National Racing Championship: Gaurav Gill proves a handful in circuit racing as well

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Chennai: Rally ace Gaurav Gill’s grand double in the Indian Touring Cars category has proved that he is a force to be reckoned with in circuit racing as well. Leaving seasoned drivers including defending champion Arjun Balu in his wake, the speed demon from Delhi dominated both the races of the tintop class in the third round of the FMSCI National Racing Championship on Sunday.
Gill’s Team Big Foots tuner-cum-teammate N. Leelakrishnan finished second in Race 1, while championship leader Arjun struggled in his new Volkswagen Vento before pulling out of the contest. Arjun, however, came back strongly to finish second in a rain-soaked Race 2 ahead of Leelakrishnan.
In the MRF Formula 1600, Chennai boys Ashwin Sundar and Tarun Reddy won a race each on Sunday. It was 15-year-old Tarun’s maiden triumph in a single-seater car. Kerala’s S. Diljith continued to his stranglehold over Toyota Etios single-make series by winning his second race of the weekend.
At the end of seven races, Ashwin who had a whale of a time winning three trophies is on top of the standings.
“The third race in which I had hold off Japanese Shinya Michimi was one of the toughest challenges that I ever had. I am happy that I won,“ said Ashwin who is confident of sealing the championship.
Results ITC (Race 1): 1. Gaurav Gill (Delhi), 2. N.Leelakrishnan (Coimbatore), 3. Ashish Ramaswamy (Bengaluru). Race 2: Gaurav Gill (Delhi), 2. Arjun Balu (Coimbatore), 3. N.Leelakrishnan (Coimbatore).
MRF Formula 1600cc (Race 2): 1. Tarun Reddy (Chennai), 2. Yudai Jinkawa (Japan), 3. Ashwin Sundar (Chennai). Race 3: 1.Ashwin Sundar (Chennai), 2. Shinya Michimi (Japan); 3. Yudai Jinkawa (Japan).
Formula Swift (Race 3): 1. K. Prashanth (Chennai), 2. Deepak Chinappa (Bengaluru), 3. Suhail Sabharwal (Bengaluru). Formula 4 (Race 3): 1. S. Narendran (Chennai), 2. C.Rajaram (Coimbatore), 3. Sudanand Daniel (Coimbatore).
Toyota EMR (Race 3): 1. S. Diljith (Trichur), 2. Abhinay Bikkani (Bengaluru), 3. Akhil Rabindra (Bengaluru). IJTC (Race 2): 1.Feroze Khan (Chennai), 2. R.P. Raja Rajan (Chennai), 3. Vidyuth Iyer (Bengaluru).