F1600 winner to get full season in MRF Challenge

The winner of the 2016 MRF F1600 National Racing Championship will be awarded a full season in the 2016 MRF Challenge while the runner-up will be awarded one race.

The winner of the MRF Formula 1600 series will be sent for the Mazda Road to Indy shootout, the winner of which will receive a scholarship of $200,000.

As has been the trend in the last two years, the MRF F1600 Championship will begin in January as the main support race of the 2015 MRF Challenge finale.

In the India-based international series, MRF Challenge features some of the best young upcoming drivers from across the world. The MRF F1600 Championship will have 10 races that will take place over five weekends spread over the course of the year.

Round 1 will take place in Chennai from January 29 to 31.

"We welcome the news from MRF Tyres confirming that the winner of the MRF F1600 championship will get a free 'all expense paid' drive in the 2016 MRF Challenge," J.Anand from organisers JA Motorsport said.

The budget for the MRF Challenge is currently $50,000 for the full season which will be given free of cost to the winner of the 2016 MRF F1600 title.

This year saw drivers like Karthik Tharani Singh (2015 MRF F1600 Champion) and Arjun Narendran take on drivers like Nobuharu Matsushita (GP2), Pietro Fittipaldi (F3), Tatiana Calderon (F3) and perform impressively.

In preparation, there will be a test session on January 11-12 at the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore.