Karthik, Vishnu take day’s honours

The second race of Euro JK18 postponed to Sunday due to a technical glitch

Smooth drive: S. Karthik Tharani stole the thunder in the Euro JK 18 class.

S. Karthik Tharani and Vishnu Prasad, both from Chennai, took the day’s honours in the first round of the JK Tyre National Racing Championship at the Kari Motor Speedway here on Saturday.

Even as the skies threatened to open up early, Karthik planned his strategies smartly to pull off a comfortable win over his nearest rivals Nirmal Uma Shankar (Chennai) and Manav Sharma (Faridabad). The second race, however, had to be postponed to Sunday due to a technical glitch.

The championship also created a history of sorts with the Ahura Racing women finally getting the chance to race alongside the men in the Formula LGB 4 class, which saw Vishnu (MSport) making a strong statement with his potential to fightback.

Dark Don’s Sandeep Kumar did pose a huge threat, but Vishnu has handled such situations many times before. He used his experience to increase his pace at the right time to pull off a creditable win ahead of Sandeep.

The women did not do anything extraordinary in their first outing, but Sarosh Hataria, the Team Principal, was quite impressed. K.S. Megaa did well than the rest in the team clocking an overall 18:09.051s. Pune’s Ritika Oberoi, who took an extra second, was the next best.

The results: Euro JK 18: Race 1: S. Karthik Tharani 15:29.526; 2. Nirmal Uma Shakar; 3. Manav Sharma. LGB Formula 4: Race 1: Vishnu Prasad (Msport) 18:03.844; 2. Sandeep Kumar (Dark Don); Raghul Rangasamy (MSport). Suzuki Gixxer Cup: 1. Joseph Matthew (Chn) 14:15.877; 2. Malsawmdawngliana (Aizawl); 3. Syed Muzamil Ali (Blr).

Red Bull Road To Rookies: 1. Zothanmawia (Aizawl) 14:23.901; 2. Andy Lalhmangaihsang (Aizawl); 3. Jerome Vanlalrengpuia (Mizoram) .