Chennai's Vishnu Prasad scored back-to-back victories in the opening round of the JK Tyre Volkswagen Polo R Cup, here on Sunday.
Vishnu enjoyed a perfect start to the season. Everything he touched turned into gold. He opened the day by topping the charts during practice and carried it through to the qualifiers and the races.
After winning the first race pretty comfortably, Vishnu had some doubts about completing a double because of the reverse grid start. And everything seemed to go haywire. Alisha Abdullah of Chennai and Mumbai's Mihir Dharkar were off to a flyer. Vishnu showed no signs of nervousness as he clawed his way back brilliantly to finish on top of the podium. “The second race win was much sweeter than the first,” said Vishnu. Alisha created history of sorts by becoming the first woman to be on the podium in a Polo Cup.
“I took the lead at the start, but I knew Vishnu was always going to catch me as he was a lot quicker. Once Vishnu took over I hung on to finish third. I am definitely pleased with my effort,” said Alisha.
The results (Polo R Cup): Race 1: 1. Vishnu Prasad (Chennai) 19:22.711; 2. Mihir Dharkar (Mumbai) 19:55.122; 3. Saif Mir (Delhi) 19:29.568. Fastest lap: Vishnu Prasad 1:16.433. Race 2: 1. Vishnu Prasad 19:37.992; 2. Mihir Dharkar 19:40.129; 3. Alisha Abdullah (Chennai) 19:44.578. — Principal Correspondent
