Greater Noida: The last day of the Vento Cup 2015 season started off in tough conditions as dense fog forced the officials to start the first race of the day under safety car. The drivers were forced to take a rolling-start to avoid them from going into the first few corners in a bunch too close to each other.

Prabhanj Paruchuri started the race from pole position and held his lead till lap five. In a racing incident, just before the last corner, as the Safety Car was going back into the pits, Karminder tried to make a move on him and hit his car from the back. This pushed Prabhanj to the side and he hit the wall which ended his race. From there onwards, Karminder took the lead and held it all the way till the finish line. Sailesh crossed the line just behind Karminder, but was later penalised for making an overtaking move under Safety Car. This pushed him back by two positions and he had to settle with fourth. Ishaan Dodhiwala took the second place followed by Anindith Reddy in third on the podium.

The second race of the day and the final one for the season started with Sailesh in pole position. He led the race from start to finish and scored his second victory of the race weekend. On the lap four, an incident between three drivers mid-field at the exit of third corner, brought in the Safety Car for two laps and added the final excitement by bringing all the drivers close to each other. As soon as the Safety Car went in, Ishaan made a move on Anindith who had been running second and took this position and held it till the end. Anindith, who had to finish the race ahead of Karminder to win the title, drove a safe and defensive line to finish third on the podium.

The first season of Vento Cup 2015 was dominated by last year’s Junior Champion Anindith Reddy (Winner) from Hyderabad. Together with Delhi’ Karminder Pal Singh (First Runner-up), and Hyderabad’s Ishan Dodhiwala (Second Runner-up), they kept the excitement high till the end of the season. In the Junior Championship, Pradeep Rao Vaidyam from Mumbai proved his talent against the other debutants and secured his free seat for Vento Cup season 2016.

Sirish Vissa, Head of Volkswagen Motorsport India, commented “An exciting first season of Vento Cup came to a thrilling end with the champion being crowned only after the last race out of the 10 we had this year. Nail-biting action was witnessed throughout the season. The best part the season was the fact that all the drivers showed progress through the year and improved their driving race after race. Anindith, who had won the last year’s Junior Cup, relentlessly improved through the four rounds of 2015 and emerged as the best on the grid.”

An excited Vento Cup 2015 champion, Anindith Reddy, said “There was tight competition amongst Ishaan, Karminder and myself. We were on the podium together a lot of time through the season and we knew it was going to go down the wire for the final title honours. In the last race, Karminder was always on my tail and pushed me to deliver more than 100%. I am extremely happy with the 2015 title and curiously looking forward to the next steps in 2016!”

Pradeep Rao Vaidyam, Vento Cup 2015 Junior Champion, said “This was my first year of competitive racing. Volkswagen Motorsport helped me from the basics of racing to being able to fight with some of the best in the country. With this Junior Cup title under my belt, I will continue striving further for my upcoming racing career which just got a major boost!”  

Results: Volkswagen Vento Cup 2015 Round 4, Race 2 

Results: Volkswagen Vento Cup 2015 Round 4, Race 3