Some of India’s top racing drivers, both veterans and young guns, will be vying for honours in the MMSC FMSCI Indian National Racing Championship (4W) which resumes after a three-month summer break with the third round at the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore at the weekend (June 18-19).
An exciting card of 10 races spread over two days will see competitions in the top-end Indian Touring Cars, Indian Junior Touring Cars, Super Stock and the Rookie Championship (Formula 1300), apart from the Volkswagen Vento Series Challenge which boasts of a grid of 18 cars driven by talented youngsters who came through an arduous selection process, a press release from the organisers said.
The previous two rounds of the National Championship, which were held in Chennai, provided high-octane action and razor-sharp competition. Much the same can be expected here, while rains that are forecast would add spice to the proceedings.
The Indian Touring Cars class, with its modified machines, has three races scheduled over the weekend and there is much to look forward to. Defending champion Arjun Narendran (Red Rooster Performance) from Coimbatore leads the table with 43 points, just three ahead of Bengaluru’s Deepak Paul Chinnappa (Race Concepts), while former multiple National rally champion Narayanaswamy Leelakrishnan (Red Rooster Performance), also from Coimbatore, is lying third with 33.
Mumbai’s Anant Pithawalla (Team N1), with three dominating and back-to-back wins in four outings, enjoys a 12-point lead over Keith DeSouza (Unimek Racing) from Goa in the Indian Junior Touring Cars class, while just one point separates Bengaluru lad Veeresh Prasad (Race Concepts) and Chennai-based Alisha Abdullah (RAD Racing) who finished third in all the four races so far in the Super Stock category.
In contrast to these close battles, Chennai’s Raghul Rangasamy roared to victory in all the three races of the Rookie Championship for a commanding 24-point lead over his WSRF team-mate CJ Tejasram.
The Volkswagen Vento Series Challenge will be making its debut in the championship, albeit as a one-make series, and the double-header is one of the high points of the weekend.
“The National Championship resumes this weekend in Coimbatore and we welcome Volkswagen on board for their one-make Series Challenge which should produce some exciting races with plenty of fresh and young talent on the grid,” Chairman of the Event Vicky Chandhok was quoted in the release.
The drivers who form the Volkswagen Vento Series Challenge grid were chosen from 560 entries that were shortlisted to 62 and from among whom 12 were selected to be joined by a clutch of drivers who had participated in the previous Vento Cup and the Polo Cup series.
