Four of the F1600 National Championship races have seen four different winners so far. But uncertainty looms over who will win the title fight with eight races to go.
The MRF National Racing Championship F1600 saw its return to the Buddh International Circuit for the inaugural round of the 2017 season. It was followed by the second round being held at the Madras Motor Race Track near Chennai. Both rounds featured two races each and saw four different drivers claim victories. However, uncertainty over their individual future in the series begs the question - who is finally going to take the title?
The inaugural race of the season at the BIC in January saw Ananth Shanmugan take the victory after a long and hard fought battle with Anindith Reddy and Nayan Chatterjee. Chatterjee who settled for third in the first race, claimed his maiden win in the series the following day in race 2 after a duel with Reddy, which lasted till the chequered flag. Race 1 winner, Shanmugan recovered from a disappointing start, climbed back up the order to finish on the final step of the podium.
Reigning MRF F1600 champion, Karthik Tharani, competed as a guest driver for the weekend in Chennai. In the first race of the second round, Reddy started down the order, but managed to get past Raghul Rangasamy when the former made a vital error that dropped him down to third. Meanwhile, Tharani had accumulated a healthy lead starting from pole. But despite Reddy closing in the gap after a series of fastest laps, he never got close enough to make a move on the champion and settled for second, with Rangasamy finishing third.
In the final F1600 race of the second round, Sandeep Kumar took a dominant victory from start to finish, which made him the fourth driver to win a race this reason. Rangasamy finished second while Tharani, once again, managed to keep Reddy at bay, to claim third in the race.
However, Shanmugan and Tharani are unlikely to return for the remainder of the championship. Kumar did not compete in the first round, and despite being confirmed for the entire season, Chatterjee did not compete in the second round in Chennai.
At the moment, Anindith Reddy, who competed in both rounds seems to be the favourite to fight for the title. But will Chatterjee return in the next round to challenge him remains to be seen.
The following rounds will be held again at the MMRT, with the third round scheduled in March.
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