Vishnu Prasad conquers Round 1 of 2011 Volkswagen Polo R Cup

And so it begins? After exhaustive selection rounds across the country, rigorous driver training and fitness camps, a far better modified race car (Making of the 2011 VW R Cup Car), and not to mention the extra ‘R’ to the title of the second edition of the Volkswagen Polo R Cup in India that has just drawn the curtains to its very first round in Coimbatore. The two races along with the qualifying rounds in Round 1 of the championship took place at the city’s 2.2 km Kari Motor Speedway Circuit from the 18th to the 19th of June.

The qualifying stage of the Round 1 witnessed damp conditions right at the outset, giving the most promising contender for the ongoing season Vishnu Prasad an immediate lead of 1.2 seconds over his closest competitor, Munjal Salva, who later closed the gap to as little as a tenth of Vishnu’s final lap times, but unfortunately had to settle for the second place on the grid for Race 1. In third place was Mihir Dharkar, who along with Avdumber Hede and Saif Mihir made up the top 5 qualifiers for the first race, all of whom incidentally finished with a gap of half a second separating them from one another.

Speaking about winning Pole Position, Vishnu Prasad said, “It is a great feeling to be on pole for the first race of this season. I was a little worried this morning due to the rain, but I was extremely happy with my qualifying lap. I hope I can keep the momentum going all the way to the podium tomorrow.”

Race 1
Comfortably positioned right ahead of the pack, Chennai lad Vishnu Prasad started his first race looking out onto an open tarmac, unlike those behind him who had no choice but to stare at the boot of the cars standing in front of them. From the word go, Vishnu and second in command Mihir Dharkar continued their blitzy forward march leaving little chance for those in pursuit to the see anything but the backs of car No 19 and No 22.

The 15 lap race ended in pretty much the same fashion as it began, with first place going to Vishnu, who also managed the quickest lap of the race 1:16:4:33 averaging 98.9 km/hr. Rookie Mihir Dharkar, who in his first season of the Polo Cup came in second in Race 1 is already showing great potential and incredible temperament, which he will need to sustain if he plans to hold on to his lead in the championship moving ahead. Saif Mir, who is an experienced rally driver with a couple of podium finishes under his belt, came third in his first polo cup race this season, something I am sure he would like to improve on in the upcoming races of the 2011 edition. Mumbai’s Rahil Noorani and Pune driver Oshan Kothadia completed Race 1 in fourth and fifth place respectively.

Final Results Race 1
1 .Vishnu Prasad:   00:19 :22:711
2. Mihir Dharkar:   00:19:25:122
3. Saif Mir:     00:19:29:668

Race 2
A reverse grid for Race 2 pushed the leaders of Race 1 further down the order, giving one Alisha Abdullah the pole position. Starting in pole position, Alisha Abdullah fought hard to keep the lead from being taken away from her for almost 10 laps, before Vishnu and Mihir closed in on her. Vishnu’s timely overtaking maneuvers helped him steadily move from 8th place to the 2nd in the space of a few laps, including a brilliant double pass on both Munjal Savla and Mihir Dharkar into the first corner.

Alisha defended well but could not stop Vishnu and Mihir from muscling their way past her. Alisha fended off Mumbai’s Munjal Salva to finish in 3rd place and achieve the first ever podium by a woman in a Polo R Cup race. Saif Mir, who finished seventh in the race clocked the fastest lap in Race Two 1:16:916 averaging 98.3 km/hr.

Pulling off a spectacular win in race 2, Vishnu was more than satisfied with his performance, and said, “I am absolutely thrilled with the victory as this was a really challenging race. Alisha was an extremely tough competitor as she stuck to her lines and fought hard until the very end. My approach is to look at the entire championship and work towards earning as many points as I can.”

Mr. Prithviraj Siddappa, Head of Volkswagen Motorsport India who was particularly impressed with Alisha’s performance put in good word saying, “It was a spectacular race and I am very happy to see Alisha on the podium. The driving witnessed today is proof that we have the crème of the young Indian motorsport talent as part of our program.”

Final Results Race 2:
1. Vishnu Prasad:  1:16:946
2. Mihir Dharkar:  1:17:068
3. Alisha Abdullah:  1:17:889

Having amassed a total of 60 points with his victories in both the races in Round 1, Vishnu Prasad currently leads the championship by 12 points. Mihir Dharkar who was on Vishnu’s tail in both races ended Round 1 with 48 points to his credit followed by Saif Mir who is now third in the overall championship standing with 34 points in his bag.

The First Round of the 2011 Volkswagen Polo seems to have already given fans a clear indication of the action packed super competitive races that they can expect in the forthcoming rounds in Chennai, Coimbatore and Greater Noida.

For those interested in catching any of the upcoming race LIVE here is the race calendar for the ongoing 2011 season:

Round 2 - 15.07.-17.07.2011 Coimbatore KMS
Round 3 - 19.08.-21.08.2011 Chennai MMRT
Round 4 - 09.09.-11.09.2011 Noida JPSI
Round 5 - 07.10.-09.10.2011 Chennai MMRT   OR   18.11.-20.11.2011 Noida JPSI
Round 6 - 02.12.-04.12.2011 Chennai MMRT