Coimbatore : Coimbatore veteran racer, Arjun Balu of Race concepts completed a grand double in the Indian Touring Cars class to lead the leaderboard as the fourth round of the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Car Racing Championship concluded at the Madras Motor Race Track at Chennai on Sunday.
Coimbatore : Coimbatore veteran racer, Arjun Balu of Race concepts completed a grand double in the Indian Touring Cars class to lead the leaderboard as the fourth round of the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Car Racing Championship concluded at the Madras Motor Race Track at Chennai on Sunday.
In the opening day of the two day race at MMRT, Coimbatore ace Arjun Balu (01:51.474) grabbed pole position in the Indian Touring Cars category. Having the advantage on the race day, Arjun Balu in the wet track had great time securing two races, Balu took 29 points lead ahead of Mohite at the end of fourth round.
In Race-1 of the ITC category, that was declared “wet”, Balu and Patel were locked in a thrilling fight at the head of the field. Starting from pole, Balu maintained his position with Patel in close attendance. Three laps from the finish, Patel moved past Balu, but slipped back to second in the next lap when he ran wide at the last corner. Balu raced to the front and went on to win.
In Race-2, run in fair weather and reverse grid, the three VW Ventos of Patel, Dhruv Shivaji Mohite and Ishaan Dodhiwala, switched to slicks, while Balu, starting eighth, remained on wet tyres. It was not long before the four moved to the front with Mohite pulling off a fine win ahead of Patel and Balu. The third race in this category, was a virtual procession with Balu, starting from pole, winning comfortably and unchallenged, followed by Patel and Dodhiwala. His two wins this weekend, took Balu’s tally to 148, way ahead of Mohite (119).
“The next round in September, will thus have seven races in MRF F1600 category. It was an unfortunate incident with Yash running into a puddle and spinning. With so many cars badly damaged, we decided to put off today’s three races and have them in the next round,” said Chairman of the Meet Vicky Chandhok.
The results (Provisional):
Indian Touring Cars (Race-1, 6 laps): 1. Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) (12mins, 49.794secs); 2. Aditya Patel (Rayo Racing) (12:50.491); 3. Dhruv Shivaji Mohite (Rayo Racing) (12:58.907).
Race-2 (10 laps): 1. Dhruv Shivaji Mohite (Rayo Racing) (21:19.565); 2. Aditya Patel (Rayo Racing) (21:20.682); 3. Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) (21:28.378).
Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Arjun Balu (15:11.978); 2. Aditya Patel (15:17.508); 3. Ishaan Dodhiwala (Team Rayo Racing) (15:28.324).