Dhruv Mohite has further bolstered his championship lead after winning two races in the penultimate round of the 2018 Volkswagen Ameo Cup in Chennai.
Starting Race 1 from pole position, Mohite took a dominant lights-to-flag victory. Behind him, Saurav Bandyopadhyay, Jeet Jhabakh and Anmol Singh Sahil were battling it out early in the race, with Bandyopadhyay leading the pack. Sahil fell down the order mid-way through the race, while Pratik Sonawane, who had started in eighth place, climbed his way up to third place. He stayed on Jhabakh’s tail till the end of the race, but was unable to find a way past.
Guest driver Ameya Dandekar started the reverse-grid Race 2 from pole, but made a poor getaway and ended up being passed by Shubhomoy Ball in the first corner. Ball held on to the lead all the way to the chequered flag, taking his first series win. Affan Sadat, who started fourth on grid, also had a good start and passed Dandekar and Siddharth Mehdiratta to line up behind Ball early in the race. Meanwhile, Mohite had made it up to fourth from eighth on the grid by the end of the second lap. He ultimately passed Mehdiratta on lap six to clinch the final podium spot, with Jhabakh finishing in fourth place.
Starting from pole, Mohite once again put up a dominant display in the final race of the weekend to take his fifth win of the season. He was followed by Bandyopadhyay, who started the race in second place and drove a clean race to hold on to that position throughout the race. Race 2 winner Ball slotted into third place.
The 2018 Volkswagen Ameo Cup will now head to the Buddh International Circuit for the final round in October.
“With three rounds done, we have the rookie drivers up to comparable pace as the top runners. There has been an impressive show across the grid this weekend. There was some aggressive driving and that has only taught the drivers the right lessons. We will go to the Buddh International Circuit for the last round of the Cup and are really excited to see how the cars perform there as it will be our first competitive weekend at that track,” said Sirish Vissa, head of Volkswagen Motorsport India.
Results:
Race 1
Sr. No. | Name | Total Time | City |
1 | Dhruv Mohite | 15:38.719 | Kolhapur |
2 | Saurav Bandyopadhyay | 15:43.499 | Thane |
3 | Jeet Jhabakh | 15:43.879 | Hyderabad |
Race 2
Sr. No. | Name | Total Time | City |
1 | Shubhomoy Ball | 15:40.496 | Bengaluru |
2 | Affan Sadat Safwan | 15:41.536 | Chittagong |
3 | Dhruv Mohite | 15:41.784 | Kolhapur |
Race 3
Sr. No. | Name | Total Time | City |
1 | Dhruv Mohite | 15:38.206 | Kolhapur |
2 | Saurav Bandyopadhyay | 15:45 .963 | Thane |
3 | Shubhomoy Ball | 15:48.007 | Bengaluru |