It was the perfect weather in the Manchester of South India, Coimbatore as the Day 1 of the 24th JK Tyre-FMSCI National Racing Championship Grand Finale began to unfold on Saturday (February 26). Meka Vidhuraj stole the show with an impressive performance in the Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup on the first day.
In the first race of the JK Tyre presents Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup, Anish Shetty recorded the fastest lap time early on establishing himself as the race leader followed by Allwin Xavier who almost lost out on the gravel. In the next few laps, Meka Vidhuraj picked up pace and was close on the heels of Anish Shetty, putting pressure on the championship leader.
In a close race which saw Shetty hold on to a slender lead for the better part, the young Meka Vidhuraj took the honours in a photo finish.
Meanwhile, in the JK Tyre Novice Cup, Championship leader Bengaluru boy Ruhaan Alva stood at the pole position after three rounds with 80 points seemed to have the championship wrapped-up before the race began, with his closest challenger Jaden Pariat from Guwahati lagging behind by 24 points.
Ruhaan Alwa expertly manoeuvred his car, keeping his balance and composure, and took a massive lead to win the race and seal the championship. Neym Rizvi came second and Aadithya Parasuram was on the third spot. Despite the collision Jaden Pariat ended the race in top 5.
In the keenly contested LGB Formula 4, Amir Syed in his maiden year in the LGB 4 category showed great agility in fending of tremendous pressure from the experienced Diljith TS who continued tailing him closely through the heated track. As the race continued under the safety car for a lap, Amir continued to lead and in no time, converting promise into performance, Amir Syed, in his rookie season, went on to win the race. Diljith TS came a close second. However, Ashwin Dutta sprung-up a surprise as he overtook Sandeep for the third position.
Despite the fancied Vishnu Prasad finishing fifth, he still is one point ahead of Sandeep Kumar in the overall points table.
All this promises Day 2 to be a cracker of a season closer as we get the 2021 Champions of JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship.
Results (Provisional): JK Tyre presents Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup: Race 1: 1. Meka Vidhuraj 13:32.000, 2. Anish D Shetty 13:32.061, 3. Allwin Xavier 13:40.861.
JK Tyre Novice Cup: Race 1: 1. Ruhaan Alva (MSport) 14:27.599, 2. Neym Rizvi (MSPort) 14:29.854, 3. Aadithya Parasuram (Hasten Performance) 14:31.269.
LGB Formula 4: Race 1: 1. Amir Syed (Ahura Racing) 21:47.001, 2. Diljith TS (Dark Don Racing) 21:49.327, 3. Ashwin Datta (Dark Don Racing) 21:52.460.
