Round 1 of 15th JK Tyre-FMSCI National Racing Championship comes to exciting end

Diego Duez, JK Tyre Racing Champion from Mexico wins first race in India
B. Vijaykumar and S. Feroze Khan win action filled races in Indian Touring and Indian Junior Touring classes respectively

Coimbatore, July 8, 2012: Coimbatore's B. Vijaykumar won an absolutely fascinating Race two of the 15th JK Tyre-FMSCI National Racing Championship at the scenic Kari Motor Speedway in Chettipalayam near here on Sunday.

In an adventure filled first race of the third JK Tyre VW Polo R Cup Avdumber Hede was placed first with a total timing of 14:30:038. JK Tyre driver Diego Duez won the second race comfortably and was followed by Alisha Abdullah, the only female contestant in the championship, and Prashanth Tharani Singh from Chennai.

The Second race of the Indian Junior Touring Cars Category was as nail biting as the first if not more. Feroze Khan was declared the winner while Diljith and Sreeram came second and third respectively.

Day 2 had all ingredients needed to make the contest extremely enjoyable. In the first race of the JK Tyre-Polo R Cup, a crash between drivers Tabish Khan and Siddharth Sharma meant the race had to be started all over again in lap 8 and divided into two parts, the results of which were merged at the end. Goa lad Avdumber Hede - who led the race comfortably but was overtaken by Mihir Dharkar post crash - was declared the winner. Dharkar was placed second followed by A. Sandeep Kumar from Chennai.

In the second race, JK Tyre driver from Mexico Diego Duez led from start to finish to win his first Indian race in style in 19:17:543. "I am delighted with my first win and thank JK Tyres and Volkswagen for the support. It was a tough competition with Alisha though I had a comfortable lead. I pushed hard and enjoyed the whole experience of winning very much. I'm loving the atmosphere and friendly people here", said Duez after his victory. Alisha Abdullah finished in second place 6.74 seconds behind Duez. Though disappointed with her qualification results, she was happy about how she performed in the race. "My team has done very well for me. I am glad about the race and hope to continue to do well in the future", she said.

The second race of the Indian Touring Cars lent the maximum amount of excitement to the day's proceedings. It of course meant disappointment to many drivers too. The race finally started after being halted due to two crashes, the first of which involved a six-car collision in the form of a chain reaction. The race ultimately started with eleven cars and ended with nine. Though it looked like T R Radha Selvarajan would make it to the podium, Coimbatore based racing veteran B. Vijaykumar came into the lead when Selvarajan had to drop out of the race due to engine failure. Vijaykumar won the 15-lap race with a total timing of 19:16:391 followed by winner of Indian Junior Touring Cars Class in 2010 B.Balavijay and veteran driver N. Leelakrishnan, who is racing for new team Big Foots Coimbatore this year. "The restarts gave me the ability to check my starting capacity. I stuck to my place after the last start. It was an enjoyable race", said Vijaykumar.

In the second Indian Junior Touring Cars race, it was a fight between yesterday's winners Fahad Kutty, Feroze Khan and Diljith TS one more time. Though Mumbai based driver Fahad crossed the finish line first, he was excluded from the podium on technical grounds. The winner thus was Feroze Khan with a total timing of 20:43:084, followed by Indian Junior Touring Cars defending champion Diljith TS and S Sreeram. An elated Feroze Khan who is leading the 2012 championship in his class with 43 points said, "There was constant pressure from Diljith. I dropped to fourth position and then came up again. It was a good race and I enjoyed every bit".

Day 2 of the first round gave motorsport lovers a host of exciting moments, which were thoroughly enjoyed. Round two of the six-round JK Tyre-FMSCI National Racing Championship 2012 will be held in Coimbatore from July 27 to 29.