November 29, 2015: Race 2, round 4 at the Buddh International Circuit, race six of the 2015 Vento Cup, was a far cry from the straitlaced Race 1 that took place the day before. While the drivers managed to shave up to four seconds off of their round 3 times, thanks to the cold weather allowing the 180bhp Ventos go faster, besides their increasing familiarity with the circuit, the wintry smog remains an issue, to the point that the reverse gridded race grid got onto a rolling start with the safety car ahead due to poor visibility. For a change, the grid leader, this time, Prabhanj Paruchuri, managed to keep his lead till the fifth lap, before spinning out and crashing into the side wall just before the last corner. Despite the long held lead, trailing cars remained hot on Paruchuri’s heels, with reverse grid expert Karminder Singh sparing no time to climb up the grid. Having started at number six, Singh was number three by the third lap and clenched top spot when Paruchuri buckled during lap five.
Race 2 also also a lot of the safety car, thrice in total, including the rolling start at first. The second time, guest driver and willner of the Chinese leg of the Vento Cup, Zhang Quan Shang spun out, resulting in a yellow flag and hence a lap behind the safety car. The Audi R8 turned up the third time around after Paruchuri’s spin-out. Sailesh Bolisetti lost out on his pole position after overtaking during a lap behind the R8.
After what looked like an exciting eight lap run, Karminder, Sailesh and Ishaan in cars numbered 23, 19 and 17 respectively were the top three contenders to cross the chequered flag. As mentioned earlier, Sailesh was penalised for overtaking during a safety lap, while Karminder’s position was challenged by Ishaan and guest driver Dhruv Behl, as the feisty racer from Delhi, after being accused for nicking the challengers in his bid to clench the pole position, managed to hold onto number one for race two, albeit with a warning. Ishaan Dodhiwala and Anindith Reddy occupied position two and three on the podium respectively. The race also marked the fastest lap time around the Buddh circuit in the Vento Cup series, with Karminder lapping the 5.12 kilometre track in 2:26.664.
Unnatee Gidithuri
Dipan Sur
