KOZHIKODE: Chennai trio Ashwin Datta, Vishnu Prasad and Joseph Mathew will be eyeing to consolidate their positions on the leader board as the round 3 of the 21 st JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship kick-starts in Coimbatore on Saturday.
Though Ashwin (51) has led the pack with three podium finishes in the Euro JK 18 category, he has only a slender two-point lead to Nayan Chatterjee, who had an outstanding race in the round 2.
“I think this weekend is going to be crucial for the championship. I have had two good rounds and need to consolidate on that. But Nayan is right behind me and we all know how good a racer he is. We can look forward to a few great races,” said Ashwin.
In the LGB 4 category, MSport’s Vishnu was at his imperious best in the last round, winning two races and finishing second in one to gather a total of 28 points. With a total of 50 points from two rounds, he will look to go for the kill and widen the gap further at the top.
Vishnu, however will be wary of his buddy and team mate Raghul Rangasamy who is not to far behind him at 45 points.
In the JK Tyre Novice Cup, all eyes will be on 14-year-old Tijil Rao of Momentum Motorsports, who annexed his maiden win to end the round with 13 points.
He is currently sitting on the third spot in the championship standings.
Tijil’s team mate Siddharth Mehdiratta is currently leading the standings with 16 points, but Viswas Vijayaraj (15 points) is fiercely on his tail.
Defending Champion Joseph Matthew of Chennai continues to rule the Suzuki Gixxer Cup. He is is yet to drop a point in the championship and has four wins out of four for a grand total of 40 points in his kitty.
“The championship has reached a very exciting stage, with anyone capable of winning in each of the championships,” Sanjay Sharma, Head of JK Motorsports, said.
“It is going to be an intense battle this weekend,” he added.
