Tharani wins elite race of JK Tyre National Racing opener

? Chennai's trio of Karthik Tharani, Vishnu Prasad and Joseph Mathew emerged victorious on the opening day of the 21st JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship here today.

Tharani claimed the coveted first race in the Euro JK 18 category, winning the 15-lap race in 18:03.844 minutes. Nirmal Uma Shankar (Chennai) and Manav Sharma (Faridabad) took the other two places on the podium.

Seasoned racer Vishnu Prasad (MSport) staved off a stiff challenge from Sandeep Sharma (Dark Don) and Raghul Rangasamy (also of MSport) to win the highly competitive opening race in the LGB Formula 4.

In the Suzuki Gixxer Cup, defending champion Joseph Matthew was at his imperious best once again, taking the first race of the season in 14:15.877 minutes. He was over three minutes faster than Aizawl's Malsawmdawngliana and Bengaluru's Syed Muzamil Ali who was a further three minutes behind.

?The day, however, belonged to the girls from Ahura Racing in their striking red cars and uniforms.

The six girls created history yesterday, becoming the first all women's team to compete in India. Five of them eventually competed in the LGB 4 category, and did well to finish the race.

Racing for the first time ever, Coimbatore's Megaa KS beat the rest of the girls, impressing with an overall timing of 18:09.051 minutes. Pune's Ritika Oberoi, a seasoned motorsports competitor, chased her all the way, taking one extra second.

Race 2 of the Euro JK 18 could not take place today as scheduled due to a technical glitch. It will now take place tomorrow, when Round 1 concludes.

RESULTS
Euro JK 18: 1. Karthik Tharani (Chennai; 15:29.526) , 2. Nirmal Uma Shankar (Chennai; 15:31.424), 3. Manav Sharma (Faridabad; 15:34.487)