA championship

    Chennai, 30 August 2018: More exciting times ahead at the iconic MMRT with the Madras Motor Sports Club hosting two rounds of the FIA Formula 4 South East Asia Championship and the Caterham Motorsport Championship (Asia) over back-to-back weekends of August 31-September 2 and September 7-9. You can get your basic cars customized to your favourite F1 cars at Jeep Dealership

    The Formula 4 SEA Championship, now in the third season, is part of the global series. The overall champion at the end of the 24 races spread over eight rounds in Malaysia, Thailand and India, earns 12 FIA Super License points.

    The Caterham Championship (Asia) is a by-product of the UK series and aims to provide access to drivers in the region. It is open to anyone with a National C or higher licence and offers arrive-and-drive package for those looking for an introduction to motorsport. The Caterham lightweight (530 kg) race-proven Series V factory-built race car is the most raced car in the world and gives drivers of any age and skill the most exciting and affordable racing in Asia.

    The F4 SEA championship, which will see a total of six races over two weekends, boasts of drivers from Asia, Europe and Canada with a grid of 12 to 14 cars while four races have been scheduled for the Caterham event, comprising of two classes – 420R and Supersport – with nine drivers in the fray.

    MMSC president Ajit Thomas said: “We welcome the F4 SEA and Caterham Motorsport fraternity to India and it is a special occasion for MMSC. These races are further evidence of MMSC’s vision of taking motorsport to the next level and parallelly help promote it at the grass-root level. I am sure that the two race weekends will witness some absolutely heart-stopping action.”

    Chairman of the Meet Vicky Chandhok said: “Meritus, the promoter of the F4 SEA Championship, and MMSC go back a long way, and we have been in talks over the past few months about bringing the championship to India. The event is also in sync with our efforts to widen our racing horizons by presenting different international racing events in our country without compromising on our primary objective of promoting the sport at all levels.

    “The MMSC is very keen to associate itself with all the racing series in the region. We have invited the Malaysians for ongoing talks and inspection of the MMRT to explore the possibility of adding to the menu card of international events organised by the MMSC. Next on the cards would be teams from Korea and other countries as well.”

    Peter Thompson, F4 SEA Promoter, said: “We are looking forward to our first F4 SEA race in India with a double-header at the Madras Motor Race Track in Chennai. MERITUS.GP (the exclusive F4 SEA race engineering supplier) started their Asian adventure in 1996 with Narain Karthikeyan at this very track. Narain is the first of eight F1 graduates from the Meritus GP team.”

    F4 SEA organiser, the Automobile Association of Malaysia, is highly vested in making the 2018 Season an outstanding success.

    “It is our great honour and privilege to usher in the third season of the Formula 4 SEA Championship. F4 is the FIA’s gold standard of junior driver development. The Formula 4 SEA Championship is truly dedicated to the success and future of Asian autosport and I am proud of the fact that we have helped introduce and train 47 new FIA licence-holders, some of whom have already gone on to win races in higher categories. With the past success of our promoter, it is our goal to have one of our graduates join F1 in the next 5-10 years,” said Yang Mulia Tunku Datuk Mudzaffar Tunku Mustapha, the Chairman of the FIA Affiliate in Malaysia (AAM).

    The Specifications

    Formula 4 SEA car – Engine: Renault F4R 2-litre FIA-homologated naturally-aspirated 4-cylinder engine with 160bhp.

    Chassis: FIA-homologated Mygale carbon-fibre monocoque chassis.

    Tyres: Hankook.

    Caterham Motorsport – Engine: 2.0 litre, dry-sumped engine with 210bhp (420R class) and 1.6 litre Caterham Motorsport engine @ 140bhp (Supersport class)

    Tyres: Hankook.

    For More details visit: – https://formula4.asia/  and http://www.caterhammalaysia.com/

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

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

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

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

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

    The results:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    The results (Qualifying):

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Sandeep, Arjun score fluent wins; Teenagers Nabil, Sohil top LGB1300

    Sandeep, Arjun score fluent wins; Teenagers Nabil, Sohil top LGB1300

    • Sandeep Kumar, Arjun Narendran score fluent wins
    • Teenagers Nabil Hussain, Sohil Shah top in Formula LGB 1300

    Chennai, July 21: Sandeep Kumar (MRF F1600) and Arjun Narendran (Indian Touring Cars) chalked up impressive victories to grab the spotlight in the third round of MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship at the MMRT, here on Saturday.

    Starting from pole position, Sandeep Kumar, 24, from Chennai, won virtually untroubled though he trailed Nirmal Umashankar briefly before moving into the lead midway through the first of the eight-lap race. Nirmal, a 16-year old also from Chennai started second on the grid but was subsequently penalised for a jump-start with a drive-through which he failed to obey leading to a 30-second penalty which placed him 12th and last after a spin at Turn-1. Sandeep barely turned a wheel wrong to emerge a comfortable winner.

    “It was tough at the start as Nirmal got past me when the lights went out. But I took him midway through the first lap itself and after he spun, I had a good lead. The win helped me to earn some big points (25) after my disappointing run in the first round last month when I finished fourth and had two DNFs in the next two races. Tomorrow, we have two more races and I hope to pick up more points,” said Sandeep, a practicing Corporate lawyer.

    Further down the grid, championship leader Ashwin Datta, 19, who had scored a triple in the previous round at Coimbatore, got stuck in the mid-grid bunch and finished a distant seventh in his maiden race at the MMRT while Raghul Rangasamy and Goutham Parekh came in second and third.

    An equally impressive winner was Arjun Narendran (Arka Motorsports), the defending champion in the Indian Touring Cars, as he vanquished seasoned Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) in a battle between two Coimbatore stars. Narendran, after sitting out the earlier two rounds, marked his return with a brilliant drive to beat Balu, who had a double in the previous outing at Coimbatore last month. Finishing behind Narendran and Balu was Bengaluru’s Ashish Ramaswamy (Arka Motorsports) who continues to lead the points table with a tally of 83.

    Bengaluru’s Varun Anekar led a 1-2 finish for Race Concepts team in the Super Stock class with Abhinay Bikkani in tow and K Srinivasa Teja (Performance Racing) completing the podium. Goa’s Chrys D’Souza (Unimek Racing), Vinod Subramaniam from Erode (Team N1) topped the Indian Junior Touring Cars and Esteem Cup category, respectively, and which were run concurrently with the Super Stock class.

    Meanwhile, the Formula LGB 1300 double-header today saw two young guns and MSport team-mates Sohil Shah, 17, a schoolboy from Bengaluru and Chennai collegian Nabil Hussain, 19, winning a race apiece after coming through tight contests. Hussain, thus, consolidated his top position on the leaderboard with 95 points, followed by Shah and Ashwin Datta (Momentum Motorsports), both tied on 83.

    Thane’s Saurav Bandyopadhyay, who started second on the grid, notched his third career win in the Volkswagen Ameo Cup with a measure of comfort after initial fight. Finishing behind him were Anmol Singh Sahil from Ghaziabad and pole-sitter Dhruv Mohite (Kolhapur).

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

    MRF F1600 (Race 1): 1. Sandeep Kumar (Chennai)(13 mins,37.418sec); 2. Raghul Rangasamy (Kancheepuram) (13:40.097); 3. Goutham Parekh (Chennai) (13:40.739).

    Formula LGB 1300 (Race 1): 1. Sohil Shah (MSport) (15:03.149); 2. Ashwin Datta (Momentum Motorsports) (15:06.013);  3. Deepak Ravikumar (DTS Racing) (15:06.469). Race 2 (7 laps): 1. Nabil Hussain (MSport) (13:20.115); 2. Sohil Shah (MSport) (13:20.567); 3. Deepak Ravikumar (DTS Racing) (13:22.308).

    Indian Touring Cars (Race 1): 1. Arjun Narendran (Arka Motorsports) (15:12.873); 2. Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) (15:13.669); 3. Ashish Ramasamy (Arka Motorsports) (15:21.950).

    Indian Junior Touring Cars (Race 1): 1. Chrys D’Souza (Unimek Racing) (17:08.455); 2. Prabhu AS (Arka Motors) (17:42.363).

    Super Stock (Race 1): 1. Varun Anekar (Race Concepts) (15:59.936); 2. Abhinay Bikkani (Race Concepts)(16:06.246); 3. K Srinivas Teja (Performance Racing)(16:20.505).

    Esteem Cup (Race 1): 1. Vinod Subramaniam (Team N1) (16:43.970); 2. Raghul Rangasamy (Performance Racing) (17:03.467); 3. Alisha Abdullah (Infinite Piston) (17:34.220).

    Turbo (Support Race 1): 1. Karthik Tharani (Chennai) (15:26.086); 2. Rayomand Banajee (Mumbai) (15:41.006); 3. Ishaan Dodhiwala (Hyderabad) (15:42.859).

    Volkswagen Ameo Cup (Race 1): 1. Saurav Bandyopadhyay (Thane) (15:49.436); 2. Anmol Singh Sahil (Ghaziabad) (15:54.147): 3. Dhruv Mohite (Kohlapur) (15:54.203).

  • Rajiv Sethu pips champ Jagan Kumar for a double: Bike Nationals

    Rajiv Sethu pips champ Jagan Kumar for a double: Bike Nationals

    • Rajiv Sethu (No.8) leads Jagan Kumar (background) on way to a fine win in the Super Sport Indian 165cc race on Sunday. Photos by Anand Philar

      Fine win for Hyderabad rookie Karthik Meteti

    • Amarnath Menon, Naresh Babu chalk up victories

    Chennai, 8 July 2018: Local lad Rajiv Sethu (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) ended the weekend on a high by achieving a double in the premier Super Sport Indian 165cc class as the second round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2018 concluded at the MMRT here on Sunday.

    In a virtual repeat of Saturday’s Race-1, Sethu scored another win over National champion Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) who, after leading for much of the eight-lap race, yielded ground and finished second ahead of Sarath Kumar (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing). The double win took Sethu to the top of the championship standings with 70 points, well clear of defending champion Jagan (62).

    Second-placed Sathyanarayana Raju (left) congratuating winner Amarnath Menon after the Pro-Stock 301-400cc-class-race on July 8.

    Also scoring wins today were Kozhikode’s Amarnath Menon who led a 1-2 finish for Gusto Racing in the Pro-Stock 301-400cc class, Naresh Babu of RACR (Pro-Stock 165cc) and Karthik Mateti who headed a Sparks Racing podium sweep in the Novice category while also setting a lap record in this class.

    Sethu and Jagan were again locked in a tight fight from the start. Pole-sitter Jagan, though managed to stay ahead of Sethu, could not pull away. In the penultimate of the eight-lap race, Sethu finally moved past Jagan to emerge comfortable winner.

    Amarnath Menon was involved in a three-way battle that included yesterday’s Race-1 winner and team-mate Sathyanarayana Raju and Prabhu Arunagiri (Team Alisha Abdullah). As the race progressed, Menon and Raju swapped lead positions lap by lap while opening up a gap on Arunagiri. Eventually, Menon got his nose in front and hung on to win his second race of the season with Raju in second spot followed by Arunagiri. Menon now heads the championship in this class with 72 points, 11 clear of Raju.

    Earlier, Sparks Racing team swept all three podium spots in the Novice (Stock, 165cc) category race with Mateti, a 19-year old Commerce student from Hyderabad, Aditya Rao (Bengaluru) and Alexander AS (Chennai) taking the chequered flag in that order after a close fight. After two rounds, Mateti and Rao are tied with 43 points apiece, having one race apiece.

    Karthik Mateti from Hyderabad (No.72), wins the Novice (Stock 165cc) class race on Sunday.

    It was a fine win for rookie Mateti who is in his first full season of racing. He had participated in a few rounds of a one-make series last year before running out of funds. “I did not have much clue about racing bikes last year until I joined Sparks Racing. Today, it was a tough race and happy to win,” said Mateti who bettered the lap record set by Sathyanarayana Raju when he posted a best lap of 02mins, 07.492secs.

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

    Super Sport Indian (165cc) – Race 2: 1. Rajiv Sethu (Idemitsu Honda Ten 10 Racing) (15mins, 37.026sec); 2. Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) (15:40.465); 3. Sarath Kumar (Idemitsu Honda Ten 10 Racing) (15:57.911).

    Pro-Stock (165cc) – Race 2: 1. Naresh Babu (RACR) (16:57.586); 2. Anish D Shetty (Idemitsu Honda Ten 10 Racing) (17:03.115); 3. Senthil Kumar (Idemitsu Honda Ten 10 Racing) (17:07.286).

    Pro-Stock (301-400cc) – Race 2: 1. Amarnath Menon K (Gusto Racing India) (15:37.673); 2. Sathyanarayana Raju (Gusto Racing India) (15:38.943); 3. Prabhu Arunagiri (Team Alisha Abdullah) (15:39.216).

    Novice (Stock 165cc, 6 laps): 1. Karthik Mateti (Sparks Racing) (13:01.676); 2. Aditya Rao I (Sparks Racing) (13.04.384); 3. Alexander AS (Sparks Racing) (13:04.663).

    Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup 2018 organised by MMSC – Open (CBR 250cc) Race 2: 1. Anish Shetty (Bengaluru) (16:48.671); 2. Abhishek Vasudev (Bengaluru) (16:49.460); 3. Amit Richard Toppo (Ranchi) (16:49.692). Novice (CBR 150cc) Race 2 (6 laps): 1. Mohamed Mikail (Chennai) (13:23.224); 2. Kritik Vasan Habib (Karnataka) (13:34.011); 3. Akshay V Murali (Kerala) 13:47.298.

    TVS One-Make Championship – Open (Apache R310) Race 2: 1. Vivek Pillai (Chennai) (16:21.188); 2. Deepak Ravikumar (Chennai) (16:21.244); 3. Yashas RL (Bengaluru) (16:30.900). Novice (Apache 200) Race 2 (6 laps): 1. Karthik Mateti (Hyderabad) (13:37.283); 2. Venkatesan (Chennai) (13:50.679); 3. Alexander AS (Chennai) (13:50.726).

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  • Hyderabad’s Satyanarayana Raju blasts to easy victory: FMSCI Bike Nationals

    Hyderabad’s Satyanarayana Raju blasts to easy victory: FMSCI Bike Nationals

    Hyderabad’s Satyanarayana Raju (Gusto Racing), on way to victory in the Pro-Stock 301-400cc race at MMRT on Friday. Photos Anand Philar

    Chennai, 6 July 2018: Satyanarayana Raju (Gusto Racing) from Hyderabad turned in a brilliant performance to win the Pro-Stock 301-400cc class race in the second round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship at Irungattukottai, near here, on Friday.

    Riding the KTM RC 390, Raju, a 20-year old Computer Science student, who won the championship last year in the Honda CBR 150 category, authored a lights-to-flag victory that underlined his absolute dominance in the six-lap race that saw him lead a 1-2 finish for his team, Gusto Racing, with last year’s champion in this category, Kozhikode’s Amarnath Menon coming in second ahead of local challenger Prabhu Arunagiri (Team Alisha Abdullah).

    Reflecting on the race, Raju, who also posted the fastest lap of the race (01:54.744) that bettered his pole-winning time of 01:55.425 in the qualifying earlier today, said: “I had a good start and really pushed over the first three laps to open up a comfortable gap. Thereafter, I eased a bit, not wanting to crash like I did in the first round last month. Yeah, it feels good and I must also compliment the MRF slick tyres which worked quite beautifully today with good grip, especially through the corners.”

    While Raju vanished into the distance, behind him, Menon fought to hold off Prabhu while behind them, battle raged on for minor positions in an entertaining race.

    Earlier, in the premier Super Sport Indian 165cc class qualifying run, it was a familiar story of defending champion Jagan Kumar of TVS Racing easing his way to pole position with a scorching lap of 01:55.625 which, incidentally, was his best effort at the MMRT.

    Second on the grid for Saturday’s Race 1 was arch-rival Rajiv Sethu of Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing who timed 01:55.952, ahead of Deepak Ravikumar, also of TVS Racing (01:57.041). Championship leader KY Ahamed (TVS Racing) who was the quickest in yesterday’s free practice session could only put in just three laps due to dust in the carburettor, finished fifth in 01:57.674 behind Sarath Kumar of Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing (01:57.516).

    Others qualifying for pole positions in their respective categories were:

    Pro-Stock 165cc: Mithun Kumar (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing, 02:06.163). Novice (165cc): Alexander AS (Sparks Racing) (02:09.323). Girls: Sruthi Nagarajan (Apex Racing Academy) (02:15.891). Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup 2018 organised by MMSC: Anish D Shetty (Hubballi) (02:05.032). Novice (CBR 150): Kritik Vasan Habib (Karnataka) (02:13.568). TVS One-Make Championship – Open (Apache RR310): Yashas RL (Bengaluru) (02:01.629). Novice (Apache RTR 200): Karthik Mateti (Hyderabad) (02:15.511). Girls (Apache RTR 200): Anne Jennifer (Chennai) (02:19.920).

    Results (Provisional):

    Pro-Stock (301-400cc) Race 1 (6 laps): 1. Sathyanarayana Raju (Gusto Racing) (11mins, 38.079secs); 2. Amarnath K Menon (Gusto Racing) (11:39.897); 3. Prabhu Arunagiri (Team Alisha Abdullah) (11:40.966).

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