Vikash Anand survived a few anxious moments and kept his nerve to pull off a brilliant win in the MRF F1600 class in the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Racing Championship at the MMRT track in Sriperumbudur, near here today.
It was Anand's third consecutive win following his double in the previous round in March, but he had to work hard for success after slipping to third from a pole position start in a three-way battle involving Sandeep Kumar, who eventually finished second, and Anindith Reddy, the third placed finisher.
Meanwhile, Raghul Rangasamy, who hails from the temple town of Mamallapuram and Goa's Keith Desouza won both their races in different categories. Rangasamy topped in the F1300 Rookie Championship and later Super Stock class while Desouza claimed victories in the Indian Junior Touring Cars and Volkswagen Vento Cup races.
Also achieving a double was Coimbatore's Arjun Narendran of Red Rooster Racing in the premium Indian Touring Cars class for his sixth win in seven outings to extend his lead in the championship. After easily winning the first race from pole position, he started the second in fourth on the reverse grid, but moved to the front in the very first lap and went on to score another comfortable win.
Anand, Sandeep and Anindith were locked in a tight battle from the start. Anand went off the track at Turn-2, allowing Anindith to take lead with Sandeep running second. The three-pronged fight developed into a thriller before Anindith and Sandeep slid off the track on the same lap, allowing Anand to jump into the lead which he nursed to the finish.
