JK NRC Round 1
A round up of all the action from Coimbatore
Despite 21 years of motor racing, round one of the JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship (NRC) 2018 started with a fervour that could easily be mistaken for a fresh start. At least, so was the atmosphere at the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore where participants travelled the length and breadth of the country to battle for the top slot. Broadly divided into three major categories the Euro JK 18, LGB Formula 4 and the JK Tyre Suzuki Gixxer Cup, this annual event has over time, become one of the most sought after platform for young motorsport aspirants. With a mix bag of experienced professional racers and first timers, the opening day in the Euro JK 18 category witnessed Karthik Tharani take the lead in the Euro JK 18 category, winning the 15-lap race (in 15:29.526 minutes) while Nirmal Uma Shankar and Manav Sharma followed in hot pursuit for the 2nd and 3rd position respectively.
In the following races it was Sri Lankan Brayan Perera who took the lead, while Karthik Tharani ended the day on a high finishing first again in this category. In the LGB4 category, seasoned race driver and defending champion Vishnu Prasad from the MSport Team won the
opening race but not without facing stiff competition from Sandeep Kumar and Raghul Rangasamy.
But the highlight of the show on both days, was the first-time ever, all women’s team from Ahura Racing. Armed with 12 drivers, six were selected to participate in the LGB4 race while others cheered from the pits. Given that some of the women were making a debut not only on the track but also in their racing career, the five women who qualified for the category made a remarkable impression, going on to finish the race. Becoming the first all women’s team from Ahura Racing to compete in India, Sarosh Hataria, Owner Ahura Racing and a Former National Champion told me that six were selected out of 60 women and that they received almost 120 entries. Describing the process of
training them in the shortest period of time, Sarosh said, “Obviously they need more time on the track to understand the overall dynamics of racing, but they needed to start somewhere and participating in NRC 2018 will give them much-needed experience.”
Also present during the screening, selection and training process, Divya Miglani DCOC Race Control, who’s also a former professional racer, she said, “It’s high time that women in India are encouraged to participate in motorsports that has largely been the domain of men. We had to get this team track ready and therefore did not get the opportunity to train them longer. However, what we saw on the track has been more than encouraging. Imagine with little practice the women managed to finish the race, what would happen if they got more track time?” Racing for the first time ever, Coimbatore’s Megaa KS beat the rest of the girls, with an impressive overall time of 18:09.051 minutes. Similarly day two wasn’t short of action either. After a slight shower, Sri Lanka’s Bryan Perera made the most of wet conditions and won two Euro JK 18 races while Karthik Tharani too made a valiant comeback in the fourth and final race to catch up with Perera as round one came to a thrilling finish. The LGB4 came to a nail biting finish as well with Delhi’s Rohit Khanna and Chennai’s Raghul Rangsamy winning one race each. Vishnu and Chittesh Mandody took the second and third places in both the races. The women also took on the wet conditions with surprising ease.
THE HIGHLIGHT OF NRC ROUND ONE WAS THE FIRST-TIME EVER, ALL WOMEN’S
TEAM FROM AHURA
RACING WITH FIVE DRIVERS QUALIFYING