The Hindu : Sport : Aditya Patel, Saran Vikram set the track ablaze

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Monday, Jun 18, 2007
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Aditya Patel, Saran Vikram set the track ablaze

Sports Reporter

Coimbatore: Team NK-Speed Racing drivers Aditya Patel and Saran Vikram lit up a rather cloudy afternoon with their blistering performance in the top draw event of the day — the Formula Rolon Chevrolet — in the opening leg of the 10th JK Tyre National racing championship at the Kari Motor Speedway at Chettipalayam, near Coimbatore, on Sunday. The duo shared a race win each to end the weekend on a memorable note.

Into the second year, Team NK Racing, with just two cars to boast off, looked better prepared than last year. "Because we addressed our problems and rectified the mistakes quickly," said Williams F-1 Test driver Narain Karthikeyan, the team's big inspiration.

Memorable debut

Saran made it a memorable debut with a double podium finish. After finishing a distant second in the opening race, the Chennai lad capitalised on Aditya's misfortune to finish atop in the day's final event. On the other hand, Aditya hit the jackpot in the opener, but a serious problem to the gearbox crashed his hopes of scoring a double.

In the Formula LGB Swift category, Aditya, who represented Team Gemini Racing for a change, drove wheel-to-wheel to outwit favourite Ashwin Sundar in the opening race. However, in the second race, Mumbai's Saahil Shelar brushed aside the challenge of both Ashwin and Aditya for the top position on the podium.

Mixed luck for Ashwin

Ashwin Sundar of Rams Racing, who clinched a double pole in both the Formula LGB Swift and Hyundai classes, fizzled out in the Swift category, but came back strongly to make it a rare double in the Hyundai segment.

The 18-year-old from Chennai enthralled the crowd with his skills from the start to the finish in both the races of the Formula Hyundai class.

The results: Round 1: Formula Rolon Chevrolet: 15 laps: Race 1: 1. Aditya Patel 17:12:672, 2. Saran Vikram 17:23:319, 3. C. Rajaram 17:27:377. Race 2: 1. Saran Vikram 17:23:463, 2. Sarosh Hataria 17:35:029, 3. Anand Prasad 17:44:403.

Formula LGB Swift: 15 laps: Race 1: 1. Aditya Patel 18:30:370, 2. Ashwin Sundar 18:14:753, 3. Karthik Shankar 18:19:914. Race 2: 1. Saahil Shelar 16:08:236, 2. Aditya Patel 18:09:658, 3. Ashwin Sundar 18:10:738.

Formula LGB Hyundai: 15 laps: Race 1: 1. Ashwin Sundar 18:51:951, 2. Anand Prasad 19:05:105, 3. Rayomand Banajee 19:21:276. Race 2: 1. Ashwin Sunder 17:50:971, 2. Anand Prasad 18:00:024, 3. Narain Shankar 18:20:109.

Formula LGB Swift (CE): Exclusive races for Sri Lankan racers: Race 1: 15 laps: 1. S.A. Harsha 19:25:220, 2. Nadeera Jinasena 19:26:301, 3. Maneendra Amedoru 19:33:262. Race 2: 1. Maneendra Amadoru 19:19:920, 2. Nadeera Jinasena 19:21:262, 3. S.A. Harsha 19:37:756.

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