Rajvirdhan, Diljith claim titles in National Racing

CHENNAI: Kerala-lad, Diljit Shaji, at 18, showed maturity beyond his age, driving a conservative race in wet and trying conditions to finish fourth in Race 1 to seal the Indian Junior Touring Car (IJTC) title during the final round of the JK Tyre National Racing Championship on Saturday.
With rain leaving pools of water on the track, the races were run in the 2.1-km short loop at the MMSC Race Track and even that was challenging as drivers struggled to keep themselves on the tarmac.But Diljit drove to a clear strategy – which was to finish the race - and that saw him edge out last year's champion B Balavijay in the title race. Bala won Race 1 ahead of his Motorev teammate Gokul Krishna while HCZ Racing's Feroze Khan finished third.
V Rajvirdhan (Prime Racing) claimed the drivers' championship in the Indian Touring Cars class, winning Race 1, overtaking rivals Leela Krishnan of Rad Racing and Siddharth Kishore of Performance Racing.
With Formula LGB Swift championship leader R Deepak spinning during the second lap and finishing outside the points, his Mars Racing teammate Ameya Walavalkar opened up a seven-point lead by nursing his misfiring car to fourth place on Saturday. It set the stage for a gripping finale on Sunday.
Saturday's race saw a one-two finish from Meco Motorsports with Chitesh Mandody taking the chequered flag ahead of his senior teammate Sarosh Hataria. Goa's Avdumber Hede claimed pole position from championship leader Vishnu Prasad (Chennai) in the Polo R Cup with a good opening lap in qualifying this morning. Title contender Rahil Noorani (Mumbai) will start fourth behind Oshan Kothadiya (Pune).
Saturday's results (provisional):
Formula LGB Swift (15 laps): 1. Chitesh Mandody (Meco Motorsports); 2. Sarosh Hataria (Meco Motorsports), 3. K Prashanth (TVS Girling).
Indian Touring Cars (15 laps): 1. V Rajvirdhan (Prime Racing); 2. N Leelakrishnan (Rad Racing); 3. Sidharth Kishore (Performance Racing).
Indian Junior Touring Cars (15 laps): 1. B Balavijay (MotoRev India); 2. Gokul Krishna (MotoRev India); 3. Feroze Khan (HCZ Racing).