Reddy and Karminder are favourites for the title

Both drivers are strong contenders to win their maiden titles in their respective series

HE STAGE IS SET FOR THE massive finale that will take place on September 14-17 for the 2017 MMSC National Racing Championship as Anindith Reddy and Karminder Singh look set to win their maiden crowns in the MRF 1600 and the inaugural VW Ameo Cup.

By winning four out of the six races held in both rounds (three and four), Reddy has been the main man in the MRF 1600 series this year. He fought back in the first race of round three after a poor start which saw him drop down to fourth to win the race. The reverse grid in the following race meant Reddy had to make his way through the pack. He could not get past Sandeep Kumar, coming home just 0.6 seconds adrift. A bad start saw Reddy drop down the order in the final race of the third weekend. He made audacious moves which paid off in his favour to make it a double.

Reddy’s car sustained significant damage in the first race of the penultimate round of the championship, forcing him to only finish as high as fifth. He did however get a slingshot start in the following race to make three spots at the start itself. He harassed then leader Chetan Korada for quite some time, who ultimately buckled under the pressure and lost the lead and win to Reddy. He capped off a strong weekend by storming away in the final race to clinch yet another double, Reddy now favourite for the championship.

This may just be Karminder Singh’s best chance to win his first touring car title after missing out for three years running as he is in prime position in the 2017 Ameo Cup championship standings. Although VW had brought down South African Devin Robertson as a guest driver for the second round of the championship, he would not affect any change in the championship. Robertson won the first race of the weekend with ease as Karminder could just sit behind the South African and do no further damage. Dhruv Mohite picked up his maiden victory in the Ameo Cup in the following race, the Kolhapur boy running away from the pack from third (reverse starting order) on the grid. Karminder and Devin did engage in a battle of sorts for a couple of laps before the Delhi boy just eked out a crucial two second buffer over the South African.

Due to heavy rains prior to the penultimate round, the drivers had a meeting with the marshalls and chose to conduct the races over the shorter 2-odd kilometre Club Circuit (short loop). Pole-sitter Saurav Bandyopadhyay picked up a relatively easy win in the first race of the weekend where Karminder just about managed to hold off Sandeep Kumar for second. Despite starting seventh in race two (reverse grid) Karminder made little of his opponents to win the race. 2016 Vento Cup Rookie Champion Jeet Jhabhak finished behind the Delhi driver and crucially ahead of Mohite. It was pretty much straightforward for Karminder in the third race after inheriting the lead from Saurav who ran wide while leading the race. Karminder’s second win of the weekend improved his title credentials as he leads with 384 points. Dhruv is 114 points behind Karminder with just three races of the championship left. ⌧