It was a lights to flag victory for pole sitter Yudai Jinkawa of Japan in the second race of the MRF F1600 class, the premier event of the MMSC-FMSCI National racing championship, at the Kari Motor Speedway in Chettipalayam here on Sunday.
Jinkawa made the best use of the reverse grid start to gain a slight edge. So did crowd favourites and championship leader Ashwin Sundar (Chennai) and race one winner Kizuku Hirota (Japan).
The former moved quickly from the back of the grid to the fourth position in the first corner. But even before he could further dent the morale of the front runners the red flags came out as the latter had spun viciously and out of the contest.
Ashwin had to start from the back of the grid again as the race had lasted for only a lap. Jinkawa cashed in on the chance and controlled the gap well to take the chequered flag much to the joy of his country mates.
Indians on the podium
Sudarsan Rao and a fighting Ashwin took the next two places respectively.
“I am happy to have won the race here. I knew I had the speed. It is nice that I converted it into a fine win,” said Jinkawa, the multiple race winner, who will not however enjoy the championship points being an international driver.
In the Indian Touring Cars category, N. Leelakrishnan of Big Foots Racing (Bangalore) and Arjun Balu of Tiger Sports India (Coimbatore) shared a race win each. Both the races were closely fought and the duo stood the test well to come up trumps. S. Narendran of Wallace Sports proved his class in the Formula LGB4, winning both races with relative ease.
The results: MRF F1600: Race 2: 1. Yudai Jinkawa (Japan) 16:17.175; 2. Sudarsan Rao (India); 3. Ashwin Sundar (India).
ITC: Race 1: 1. Leelakrishnan (Big Foots Racing, Bangalore) 17:29.581; 2. Ramnarayan (Big Foots Racing, Coimbatore); 3. Arjun Balu (Tiger Sports India). Race 2: 1. Arjun Balu 14:36.673; 2. Arjun Narendran (Big Foots Racing, Coimbatore); 3. Ramnarayan (Big Foots Racing, Coimbatore).
IJTC: Race 2: 1. Gokul Krishna (Mega Racing, Chennai) 13:52.451; 2. Charen Chandran (Mega Racing, Coimbatore); 3. Mihir Dharkar (Mumbai).
FLGB4: Race 2: 1. S. Narendran (Wallace Sports) 16:53.756; 2. Jigar Muni (Kari Sports Car Works, Mumbai); 3. Sudanand (Kari Sports Car Works, Coimbatore). Race 3: 1. S. Narendran 12:20.853; 2. Jigar Muni; 3. Sudanand.
Swift: Race 2: 1. Deepak Chinappa (MM Racing) 17:05.633; 2. Sriram (Wallace Sports, Chennai); 3. Inesh Singh (Wallace Sports, Haryana). Race 3: 1. Sriram (Anish Racing, Chennai) 12:36.015; 2. Raghul Ramaswamy (Anish Racing); 3. Inesh Singh.
