Coimbatore veteran Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) clinched the title in the premier Indian Touring Class in his third attempt in the MRF MMSC-FMSCI Indian National Car Racing Championship, which concluded at the MMRT, here on Sunday.
Arjun, who was runner-up in the previous two seasons, endured a difficult, rain-affected weekend and did just enough to pick up crucial points by winning Race-1 and finishing second in Race-2 before retiring in Race-3 after a shunt.
Also clinching the drivers’ titles in their respective categories were Mamallapuram’s Raghul Rangasamy of Performance Racing (Super Stock), 17-year-old Bengaluru lad Tijil Rao of Momentum Motorsport (Formula LGB 1300) and Thrissur’s T.S. Diljith (MRF Saloon Car series).
Mohite wins double
Dhruv Mohite of FB Motorsport won a double to help his team take the team championship.
A hugely relieved Arjun, after sealing the championship with a race to spare, said: “After winning Race-1, I knew I needed just seven points from Race-2 to clinch the championship. So, I held position through the 10 laps for P2.
“This championship win is most special and most satisfying for me,” he said, having finished second in previous two seasons.
The results (provisional, 8 laps, unless mentioned):
Indian Touring Cars: Race-1: 1. Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) (15mins, 31.003secs); 2. Keith D’Souza (FB Motorsport) (15:35.528); 3. Dhruv Mohite (FB Motorsport) (15:42.847). Race-2 (10 laps): 1. Mohite (19:34.316); 2. Balu (19:36.706); 3. D’Souza (19:37.940). Race-3: 1. Mohite (15:49.069); 2. D’Souza (15:49.378); 3. Varun Anekar (Race Concepts) (16:31.373).
Super Stock: Race-1: 1. Alisha Abdullah (Race Concepts) (16:41.042); 2. Vineet Abhiram (Race Concepts) (17:02.885); 3. Sridhar Nagaraj (Race Concepts) (17:24.841). Race-2 (10 laps): 1. Raghul Rangasamy (Performance Racing) (20:27.517); 2. Raja Rajan (Performance Racing) (20:28.739); 3. Rithvik Thomas (Race Concepts) (20:43.616). Race-3: 1. Raghul (16:33.837); 2. Alisha (16:50.086); 3. Sridhar Nagaraj (16:52.214).
MRF Saloon Car Series: Race-1: 1. Sreeram Sridhar (Chennai) (17:30.244); 2. T.S. Diljith (Thrissur) (17:31.226); 3. Chandresh Tolia (Mumbai) (17:42.636). Race-2 (10 laps): 1. Chetan Korada (Chennai) (19:35.644); 2. Diljith (19:38.741); Sreeram (19:42.939). Race-3: 1. A Balaprasath (Chennai) (17:24.875); 2. Korada (17:26.241); 3. Diljith (17:27.661).
Formula LGB 1300: Race-1: 1. Viswas Vijayaraj (DTS Racing) (15:30.277); 2. Tijil Rao (Momentum Motorsport) (15:30.408); 3. Prithveen Rajan (Joba Racing) (15:30.588). Race-2 (10 laps): 1. Prithveen Rajan (Joba Racing); 2. Mohamed Ryan (M Sport); 3. Tijil Rao. Race-3: 1. A. Balaprasath (M Sport) (15:23.138); 2. Raghul Rangasamy (M Sport) (15:29.350); 3. Ryan (15:29.724). Race-4 (7 laps): Viswas Vijayaraj (15:26.300); 2. Chirag Ghorpade (Momentum Motorsport) (15:27.162); 3. Tijil Rao (15:28.427).
National Champions: Indian Touring Cars: Driver: Arjun Balu (Coimbatore, Race Concepts, 151 points). Team: FB Motorsport (262).
Super Stock: Driver: Raghul Rangasamy (Mamallapuram, Performance Racing, 154). Team : Race Concepts (289).
MRF Saloon Car Series: T.S. Diljith (Thrissur, 113).
Formula LGB 1300: Driver: Tijil Rao (Bengaluru, 122). Team: Momentum Motorsport (215).
