Coimbatore: Round 2 of the 16th JK Tyre Racing Championship that included the newly introduced JK Racing India Series, Polo R Cup and the Formula LGB 4 concluded in an exciting fashion at the Kari Motor Speedway today. While Akhil Khushlani ruled the roost in JK Racing India Series winning all three races during the weekend, Rahil Noorani and Jeffery Kruger shared honours in Polo R Cup and Sarosh Hataria did well to win two of the three races in the Formula LGB 4 class.
The new JK Racing India Series featuring 12 of India’s best drivers under 20 years of age racing in the powerful FB02 cars featuring a Mygale chassis and 1.2 litre BMW bike engine was the highlight of the weekend. After winning the race yesterday, Akhil Khushlani continued from where he left, winning two races today to complete a hat-trick.
In Race 2 of the JK Racing India Series, Khushlani stamped his class on the race; building on a good start he kept widening the gap lap after lap, eventually beating the second-best Chitesh Mandody with a huge margin of 14.260 seconds. Akhil Rabindra from Bangalore who has moved from the world of karting raced with a lot of heart and displayed potential, finishing third with a total time of 17:08.392.
Race 3 of the class was a sheer display of speed and clean racing, while Khushlani continued his domination; the race was much closer than the previous ones. Finishing second, Chennai boy Vishnu Prasad had a few nervous moments with Arjun Maini from Bangalore right on his tail, eventually pipping Maini by less than half a second. With this victory, Khushlani has set a difficult-to-beat precedent, it now remains to be seen how the action pans out in Round 2 of the championship.
In Race 1 of the Polo R Cup Rahil Noorani, the fastest driver on track during the qualifying started first and held his position till the chequered flag finishing with a total time of 14:26.151. Completing the top three positions were South African Jeffery Kruger and Prashant Tharani with total timings of 14:28.820 and 14:35.441 respectively. The tides changed in Race 2 of the class with Kruger putting in a stellar performance to finish first after starting seventh on the grid. Rookie driver Karthik Tharani challenged the veterans and finished third followed by Noorani who like Kruger made up many positions to finish in the third place.
Race 3 in the Formula LGB 4 class was undoubtedly the most exciting race of the day with a bit over 3 seconds separating the top three finishers. Sarosh Hataria made the best of home-town advantage winning the race, his second in a row after winning the last race yesterday. Finishing behind him were Vishnu Prasad (Meco Racing) and 2012 JK Tyre Rotax Max National Karting Champion Ameya Bafna (Rayo Racing) with a total time of 20:40.808 and 20:43.706 respectively.
The JK Tyre Racing Championship 2013 will be back in August with a lot more speed, thrills and excitement.
JK Racing India Series – Race 2 (15 laps)
1. Akhil Khushlani (16:50.916) 2. Chitesh Mandody (17:05.176) 3. Akhil Rabindra (17:08.392)
JK Racing India Series – Race 3 (15 laps)
1. Akhil Khushlani (16:47.849) 2. Vishnu Prasad (16:52.058) 3. Arjun Maini (16:52.443)
Polo R Cup – Race 1
1. Rahil Noorani (14:26.151) 2. Jeffery Kruger (14:28.820) 3. Prashant Tharani (14:35.441)
Polo R Cup – Race 2
1. Jeffery Kruger (19:10.815) 2. Karthik Tharani (19:15.294) 3. Rahil Noorani (19:18.476)
Formula LGB 4 – Race 3
1. Sarosh Hataria (20:40.452) 2. Vishnu Prasad (20:40.808) 3. Ameya Bafna (20:43.706)
