Car India – August 2019

(ff) #1

Championship


Tussle, Chapter


Three


Every point counts as the racers head into the


third round of the national championship at MMRT


Report: Joshua Varghese Photography: Anand Philar

heMRFMMSCFMSCiindian
nationalCarRacingChampionship(inCRC)
returnedtoMadrasforthethirdroundofthe
championship.alongwiththeusualfixtures,
theFiaFormula4 South-eastasiaseriesalsograced
thetrackfora roundoftheirinternationalseries,giving
someofourindiandriversa tasteofcompetitionatthe
internationallevel.nowontothehighlights.

MRFF1600
eighteen-year-oldSohilShah(Bengaluru)impressed
everyonebyputtingina hotlap(1:39.218)thatearned
himpolepositionforthefollowingday’srace.Giving
himcompanyatthefrontwasnayanChatterjee.

RaceOne
Shahwasunabletomakethemostofhispoleposition
becauseheearneda drive-throughpenaltyfora jump-
start.ThissetbackallowedChatterjeetoplacehimself
atthefrontandheopenedupa comfortableleadtowin
therace.nirmalUmashankaranda Bala Prasath
(Coimbatore) finished in second and third places
respectively; the former crossed the line just about a
couple of seconds after Chatterjee. Sohil Shah posted
the fastest lap of the weekend at 1:39.245.

Race Two
Starting from fourth place on the grid, Vishnu Prasad
(Chennai) rocketed off the line to take the lead on the

firstlapitself.he came under some pressure from Sandeep
Kumar (Chennai) but he managed to keep it together and
won the race less than a second ahead of Kumar. Raghul
Rangasamy also put up a remarkable performance and
finished in third place, just a second behind the race winner.

RaceThree
aftera disappointingSaturday,Shahbouncedbacktoa
splendidraceonSunday.he got off to a good start and
peeledawayatthefront,leavingPrasath,ManavSharma
(Faridabad),andChatterjeetofightit outfortheremaining
podiumplaces.at theendoftheeight-laprace,Shahdrove
tovictorysixsecondsaheadofsecond-placedPrasath.after
a good fight, Sharma had to settle for third place.

Race Four
Shah was on top once
again after another
brilliant performance
saw him finish in first
place, two seconds
ahead of Chatterjee. The
top duo had put in some
fast laps and had also
managed to draw a small
lead because Prasad
finished in third place
about five seconds after
the race leader.

(Below) It was a
good Sunday
for Sohil Shah

136 car india^ August 2019 http://www.carindia.in
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