Vishnu Prasad, Ajay Kini and Anindith Reddy Konda clinched comprehensive victories in action-packed races at the JK Racing India Series, Formula LGB 4 and Volkswagen Vento Cup respectively on the first day of Round 2 of the 18th JK Tyre Racing Championship here on Saturday.
The day at the 2.1 kilometre at the Kari Motor Speedway featured four dramatic races -- one each of the JK Racing India Series and Vento Cup and two races of Formula LGB 4.
Qualifying saw Kolhapur lad Krishnaraj Mahadik, Chennai's Ajay Chennai and Anindith earn pole positions in JK Racing India Series, Formula LGB 4 and Vento Cup respectively. The competition level reached a new high as the top-10 drivers in all categories qualified within a second of each other.
In the main race of the day -- JK Racing India Series -- Vishnu finished first followed by pole-sitter Krishnaraj and Dhruv Mohite.
As the lights went off, 15-year-old Kush Maini overtook Krishnaraj on Lap 2 but was soon overtaken by the experienced Vishnu on the next lap. Vishnu stretched his lead as Krishnaraj tried to catch up but was only able to overtake Kush.
However, it didn't turn out to be a good race for Sandeep Kumar, Ameya Bafna and Dhruv, who couldn't manage to finish the 15-lap race. Round 1 winner Akhil Rabindra was disappointed with his day's performance as he finished eighth.
In the highly competitive Formula LGB 4, Team Dark Don took the top-3 spots in qualifying and therefore started in the same order in Race 1. Multiple spins and five drivers going off the track made it the most exciting race of the day.
Ajay started on pole and convincingly led from start-to-finish. Closing in second after a dramatic turn of events with the safety car coming out twice on the track, Raghul Rangaswamy ended with a second place finish after starting seventh.
Diljith T.S. from Thrissur proved to be lucky for Team Avalanche Racing as he finished third to take the final step of the podium.
Chittesh Mandody from Kolhapur from Team Dark Don Racing, who started second, couldn't keep his place as he was overtaken by others. He had to eventually settle for seventh.
Round 1 winner Vishnu, who started sixth, could not manage to keep his position at the top to finish fifth. It was a disappointing race for Bengaluru boy Sudarshana Rao from Team Dark Don Racing as he spun off the track and his race ended there.
Race 2 was restarted after a major collision among five cars in the second corner of the first lap. The race was over for Karthik Shankar, Sudarshana Rao and Rohit Khanna post the incident.
After the restart, it was a close battle for the top-3 between Ajay, Raghul, Chittesh and Diljith.
Diljith was securing his second place but in the 11th lap, a hit from behind made him spin out and he was out of the race. Ajay finished first, Raghul second with Krishnaraj third.
In Vento Cup, Hyderabad boys Anindith and Ishaan Dodhiwala finished first and second while third was taken by New Delhi's Karminder Singh.
Round 2 of the championship will conclude here on Sunday.
