The 19th iteration of the JK National Racing Championship commenced its Round 1 at the 2.1km long Kari Motor Speed way. This year’s championship comprises three categories, JK FB2, LGB Formula 4 and Indian Touring Cars, and here are the highlights of Day 1(July30, 2016) of the first Round.
JK FB02/Euro JK(15 laps)
These open-wheel racers have been uprated to 160hp from last year’s 140hp cars, and the results were quite apparent; they were as much as four seconds faster around the track.
Having aced the qualifiers, Formula 4 racer, Kush Maini went on to dominate Race 1, and finished nearly three seconds ahead of AkhilRabindra(British Formula 3 racer), who was followed by Anindith Reddy, winner of the 2015 Vento Cup.
The reverse-gridded Race 2 saw Rabindra’s car flip after a crash-course with Ricky Donison and KrishnaraajMahadik in the very first lap. Rabindra opted to retire from Race 2, which was restarted due to the accident.Madhik came back strong after the restart, and finished first, followed by Reddy, who surely had a good day 1 after podium finishes in both races. He was followed by AakaashGowda. Donison lost out on his podium finish despite having finished ahead of the pack due to a 10-second penalty for jumping the start. Race 1 winner, Maini managed to only finish fifth after starting last.
LGB4(15 laps)
Given Vishnu Prasad’s consistent performance in the JK series in recent seasons, it came as no surprise when the racer crossed the checkered flag first. He also clocked the quickest lap at 1:11.202. Serious competition came from just two competitors – SudarshanRao and AshwinSundar; both were from team Dark Don Racing.
Indian Touring Cars (10 laps)
Replacing the Vento Cup this year (now with MRF), the ITC championship returned to the JK series after three years. The competition cars comprised sedans that need to comply with a simple rule:
· Weight of the car(including the driver)= car’s engine displacement/1.6.
· The engine too should be of the same make as the car’s. However, what makes this race exciting is that there’s no limit to engine tuning.
Race 1 saw Bengaluru’s AshishRamaswamy of Red Rooster Performance acing the 10 laps nearly a second ahead of Prime Racing’s Rajaram C. A good nine seconds later, VidyaprakashDamodaran crossed the line, finishing third.
Results
Euro JK 16
Race 1
1. Kush Mani
2. AkhilRabindra
3. Anindith Reddy
Race 2
1. KrishnaraajMahadik
2. Anindith Reddy
3.AakashGowda
LGB4
1. Vishnu Prasad
2. SudarshanRaol
3. AshwinSundar
ITC
1. AshishRamaswamy
2. Rajaram C
3. VidyaprakashDamodaran