Round 3 JK NRC: All the action from Day 1

Round three of the JK NRC took place at the Kari Motor Speedway, from September 2 to 3. While this was the penultimate round for the Euro JK 2017, the LGB Formula 4 and Gixxer Cup races, this was the final round for the youngsters in the Red Bull Road to Rookies qualifiers.

Euro JK
Hyderabad lad Anindith Reddy posted the fastest time in qualifying, allowing him to start on pole. Right behind him was championship leader Vishnu Prasad in P2, followed by Nayan Chatterjee in P3. When the lights went out for race 1, both Anindith and Vishnu were off to good starts however, they came together in Lap 1 itself while jostling for the lead. The incident caused Vishnu to spin (and eventually retire) while Anindith dropped to third place. Australian Ricky Capo (who started at P4) capitalised on this situation and moved in to the lead, with Akash Gowda in second. By lap 3, Ricky pulled away, and Anindith made a move on Akash but did so under yellow flags, slapping him with a 10 second penalty. Anindith eventually broke down Ricky’s lead as well, and began challenging him for the lead. However, in Lap 12, a slight nudge from Ricky just before C2 caused him to spin. He didn’t lose out on his position, he recovered quickly and kept Akash Gowda and Nayan Chatterjee behind him. The race finished in that order — with Ricky in the lead, followed by Anindith and Akash. Anindith’s penalty dropped him down to fifth place, bumping Akash to second and Nayan to third place.

Race 2 started with a reverse grid from sixth place. Nirmal Uma Shankar started on pole, with Anindith in P2 and Ashwin Datta in P3. Nirmal got a good start and managed to get in to C1 with his nose ahead, however Anindith stole the lead halfway through the lap. From there on, Anindith was unstoppable, shooting off in to front and garnering an unassailable lead. Nirmal held on to second as well, with Ashwin Datta in third while Akash Gowda had won a tightly fought melee for fourth. Akash managed to gain time on Ashwin and steal third from him as well. At the chequered flag, Anindith won a resounding victory, but second place Nirmal spun out at the last corner of the race giving Akash Gowda second place and Ashwin Datta third. Anindith was slapped with another 10 second penalty, this time for a jump start, but still held on to the win — so much was the margin of his victory.

LGB F4
Kolhapur’s Chittesh Mandody put in a 1:10.864 to qualify on pole in the hotly contested LGB F4 series. Diljith T S was 0.085 seconds behind him and qualified P2 while Vishnu Prasad qualified in P3. In Race 1, Diljith was off to a good start and took the lead, while Rohit Khanna who started at P4 was in second place. Rohit made a move on Diljith and moved in to first, only to drop down in to fourth the next lap. Three laps in, Chittesh had regained the lead with Diljith in second — and they were constantly swapping places for the lead. An incident on the seventh lap at the parabola forced the safety car out on the track. The whole field was bunched up — Chittesh was in the lead, followed by Diljith, Vishnu and Rohit. Upon the restart, Diljith dropped a couple of positions leaving Vishnu in second and Rohit in third. Chittesh pulled away from the pack, leaving Vishnu and Rohit to fight for second place. Rohit eventually won the position. A second safety car period was require after an incident at C1, but the positions remained the same till the finish — Chittesh won the race, followed by Rohit and Vishnu.

Red Bull Road to Rookies Cup
Sri Lankan Jaden Gunawardena qualified on pole, followed by Aizawl lads Lalnunsanga and Lalhruaizela in P2 and P3 respectively. Lalnunsanga got the hole shot in to C1 when the lights went out and took the lead, with Jaden and Lalhruaizela behind him. Jeden eventually overtakes Lalnunsanga for the lead, while Lalhruaizela began challenging him for second place. Lalnunsanga kept Lalhruaizela behind him for the whole race, but Lalhruaizela got the better of him on the last lap to clinch second place.

Suzuki Gixxer Cup
Joseph Matthew set the fastest time in qualifying, followed by Syed Muzammil Ali and Lalmawipuia. Joseph got a good start to the race, but got pushed around and dropped to third in the standings. However, he didn’t give up. As the laps went by, he chipped away at the opponents — first climbing in to second and then in to the lead. Meanwhile, Malsawmdawngliana climbed in to second and began to harass Joseph while Syed and Lalmawipuia battled it out for third. Malsawmdawngliana started the last lap of the race in the lead but Joseph get the better of him at C1 and held on to the lead to claim the victory by a fine margin.

More action coming your way from day two of the JK tyre NRC.