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Tag: Race Concepts
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Double for Raghul, Tijil Rao; Jeet, Keith share ITC wins in 2 races
Irungattukottai (Sriperumbudur, TN) 8 Nov 2020: Championship leader Arjun Balu of Race Concepts had a gear-box failure but notched up two podium places even as FB Motorsport had its finest day yet with Hyderabad’s Jeet Jhabakh and Keith D’Souza from Goa, both driving the Volkswagen Polo, taking victories in the two premier Indian Touring Cars races as the second round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship concluded at the MMRT, about 130km from Chennai here on Sunday. Spectators and media were not allowed due to the government COVID 19 safety regulations and the event was held in a bio-bubble.
Also in the limelight was Mamallapuram’s Raghul Rangasamy of Performance Racing, who won both the races on Sunday, in the Super Stock category. Bengaluru lad Tijil Rao, also of Momentum Motorsport, completed a double in the Formula LGB 1300 class by winning the day’s first of the two races in addition to the one he won on Saturday. Viswas Vijayaraj of DTS Racing took the honours in the second of Sunday’s Formula LGB race.
Chennai’s Chetan Korada and Chandresh Tolia from Mumbai won a race apiece in the Toyota Etios MRF Saloon Car series.
Super Stock Race 2 winner Raghul Rangasamy flanked by 2nd placed Alisha Abdullah, left, and Vineet Abhiram, 3rd, ( at right) at MMRT on Sunday. Photo by Anand Philar Jeet Jhabakh, a 28-year old automotive businessman from Hyderabad, a former Volkswagen Ameo and Vento Cup champion, enjoyed a trouble-free run once race leader, Arjun Balu of Race Concepts, dropped out of contention with a gearbox issue. Jhabakh managed to nose ahead of teammate Dhruv Mohite following a brief contact, and gradually extended the lead for a comfortable win, his first of the season. He, like Mohite, have missed the opening round in February. Mohite came in second and Balu managed a distant third for some valuable points.
“It was a good race for me after I got in front. Not sure what happened with Arjun’s (Balu) car, but I passed him and Dhruv to get in front. I am really happy for this win,” said Jhabakh.
Balu started fourth on the reverse grid, but cut through to the front in the very first lap and looked set for another win when the gearbox played up. “In the third lap, I found the car weaving on the straight and I realised something was wrong. So, I let others pass me and in the final three laps, I shifted to fifth gear and stayed there as I wanted to finish and pick up points,” said Balu, who collected 15 points for his third-place to continue to lead the table.
The Race Concepts team then got to work and changed the gearbox in little over 30 minutes, but attracting a five-position grid penalty for Balu for the next race for which the Coimbatore ace had qualified on pole.
From left: 2nd placed Arjun Balu, winner Keith D’Souza and 3rd Jeet Jhabakh, in the ITC class Race 3 on Sunday. Photo by Anand Philar In the next outing, it was Keith D’Souza all the way as he made the best of a strong start to win comfortably from Balu, who made three places, and Jhabakh.
The results (Provisional, all 8 laps unless mentioned):
Indian Touring Cars (Race-2, 10 laps): 1. Jeet Jhabakh (FB Motorsport) (19mins, 11.577secs); 2. Dhruv Mohite (FB Motorsport) (19:14.720); 3. Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) (21:12.781).
ITC Race-3: 1. Keith D’Souza (FB Motorsport) (15:22.987); 2. Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) (15:28.096); 3. Jeet Jhabakh (FB Motorsport) (15:30.188).
Super Stock (Race-2, 10 laps): 1. Raghul Rangasamy (Performance Racing) (20:08.258); 2. Alisha Abdullah (Race Concepts) (20:30.072); 3. Vineet Abhiram (Race Concepts) (20:52.326).
SS Race-3: 1. Raghul Rangasamy (Performance Racing) (16:10.165); 2. Rithvik Thomas (Race Concepts) (16:10.728); 3. Alisha Abdullah (Race Concepts) (16:32.717).
MRF Saloon Car Series (Toyota Etios) (Race-2, 10 laps): 1. Chetan Korada (Chennai) (21:14.775); 2. A Balaprasath (Chennai) (21:15.945); 3. Diljith TS (Thrissur) (19:12.377+1 lap).
Toyota Race-3: 1. Chandresh Tolia (Mumbai) (17:18.519); 2. A Balaprasath (Chennai) (17:19.306); 3. Diljith TS (Thrissur) (17:28.532).
Formula LGB 1300 (Race-3): 1. Tijil Rao (Momentum Motorsport) (15:13.237); 2. Chirag Ghorpade (Momentum Motorsport) (15:13.806); 3. Arya Singh (DTS Racing) (15:19.854).
FLGB 1300 Race-4 (10 laps): 1. Viswas Vijayaraj (DTS Racing) (20:26.904); 2. Chirag Ghorpade (Momentum Motorsport) (20:28.587); 3. Arya Singh (DTS Racing) (20:29.120).
About Madras Motor Sports Club
Since its humble beginnings in 1953, the Madras Motor Sports Club has grown in stature as the hub of motorsport activity in India. Having moved from Sholavaram to its present location in Sriperumbudur in 1979, MMSC has kept pace with changing times by upgrading facilities. At a cost of about Rs 20 Crore, the MMSC built a pit complex comprising 20 garages, VIP hospitality suites and a viewing gallery, on the eastern side, apart from a second Paddock on the western side with its own short circuit. The Control Room too was upgraded with state-of-the-art hardware while the track itself was improved to meet the exacting FIA standards for Grade-2 certification. The facilities are also extensively used by various vehicle manufacturers for testing their products, displays and corporate days.
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Arjun Balu and Rithwik Thomas raring to go: National racing resumes
Irungattukottai (Sriprumbudur, TN), 5 Nov 2020: Speedmaster and star racing driver Arjun Balu of Coimbatore is raring to go as the MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship resumes after a COVID-induced break of over eight months at the Madras Motor Sports Track here on Saturday.
Arjun Balu is leading the Championship table with 50 points in the Indian Touring Car (ITC) category while his Race Concepts teammate Rithvik Thomas, who too won both the races in the first round held in February, leads the Super Stock class, also with 50 points. Tuned by Joel Joseph, the Race Concepts team did a commendable job in 2019 but their prospects were damaged due to guest drivers in the last round.
“Happy to be back racing and looking forward to an enjoyable weekend of racing. We need more time to develop the car, as there are many changes made. So not yet optimum yet, but we will try to bring updates for the next round,” said Arjun Balu.
“Coming into this Round, my main aim is to get back into the rhythm of racing and enjoy the weekend after such a long break. How everything else goes is secondary but we are well prepared and I am looking forward to a good weekend,” said Rithvik Thomas, talking to www.INDIAinF1.com
The guest drivers did not score points and were not eligible for the championship but Race Concepts’ lead driver, Arjun Balu, who had some issues with the car in the qualifying session in the final round of 2019 got stuck behind them and lost the championship. Leaving all that behind, Arjun Balu began with a bang and convincingly won both the races in Round 1 in February 2020, which included two races for saloon cars in ITC and Super Stock classes, besides two support events, the MRF F1600 and Volkswagen Ameo Super Race were also held.
With the Corona pandemic eating away vital 8 months of the season, the calendar is reduced to 8 races in all the classes, including both the ITC and Super Stock, which will run three races in this round and three more in the third and final round to be held on November 28 and 29. Formula LGB will have four races this week-end, two on Saturday and two on Sunday and four more in the final round to decide the champion. A new category in the National Championship, the MRF Toyota Etios Junior class will also have four races in this round and four races in the final round on that concludes on Nov 29.
Meanwhile, MMSC has updated many facilities at the track, prominent among them being the covered facilities for Marshal Post and the construction began for a 600-seat Grandstand for spectators.
“It is exactly 220 days since we had the last competitive race at the MMRT on February 16, 2020, which is the longest break ever in the history of the MMSC National Championship. In these times, we at MMSC have not been sitting idle and have been continuously planning and arranging to restart racing events. As per the current scenario, we will need to follow the new protocols/ Standard Operating Procedures and will adhere to all government guidelines,” said an MMSC note to the drivers while releasing the revised calendar in September last week.
New Marshall posts at Madras Motor Sports Club’s track in Chennai. Photo Twitter @VickyChandhok MMSC National Championships Calendar 2020 Date Event Round 10 – 11 October 2020 2W Darg National Championship 1 6 – 8 November 2020 4W Racing National Championship 2 26 – 28 November 2020 4W Racing National Championship 3 5 – 6 December 2020 2W Darg National Championship 2 10 – 13 December 2020 2W Racing National Championship 1 17 – 20 December 2020 2W Racing National Championship 2 For the Car National Championship, we have planned to run 8 races for all the categories in 2020. So the races will be spread over 2 weekends in November as follows, the note added.
FLGB 1300 ITC Super Stock Toyota Etios Junior 14 – 16 Feb (completed) 0 2 2 0 6 – 8 Nov 4 3 3 4 26 – 28 Nov 4 3 3 4
