Coimbatore, Aug 8 (IANS) The first round of the 18th season of JK Tyre Racing Championship commenced at the Kari Motor Speedway here on Saturday as drivers Akhil Rabindra, Vishnu Prasad and Sailesh Bolisetti won their respective races in the JK Racing India Series, Formula LGB 4 and Volkswagen Vento Cup.
The day began with qualifying. Akhil Rabindra from Bengaluru and Ajay Kini from Chennai, representing Dark Don Racing team, and Sailesh Bolisetti from Vizag led the pack in JK Racing India Series, Formula LGB 4 and Vento Cup respectively.
Post qualifying, it was time for the first race — Race 1 of Formula LGB 4. A total of 19 drivers fought from start to finish, but throughout the 15-lap race, Ajay Kini and Vishnu Prasad raced their hearts out for the top spot.
In the end, it was Chennai boy Prasad (Team Meco Racing) who managed the win followed by Kini from Chennai (Team Dark Don Racing) and Rohit Khanna, who had started from 10th place. Prasad finished with a timing of 19 minutes and 32.03 seconds while Kini finished in 19:37.04. Third placed Khanna completed the race in 19:38.03.
Next up, it was the turn for JK Racing India Series which had 11 Indian and two international racers. Rabindra started from pole position to maintain the lead throughout the 15-lap race to finally win it in 17:24.32.
Dhruv Mohite, who started from fourth on the grid, raced past others to finish second in 17:24.64 while Prasad managed third place in 17:25.20.
Making a shift from the Polo series, the Vento Cup race turned out to be fantastic. Twenty two drivers showcased an action packed race with the experienced Bolisetti dominating the 15-lap race. Finishing second was Anindith Reddy Konda from Hyderabad while Karminder Singh from Delhi ended third.
In Race 2 of Formula LGB 4, Prasad clocked the best timing of 21:20.13 to take the chequered flag in finish place. Raghul Rangswamy came second in 21:20.47 while Karthik Shankar finished third in 21:21.08.
Spread over four rounds and 32 races, the first two rounds will be held here while the last two will take place at the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) in Greater Noida. Over 60 drivers from across the country have lined up to battle it out for the titles and will compete in three different categories — JK Racing India Series, Vento Cup and Formula LGB 4.