Coimbatore, Nov 17: The curtains came down on the 28th JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship at the Kari Motor Speedway here on Sunday with action-packed races overflowing with emotions, and new champions emerging in several categories.
Dhruvh Goswami (MSport) won both races on Sunday to be be crowned the new champion in the LGB Formula 4 category, the blue riband event of the competition, after entering the final Round 3 weekend trailing championship leader Diljith TS (Dark Don Racing).
Bengaluru’s Goswami, an 18-year-old class 12 student of St Joseph’s, signed off in style in India’s longest-running single-seater championship, winning three of the four races over the weekend. The highpoint was the 20-lap final race on Sunday where he started 7th on the reverse grid, three spots behind former champion Diljith, who was trailing by 4 championship points. Goswami drove impressively to take the lead early in the race, lost it briefly to teammate Ruhaan Alva, before regaining it for a dominant finish. Speaking about the final race in the context of the championship tussle with Diljith, Goswami said, “It was going to be a long race, I knew I required to be patient.”
Monith Kumaran Srinivasan of Ahura Racing won the Rookie title in the LGB Formula 4 category.
Round 4 of the FIA-certified Formula 4 Indian Championship, part of the Indian Racing Festival, was run alongside this championship and saw South African Luviwe Sambudla record his first win of the season in the day’s opening race and Kenya’s Shane Chandaria clinch the second race. It was a pole-to-chequered flag finish by Sambudla in a race that saw Indian driver Ishaan Madesh of Kolkata Royal Tigers nose ahead of Saishiva Sankaran (Speed Demons Delhi) in the final laps to take third place behind teammate Ghazi Motlekar from Mozambique. In the second race, Chandaria won from pole while Motlekar climbed from fourth position to finish second. French driver Sachel Rotge (Kichcha’s Kings Bengaluru), who won on Saturday, finished third after staring from the same position on the grid, while Madesh fended off Sankaran to finish fourth in a close battle.
Having sealed the title in the professional category with a race to spare on Saturday in the Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup, presented by JK Tyre, Bengaluru rider Anish Shetty didn’t get complacent, finishing the season with a victory for what was his second title in this category.
Quick Reads
View AllBryan Nicholas of Pondicherry bagged the title in the Amateur class of the Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup.
Balaji Raju secured the Rookie crown in the JK Tyre Levitas Cup, India’s newest single-make racing series that debuted this season, by winning both races of the day. Jai Prashanth Venkat won the Gentlemen category, stamping his authority in a season the Coimbatore driver has clearly dominated.
With four drivers in contention for the crown in the the JK Tyre Novice Cup, India’s entry-level single-seater series, Lokithlingeash Ravi (DTS Racing) from Pollachi took the honours by winning the shootout in the season’s final race.
Provisional Results
LGB F4
Race 1
Dhruvh Goswami (MSport)- 19:58.578
Ruhaan Alva (MSport)- 19:59.261
Diljith T S (Dark Don Racing)- 20:00.012
Race 2
Mehul Agarwal (Dark Don Racing)- 24:20.393
Dhruvh Goswami (MSport)- 24:20.551
Ruhaan Alva (MSport)- 24:20.812
Race 3
Dhruvh Goswami (MSport)- 21:38.531
Ruhaan Alva (MSport)- 21:39.513
Diljith T S (Dark Don Racing)- 21:40.459
Race 4
Dhruvh Goswami (MSport)- 26:08.444
Monith Kumaran Srinivasan (Ahura Racing)- 26:26.401
Ruhaan Alva (MSport)- 26:26.422
Levitas Cup
Race 1
Gentlemen
Sidharth Balasundaram- 14:32.727
Jai Prashanth Venkat-14:53.680
Vinod S- 14:59.745
Rookies
Balaji Raju- 14:47.508
Tejas GS- 14:52.727
Ashwin Pulagiri- 14:53.510
Race 2
Gentlemen
Jai Prashanth Venkat- 14:30.848
Sidharth Balasundaram- 14:31.491
Nitin A R- 14:46.828
Rookies
Akshay Muralidharan- 14:32.046
Balaji Raju- 14:34.511
Tejas GS- 14:46.225
Race 3
Gentlemen
Jai Prashanth Venkat- 3:08.893
Sidharth Balasundaram- 3:11.721
Vinod S- 3:29.655
Rookies
Balaji Raju- 3:23.529
Akshay Muralidharan- 3:26.933
Nihal Singh- 3:30.042
Race 4
Gentlemen
Jai Prashanth Venkat- 15:27.372
Sidharth Balasundaram- 15:31.656
Nitin A R- 15:36.961
Rookies
Balaji Raju- 15:29.851
Akshay Muralidharan- 15:34.907
Tejas GS- 15:37.739
RE Continental GT Cup
Race 1
Amateurs
Johring Warisa- 14:23.996
Bryan Nicholas- 14:28.317
Saran Kumar- 14:38.833
Professionals
Anish Shetty- 14:02.338
Navaneeth Kumar- 14:02.667
Kayan Patel- 14:05.996
Race 2
Amateurs
Johring Warisa- 13:40.611
Bryan Nicholas- 14:03.312
Brandon Dsouza- 14:09.319
Professionals
Anish Shetty- 13:32.718
Navaneeth Kumar- 13:33.765
Kayan Patel- 13:34.783
Novice Cup
Race 1
Bhuvan Bonu (MSport)- 13:57.813
Lokithlingeash Ravi (DTS Racing)- 13:59.863
Abhijit Vadavalli (Momentum Motorsports)- 14:00.429
Race 2
Bhuvam Bonu (MSport)- 14:07.700
Avi Malavalli (MSport)- 14:09.755
Ojas Surve (Momentum Motorsports)- 14:12.130
Race 3
Lokithlingeash Ravi (DTS Racing)- 13:42.976
Avi Malavalli (MSport)- 13:49.742
Prathik Ashok (DTS Racing)- 13:50.406
Formula 4 Indian Championship
Race 1
Sachel Rotgé (Kichcha’s Kings Bengaluru)- 26:50.931
Ghazi Motlekar (Kolkata Royal Tigers)- 26:56.598
Shaan Chandaria (Chennai Turbo Riders)- 26:57.794
Race 2
Luviwe Sambudia (Goa Aces JA Racing)- 26:12.050
Ghazi Motlekar (Kolkata Royal Tigers)- 26:13.294
Ishaan Madesh (Kolkata Royal Tigers)- 26:16.321
Race 3
Shane Chandaria (Chennai Turbo Riders)- 26:53.930
Ghazi Motlekar (Kolkata Royal Tigers)- 27:08.657
Sachel Rotgé (Kichcha’s Kings Bengaluru)- 27:21.549
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