Tharani wins Euro JK race; Nayan crashes
GREATERNOIDA: Well off the racing line, co-leader Nayan Chatterjee ruined victory hopes by crashing into Manav Sharma at the first turn on lap 2 in the final leg as Karthik Tharani won the Euro JK 2018 race, the feature event of the Grand Finale in the JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship at the Buddh International Circuit here on Sunday.
Mumbai’s Chatterjee, tied for the lead on 89 points with Chennai’s Tharani, was looking to gain places from behind after Sharma took pole after the grid positions for the top six was reversed. However, Chatterjee, 21, who started sixth with Tharani on fifth, paid the price for poor judgement and retired while Sharma was put out of the race following the incident. He ended second overall.
The 24-year-old Tharani won the fourth and final leg of the 10-lap event to seal the title in the finale, which follows two qualifying legs held at the Kari Speedway in Coimbatore. The Chennai driver, who was second and Chatterjee third after Round 3, eased into the front soon after and clinched the leg for the title.
Raghul Rangasamy of Chennai won the LGB Formula 4 title, an eight-lap race, which was the other event for Formula cars. Rangaswamy was three points behind defending champion, Vishnu Prasad, the leader after Round 3.
Sneha Sharma, 28, a Indigo A320 commander and seasoned racer now involved in the selection process for the W-series, an exclusive women’s international series backed by former Formula One driver David Coulthard, was part of the field in the LGB Formula 4 race.
Prasad held a six-point lead going into the final race, but lost steam to fall back and Rangasamy
wiped out the deficit by finishing second, behind Delhi’s Rohit Khanna. Prasad took only one point, losing the title.