Deepak wins at National Racing Championship

Coimbatore: R Deepak of Mars Racing delivered a start-to-finish victory in the Formula LGB Swift category in the first round of the 14th JK Tyre National Racing championship at the Kari Speedway on Saturday.

Deepak was off to a flier and steered clear of the jostling down grid that led to a three-car contact in the fifth lap involving last year`s runner-up Ameya Walavalkar who subsequently retired. Veteran Radha Selvarajan, a former National champion, underlined his prowess with a fine win in the Super Saloon class (modified) of the Indian Touring Cars series that was run in wet conditions in the morning. Selvarajan, lost his track position after a mistake in the third lap when he missed a gear while leading and allowed local lad Raj Virudhan to pass him. But later in the nine-lap race, Selvarajan regained the lead and hung on to post a close win. Likewise, in the Indian Junior Touring Car championship for stock vehicles, defending champion Bala Vijay of Moto Rev India held on to his lead to win from Diljith TS of LCT Sigaram Sports. Meanwhile, Chennai youngster Vishnu Prasad grabbed the pole position in the Volkswagen Polo Cup qualifying session, ahead of two Mumbai drivers, Munjal Savla and Mihir Dharkar, with less than a second separating the trio. The results: Indian Touring Cars (Super Saloons) - Race 1 (9 laps): TR Radha Selvarajan (RAD Racing) 1 (12mins, 31.875secs); V Raj Virudhan (Prime Racing) 2 (12:31.917); C Rajaram (Prime Racing) 3 (12:32.188). IJTC (Race 1 - 10 laps): Bala Vijay (Moto Rev India) 1 (13:26.243); Diljith TS (LCT Sigaram Sports) 2 (13:26.943); Jai Prashanth Venkat (LCT Sigaram Sports) 3 (13:46.643). Formula LGB Swift (Race 1 - 10 laps): R Deepak (Mars Racing) 1 (12:20.239); Karthik Krishna (TVS Girling) 2 (12:27.881); Prashanth K (TVS Girling) 3 (12:29.135). Polo Cup - Qualifying: Vishnu Prasad 1 (1:17.305); Munjal Savla 2 (1:17.487); Mihir Dharkar 3 (1:17.602). IANS