Anand wins maiden MRF 1600 race

Vikash Anand won his first MRF 1600 race while N. Leelakrishnan was crowned champion in the Indian Touring Cars (ITC) class in the fifth and final round of the National Racing Championship at the Buddh International Circuit here Sunday.

Anand, starting third on the reverse grid, finished more than seven seconds ahead of fellow Chennai driver Tarun Reddy. Japan's Kizuka Hirota came third in the race two of the weekend. Another Japanese Yudai Jinkawa had won Race 1 Saturday.

Ashwin Sundar, who had already won the championship, did not race at the Formula One circuit. The win helped 19-year-old Anand to finish second in the standing with Reddy coming third.

Anand, who is mentored by India's first F1 driver Narain Karthikeyan, passed Hirota at the outside of Turn 4 for the lead before pulling away from the pack.

"Karthikeyan's advice has made a world of difference in my driving. He has taught me how to take the optimum racing line amongst other things," said Anand, who did not drive last year owing to lack of sponsors and his father's health.

M. Sivaramakrishnan won the ITC race after winner Leelakrishnan was given a 15 second penalty for jumpstart.

Leelakrishnan started on pole and convincingly led from start to finish. Arjun Balu starting second, also had a good start and was followed by Sivaramakrishnan and V. Ramnarayan.

Arjun managed to stay in second with Sivaramkrishnan all over him. Sivaramkrishnan made his move on lap three and passed Arjun with Ramnarayan also getting past a lap later.

Leelakrishnan was the first to cross the finish line but the penalty meant he ended up third which was good enough for the title. Balu finished second in the championship and Ramnarayan third.

Newly crowned Indian Junior Touring Car champion Feroze Khan signed off in style with victory in Race 2. Charen Chandran finished second ahead of Race 1 winner Ananth Pitawala.

Results:

Championship winners

Indian touring cars

1.N.Leelakrishnan

2.Arjun Balu

3.V. Ramnarayan

Indian junior touring cars

1. Feroze Khan

2. Charen Chandran

3. VJ Senthil

MRF 1600

1. Ashwin Sundar

2. Vikash Anand

3. Tarun Reddy

Toyota EMR Trophy

1. Diljith

2. Akhil Rabindra

3. Varun Anekar