Meco Racing's big fish, Sarosh Hataria from Chennai, turned out to be the day's star performer in Formula Rolon, while Vishnu Prasad (Chennai) and Karthik Shankar (Delhi) enjoyed a race-win each in the Volkswagen Polo Cup of the JK Tyre National racing championship at the Kari Motor Speedway in Chettipalayam, near here, on Sunday.
The revamped Formula Rolon, run for the first time this season, witnessed quite a few anxious moments. The 15-lap race, reduced to 12, was run in two parts as at the end of the first eight laps it was ‘red flagged' to remove two cars on the track as part of the safety regulations.
Sarosh was haunted by some gear problems inside the first eight laps, but got it sorted in time for the second set of four laps. Helped by a healthy start, Sarosh coasted home in 14:32.777 seconds for the prime spot on the podium. Fifteen-year-old Vikash Anand of VA-Rad Racing drove an impressive race to finish second at 14:33.388 seconds, while Chittesh Mandody of Mohites Racing stopped the clock at 14:43.404 for the third position.
“I can breathe a lot easier now, but there is a lot more that we need to do in the races to come,” said Sarosh.
Vishnu on song
Vishnu drove a flawless first race in the Polo Cup, which has been the prime event of the championship since being introduced in India for the first time. The 17-year-old led from lights to flag in the 20-lap event.
“It was a lot different compared to street racing in Pune. I had a great race today. I would like to thank Volkswagen for organising the event and also for the technical expertise from its driver coaches. I had a few bad starts, but it was a close race till the end,” said a delighted Vishnu.
An ambitious Karthik Shankar, who finished third in the first race, drove a brilliant second race, which was run under the reverse grid pattern. Starting sixth, the 24-year-old staved off a stiff challenge from Vishnu to take the chequered flag in a time of 26:00.310 seconds.
Smooth sailing for Sailesh
Sailesh Bolisetti, who had his share of woes in the Polo Cup, stamped his class in the Saloon class with a double-win. B. Bala Vijay of Moto Rev India from Chennai did likewise, winning both the races in the Indian junior touring class.
The results:
Formula Rolon (12 laps) Race 1: 1. Sarosh Hataria 14:32:777; 2. Vikash Anand 14:33:388; 3. Chitesh Mandody 14:43:404.
Polo Cup (20 laps): Race 1: 1. Vishnu Prasad 27:57:043; 2. Sahil Shelar 27:58:893; 3. Karthik Shankar 27:59:608. Race 2: 1. Karthik Shankar 26:00:310; 2. Vishnu Prasad 26:00:512; 3. Parth Ghorpade 26:05:601.
Formula Swift: Race 1 (15 laps): 1. S. Narendran 18:29:41; 2. Ajay Kini 18:30:010; 3. Ameya Walavalkar 18:30:745. Race 2 (12 laps): 1. Ajay Kini 14:53:920; 2. Goutham Parekh 14:57:152; 3. Akhil Devrag 14:57:152.
Super Saloons (14 laps): Race 1: 1.Sailesh Bolisetti 19:59:663; 2. B. Vijaya Kumar 20:02:037; 3. G. Siddarth Kishore 20:09:861. Race 2: 1. Sailesh Bolisetti 19:05:240; 2. B.Vijaya Kumar 19:14:914; 3. Siddarth Kishore 19:16:854.
Indian Junior Touring class (14 laps): Race 1: 1. B. Bala Vijay 20:22:600; 2. Vignesh Devarajan 20:22:919; 3. T.S. Diljith 20:30:307. Race 2: 1. B. Bala Vijay 19:54:025; 2. T.S. Diljith 19:10:899 3. Vidyuth V. Iyer 19:07:679.
