Karthik Tharani Singh held off a charging Goutham Parekh and Arjun Narendran to win a brilliant MRF 1600 Race 2 at the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore. Earlier in the day Goutham Parekh took advantage of starting in pole position to win Race 1 of the MRF FF1600 Championship with 18 year old Tejas Ram taking his first podium by finishing an impressive second ahead of Karthik Tharani Singh. Karthik continues to lead the Championship, albeit by just one point from Parekh with Narendran a further 17 points behind in 3rd place.
The races for Day 2 of Round 3 of the MMSC-FMSCI National Racing Championship was delayed after heavy rain hit the circuit early in the morning. Parekh started on pole position alongside Chetan Korada with MRF wet tyres fitted on for the first time this season. Parekh had a good start but the fast starting Arjun Narendran from 3rd on the grid was side-by-side as the two drivers headed into the first corner. Parekh held on to the lead with Narendran in 2nd and Tejas Ram in 3rd place. With visibility at a very low level the drivers did a great job to stay on track on a very wet circuit. Narendran had a spin at the back of the circuit and dropped down to 4th place. Tejas did well to put pressure on Parekh but could not get close enough to make a move. As the rain eased Parekh pulled away to take his 2nd win of the season. Tejas finished in 2nd place ahead of Karthik Tharani Singh, who had a lonely race in 3rd.
Championship challenger Parekh was thrilled with a win and 2nd place in tricky conditions. He commented, “Race 1 was a lot of fun and I was really enjoying myself out there. MRF have done a fantastic job on their wet tyres as the grip levels were really good. Race 2. In Race 2 I had a very bad start and it took some time to get my rhythm again. It was a great battle with Arjun and “Karthik and maybe if I had one more lap I could have tried for the win. Anyway am very happy with the weekend and can’t wait for the next round in Chennai.”
Championship Leader Karthik Tharani Singh was thrilled to finish the weekend on top after a tough qualifying session. He commented, “Qualifying was really bad and have spent the rest of the weekend catching up. Race 1 was good and third was the best I could do so am happy with that. In Race 2 I had a great start and after that it was tough with the conditions so tricky. I knew we had the pace in the wet so am thrilled with this win.”
After being dry for most of the afternoon the rain returned for Race 2 of the MRF 1600 race. The MRF Team did a great job to quickly change from dry to wet tyres as the rain got heavier. Karthik, starting from 2nd position, got off the line quickly to jump reverse grid pole sitter Narendran and lead into the first corner. Parekh and Tejas battled for third place and exchanged positions 3 times before Parekh got back ahead and went after the top 2. With 4 laps to go and rain not letting up Narendran was all over the back of Karthik as Parekh joined the battle. With two laps to go Parekh passed Narendran as he tried unsuccessfully get pass Karthik. Karthik did a brilliant job to hold off Parekh by 0.155secs to win with Narendran and Tejas in third and fourth places respectively. The top 4 drivers were covered by 2 seconds.
Kathik Tharani Singh leads the Championship with 120 points with Goutham Parekh in second on 119 points. Local Coimbatore favourite and 2014 Indian Touring Car Champion Arjun Narendran is in third position with 103 points.