Deepak Ravikumar showed dominant form in the opening round of the 2023 MRF MMSC Indian National Car Racing Championship at the Madras International Circuit. The 36-year-old scored three wins across the weekend, in the Indian Junior Touring Cars and Formula LGB 1300 categories, along with two podium finishes.
Eleven-time national champion Arjun Balu also enjoyed a strong start to the season, clinching two wins in the headlining Indian Touring Cars (ITC) category.
- Arjun Balu won two races despite driving a stock car
- Tijil Raocharged from P14 to win Formula LGB 1300 race
- Opening round saw over 50 entries
Indian Touring Cars
Balu had to drive a stock car for the opening round since his regular ITC-spec Honda City wasn’t ready in time. But that didn’t stop the veteran racer from winning two races. His Race Concepts teammate Gurunath Meiyappan won the other race.
Results
Race 1
1. Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) - 15mins 45.687secs
2. Gurunath Meiyappan (Race Concepts) – 16mins 03.174secs
3. Diana Pundole (Race Concepts) – 16mins 04.053secs
Race 2
1. Gurunath Meiyappan (Race Concepts) - 19mins 53.610secs
2. Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) – 19mins 54.013secs
3. Rithvik Thomas (Race Concepts) – 19mins 58.313secs
Race 3
1. Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) – 18mins 25.875secs
2. Rithvik Thomas (Race Concepts) – 19mins 16.427secs
3. Gurunath Meiyappan (Race Concepts) – 19mins 40.365secs
Indian Junior Touring Cars
Ravikumar shuttled between the Indian Junior Touring Cars and Formula LGB 1300 categories with ease, scoring wins in both. He won the first two Indian Junior Touring Cars races, and finished second in Race 3, just behind his teammate Akkineni Anand Prasad.
Results
Race 1
1. Deepak Ravikumar (Performance Racing) – 15mins 37.461secs
2. Akkineni Anand Prasad (Performance Racing) – 15mins 37.923secs
3. Srinivas Teja (Performance Racing) – 15mins 38.747secs
Race 2
1. Deepak Ravikumar (Performance Racing) – 19mins 31.198secs
2. Akkineni Anand Prasad (Performance Racing) – 19mins 37.062secs
3. Hatim Shabbir Jamnagarwala (Performance Racing) – 19mins 43.329secs
Race 3
1. Akkineni Anand Prasad (Performance Racing) – 17mins 59.606secs
2. Deepak Ravikumar (Performance Racing) – 18mins 00.195secs
3. Srinivas Teja (Performance Racing) – 18mins 16.233secs
Super Stock
Diljith TS won all three races in the Super Stock class. Jarshan Anand, Justin Singh and Yokeswaran all collected two podium finishes each over the weekend as well.
Results
Race 1
1. Dilijith TS (DTS Racing) – 16mins 51.283secs
2. Jarshan Anand (DB Motorsports) – 17mins 03.385secs
3. Justin Singh (Redline Racing) – 17mins 08.050secs
Race 2
1. Diljith TS (DTS Racing) – 21mins 09.014secs
2. Yokeswaran (Momentum Motorsports) – 21mins 24.193secs
3. Jarshan Anand (DB Motorsports) – 21mins 24.775secs
Race 3
1. Diljith TS (DTS Racing) – 18mins 56.803secs
2. Justin Singh (Redline Racing) – 19mins 17.529secs
3. Yokeswaran (Momentum Motorsports) – 19mins 26.035secs
Formula LGB 1300
The first Formula LGB 1300 race saw Viswas Vijayaraj and Ravikumar jostling for victory. However, the two made contact in the closing stages of the race, giving Raghul Rangasamy the chance to take victory. Tijil Rao, meanwhile, stormed from P14 on the grid to win Race 2.
Ravikumar took a comfortable win in Race 3 after frontrunners Vijayaraj and Tijil Rao knocked each other out of contention while battling for the win.
Race 1
1. Raghul Rangasamy (MSport) – 16mins 36.969secs
2. Viswas Vijayaraj (DTS Racing) – 16mins 39.114secs
3. Chetan Surineni (MSport) – 16mins 40.603secs
Race 2
1. Tijil Rao (Momentum Motorsports) – 19mins 18.886secs
2. Deepak Ravikumar (Ahura Racing) – 19mins 31.153secs
3. Viswas Vijayaraj (DTS Racing) – 19mins 31.557secs
Race 3
1. Deepak Ravikumar (Ahura Racing) – 15mins 26.665secs
2. Raghul Rangasamy (MSport) – 15mins 27.719secs
3. Aman Nagdev (MSport) – 15mins 29.919secs
MRF Saloons (Toyota Etios)
Angad Matharoo was another driver who won all three races in his category, with a dominant showing in the one-make Toyota Etios MRF Saloons. His teammate Zahan Commissariat also scored a pair of second place finishes.
Results
Race 1
1. Angad Matharoo (Redline Racing) – 16mins 38.754secs
2. Zahan Commissariat (Redline Racing) – 16mins 39.058secs
3. Jaiprashant Venkat (Redline Racing) – 16mins 47.584secs
Race 2
1. Angad Matharoo (Redline Racing) – 23mins 07.072secs
2. Anirudha Arvind (Redline Racing) – 23mins 44.035secs
3. Jaiprashant Venkat (Redline Racing) – 23mins 45.017secs
Race 3
1. Angad Matharoo (Redline Racing) – 19mins 36.048secs
2. Zahan Commissariat (Redline Racing) – 19mins 43.684secs
3. Jaiprashant Venkat (Redline Racing) – 19mins 45.769secs
Dinshaw Magol
