Maini, Mahadik share spoils on day one of JK Racing

Teenagers Kush Maini and Krishnaraaj Mahadik shared the spoils in the two showpiece races as the 19th JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship got underway at the Kari Motor Speedway here today.
15-year-old Maini, who is simultaneously competing in the Italian F4 Championship, won the opening Euro JK 16 race from pole position before Mahadik got lucky to be classified first in the evening with actual race winner Ricky Donison docked 10 seconds for a jump start.
The BMW engine powered cars for the feature race of the championship has been tweaked this season with a new gearbox, increased power and a paddle shift leading to faster lap times of up to four seconds at the circuit here.

The name of the series has also been changed to Euro JK 16 from JK FB02.
While Race 1 was a rather straightforward affair with Maini pulling away from the rest of the field, it was all happening in Race 2.
The opening lap saw a heavy accident with Donison hitting Akhil Rabindra from behind, sending the former out of the race. Such was the nature of the accident that the race had to be re-started more than an hour later after repair work on Donison's car besides others who were affected in what ended up being a pile-up.

Maini, starting at the front again, had another poor getaway and he slipped to fifth with Anindth Reddy taking the lead. But soon Donison, making his single seater debut after successful years in karting, charged from behind to pass Reddy and take the lead.

Bangalore boy Donison was leading till the end of the 15th lap only to be denied the win for a jumpstart. Mahadik, who crossed the line in second place, was promoted to victory ahead of Reddy and Akash Gowda.
Maini, who had a good chance to pocket a double, said he faced issues with clutch in Race 2, causing a slow start before he went on to finish a frustrating fifth.
"Race one was good. The qualifying performance was really satisfying. The outing in the evening was not great as I was stuck with clutch issues throughout. Looking forward to a more productive day tomorrow," said Maini, who will juggle between the Italian F4 and the domestic championship this season.

Results: Euro JK 16 Race 1: 1) Kush Maini, 2) Akhil Rabindra, 3) Anindth Reddy
Euro JK 16 Race 2: 1) Krishnaraaj Mahadik, 2) Anindth Reddy, 3) Aakash Gowda
India Touring Cars Race 1: Ashish Ramaswamy, 2) Rajaram C, 3) Vidyaprakash Damodran
Formula LGB 4 Race 1: 1) Vishnu Prasad, 2) Sudarshna Rao Karwal, 3) Ashwin Sundar.