Vikash Anand gave a good account of his driving skills even though he finished second in the MRF Formula 1,600cc race of the MMSC-FMSCI National racing championship at the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) here on Saturday. Japanese driver Yudai Jinkawa won the thrilling contest by 0.205 second.
Vikash was impressive in his effort as he closed the gap on Jinkawa in each of the last four laps.
Fifteen-year-old Tarun Reddy, who returned the fastest lap of 2:07.791 on the fifth, added some excitement by pushing the top two drivers ahead of him in the closing stages. However, a jump-start penalty made him finish at the fifth position.
Diljith, who started on pole, led from start to finish for a dominant win in the Toyota EMR race. In the second race, Akhil Rabindra worked his way from a seventh place start to snatch a victory.
In the Indian Touring Cars section, Leela Krishnan opened a two-second lead in the first two laps and maintained the gap for the rest of the race.
Rajini wins
In the two-wheelers category, the first-ever motorcycle competition on the track, K. Rajini pipped arch-rival Sarath Kumar by 0.157s to win the Honda CBR 250cc race. The two were involved in a big crash in the last round in Chennai and they were caught in a fierce battle again here when Rajini overtook Sarath in the last lap and held his nerve to emerge the winner.
“He came inside my bike before the last corner. Instead of catching him up, I chose to finish the race as I did not want to lose points,” said Sarath, who competed in the 125cc race in the 2011 MotoGP.
After their competitive duel on the BIC, both experienced riders said that the track was more suitable for powerful bikes. “The track is good for 600cc-plus bikes. But it is an international circuit and it gives a good experience to younger riders.”
“It is good for big bikes,” said Rajini.
However, riders like Shyam Shankar and S. Vivek Pillai, who finished first and second respectively in a close contest on their Yamahas, enjoyed the experience of riding on the BIC track.
The results: Two-wheelers: TVS-Apache RTR 180: 1. S. Mathana Kumar (11:35.607); 2. P. Ananth Raj (11:41.505); 3. Aravind Ganesh (11:44.027). Yamaha-Y2F R15: 1. Shyam Shankar (11:21.417); 2. S. Vivek Pillai (11:21.5); 3. M. Sudhakar (11:30.815).
Honda CBR 250R: 1. K. Rajini (10:20.839); 2. Sarath Kumar (10:20.996); 3. V. Abhishek (10:34.547). NRC Experts-165: 1. K. Jagan (10:28.307); 2. Harry Sylvester (10:32.643); 3. R. Deepak (10:32.758).
Four-wheelers: MRF F 1,600: 1. Yudai Jinkawa (17:12.282); 2. Vikash Anand (17:12.487); 3. Advait Deodhar (17: 26.357).
Toyota EMR (Race 1): 1. Diljith (15:55.881); 2. Akhil Rabindra (16:03.597); 3. Abhinay Bikkani (16:04.016). Race 2: 1. Akhil Rabindra (16:05.518); 2. Farhan Ahmed (16:06.054); 3. Diljith (16:06.205).
ITC: 1. Leela Krishnan (14:37.893); 2. Arjun Balu (14:40.923); 3. M. Sivaramakrishnan (14:51.21). IJTC: 1. V.J. Senthil (16:18.4); 2. Charen Chandran (16:20.986); 3. R.P. Raja Rajan (16:24.885).
