15th JK Tyre-FMSCI National Racing Championship gets off to thrilling start in Coimbatore

Sivaramakrishnan opens account with classic Indian Touring Cars win
Fahad Kutty comfortably wins inaugural race in Indian Junior Touring Category

Coimbatore, July 7, 2012: Chennai's M Sivaramakrishnan came up from position 4 on the grid to win a thrilling opening race of the Indian Touring Cars Class in Round One of the 15th JK Tyre-FMSCI National Racing Championship at the Kari Motor Speedway in Chettipalayam near here today.

Mumbai lad Fahad Kutty won the first race of the Indian Junior Touring Cars category ahead of S. Feroze Khan and defending champion Diljith TS.

The starting line-up for the first Polo R Cup race on Sunday will see Avdumber Hede taking pole position followed by A Sandeep Kumar, Anthony George, and JK Tyre driver Diego Duez.

Race 1 of the Indian Touring Cars Class was full of surprises after all four top qualifiers failed to make it to the podium in Round One of the 2012 championship. Veteran racer Radha Selvarajan, who qualified in position one had a great chance to open his account in style but for a technical failure that forced him to retire in the opening laps.

Defending champion and Coimbatore lad (Prime Racing) V Rajvirdhan did well to qualify for the race in position 2, and lead the race brilliantly for the next ten laps before retiring due to a technical failure. Qualifying for position 3, veteran racer B. Vijaykumar received a five-grid penalty because of an engine change and was moved to position 8 on the grid.

Closely following Rajvirdhan for the major part of the race, it was Sivaramakrishnan's day when Rajvirdhan retired from the leading position thus giving him the lead. The Chennai driver finished the race with a total timing of 19:30:245 followed by C Rajaram (Prime Racing) in second place and Siddharth Kishore (Performance Racing) in third. "I made a good start and have a reliable car that did well. We can now work hard for the forthcoming races", said Sivaramakrishnan.

Coming in second in the only Swift shell in the race, C Rajaram said, "I don't think I had a winning possibility but for opportunities given by Radha Selvarajan and Rajvirdhan's retirements during the race. I am glad with the victory and looking forward to future races of the championship".

In the Indian Junior Touring Class, pole position winner Fahad Kutty from Team Game Over lead from start to finish, putting in a stellar performance to win the first inaugural race of the 15th JK Tyre-FMSCI National Racing Championship in a total time of 20:39.569. Kutty, who won the race comfortably, was followed by Chennai youngster S Feroze Khan and Indian Junior Touring Cars defending champion Diljith TS. It was an anxious yet extremely exciting race for Feroze, who finished third overall last year, as he was being constantly trailed by Diljith and looking to close in on Kutty who was in the lead. Diljith was able to overtake Feroze on the curves but found it difficult to close in on straights. "I was trying to watch both but did not know whom to concentrate on! I'm glad I made it to the podium in the first race of the season", said Feroze. The two turned the race into an extremely closely contested affair right until the end.

Day one of the first round witnessed intense action with drivers from many new teams showing no signs of this being a season opener. If today's race was a taste of what is to come, the JK-Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship 2012 is sure to be a nail-biting and adrenaline-pumped affair.

The final races of Round One of the 15th JK-Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship are scheduled to take place at Coimbatore's Kari Motor Speedway on July 8th 2012.