Harpal Singh Bedi
Chennai, 18 January : Over 100 entrants including group of promising young racers , will be seen in action in the third round of the Indian National Car Racing Championship at the MMRT circuit here on Thursday, with Covid-19 safety protocols in place.
Teenagers Chirag Ghorpade (Bengaluru) and Shahan Ali Mohsin (Agra) have dominated the MRF F1600 category with two wins each in six starts with the former heading the championship table with 105 points
Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) from Coimbatore, who displayed his experience in wet conditions in the second round to claim a double in the ITC category, enjoys a seven-point advantage over Rayo Racing’s Anindith Reddy (Hyderabad). In third spot and five points adrift is another Hyderabad racer, Jeet Jhabakh, also of Rayo Racing.
Privateer (Coimbatore ), Charen Chandran, heads the IJTC category while the local challenger Deepak Ravikumar tops two classes, the Super Stock for Performance Racing and Formula LGB 1300 for Momentum Motorsport.
The Volkswagen Polo category, with 22 cars on the grid, is extremely competitive as the four races so far has produced as many different winners with Chennai’s Sandeep Kumar heading the points table though not having won a race.
The experienced Fahad Kutty from Mumbai, with two wins in three starts, is comfortably perched on top in the MRF Saloon Cars category that boasts of 21 competitors
Due to the Sunday lockdown in the state in the wake of the pandemic, the promoters, Madras Motor Sports Club, have rejigged the schedule for the programme to start a day earlier on Thursday, which will be devoted to practice sessions only, and conclude on Saturday afternoon.
Due to the pandemic-induced delays, the 2021 championship has spilled into the current year, but the challenging conditions have not deterred the racing enthusiasts if the number of entries is any indication.
MMSC president Ajit Thomas said: The championship has thrown up some exciting young talent which augurs well for the sport as also the continued support from our title sponsors MRF Tyres. We expect another round of close racing this week which should spread cheer among the racing aficionados.”
A card of 13 races will be gone through with triple-headers each in the premier MRF F1600, Volkswagen Polo and the MRF Saloon Cars (Toyota Etios) categories, while the popular saloon cars class (Indian Touring Cars, Junior Touring Cars and the Super Stock) and the Formula LGB 1300 will have two races apiece.