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Round 1 of the Indian National Car Racing Championship 2021 in MMRT, Chennai came to an end on September 26 and the event was full of surprises, action and incidents. Over the two days of action, we saw seven races for the first round. The races occurred in different classes like Formula LGB 1300, MRF Formula 1600, Saloon Cars, Super Stock, Indian Junior Touring Cars and the Volkswagen Polo Cup. Shahan Ali Mohsin was one of the star highlights of the events as he dominated the MRF Formula 1600 class with two back to back victories. So without much further ado, let us dive into the two days event and unravel all the action.
Race 1
Deepak Ravikumar (Chennai) of Momentum Motorsport finished first in the first race of the Formula LGB 1300 season. After starting from pole position, Ravikumar had to deal with numb fingers during the eight-lap race, out of which, the opening four laps were done behind a safety car following an on-track incident. Chirag Ghorpade (Bengaluru) driving for Momentum Motorsport secured the second position after a strong drive from P8 with Amir Sayed (MSport) coming third.
After the victory, Ravikumar said, “Initially, it was pretty close and also there was numbness in my left-hand fingers which led to wrong gear selection. However, I managed to overcome this problem and thereafter, it was pretty smooth sailing.”
Race 2
Mohit Aryan (Quest Motorsport) from Chennai was declared winner in the Formula LGB 1300 after Ruhaan Alva (MSport) was docked 20 seconds for overtaking under the yellow flag which dropped him to fifth. Arya Singh (DTS Racing) from Kolkata came in second, while Tijil Rao (Momentum Motorsport) from Bengaluru came third in the race.
Shahan Ali Mohsin, the 17-year old from Agra and a multiple National Karting champion, took pole position in the MRF F1600 category while beating Chirag Ghorpade (Bengaluru) in the qualifying round.
In the first race, groove tyres were run as a precaution due to the presence of a few water sports from the previous night’s rain. The first race was won comfortably by Suriya Varathan after starting from P3, but the rest of the two races it was Shahan Ali Mohsin’s dominant performances that led him to two back to back victories.
“In the morning’s first race, I started from pole position, but lost positions due to an overheating clutch. It was a tough outing. In the next two races, both of which I started from P2, it was fairly comfortable,” said Shahan.
In this popular category, Coimbatore veteran and defending champion Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) took pole position for the double header, followed by the Rayo Racing pair from Hyderabad Anindith Reddy and Jeet Jhabakh.
In the first race, Coimbatore’s Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) displayed strong racecraft and won the race with a fair distance from Rayo Racing pair of Anindith Reddy and Jeet Jhabakh, both from Hyderabad.
But things turned around for Anindith Reddy in the second race. He started from pole in the reverse grid, stayed in front through the 10-lap race, survived contact with Balu and finished P1.
In the qualifying round of the Super Stock, Rithvik Thomas (Race Concepts) from Bengaluru snatched pole from Deepak Ravikumar (Performance Racing) by just two-tenth of a second. But Ravikumar (Performance Racing), the busiest competitor this weekend as he participated in three different categories, won the two races of the class after a dominant drive over the competitors.
Charan Chandran, a private entrant from Coimbatore, won the first round of the Indian Junior Touring Cars after Bengaluru’s Varun Anekar (Race Concepts) was disqualified following post-race scrutiny on a technical infringement pushing Chandran to the top step of the podium. But, Varun Anekar shrugged off the disappointment by easily winning the second race.
Aditya Swaminathan (Bengaluru) qualified for pole position in round 1 of the Volkswagen Polo Cup with Bangladesh’s Aiman Sadat in second position and Kolkata’s Arya Singh third. In Race 1, Aditya Swaminathan came in victorious keeping Anmol Singh Sahil and Saurav Bandyopadhyay behind. In the second race, Pratik Sonawane (Pune) took the victory from Ritesh Rai at P2 and Sidharth Mehdiratta at P3.
Round 2 of the MSC FMSCI Indian National Car Racing Championship 2021 will start from December 10 till December 12 and will be held at MMRT. For more updates from the Indian motorsport world, stay tuned to evo India!
