Spotlight on Ashwin, Vishnu, Joseph in 2nd round of JK Tyre

: The Chennai trio of Ashwin Datta, Vishnu Prasad and Joseph Matthew will look to consolidate their positions at the top in the second round of the 21st JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship here tomorrow.

Datta, who surprised the field by nosing ahead in the opening round of the blue riband Euro JK 18 event despite not winning a single race, will hope to make amends. He was very consistent though, managing three podium finishes to garner 24 points.

Sri Lanka's Brayan Perera and Karthik Tharani, however, are just one point adrift and will hope to overtake Ashwin. They won two races each, but also finished fifth and sixth in the other two to slide down the table.

Mumbai's Nayan Chatterjee will also be pushing hard to prove his class. He suffered an early setback as his car forced him to pull out in the seasons first race. He made up in the last three races to add 20 points into his kitty and he will be eager to fire in this round.

Vishnu Prasad was imperious in the LGB Formula 4, earning 22 points in the three races.

The LGB class will again be the cynosure of all eyes, with the Ahura girls creating a buzz with their presence. The six women, who had been selected after a nation-wide hunt, gave a good account of themselves too, finishing all their races with elan.

Led by film actress Manisha Kelkar, they have been training hard at the Kari Motor Speedway since the week began and will be keen to led their brigade into the Top 10.

Joseph Mathew, who won both his JK Tyre Suzuki Gixxer Cup races in Round 1 easily, will be the rider to catch once again.

Similarly, in the Red Bull Road to Rookies, Mizorams Zothanmawia won both his races to launch his campaign on a high note. His city-mates P C Andy Lalhmangaihsanga and Jerome Vanlalrengpuia are 6 points behind, at 14, setting the stage for an exciting weekend.

The second round will see the introduction of a new class, the JK Tyre Novice Cup, giving youngsters another platform to sharpen their racing skills.