Greater Noida: The final round of 16th JK Tyre Racing Championship got off to a high-voltage start with championships in various classes at stake at the Buddh International Circuit, Greater Noida. A healthy Saturday crowd that packed the grandstands gave a rousing reception to the country’s best racing drivers as they went wheel-to-wheel for a slice of glory.

The action for the weekend began with a thriller in the race one of FLGB Formula 4 race. The stakes in this race was particularly high for Vishnu Prasad and Kartik Krishna, who were placed second and third in the championship standings separated by just a point. On the other hand, points leader, Sarosh Hataria, who went into this final round with an 80 point lead needed a good finish to seal the team championship for Chennai-based Dark Don Racing.

For the opening few laps, there was nothing to separate the front runners. But as the race progressed, it became increasingly clear that Vishnu Prasad had better pace as the Meco Racing driver started pulling away. He was closely followed by Kartik Krishna and Ameya Bafna. The chasing pack tried hard, but Prasad stretched his legs even further to take the chequered flag followed by Krishna and Bafna.

The second race of the FLGB Formula 4 turned out to be an even more exciting affair as the first five cars went side-by-side in the opening few laps. As the order emerged, Hataria went into lead which he preserved till the flag. Behind him Prasad survived a stuck throttle to claim second place, while third place was claimed by Nayan Chatterjee of Rayo Racing.

But the day came alive with JK Racing India series when the JK FB02 cars rolled on to grid. With the championship on the line between Vishnu Prasad and 15-year-old Arjun Maini set the stage for close action. Maini started from pole, but by the fourth corner at the end of the 1.2km back straight, both Prasad and Chittesh Mandody were on his gearbox. Exiting the corner Maini got sandwiched between the two chasers and had to back off. Seizing the opportunity, Mandody snatched the lead and started pulling away. In the meantime, Prasad started slipstreaming in Mani’s tow which helped him to pull off a sling-shot maneuver to nose ahead. The top three crossed the finish line with Mandody leading Prasad and Maini.

The high point of the opening day of this round was the Ultima Race Queens featuring top lady drivers from Europe in VW Polo TDI cars racing for the Ultima Queens Cup. Sheila Verschuur, of the Netherlands who started from pole stamped her class right from the moment the lights went out. After taking lead going into turn three, she showed better pace than the rest of the grid. She was followed by her country-mate Liesette Braams-Van and Glorymar Fernandez. The top three managed to open a definitive lead by the midway point of the six lap race. By the time the flag came out, Verschuur cruised to a comfortable win with Braams-Van and Fernandez in second and third places respectively.

In the Volkswagen Polo R Cup, South African driver, Jeffrey Kruger once again stamped his authority by winning the first race of the weekend. The honours for second place also went to fellow South African lady driver, Robyn Kruger, while Rahil Noorani claimed third place.