Chennai, July 24: India’s Vicky Chandhok was unanimously re-elected President of the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship Working Group for a second two-year term at the annual meeting in Johor, Malaysia, on Monday, July 23.

Vicky Chandhok said: “It was a bit of a surprise that I was unanimously requested to continue as President for another term. Rallying continues its upward trend in the region and I am honoured to continue what we started two years ago. Our focus will be on expanding to new regions and continue growing the sport at the grass root level.”

Representatives from Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Indonesia among others attend the meeting and the elections. Also present was Wayne Christie, President of the FIA Rally Commission to share FIA’s thoughts on the future of rallying and to also understand the challenges faced by the APRC and look at possible solutions for the future.

The members present felt that since the APRC was going through many challenges, it needed continuity at the helm, especially with the plans afoot to meet manufacturers in Japan and China.

Read more: Vicky Chandhok re-elected president of FIA APRC Working Group

Chennai, July 22: Bengaluru drivers enjoyed a successful outing in the first round of the MMSC fmsci Indian National Drag Racing Championship for four-wheelers at the MMRT, here on Sunday with Vivek Ramachandran scoring a double while Chennai’s veteran racer Radha Selvarajan was the quickest in the competition besides topping the Indian Open (altered body) class.

Vivek Ramachandran topped in the Unrestricted and Indian Open (stock body) classes with fellow-Bengalurean Mithun M in second place in both the categories.

The results:

Unrestricted: 1. Vivek Ramachandran (Bengaluru) (13.120secs); 2. Mithun M (Bengaluru) (13.357); 3. Radha Selvarajan (Chennai) (13.528).

Indian Open (Altered body): 1. Radha Selvarajan (Chennai) (12.693); 2. Jayanth V (Bengaluru) (13.178).

Indian Open (Stock body): 1. Vivek Ramachandran (Bengaluru) (13.247); 2. Mithun M (Bengaluru) (13.363); 3. Shubhodeep (Bengaluru) (14.621).

Indian Touring Cars: 1. Kasha Sai (Salem) (16.699).

Fastest car: Radha Selvarajan (Chennai) (12.693).

• Wins for Goutham Parekh, Raghul Rangasamy in MRF F1600
• Arjun Narendran notches double in ITC

Chennai, July 22: Classy Arjun Narendran from Coimbatore (Arka Motorsports) underlined his dominance by achieving a double in the premier Indian Touring Cars category while Goutham Parekh and Raghul Rangasamy split the two races in the MRF F1600 class as the third round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship concluded at the MMRT here on Sunday.

With the championship winner in the MRF F1600 eligible for the Mazda Road To Indy shootout in the United States later this year, there was considerable jockeying for points. At the end of the triple-header this weekend, 19-year old Arjun Datta maintained his overall lead with 96 points after two rounds, ahead of Rangasamy (84), Parekh (68) and Sandeep Kumar (67). With two more rounds and six races to be run in the coming weeks, the championship is wide open.

The first race in the MRF F1600 was a stop-go affair due to two stoppages following collisions and was reduced to a total of five laps. Chennai-based Parekh, first runner-up in 2015 season before taking a two-year break, started fourth on the reverse grid and moved to the front with Sandeep Kumar and Nabil Hussain in close attendance. The order remained unchanged as they crossed the finish line.

In contrast, the second MRF F1600 race ran its course of eight laps without incidents as 25-year old Rangasamy, starting from pole position, gradually pulled away from Parekh while behind them, Datta managed to hold off Sandeep Kumar to complete the podium. For Rangasamy, who hails from the nearby temple town of Mamallapuram, it was his first-ever win in the championship.

Earlier, Arjun Narendran gave yet another fine exhibition of his driving skills to score a double. His win today was far more comfortable than Saturday’s. The defending champion was off a great start from fourth position on the reverse grid as he made three places in the very first lap with bold overtaking to get his nose in front. Behind him, Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) took a while to move from third to second by which time, Narendran had opened up a sizeable lead.

Balu finally worked his way into second spot, but after three laps, going into the Bridge Complex “S”, the engine blew forcing him to retire. It left Narendran all alone in the front as he crossed the finish line well ahead of team-mates Ashish Ramaswamy and N Leelakrishnan. The second-place finish fetched Ramaswamy 18 more points that helped him maintain his championship lead with 101 points.

“I had a good start and managed to get past the three cars in front in the very first lap. I put in some consistent laps and increase my lead. After three laps, I couldn’t see anyone in the rearview mirror as Arjun (Balu) uncle retired, but I wasn’t sure why. So, I guess, it was comfortable in the end. I am not sure about my participation in the rest of the season due to personal reasons, but today, I am happy that my team had a clean podium sweep,” said Narendran.

Also achieving a double this weekend were Bengaluru’s Varun Anekar of Race Concepts (Super Stock), Vinod Subramaniam from Erode (Performance Racing) in the Esteem Cup and Goanese Chrys D’Souza (Unikek Racing) in the Indian Junior Touring Cars category.

The two Volkswagen Ameo Cup races today saw different winners with Ghaziabad’s Jeet Jhabakh and championship leader Dhruv Mohite from Kolhapur taking the honours, both surviving close competition.

The results (Provisional – all 8 laps unless mentioned):

MRF F1600 (Race 2, 5 laps): 1. Goutham Parekh (Chennai) (10mins, 35.884secs); 2. Sandeep Kumar (Chennai) (10:37.360); 3. Nabil Hussain (Chennai) (10:40.124). Race 3: 1. Raghul Rangasamy (Mamallapuram) (13:37.431); 2. Goutham Parekh (Chennai)(13:39.405); 3. Ashwin Datta (Chenna) (13:41.178).

Indian Touring Cars (Race 2): 1. Arjun Narendran (15:19.822); 2. Ashish Ramaswamy (15:36.340); 3. N Leelakrishnan (15:43.649) (all Arka Motorsports).

Super Stock (Race 2): 1. Varun Anekar (Race Concepts) (15:56.865); 2. RP Rajarajan (Performance Racing) (16:27.612); 3. Prateek Benya (Race Concepts) (16:46.478).

Indian Junior Touring Cars (Race 2): 1. Chrys D’Souza (Unimek Racing) (16:59.758); 2. Nikunj Wagh (Team N1) (17:11.890); 3. Prabhu AS (Arka Motorsports) (17:29.380).

Esteem Cup (Race 2): 1. Vinod Subramaniam (Team N1) (16:45.670); 2. Raghul Rangasamy (Performance Racing) (16:54.011).

Turbo (Support race): 1. Karthik Tharani (Chennai) (15:36.003); 2. Rayomand Banajee (Mumbai) (15:47.296); 3. Ishaan Dodhiwala (Hyderabad) (15:52.239).

Volkswagen Ameo Cup (Race 2, 7 laps): 1. Jeet Jhabakh (Hyderabad) (13:52.343); 2. Anmol Singh Sahil (Ghaziabad) (13:54.899); 3. Saurav Bandyopadhyay (Thane) (13:58.911). Race 3: 1. Dhruv Mohite (Kohlapur)(18:13.727); 2. Jeet Jhabakh (Hyderabad) (18:17.603); 3. Amol Singh Sahil (Gaziabad) (18:18:068)

• Sandeep Kumar, Arjun Narendran score fluent wins
• Teenagers Nabil Hussain, Sohil Shah top in Formula LGB 1300

Chennai, July 21: Sandeep Kumar (MRF F1600) and Arjun Narendran (Indian Touring Cars) chalked up impressive victories to grab the spotlight in the third round of MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship at the MMRT, here on Saturday.

Starting from pole position, Sandeep Kumar, 24, from Chennai, won virtually untroubled though he trailed Nirmal Umashankar briefly before moving into the lead midway through the first of the eight-lap race. Nirmal, a 16-year old also from Chennai started second on the grid but was subsequently penalised for a jump-start with a drive-through which he failed to obey leading to a 30-second penalty which placed him 12^th and last after a spin at Turn-1. Sandeep barely turned a wheel wrong to emerge a comfortable winner.

“It was tough at the start as Nirmal got past me when the lights went out. But I took him midway through the first lap itself and after he spun, I had a good lead. The win helped me to earn some big points (25) after my disappointing run in the first round last month when I finished fourth and had two DNFs in the next two races. Tomorrow, we have two more races and I hope to pick up more points,” said Sandeep, a practicing Corporate lawyer.

Further down the grid, championship leader Ashwin Datta, 19, who had scored a triple in the previous round at Coimbatore, got stuck in the mid-grid bunch and finished a distant seventh in his maiden race at the MMRT while Raghul Rangasamy and Goutham Parekh came in second and third.

Read more: MRF MMSC FMSCI INRC : Sandeep Kumar, Arjun Narendran score fluent wins Teenagers Nabil Hussain,...

• Sandeep Kumar grabs pole in MRF F1600
• Arjun Narendran quickest in Indian Touring Cars

Chennai, July 20: Local lad Sandeep Kumar, 24, put the hammer down by grabbing pole position in the MRF F1600 class as the third round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship commenced at the MMRT, here on Friday.

Sandeep, a practicing corporate lawyer in Chennai, had finished first runner-up in the MRF F1600 last year, thus missing a ticket to the Mazda Road To Indy shootout, and is determined to go one better this time. “I pushed really hard today, almost to the very limit,” said Sandeep after posting a best lap of one minute, 39.999 seconds around the 3.716 Kms track to set himself up for this weekend’s triple-header.

Sharing the front row with Sandeep is another Chennai driver, Nirmal Umashanker (01:40.310) ahead of Goa’s Keith D’Souza (01:40.069) while championship leader 19-year old Ashwin Datta who had won all the three races in the previous round in Coimbatore, will start eighth on the grid after posting a best of 01:40.685.

Meanwhile, defending champion in the premier Indian Touring Cars class, Arjun Narendran (ARKA Motorsports) from Coimbatore, having missed the previous rounds, made an immediate impact on his return to racing by posting pole winning time of 01:52.053, edging veteran Arjun Balu (Race Concepts), also from Coimbatore, who had won both the races in the previous round. Balu, in his first season in five years, clocked 01:52.053 ahead of championship leader Bengaluru’s Ashish Ramaswamy (ARKA Motorsports) who did 01:53.177.

Read more: MRF MMSC FMSCI INRC : Friday Report