JK Tyre-MMS Rookie Cup 2012 concludes in Hyderabad

Rayo Racing’s Arya Gandhi of Mumbai won the Junior Max category by a single point over Surya Raguram of Meco Racing. Although Surya emerged dominant in the opening round of the championship in April, Arya made a good comeback in the second round to beat the Meco racing driver. Arya consistently outperformed Surya in the Saturday races and led the championship by a single point, but finished third in Sunday’s opening race which Surya won. The positions were reversed in the final races, and the Rayo Racing driver won the championship.

HB Phaneesh comfortably took victory in the Micro Max category by winning nine out of ten races from the two rounds. The Mysore lad dominated the weekend with a clean sweep of all five races. Phaneesh won the championship with 225 points on the board, while seven-year-old Yash Aradhya took second place with 174 points.   

In the Senior Max category, Anshuman Chatterjee of Rayo Racing won the championship with 215 points, 35 points ahead of Rubeel M Saleem with 180 points. Pranav Thakkar took the top of the podium in both races on Sunday, while Anshuman took second place, but Anshuman’s three victories on Saturday meant that he remained at the top in the championship. “I was sure of bagging the championship after my three wins on Saturday, so we tried a few experiments with the kart’s set-up; that didn’t work, so I came second today,” said Chatterjee.

JK Tyre also organised the GP Cup this year, a one-hour endurance race open to rookies and professionals. Dhruv Mohite of Kolhapur won ahead of Arya Gandhi and Nanjappa. Vishnu Prasad, winner of the VW Polo R Cup India 2011, claimed fourth place.

The winners of the three classes in the Rookie Cup will be rewarded with a Scholarship Training Program conducted by ace driver Akbar Ebrahim, and will also participate in the Rotax Max World Finals.

Results:

Micro Max (10 laps):

Race 4:
1. H.B. Phaneesh 6:10.858
2. Preethunna 6:21.994
3. YashAradhya 6:23.958

Race 5:
1. Phaneesh 6:02.472
2. Padam 6:03.293
3. Mrinal 6:19.430

Junior Max:

Race 4 (15 laps):
1. Surya Raguram 8:31.154
2. NayanChatterjee 8:33.668
3. Arya Gandhi 8:35.696

Race 5 (14 laps);
1.Arya Gandhi 9:00.091
2. NayanChatterjee 9:02.944
3. Surya Raguram 9:03.200

Senior Max:

Race 4 (15 laps):
1. PranavThakkar 8:41.799
2. AnshumanChatterjee 8:43.675
3. RubeelSaleem 8:50.986.

Race 5 (14 laps):
1. PranavThakkar 9:09.297
2. AnshumanChatterjee 9:13.763
3. RubeelSaleem 9:17.924

Championship Standings:

Micro Max:
1. H.B. Phaneesh 225 points
2. YashAradhya 174
3. MrinalChatterjee 105

Junior Max:
1. Arya Gandhi 206 points
2. Surya Raguram 205
3. AkashGowda 123

Senior Max:
1.    AnshumanChatterjee 215 points
2.    Rubeel M. Saleem 180
3.    PranavThakkar 162