The MRF MMSC Indian National Car Racing Championship resumed after a five-month hiatus, with Round 3 taking place at the Madras International Circuit on July 20-21.
Racers Jaden Pariat and Abhay Mohan extended their leads in the MRF Formula 2000 and Formula 1600 categories, respectively. The round also hosted the return of the Polo Cup, where Aditya Patnaik and Dhruv Chavan picked up two wins each.
MRF Formula 2000
Despite winning Race 1 on track, Pariat was penalised for a jump start and later failing to comply with a drive-through penalty. This promoted Akhil Agarwal to first place, ahead of Chetan Surineni and Tarun Muthaiah.
But Pariat bounced back the next day to win both races. He also took home the Indian Oil special award for setting the fastest lap (1min 33.155secs) of the weekend across all categories. With seven race wins in the bag, the 17-year-old from Shillong already has one hand on the title with just one more round to go.
Results
Race 1
1. Akhil Agarwal - 13mins 04.066secs
2. Chetan Surineni – 13mins 04.646secs
3. Tarun Muthaiah – 13mins 09.482secs
Race 2
1. Jaden Rahman Pariat - 15mins 48.421secs
2. Chetan Surineni – 16mins 13.812secs
3. Akhil Agarwal – 16mins 23.584secs
Race 3
1. Jaden Rahman Pariat – 12mins 45.676secs
2. Chetan Surineni – 13mins 00.405secs
3. Akhil Agarwal – 13mins 07.807secs
MRF Formula 1600
Mohan continued to shine in his debut year of single-seater racing. The 16-year-old secured another clean sweep at Round 3. He has won every race in the Formula 1600 category so far.
Results
Race 1
1. Abhay Mohan – 13mins 52.487secs
2. Monith Kumaran – 13mins 59.414secs
3. Raaj Bakhru – 14mins 03.763secs
Race 2
1. Abhay Mohan – 17mins 26.053secs
2. Zahan Commissariat – 17mins 29.637secs
3. Monith Kumaran – 17mins 31.157secs
Race 3
1. Abhay Mohan – 13mins 55.948secs
2. Monith Kumaran – 14mins 05.481secs
3. Saishiva Sankaran – 14mins 07.197secs
Indian Touring Cars
In the Indian Touring Cars category, Biren Pithawala remained undefeated. In Race 1, he was the sole finisher as both Ananth Pithawalla and Deepak Ravikumar encountered mechanical issues. He continued his dominance with two more wins the next day.
Results
Race 1
1. Biren Pithawala (Team N1 Racing) – 15mins 30.329secs
Race 2
1. Biren Pithawalla (Team N1 Racing) - 19mins 07.820secs
2. Deepak Ravikumar (Team Performance Racing) – 19mins 13.510secs
Race 3
1. Biren Pithawalla (Team N1 Racing) – 15mins 29.920secs
2. Deepak Ravikumar (Team Performance Racing) – 15mins 31.302secs
3. Anant Pithawalla (Team N1 Racing) – 15mins 38.100secs
Indian Junior Touring Cars
In the highly competitive Indian Junior Touring Cars category, Srinivas Teja is still leading. However, his teammate Hatim Shabbir is now just three points behind him after winning all three races in Round 3.
Results
Race 1
1. Hatim Shabbir (Team Performance Racing) – 15mins 32.392secs
2. Srinivas Teja (Team Performance Racing) – 15mins 39.514secs
3. Yug Italiya (Team N1 Racing) – 15mins 50.132secs
Race 2
1. Hatim Shabbir (Team Performance Racing) – 19mins 36.631secs
2. Yug Italiya (N1 Racing) – 19mins 48.982secs
3. Dean Mascarenhas (DB Motorsports) - 20mins 01.528secs
Race 3
1. Hatim Shabbir (Team Performance Racing) – 15mins 41.300secs
2. Srinivas Teja (Team Performance Racing) – 15mins 44.905secs
3. Yug Italiya (N2 Racing) – 15mins 56.309secs
Super Stock
Justin Singh won two out of three races in this round. This placed him just six points behind the championship leader Bala Prasath, who won the other remaining race.
Results
Race 1
1. Justin Singh (Redline Racing India) – 16mins 41.923secs
2. Angad Matharoo – 16mins 55.327secs
3. Bala Prasath (DTS Racing) – 16mins 55.568secs
Race 2
1. Bala Prasath (DTS Racing) – 20mins 58.260secs
2. Justin Singh (Redline Racing India) – 20mins 58.386secs
3. Angad Matharoo – 21mins 04.759secs
Race 3
1. Justin Singh (Redline Racing India) – 16mins 49.050secs
2. Angad Matharoo – 17mins 04.842secs
3. Bala Prasath (DTS Racing) – 17mins 05.324secs
MRF Saloons
Kesara Godage took a clean sweep in the MRF Saloons category. However, it is his teammate Diana Pundole who holds the overall lead, despite not scoring a win in this round.
Results
Race 1
1. Kesara Godage (Redline Racing India) – 16mins 34.736secs
2. Diana Pundole (Redline Racing India) – 16mins 35.522secs
3. Kalim Iqbal (Red Line Racing India) – 16mins 54.554secs
Race 2
1. Kesara Godage (Redline Racing India) – 20mins 53.702secs
2. Anirudha Aravind (Redline Racing India) – 21mins 00.207secs
3. Tarushi Vikram (Redline Racing India) – 21mins 03.048secs
Race 3
1. Kesara Godage (Redline Racing India) – 16mins 39.241secs
2. Anirudha Aravind (Redline Racing India ) – 16mins 40.086secs
3. Diana Pundole (Redline Racing India ) – 16mins 41.460secs
Polo Cup
The Polo Cup returned with a 10-car grid, and majority of the races were combined with MRF Saloons. Former national karting champion Aditya Patnaik and Dhruv Chavan stood out, winning two races each.
Results
Race 1
1. Aditya Patnaik – 15mins 30.830secs
2. HM Tauhid Anwar Avik – 15mins 38.195secs
3. Romir Arya – 15mins 39.509secs
Race 2
1. Dhruv Chavan – 19mins 27.389secs
2. Ojas Surve – 19mins 29.874secs
3. Aditya Patnaik – 19mins 30.348secs
Race 3
1. Aditya Patnaik – 15mins 36.664secs
2. Dhruv Chavan – 15mins 38.699secs
3. Ojas Surve – 15mins 39.687secs
Race 4
1. Dhruv Chavan - 19mins 29.079secs
2. Aditya Patnaik – 19mins 30.259secs
3. Ojas Surve – 19mins 30.834secs
Formula LGB 1300
Viswas Vijayaraj won all three races to extend his Formula LGB 1300 lead to a mammoth 63 points.
Results
Race 1
1. Viswas Vijayaraj (DTS Racing) – 15mins 04.786secs
2. Diljith TS (DTS Racing) – 15mins 09.655secs
3. Bala Prasath (DTS Racing) – 15mins 10.877secs
Race 2
1. Viswas Vijayaraj (DTS Racing) – 18mins 53.663secs
2. Diljit TS (DTS Racing) – 19mins 01.197secs
3. Neev Datta (MSport) – 19mins 02.725secs
Race 3
1. Viswas Vijayaraj (DTS Racing) – 15mins 09.240secs
2. Diljith TS (DTS Racing) – 15mins 09.684secs
3. Bala Prasath (DTS Racing) – 15mins 10.103secs
Also see:
Pariat takes clean sweep in MRF Formula 2000, Round 2
Indian Oil Storm-X fuel launched for race cars