Ashwin Datta seals Formula LGB 1300 title; Raghul Rangasamy

Ashwin Datta of Momentum Motorosport secured a second-place finish to emerge champion in the Formula LGB 1300 category with a race to spare in the fifth and final round of the MRF MMSC FMSCI National Car Racing Championship at nearby Sriperumbudur on Saturday.

Mamallapuram's Raghul Rangasamy gained a two-point lead over Bengaluru teenager Sohil Shah (M-Sport) in the premier MRF F1600 category with a win and a fifth-place finish in the two races today.

Faridabad's Manav Sharma was the other winner. With two more races to be held on Sunday, Rangasamy has 142 points to Shah's 140 while Mumbai's Nayan Chatterjee (121) is third.

Meanwhile, in the popular Indian Touring Cars category, Dhruv Mohite (Rayo Racing), driving the Volkswagen factory supported Vento, moved within four points of leader Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) who retired in today's race due to a tyre deflation in the very first lap.

Mohite went on to finish second behind Volkswagen guest driver Daniel Rowe (South Africa),but earned the full quota of 25 points. Balu has 148 points against Mohite's 144 going into Sunday's final race, which will be have a reverse grid start.

Datta, who turns 21 in November, needed just one point to seal the championship going into this weekend and came in second behind team-mate Deepak Ravikumar and ahead of Mohamed Ryan (M Sport) in the eight-lap race, run behind a Safety Car in the mid phase due to track incidents involving three cars.

The result took Datta's tally to 163 points, well clear of Sohil Shah (95), who opted not to race in this category and concentrate on his races in the MRF F1600 class.

Lying third in the championship is Chirag Ghorpade (Momentum Motorsport, 85).

In the Volkswagen Ameo Class, Mumbai's Saurav Bandyopadhyay, following a third-place finish behind two South African guest drivers, Jeffrey Kruger and Tasmin Peper maintained his top spot on the leaderboard with 357 points.

Results (Provisional, all 8 laps unless mentioned):