Chennai’s Karthik Tharani (97 pts) went home merrier after having clinched the Euro JK 18 championship crown in the final round of the 21 JK Tyre FMSCI National racing championship at the Buddh International Circuit, here, on Sunday.
The title-winner had said the other day that he would go flat out on the final day. He had to do that as Mumbai’s Nayan Chatterjee and Ashwin Datta, from his own city, were not far behind on points.
At the start of the day, pole sitter Nayan won the first race in a commanding manner, but Karthik, who started third on the grid, lost three places at the start before he recovered well to finish second.
That tightened the situation between the two drivers as they were locked at 89 points apiece and with just a race (reverse grid) left in the season finale. It was here that Nayan met his fate. The Mumbaikar knew he had to finish ahead of Karthik to clinch the crown. And, he tried to go that extra length right at the start of the second race and ended up crashing with Faridabad’s Manav Sharma.
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It came as a breather for Karthik, who kept it safe and steady to finish on top of the podium. It was a well-deserved victory for the young man who had worked so hard through the season.
“It was not the way that I wanted to win the championship. I feel very bad for Nayan as he was tied on points. I wanted to win it fair and square, but it was a different story altogether,” said Karthik after the race.
“The victory means a lot to me as I could not race last year due to budget issues. But, I must thank JK Tyre for the opportunity and my sponsors. This win will open up new avenues and, with it, keep my dream of racing alive,” he added.
Chennai racers Raghul Rangasamy and defending champion Vishnu Prasad fought all the way down for the championship crown in the LGB4 class. But, the former had the last laugh edging out the latter by a point.
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The results:
JKNRC: Euro JK: Race 3: 1. Nayan Chatterjee; 2. Karthik Tharani, 3. Arya Singh. Race 4: 1. Karthik Tharani, 2. Yash Aradhya, 3. Brayan Perera.
LGB4: Race 3: 1. LGB4: Race 3: 1. Rohit Khanna, 2. Raghul Rangasamy, 3. Sandeep Kumar.
ACRR: 1. Malsawmdwngliana, 2. Max Stauffer, 3. Hansika Abeysinghe.
Gixxer Cup: 1. Malsawmdwngliana, 2. Sachin Chaudhary, 3. Sanjeev Mhatre.
JK Superbikes Cup (600cc): 1. Vijay Singh, 2. Kulwant Singh, 3. Saranbir Singh. 1000Cc: 1. Dilip Lalwani, 2. Deepak Ravi Kumar, 3. Gurvinder Singh.
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