Chennai
The day’s schedule was cut short due to heavy showers that led to the cancellation of Formula LGB 1300 races. This was just after Race Concepts team made a clean sweep in the Super Stock race, with Rithvik Thomas, Prateek Benya and R Rajashekar finishing in that order.
Mohite, 21, marked his debut in the ITC category in the Volkswagen Vento with a comfortable start-to-finish victory. He was ahead of teammate Karthik Tharani and veteran Arjun Balu (Race Concepts). While Mohite, starting from pole position, was quick off the blocks at the start of the 15-lap race, Balu, from second position, dropped two positions as he missed a gear when the lights went out.
But the Coimbatore racer gathered himself to move into third after a couple of laps, easing past Dodhiwala. Thereafter, Mohite, Tharani and Balu were content to nurse their track positions to finish in that order. “This is my first season in the ITC and I am happy to win my debut race. I had a good start and after opening up a good lead, I held my position. I had a teammate (Tharani) rather than a competitor behind me,” said Mohite.
Earlier, Hyderabad’s Jeet Jhabakh chalked up a fluent lights-to-flag victory after starting from pole position, in the Volkswagen Ameo Class race. He held off challenges from Anmol Singh Sahil (Delhi) and Saurav Bandyopadhyay (Mumbai). The race was run in tricky conditions.
A wet and slippery track following a drizzle besides strong winds, were not ideal for racing on slick tyres, but Jhabakh handled the situation with aplomb. Sahil, having started fourth on the grid, fought his way to second spot, pipping Bandyopadhyay. Bangladesh’s Aiman Sadat topped the Junior category, ahead of Viraj Jairaj Jhala and Chetan Surineni.
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