Vishnu defends JK Racing India Series title

Chennai's Vishnu Prasad grabbed the trophy with both hands when he won Race 1 of the weekend to seal the JK Racing India Series title for the third consecutive year at the 5.1 km Buddh International Circuit (BIC) here on Saturday.

The 22-year-old took just 21 minutes and 39.753 seconds to beat Italian Costantino Peroni, who finished second, 1.656 seconds behind Vishnu.

Though Karthik Tharani, 21, had crossed the finish line in first position, he was given a two-position penalty for overtaking Peroni under the yellow flags on Lap 6, out of 10, and had to be content with third.

In the championship, Vishnu now has 90 points, 28 more than second placed Ananth Shanmugam, who finished ninth and out of points.

"Glad to win the championship for the third year in a row. I obviously want to progress to the next stage but finding sponsors for motorsports in India is really difficult," Vishnu told IANS moments after winning the main title of the 18th JK Tyre Racing Championship.

"If I get the money from the sponsors I would love to get into touring car championships in Asia as single-seaters are really expensive. I am talking to some people, hopefully something will work out."

JK Tyre India Series is the flagship of JK Tyre Racing Championship. The series uses the powerful FB02 cars featuring Mygale chassis and are powered by 1.2 litre BMW bike engines.

Later in the Volkswagen Vento Cup, which is a support race of the JK Tyre Racing Championship, bouncing back strongly after having two tough rounds, Sailesh Bolisetti won from pole to come and finish the eight-lap race in 19:44.538.

Finishing a rather distant second was championship leader Anindith Reddy, who hails from Hyderabad, followed by Delhi boy Karminder Singh. The three did not change their positions throughout the race.

In the other support series, Chennai's Ajay Kini edged out his nearest rival Krishnaraj Mahadik (both of Team Dark Don Racing) by a mere gap of 0.27 seconds to establish himself as favourite for the Formula LGB 4 title.

Vishnu (Meco Racing) finished third in the eight lap race.

In the second Formula LGB 4 race, Sudarshan Rao (Dark Don Racing) sealed a narrow win, finishing just 0.112 seconds ahead of Krishnaraj while Ajay ended third.

Sunday will be the concluding day of the championship season and will see six races take place at this Formula 1 circuit. The Vento Cup and FB02 series' will have two races while Formula LGB 4 will have one.