Thaindian News

Coimbatore, July 16 (IANS) Defending champion B. Bala Vijay of Moto-Rev India survived a strong challenge from Diljith Shaji (LCT Sigaram Sports) to win a thrilling and dramatic race in the Indian Junior Touring Cars class that witnessed two spectacular crashes in the second round of the JK Tyre National Racing Championship here Saturday.

While Bala Vijay and Shaji provided some heart-stopping wheel-to-wheel competition, the race itself started off with S. Sreeram (Sigaram Sports) and T. Karthik (Performance Racing) rolling off the track just before the entry into turn-1.

Both drivers escaped unhurt, courtesy the roll cage that is mandatory safety feature in regulated racing competition.

Speaking to the media after receiving first aid, Karthik said: “I really don’t know what happened, but I lost count the number of times I rolled. I am perfectly okay and so also my car.”

The race was red-flagged, and on re-start, Vignesh Devarajan (Kumci Sports) was t-boned entering a 90-degree left-hander and was launched into a spectacular roll, before landing back on wheels but he too survived without a scratch.

These incidents highlighted the day’s proceedings with conditions alternating between wet and dry as Ameya Walavalkar of Mars Racing took the honours in the Formula LGB Swift class and veteran D. Vidya Prakash topped in the Super Saloons category.

At 68, Prakash is in his 42nd year of racing and he showcased his vast experience besides enviable driving skills to hold off another veteran Radha Selvarajan (RAD Racing), winner of the opening round’s races last month, and pole-setter young Vijayakumar Rajvirudhan.

“It was tough initially as the track was very wet, but later, it dried. Although I lost track position early on, I managed to move back in front. It was a good race overall and of course, I am happy it went well for me,” said Prakash.

The Formula LGB Swift race too saw a few cars making contact, but it was otherwise incident free as Walavalkar won from start to finish, sparing nearly six seconds to team-mate Deepak Ravikumar.

The results:

Formula LGB Swift (9 laps): Ameya Walavalkar (Mars Racing) 1 (10mins, 52.891secs); Deepak Ravikumar 2 (Mars Racing) 2 (10:59.810); Goutham Parekh (Wa, llace Sports) 3 (11:00.020).

Touring Cars - Super Saloons (10 laps): D Vidya Prakash (Prime Racing) 1 (12:47.156); TR Radha Selvarajan (RAD Racing) 2 (12:50.119); Vijayakumar Rajvirudhan (Prime Racing) 3 (12:53.125).

Indian Junior Touring Cars (10 laps): B Bala Vijay (Moto-Rev India) 1 (13:30.939); TS Diljith (LCT Sigaram Sports) 2 (13:31.359); Narendran S (IPL Power Pak Racing) 3 (13:40.503).