Anand triumphs at national racing tourney

Local lad Vikash Anand won a double to clinch the title in the MRF Formula 1600 category and a ticket for the Mazda Road to Indy shootout as the fifth and final round of the Indian National Racing Championship which concluded at the MMRT track here on Sunday.

Going into this weekend's triple-header, Anand and Karthik Tharani were locked on 138 points. Anand began his campaign with a second place finish behind Tharani on Saturday, but won both the starts on Sunday to seal the championship.

"I worked hard to win this championship and I really can't explain how I am feeling right now. Indy is a great opportunity to go abroad and explore new opportunities and learn. I will give my best to be competitive," said Anand who returned to racing this season after an 18-month break and notched six wins for a tally of 206 points, 10 ahead of Tharani.

Also achieving a double was Raghul Rangasamy who won both the races in the F1300 Rookie Championship and annexed the title. He later went on to claim the championship in the Super Stock class after Race 2 winner Veeresh Prasad was given a 20-second penalty for overtaking under yellow flags which demoted him to fourth place.

The result saw Raghul and Veeresh tying on 142 points. Raghul was declared champion on the basis of his three wins to Veeresh's two on the count-back which was employed to break the tie.

Goa's Keith Desouza (UNIMEK Racing) topped the Indian Junior Touring Cars class with a crucial win today which helped him finish on 199 points while his nearest rival Ananth Pithawala (Team N1) from Mumbai ended up on 191.

Coimbatore's Arjun Narendran (Red Rooster Racing), who had already clinched the championship in the premium Indian Touring Cars class, ended the season with a double for a tally of 240 points, well clear of Bengaluru's Deepak Paul Chinnappa (Race Concepts) who finished on 135.

Ishaan Dodhiwala from Delhi won Sunday's both races in the Volkswagen Vento Cup to consolidate his position at the top of the leaderboard.

--IANS

ajb/vt