Achieving five podium finishes in six races is no mean feat. The weekend at Kari Motor Speedway belonged to Chennai’s Vishnu Prasad as the 20-year-old won four races and finished third in the fifth.
On the second day of Round 2 of the 16th JK Tyre Racing Championship here, Vishnu continued to dominate the 2.3km stretch. He made a clean sweep in the JK Racing India Series FB02 category by emerging winner in both races on Sunday.
He led from start to finish and saw off stiff challenges from Arjun Maini, Akhil Rabindra and Chittesh Mandody.
“It was quite a weekend. I have finally got a grip on the FB02,” said Vishnu.
Chittesh finished third in both races while the second place honours were shared by Akhil (Race 1) and Arjun (2). “This was one of my best races. I had to do two things at a time, attack Vishnu and defend Chittesh. Though my overtaking attempt in the last lap was an epic fail, it was one of my most exciting racing moments,” said Banglorean Maini.
Meanwhile, the third and final race in the Formula LGB category was action packed. The race had to be red-flagged in the ninth lap after Bangladesh’s MD Tushar skidded and hit the barrier but remained unhurt. After the race resumed, Sarosh Hataria, who had battled his way atop after starting fifth on the grid, kept his lead intact and raced home to victory.
Pole-starter Ameya Bafna retired mid-race due to a technical problem. And in the very last lap, a mistake on the part of Karthik Krishna saw Vishnu and Saran Vikram drop down the grid. Krishna was given a 30-second penalty for his contact with Vikram.
In the VW Polo R Cup, Chennai’s Prashanth Tharani and South Africa’s Jeffrey Kruger reigned supreme. Kruger, starting on pole position, couldn’t hold on to his lead and Prashanth took full advantage and cruised to victory. The second race, using the reverse grid formula, saw Rahil Noorani take early lead. Though the Mumbai racer finished the race ahead of others, he was handed a 20-second penalty for a jump start and thereby, failed to make the podium.
