Akhil Agarwal, Abhay Mohan top in MRF Formula races

CHENNAI: Akhil Agarwal, a 29-year-old businessman from Mumbai and a first-time racer, was handed a victory in the marquee MRF Formula 2000 race following disqualification of Jaden Pariat in the third round of the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Car Racing Championship at the Madras International Circuit, here on Saturday.

Jaden, the 17-year-old from Shillong, was penalized for a jump start and “failure to comply with a drive-through penalty” after he won the race by the proverbial country mile. The penalty moved Agarwal to P1 while the Bengaluru pair of Chetan Surineni and Tarun Muthaiah were placed second and third, respectively.

Further behind, another Bengalurean, 16-year-old Abhay Mohan raced to his seventh consecutive win in the MRF Formula 1600 class that was run on a combined grid with the MRF F2000, with Chennai’s Monith Kumaran coming in second, ahead of Mumbai racer Raaj Bakhru.

Other winners of the day were Biren Pithawalla (Indian Touring Cars), Hatim Shabbir (Indian Junior Touring Cars), Justin Singh (Super Stock), Viswas Vijayaraj (Formula LGB 1300), Aditya Patnaik (Polo Cup) and Sri Lankan Kesara Godage (MRF Saloons).

Mumbai teenager and former National Karting champion Aditya Patnaik notched a handsome win in the Polo Cup without breaking sweat, leaving Bangladesh’s HM Tauhid Anwar Avik and Romir Arya (Mumbai) to scrap for P2 and P3. “I had a good start and opened up a big lead. Thereafter, I eased off completely. I am very happy with the win as it was just my second outing in this category,” said Aditya.

Godage, the youngster from Sri Lanka, took the honours in the MRF Saloons category that was run concurrently with the Polo Cup. Championship leader in this class, Diana Pundole finished second followed by Sri Lankan Kalim Iqbal.

Meanwhile, starting from pole position, Biren Pithawala (Team N1 Racing) from Mumbai, enjoyed a trouble-free run and was the lone finisher in the Indian Touring Cars race with his rivals, cousin brother Ananth Pithawalla and Chennai ace Deepak Ravikumar encountering mechanical issues. Neither driver was classified.

Chennai’s Hatim Shabbir led a 1-2 finish for Performance Racing in the Indian Junior Touring Cars class with Srinivas Teja following him home while Mumbai’s Yug Italiya (Team N1 Racing) completed the podium at the end of an entertaining race marked by wheel-to-wheel racing through the eight laps.

Justin Singh from Gurugram (Redline Racing) easily topped the Super Stock category displaying impressive pace, well clear of Chandigarh’s Angad Matharoo and Bala Prasath (DTS Racing) from Coimbatore.

DTS Racing team achieved a podium sweep in the Formula LGB 1300 category where Nellore’s Viswas Vijayaraj scored his fifth win of the season. Behind him Diljith TS (Thrissur) and Bala Prasath finished in that order after a fierce battle.

Provisional results (all 8 laps unless mentioned):

MRF F2000 (Race-1): 1. Akhil Agarwal (Mumbai) (13mins, 04.066secs); 2. Chetan Surineni (Bengaluru) (13:04.646); 3. Tarun Muthaiah (Bengaluru) (13:09.482)

MRF F1600 (Race-1): 1. Abhay Mohan (Bengaluru) (13:52.487); 2. Monith Kumaran (Chennai) (13:59.414); 3. Raaj Bakhru (Mumbai) (14:03.763)

Indian Touring Cars (Race-1): 1. Biren Pithawala (Mumbai, Team N1 Racing) (15:30.329). Note: Only one finisher

Indian Junior Touring Cars (Race-1): 1. Hatim Shabbir (Chennai, Team Performance Racing) (15:32.392); 2. Teja Srinivas (Chennai, Team Performance Racing) (15:39.514); 3. Yug Italiya (Mumbai, Team N1 Racing) (15:50.132)

Super Stock (Race-1): 1. Justin Singh (Gurugram, Redline Racing India) (16:41.923); 2. Angad Matharoo (Chandigarh, Pvt.) (16:55.327); 3. Bala Prasath (Combatore, DTS Racing) (16:55.568)

MRF Saloons (Toyota Etios) Race-1: 1. Kesara Godage (Sri Lanka, Redline Racing India) (16:34.736); 2. Diana Pundole (Pune, Redline Racing India) (16:35.522); 3. Kalim Iqbal (Sri Lanka, Red Line Racing India) (16:54.554)

Polo Cup (Race-1): 1. Aditya Patnaik (Mumbai) (15:30.830); 2. HM Tauhid Anwar Avik (Bangladesh) (15:38.195); 3. Romir Arya (Mumbai) (15:39.509)

Formula LGB 1300 (Race-1): 1. Viswas Vijayaraj (Nellore, DTS Racing) (15:04.786); 2. Diljith TS (Thrissur, DTS Racing) (15:09.655); 3. Bala Prasath (Coimbatore, DTS Racing) (15:10877)