Vishnu Prasad completed a successful weekend by achieving a hat-trick of wins in the FB 02 class, in the first round of JK Tyre Racing Championship here Sunday.
The 20-year-old from Chennai demolished all opposition to make a telling statement of his talent in a repeat performance of Saturday, when he won the first of the three races.
The Volkswagen Polo R Cup, which had a starting grid in reverse order, saw rally driver Bonnie Thomas of Kerala make the most of his pole position to hold off an aggressive Angad Singh Matharoo and claim victory, denying the Punjab driver a double.
Kerala's Diljith T. Shaji of Dark Don Racing was equally impressive in Formula LGB4, emulating Vishnu's feat by also claiming a hat-trick of titles.
Vishnu continued from where he had left on the opening day by winning the second race of the FB 02 series despite a poor start. With Akhil Rabindra getting the jump on him, Vishnu recovered to overhaul the rest of the field and finish the 15-lap race in 16:35.338. Rabindra came home in second place, ahead of Krishnaraj Mahadik.
The third race in the series also saw a start-to-finish winning performance from Vishnu with Rabindra and Mahadik following in his wake.
Antonio Ferrari, owner and chief engineer of the Italy-based Euro International, said: "Vishnu deserves all encouragement and needs to be supported to compete in European championships. The wear and tear of brakes and tyres in Vishnu's car at the end of three races during this weekend were minimal compared to other cars. This speaks volumes about his skills."
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The Polo R Cup saw a neck-and-neck battle between Thomas and Angad with the former zooming home just half a car length ahead. Angad, having won the first round Saturday, was thwarted in his efforts for a double by a determined Bonnie, who drew upon his rallying experience to hold off the aggressive driver from Punjab.
The two Formula LGB 4 races also threw out interesting duels like Saturday. But a confident Diljith remained focused to achieve his goal of winning a triple.
Vishnu said: "It's been a fantastic weekend. It feels good to come out on top against such good drivers and to do it in all three races is fantastic. Akhil, Ameya and the rest of the field are improving. They are getting quicker. Surely they will win some races and give me a tough fight in the next round."
Shaji said: "I messed up at the start of the first race. Three of four cars went past me and after that I had to start catching up. Thankfully, I managed to get the right speed to overtake the drivers in front and win the race. I credit Afsar Riyaz (Dark Don Racing owner) and the whole team for my wins. The car was handling well as per my driving style."
Results:
JK Racing India Series FB02 (Race 2): Vishnu Prasad (16:35.338) 1; Akhil Rabindra (16:39.876) 2; Krishnaraj Mahadik (16:42.393) 3. Race 3: Prasad (16:37.588) 1; Rabindra (16:40.587) 2; Mahadik (16:42.605) 3.
Formula LGB 4 (Race 2): Diljith Shaji (Dark Don Racing) 1; Sudarshan Rao (Dark Don Racing) 2; Ameya Bafna (Rayo Racing) 3. Race 3: Shaji 1; Rao 2; Vishnu Prasad (Meco Racing) 3.
Polo R Cup: Bonnie Thomas (21:07.467) 1; Angad Singh Matharoo (21:07.875) 2; Anindith Reddy Konda (21:08.157) 3.
Vento Support Race: Gopalkrishnan S. (09:57.963) 1; Abhishek Mohite (10:12.729) 2; J. Suderssan (10:13.048) 3.