Hataria seals LGB Formula 4 Championship

Greater Noida: Sarosh Hataria sealed the LGB Formula 4 championship in the final round of the 16th JK Tyre Racing Championship at the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) here Saturday.

The stakes in Race 1 were high for Vishnu Prasad and Kartik Krishna, who were placed second and third in the championship, separated by just a point. On the other hand, points leader Hataria, who went into the round with an 80 point lead, needed a good finish to seal the team championship for the Chennai-based Dark Don Racing. For the opening few laps, there was nothing to separate the front runners but as the race progressed, it became clear that Prasad had better pace as the Meco Racing driver started pulling away. Prasad was closely followed by Krishna and Ameya Bafna. The chasing pack tried hard but Prasad stretched his legs even further to take the chequered flag followed by Krishna and Bafna. The second race was an even more exciting affair as the first five cars went side-by-side in the opening few laps. As the order emerged, Hataria went into lead which he preserved till the flag. Behind him Prasad survived a stuck throttle to claim second while third place was claimed by Nayan Chatterjee of Rayo Racing. In the JK Racing India Series, the championship was on line between Prasad and 15-year-old Arjun Maini in the JK FB02 cars. Maini started from pole but by the fourth corner both Prasad and Chittesh Mandody were on his gearbox. Exiting the corner Maini got sandwiched between the two chasers and had to back off. Seizing the opportunity, Mandody snatched the lead and started pulling away while Prasad overtook Maini. The top three crossed the finish line in the same order. In the Ultima Queens Cup featuring top lady drivers from Europe in VW Polo TDI cars, Dutch Sheila Verschuur, starting from pole, stamped her class from the start.