JK Tyre road racing ends amidst much controversy

CHENNAI - The 12th JK Tyre National Road Racing Championship concluded here Sunday amidst considerable acrimony, controversies, protests and exclusions while the stewards themselves came in for scrutiny as they withheld the final championship positions in the Formula Rolon Chevrolet class.

Championship leaders Saran Vikram, a private entry, and Ashwin Sundar of Speed NK Racing were twice involved in a contact in the two races. Vikram survived the first incident to finish second behind Karthik Shankar but ahead of Sundar, and in the next race both packed up after a collision.

Vikram lodged two protests immediately after the races, but the stewards conducted a hearing only at the end of the days programme and penalised Sundar for dangerous driving while excluding him from both the races.

Sundar, in turn, has chosen to exercise his right to appeal the decision, pending which the stewards decided against declaring the final championship positions in this class.

Why the stewards did not conduct an inquiry after the first race when Vikram protested remains a mystery as there was a gap of over two hours between the two runs.

At the start of the second race, both Vikram and Sundar were level on points (64 apiece). The incident occurred in the fourth of the 10-lap race when Sundar reportedly took out Vikram entering the bridge complex, leading to retirement of both.

It was one of the most bitterly fought races as the contenders were involved in a breathtaking wheel-to-wheel competition that was not for the faint-hearted. It was pity though that it ended in a controversy at a time when Vikram appeared heading for victory.

In contrast, the races in the other classes were fairly tame since the championship were already decided with Sudarshana Rao (Rams Racing - Formula Swift) and B. Vijay Kumar (Prime Racing - Super Saloons) having already clinched the championship. As such, the results were only of academic interest.

The results:

Formula Rolon Chevrolet (10 laps): Race 1 - 1 Karthik Shankar (Speed NK Racing) 18:47:091; 2. Saran Vikram 18:52:023; 3. Ashwin Sundar (Speed NK Racing) 18:52:861. Race 2 - 1. Sarosh Hataria (Red Rooster Racing) 19:13:969; 2. Karthik Shankar 19:14:338; 3. S.Diljith (Amaron Pro Racing) 19:53:669.

Formula Swift (10 laps): Race 2 - 1. Ajay Kini (Wallace Sports) 19:58:689; 2. Goutham Parekh (Wallace Sports) 19:59:640; 3. Gokul Krishna (Wallace Sports) 20:06:494.

Saloon cars (10 laps): Race 2 - 1. B.Vijayakumar (Prime Racing) 21:00:578; 2. Sailesh Bolisetti (RAD Racing) 21:02:701; 3. Radha Selvarajan (RAD Racing) 21:05:953

Super Bikes - 600cc Experts: Race 2 (8 laps): 1. Rohit Giri 15:01:821; 2. Praveen Keerthi 15:02:025; 3. Gopinandhan 16:23:187. Novice: Race 2 - 1. T.Sumit Lucas 15:28:572; 2. M.Gautam 16:21:985; 3. K.V.Balaji 16:22:197. 1000cc: Race 2 - 1. Sanjay Kumar 15:34:418; 2. Alok Sashidhar 15:34:568; 3. Prakash Murali 15:10:300.

Overall Championship points position (provisional):

Formula Swift: 1. Sudarshana Rao (Rams Racing) 80; 2. Ajay Kini (Wallace Sports) 64; 3. Prithveen Rajan (Wallace Sports) 61.

Saloon Cars: 1. B.Vijayakumar (Prime Racing) 94; 2. Radha Selvaraj (RAD Racing) 74; 3. Sailesh Bolisetti (RAD Racing) 56.