Round 4 Of Indian National Racing Championship Concludes

The fourth round of the MRF FMSCI Indian National Racing Championship was successfully concluded at the MMRT track in Sriperumbudur. The championship consists of five different classes of races and saw participants showing their talent in all the five categories, namely, the MRF F1600, Indian Touring Cars, Indian Junior Touring Cars, Super Stock class, F1300 Rookie Championship and Volkswagen Vento Cup.

Vikash Anand won in the MRF F1600 class and it was his third win in a row after the two that he clinched in the previous round which took place earlier, in March. Anand was victorious despite dropping from pole position in the first half of the race, courtesy to his counterparts, Sandeep Kumar and Anindith Reddy. Both of these drivers put up a tremendous challenge for Anand, but eventually finished second and third, respectively.

Raghul Rangasamy, who raced in three different races, was able to win two of them which includes the F1300 Rookie Championship and the Super Stock class. Likewise, Keith Desouza ruled the roost in the Indian Junior Touring Cars and Volkswagen Vento Cup races.

Meanwhile, Coimbatore’s Arjun Narendran also grabbed a double in the Premium Touring Cars class for the sixth time out of seven races and further fortified his position for the season’s title. He won the first race with ease as his pole position allowed him to lead the race from the very start. However, in the second race, he started off from the fourth spot on the reverse grid, but rose to the lead on the very first lap and thereby securing another win for himself. Behind Arjun was a three-way battle between Anand, Sandeep and Anindith till the latter two slid off the track. This gave way to Anand to race to the finish line for a comfortable second spot. 

Speaking on his stint to the second spot, Anand said, “Yeah, it was pretty close. I started from pole, but after an off at Turn 2, slipped to third. However, I put in consistent laps to stay in touch with Sandeep and Anindith. I then regained the lead when the two went off the track. However, I was not able to sustain the pace since the track was a bit slippery, but managed to stay in front and win.”

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Amidst all the action, things for the current championship leader, Karthik Tharani, did not go well as he had to settle for seventh spot. This is because he suffered a crash in the qualifying round, which forced him to start last on the grid, that too with a swapped car that belonged to an absent Goutham Parekh.

Coming to the IJTC race, the Goa-based driver Keith Desouza was lifted to the top spot since the original winner, Anant Pithawala, was handed a penalty for a jump start.