CHENNAI: Motorsport enthusiasts are in for a treat. The Madras Motor Sports Club (MMSC) will be bringing to India the FIA Formula 4 South East Asian Championship. It is one of the channels for youngsters to make the transition from karting to the real world of race driving.
Peter Thompson, chairman and CEO of Asian Autosport Action, the organisers of F4 SEA championship, was at the MMSC track to watch the action on Sunday. He shared with Express his plans for the Chennai leg. “There is a lot of enthusiasm for the sport in India. F4 will help young drivers to go up the ladder. The third round of the F4 SEA Championship will be held at MMRT in Chennai on September 1 and 2. The fourth round in the double header will be held on September 8 and 9,’’ informed Thompson.
The first two rounds were held in Sepang in July and the F1 track will also host the last two rounds of the 8-round, 24-race championship in November and December. The championship will also visit Thailand for two rounds. Each round will have three races of about 50 kms and the expected number of laps are 11 to 15 per race.
The championship was the ladder for many stalwarts to F1, including India’s first F1 driver Narain Karthikeyan, who won F4 in 2000. Current F1 test driver of HAAS Arjun Maini is also a product of F4.
Noted International racer Armaan Ebrahim, who watched the races on Sunday, believes F4 is a good initiative. “It will help the youngsters prepare and understand what are the steps that one requires to take, with the ultimate aim of driving in F1,’’ said Armaan. The car, too, will test the drivers. “The race will have about 12 drivers. They will be from Europe and Asia. We may see two to four Indians. The technical crew will be from Malaysia. The car with a Renault engine with 160 bhp will be similar to the MRF Formula 1600,’’ revealed Thompson.
Meanwhile, the refurbished MMRT, with a new paddock building, is ready to host an FIA event in India after the departure of F1. The track is homologated and granted Grade 2 certification by FIA.
Provisional results (8 laps unless mentioned) MRF F1600 (Race 2, 5 laps): 1. Goutham Parekh (Chennai, 10 mins 35.884secs); 2. Sandeep Kumar (Chennai, 10:37.360); 3. Nabil Hussain (Chennai, 10:40.124). Race 3: 1. Raghul Rangasamy (Mamallapuram, 13:37.431); 2. Goutham Parekh (Chennai, 13:39.405); 3. Ashwin Datta (Chennai, 13:41.178). Indian Touring Cars (Race 2): 1.
Arjun Narendran (15:19.822); 2. Ashish Ramaswamy (15:36.340); 3. N Leelakrishnan (15:43.649) (all Arka Motorsports). Super Stock (Race 2): 1. Varun Anekar (Race Concepts, 15:56.865); 2. RP Rajarajan (Performance Racing, 16:27.612); 3. Prateek Benya (Race Concepts, 16:46.478). Indian Junior Touring Cars (Race 2): 1. Chrys D’Souza (Unimek Racing, 16:59.758); 2. Nikunj Wagh (Team N1, 17:11.890); 3. Prabhu AS (Arka Motorsports, 17:29.380). Esteem Cup (Race 2): 1. Vinod Subramaniam (Team N1, 16:45.670);
2. Raghul Rangasamy (Performance Racing, 16:54.011). Turbo (Support race): 1. Karthik Tharani (Chennai, 15:36.003); 2. Rayomand Banajee (Mumbai, 15:47.296); 3. Ishaan Dodhiwala (Hyderabad, 15:52.239). Volkswagen Ameo Cup (Race 2, 7 laps): 1. Jeet Jhabakh (Hyderabad, 13:52.343); 2. Anmol Singh Sahil (Ghaziabad, 13:54.899); 3. Saurav Bandyopadhyay (Thane, 13:58.911). Race 3: 1. Dhruv Mohite (Kohlapur, 18:13.727); 2. Jeet Jhabakh (Hyderabad, 18:17.603); 3. Amol Singh Sahil (Gaziabad, 18:18:068).