The inaugural round of the X1 Racing League concluded with Bangalore Racing Stars emerging as the early favourites. The team took home three race wins out of a possible four over the course of the weekend.
Another team that impressed on the opening day also continued its strong form on Day 2. Race 3 saw Mumbai Falcons claim their first win in the series with a solid performance by the pair of Kush Maini and Mikkel Jensen. The pair held off stiff competition from Bangalore Racing Stars’ pair of Arjun Maini and Oliver James Webb, who finished a close second – set apart by barely a full second. Rounding out the podium for Race 3 was DG Racing Ahmedabad’s car by the pair of Krishnaraaj Mahadik and Rahel Frey.
Race 4 saw the format change to a relay-based event with each team only fielding one car on the track at a time. Also mandatory was the use of all five drivers that formed up the teams. While the basic idea remained the same as prior races, the pit stop now saw the second driver exit the pit-lane in the team’s second car, with the first car then being readied for the next driver and vice versa. There was plenty of drama throughout the race with Mumbai Falcons being awarded a penalty for a track violation, and a few instances of drivers spinning out or stalling the car – the latter did briefly bring out the safety car. The race was also longer than the previous three races with a set time limit of 40 minutes plus 1 lap, compared to the previous races that were limited to 30 minutes and a single lap. Bangalore Racing Stars took home first place in the race, while Mumbai Falcons and NK Racing Chennai rounded out the podium.
Round 2 of the new racing series will now be held at the Madras Motor Race Track in Chennai on December 7-8, 2019.
Moving to the finale of the 2019 JK Tyre National Racing Championship - which was hosted simultaneously at the Buddh International Circuit - Vishnu Prasad took home the LGB Formula 4 title after bagging first place in the final race of the series. His chief rival Raghul Rangasamy took 3rd place in the race, just behind 2nd placed Ashwin Datta. The race win saw Vishnu, who was tied on points with Raghul after Day 1, rise to three points above the latter and clinch the LGB Formula 4 championship. In the LGB Formula 4 rookies category Megaa K. S. took home the championship.
The Gixxer Cup too had come down to the wire on Day 1 with Syed Muzammil Ali having taken a two point lead in the championship after Tanay Gaikwad did not finish the race. Race 2 saw Tanay start from the back of the grid and rise through the ranks all the way to third place though he missed out on the championship to Ali who finished the race in second place, behind Sanjeev Mhatre.
Moving to the other two wheeler classes, Sunday witnessed two races in the JK Superbike classes - one in the 600cc and one in the 1000cc categories, and one in the Asia Cup Road Race series held alongside the Gixxer cup. In the 600cc category, P. Sai Rahil Shetty took home first place with Gurvinder Singh and Vishal Khubchandani rounding out the podium. Meanwhile in the 1000cc segment, Rajini Krishnan clinched victory.
In the Asia Cup Road Race series, Karen Ogura bagged the win, with Eane Jaye Sobretodo and Mei Sakurai rounding out the podium finishers.
Final championship standings
JK Tyre LGB Formula 4:
1. Vishnu Prasad – 83 points
2. Raghul Rangasamy – 79 points
3. Diljith T S – 68 points
JK Tyre LGB Formula 4 Rookie:
1.Megaa K. S. – 85 points
2. Mihir Barve – 73 points
3. Akshay Kapoor – 62 points
JK Tyre Suzuki Gixxer Cup:
1. Syed Muzammil Ali – 64 points
2. Tanay Gaikwad – 60 points
3. Sidharth Sajan – 36 points
Day 2 Results:
JK LGB Formula 4:
1. Vishnu Prasad (23:16.961)
2. Ashwin Datta (23:18.060)
3. Raghul Rangasamy (23:18.675)
JK Tyre Suzuki Gixxer Cup:
1. Sanjeev Mhatre (23:28.022)
2. Syed Muzammil Ali (23:29.287)
3. Tanay Gaikwad (23:35.746)
Asia Cup Road Racing:
1. Karen Ogura (20:51.318)
2. Eane Jaye Sobretodo (20:51.478)
3. Mei Sakurai (21:01.006)
JK Tyre Superbike 1000cc:
1. Rajini Krishnan (11:49.834)
2. Dilip Lalwani (11:51.070)
3. Simranjeet Singh (11:53.166)
JK Tyre Superbike Cup 600cc:
1. P. Sai Rahil Shetty (12:21.241)
2. Gurvinder Singh (12:26.929)
3. Vishal Khubchandani (12:41.629)
X1 Racing:
Race 1:
1. Mumbai Falcons
2. Bangalore Racing Stars
3. DGR Ahmedabad
Race 2:
1. Bangalore Racing Stars
2. Mumbai Falcons
3. NK Racing Chennai