A teenager captured everyone’s imagination with a heart-warming display while a seasoned driver made a fine comeback with a dominating performance as the third round of the MMSC-FMSCI National racing championship (for cars) came to an end at the Madras Motor Race Track near here on Sunday.
Fifteen-year-old Tarun Reddy, in his first season in a Formula Car, clinched the MRF Formula Ford 1600cc category’s second race ahead of older and established drivers like Yudai Jinkawa and Ashwin Sundar.
Ashwin hit back by finishing first in the next race (Race 3) ahead of Shinya Michimi and Yudai (both from Japan) to further extend his championship lead.
Indian rallying champion Gaurav Gill won both the races of the Indian Touring Car section in an authoritative manner proving that he is cut above the rest.
Tarun had a great start and went around the outside of Jinkawa in the first corner to take the lead with Ashwin in third in the third race of the MRF 1600. Ashwin slipped further to sixth even as Tarun pulled away from the pack.
Even though Ashwin fought back to third, Tarun remained ahead to become the youngest winner at the MMRT.
In the third race of the MRF 1600, Ashwin started off well and maintained the lead throughout. Tarun finished fourth. The fourth race of the Toyota EMR was cancelled due to mild showers.
The results (provisional): MRF FF 1600: Race 2: 1. Tarun Reddy, 2. Yudai Jinkawa, 3. Ashwin Sundar; Race 3: 1. Ashwin, 2. Shinya, 3. Yudai.
LGB Formula Swift: 1. K. Prashanth, 2. Deepak Chinappa, 3. Suhail Sabharwal; LGB F4: 1. S. Narendran, 2. C. Rajaram, 3. D.R. Sudanand.
Toyota EMR: Race 3: 1. Diljith, 2. Abhinay Bikkani, 3. Akhil Rabindra.
Indian Touring Car: Race 1: 1. Gaurav Gill, 2. Leela Krishnan, 3. Ashish Ramaswamy; Race 2: 1. Gaurav Gill, 2. Arjun Balu, 3. Leela Krishnan.
Indian Junior Touring Car: Race 2: 1. Feroze Khan, 2. R.P. Raja Rajan, 3. Vidyush Iyer.