Triple win for Arya Singh in the Formula LGB4 and double for Arjun in JK Tyre Novice cup in the 26th JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship at the Kari Motor Speedway in Chettiapalayam
LGB Formula 4:
Arya began the race1 on an imperious note winning the opening race. Starting from P3, the Kolkata racer quickly exerted his dominance and sneaked into the lead in the first lap itself while overtaking his senior teammate T.S.Diljith. But Diljith kept up the pressure and got the lead back in the next lap only to hand it back to Arya. However, with the safety car out in the fourth lap, it was expected the one behind the leader would make up lost ground and press hard to narrow the gap. But, Arya drove with guile and precision to keep his nose ahead.
Diljith kept the pace on but could not find a way past and eventually had to rest content with the second spot. Championship leader Tijil Rao of Dark Don Racing looked good to secure a third-place finish but his joy was short-lived as Ruhaan Alva of MSport took him by surprise in the final corner for a place on the podium. The second race turned out to be an anti-climax; it was a safety car finish due to a collision in the penultimate lap. It was Diljith who was at his fiery best and led the pack till the eighth lap before the safety car came out for the first time. The introduction of the safety cut short his momentum and Arya took his chance to shoot into the lead.
Diljith just could not recover after the safety car incident and despite giving his all he could not overtake Arya. And with just over a lap remaining, the safety car came out again which slowed down the pace helping Arya register his second win of the day. Diljith finished behind him, while Ruhaan Alva of MSport who overtook Tijil and others in front of him before the yellow flag was waved to finish third.
Arya stole the limelight winning both the races in style the other day. It did raise his confidence levels but, despite that he decided to play it smart and straight going into the opening race of the day, which turned out to be a tight affair.
Starting on pole in race3, he quickly jumped into the lead. Diljith played catch up and, at one stage, even managed to scream ahead but Arya shut the door on him.
Diljith was not one to give in. He put the pedal to the metal a bit more and, this time around, and nosed ahead. From there, the duo exchanged positions a couple of times. Midway through, Tijil Rao (Dark Don Racing) joined the action and had the large crowd roaring in delight.
Arya began to feel the heat but the deployment of a safety car came in as a breather on time. He managed to pull a gap and played it safe over the last five laps to take the lead and the flag. Tijil finished second as Diljith finished third.
“It’s never comfortable when my own teammates are right on my tail for the first ten laps. To beat them at the end feels really good,” said Arya after the race.
The race4 turned out to be really tight for Dark Don Racing as the reverse grid came into play. But the boys did the team proud yet again sweeping the podium clean in the 20-lapper event.
Starting on P9, T.S. Diljith for once held his nerve despite the pressure from the back of the pack. Having surged ahead from the back to the front, the Kerala racer upped the pace and kept increasing the lead to win in style. Tijil Rao and Arya Singh battled hard from the start to finish second and third much to the joy of the team.
JK Tyre Novice Cup:
Arjun S. Nair and Neythan McPherson won a race each on day one but it came with a lot of sweat. Championship leader Arjun pulled off a comfortable win in the first race but met his match in McPherson in the second race that went down to the wire.
The race one was dominated by Momentum Motorsport as Arjun finished on top was followed by Neythan McPherson in second with a difference of over .800th of a second, Jigar Muni with less than a second difference finished third.
It was all about holding one’s nerve. McPherson handled the pressure cooker situation well to finish on top of the podium in race2. Arjun had to rest content for the second position, while Jigar Muni finished third.
In the final race, it was Arjun S Nair of Momentum Motorsports who once again proved to be the best as he dominated from pole position to the top of the podium. The Bengaluru driver who is currently atop the leader board started from where he left in the opening round and hardly put a pedal wrong in the race and deservedly took the honours. However, it was the fight for second and third place which intrigued everyone. Joel Joseph of DTS Racing and Jamie Jamshed Shaw of Momentum lit up the day with their skills behind the wheels.
While they were not quite in the reckoning for the initial few laps, they took advantage of the safety car in the fourth lap and dished out a performance to remember. Both were engaged in a fierce battle and kept the pressure on each other changing positions. However, it was Joel of Bengaluru who kept his composure and took the second position ahead of Mumbai Jamie in a photo finish.
JK Tyre presents Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup:
Md Samuel Zubair stole the show in race1 as he zoomed past the elite professionals to win his first podium in the championship. It was not an ideal start for the riders as an incident in the first corner of the opening lap slowed everyone down and they put forth their skills to the ultimate as they had to avoid running into the heap and stay in contention.
Zubair, who began on P4 started patiently and avoided taking any risks. It was only in the fourth lap after a slight hesitation from Bengaluru’s Jagadeesh Nagaraj on the home straight, he zoomed into the lead and finished off in style. Jagadeesh took the second position, while his citymate Abhishek Vasudev finished third.
In race2 it was Bengaluru's Jagadeesh Nagaraj who ruled the track as he withstood firm challenge from his counterparts to go atop the podium. His citymate Ullas Nanda and Abhishek Vasudev came second and third respectively to cap off a wonderful day for Bengaluru.
JK Tyre presents 250 Cup:
Hubballi’s Sarvesh Balappa claimed the top spot with a lead of over 7sec, while Aldrin Babu of Chalakudy came second. The last spot on the podium was taken by Ashish Patel of Vadodara.