It was an incident-filled Round 3 of the 2021 MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Car Racing Championship at the MMRT. The headlining MRF F1600 category saw 17-year-old Shahan Ali Mohsin pick up two wins, while Arjun Balu survived a few close calls to win a race in the Indian Touring Cars category.
- Mohsin closes in on Ghorpade’s MRF F1600 lead
- Sandeep Kumar takes overall lead in Volkswagen Polo Championship
MRF F1600
Leading away from pole position, Mohsin won the opening race of Round 3. He couldn’t repeat that feat in the next race as reverse grid pole sitter Deepak Ravikumar took the top honours.
But Mohsin bounced back and won Race 3 after successfully fending off Chirag Ghorpade and Rishon Rajeev. The two added wins helped Mohsin eat away into Ghorpade’s lead and the gap between the two is now 13 points.
Results
Race 1
1. Shahan Ali Mohsin - 13mins 31.446secs
2. Chirag Ghorpade – 13mins 32.719secs
3. Rishon Rajiv 13mins 33.917secs
Race 2
1. Deepak Ravikumar - 17mins 01.826secs
2. Rishon Rajeev – 17mins 09.895secs
3. Dillon Zachariah – 17mins 11.992secs
Race 3
1. Shahan Ali Mohsin – 13mins 31.736secs
2. Chirag Ghorpade – 13mins 32.182secs
3. Rishon Rajeev – 13mins 34.482secs
Indian Touring Cars
The Indian Touring Cars category had two different race winners. In Race 1, Ishaan Dodhiwala (Rayo Racing) steered clear of a Turn 1 incident involving championship leader Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) and Jeet Jhabakh (Rayo Racing) to score his first win this season. Dodhiwala competed in the round as a replacement for Anindith Reddy. Balu recovered lost ground and even caught up to Dodhiwala, but had to ease off due to rising engine temperatures.
In the next race, both Balu and Jhabakh suffered damage to their cars. But Balu put his head down, moved past Dodhiwala after a hot chase and came through to chalk up his fourth win of the season in six starts.
Results
Race 1
1. Ishaan Dodhiwala (Rayo Racing) – 15mins 26.029secs
2. Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) – 15mins 42.328secs
3. Jeet Jhabakh (Rayo Racing) – 16mins 06.177secs
Race 2
1. Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) - 19mins 16.528secs
2. Ishaan Dodhiwala (Rayo Racing) - 19mins 19.601secs
3. Jeet Jhabakh (Rayo Racing) – 19mins 27.951secs
Volkswagen Polo Championship
The Volkswagen Polo Championship served up three different race winners. Oshan Kothadiya started from pole and maintained his lead throughout to win Race 1. Pratik Sonawane battled his way up from sixth on the grid to win Race 2, while Anmol Singh Sahil made the best of a P2 start to win the final race.
Sandeep Kumar, who finished on the podium in all three races, now takes the lead of the championship with 280 points. Sourav Bandopadhyay is 54 points behind in second place.
Results
Race 1
1. Oshan Kothadiya – 15mins 57.549secs
2. Sandeep Kumar – 16mins 01.665secs
3. Saurav Bandyopadhyay – 16mins 02.115secs
Race 2
1. Pratik Sonawane – 19mins 49.042secs
2. Avik Anwar – 19mins 55.849secs
3. Sandeep Kumar – 19mins 56.439secs
Race 3
1. Anmol Singh Sahil – 15mins 51.553secs
2. Sourav Bandyopadhyay – 15mins 57.720secs
3. Sandeep Kumar – 16mins 03.562secs
Super Stock
Deepak Ravikumar took a clean sweep in the Super Stock category, winning both the races. His Performance Racing teammate RP Raja Rajan also finished on the podium in both races, in third and second places respectively.
Results
Race 1
1. Deepak Ravikumar (Performance Racing) – 16mins 11.010secs
2. Rithvik Thomas (Race Concepts) – 16mins 19.707secs
3. RP Raja Rajan (Performance Racing) – 16mins 23.196secs
Race 2
1. Deepak Ravikumar (Performance Racing) – 20mins 02.552secs
2. RP Rajarajan (Performance Racing) – 20mins 24.719secs
3. Hareeshwar Prasad (Race Concepts) – 19mins 24.976secs
Formula LGB 1300
MSport’s Ruhaan Alva took a lights-to-flag win in the first Formula LGB 1300 race. He capitalised on his pole position start and was never really challenged through the eight-lap race. Starting from 10th on the grid, Momentum Motorsports’ Tijil Rao sliced his way through the pack in Race 2 to score his first win of the season. This takes him to the very top of the leaderboard with 85 points.
Results
Race 1
1. Ruhaan Alva (MSport) – 19mins 08.955secs
2. Deepak Ravikumar (Momentum Motorsport) – 19mins 14.841secs
3. Tijil Rao (Momentum Motorsport) – 19mins 15.168secs
Race 2
1. Tijil Rao (Momentum Motorsport) – 20mins 04.385secs
2. Viswas Vijayaraj (DTS Racing) – 20mins 06.027secs
3. Mohd Ryan (MSport) – 20mins 06.747secs
MRF Saloon Cars (Toyota Etios)
Justin Singh, Fahad Kutty and Angad Matharoo scored a win a piece in the MRF Saloon Cars one-make category, featuring Toyota Etios race cars. The last race was reduced to just five laps after it was red-flagged following an opening lap incident. Matharoo took victory after early leader Anand Prasad went off track.
Results
Race 1
1. Justin Singh (Red Line Racing) – 16mins 47.458secs
2. Fahad Kutty (Red Line Racing) – 16mins 48.378secs
3. Anand Prasad (Red Line Racing) – 16mins 49.775secs
Race 2
1. Fahad Kutty (Red Line Racing) – 21mins 09.211secs
2. Bala Prasath (Quest Motorsport) – 21mins 12.259secs
3. Angad Matharoo (Red Line Racing) – 21mins 13.716secs
Race 3
1. Angad Matharoo (Red Line Racing) – 10mins 39.105secs
2. Fahad Kutty (Red Line Racing) - 10mins 42.183secs
3. Zahan Commissariat (Red Line Racing) – 10mins 43.933secs
Indian Junior Touring Cars
Also achieving a double win was Race Concepts’ Varun Anekar in the Indian Junior Touring Cars category. Charen Chandran, who is competing as a privateer, also finished on the podium both times, with a pair of third place results.
Results
Race 1
1. Varun Anekar (Race Concepts) – 16mins 01.284secs
2. K Srinivas Teja (Performance Racing) – 16mins 13.396secs
3. Charen Chandran (Privateer) 16mins 29.012secs
Race 2
1. Varun Anekar (Race Concepts) – 19mins 54.853secs
2. Hatim Shabir Jamnagarwala (Performance Racing) – 20mins 24.374secs
3. Charen Chandran (Privateer) – 20mins 32.696secs
Also see:
Balu, Ghorpade win in MRF National Car Racing Championship Round 2