Falcons dominates X1 Racing Chennai leg

The first race of the day, won by Bangalore, took a heavy toll with six cars packing up due to mechanical reasons. It left a six-car grid for the second and third races, but that did not take anything away from Mumbai’s double. The Race-1 was interrupted by a Safety Car period after one of the cars blew the engine.

Bangalore started fourth on the grid, behind Mumbai, DG Racing Ahmedabad and Black Birds Hyderabad, but managed to pull ahead with some smart tactics. The teams were required to make a mandatory driver change between 9th and 14th minutes.

Bangalore, powered by Arjun Maini and Webb, got it spot on and held off a late charging Mumbai (Kush Maini and Jensen) to win the race. Hyderabad (Vitantonio Liuzzi-Gosia Rdest) completed the podium. The second race began on reverse grid of the previous race standings.

As such, AD Racing Delhi’s Gaurav Gill, the three-time Asia Pacific Rally champion, started from pole and led until he pitted for Raghul Rangasamy to take over. Rangasamy maintained the track position to finish second behind Mumbai (Kush Maini and Jensen). Bangalore, which had started fifth, came in third.

Mumbai went on to complete a double later, finishing on top in Race-3, ahead of Bangalore and Hyderabad.

Results: Race-1: 1. Bangalore Racing Stars (Arjun Maini/Oliver Webb) - 27mins, 23.458secs; 2. Mumbai Falcons (Kush Maini/Michel Jensen) - 27:24.018; 3. Black Birds Hyderabad (Vitantonio Liuzzi/Gosia Rdest) - 27:28.969.

Race-2: 1. Mumbai - 28:02.222; 2. AD Racing Delhi (Gaurav Gill / Raghul Rangasamy) - 28:21.637; 3. Bangalore - 28:25.847.

Race-3: 1. Mumbai - 27:59.175); 2. Bangalore - 28:03.838); 3. Hyderabad (Luizzi / Akhil Rabindra) - 28:28.382.