Indian National Racing Championship: Ameya Walavalkar rules from start to finish

The fourth round of the 14th JK Tyre Indian National Racing Championship was flagged off at the Irungattukottai track in Sriperumbudur, near here, on Saturday.

Ameya Walavalkar from Mars Racing qualified in pole position for the Formula LGB Swift before winning the race in 20:02.952. The Mumbaikar admitted that it could have been anyone’s race. “It could have been anyone’s race. There was an oil spill towards the end. So there was water on one side and oil on the other. As a result, I had trouble controlling my car. But I managed to pull it off,” said Walavalkar, who has 25 points.

Narendran S of TVS Girling Racing finished second (20:16.798).

“It’s not easy to catch Walavalkar,” Narendran admitted. In third position was Sandeep Kumar (20:17.092), Narendran’s teammate.

Two other races — involving Indian Touring Cars and Indian Junior Touring Cars — also took place on Saturday. V Rajvirudhan of Prime Racing, who won the opening race in Round 3, had to withdraw from the second race following an engine trouble. But in the opening race of Round 4, Rajvirudhan was positioned first with a timing of 20:37.716.

N Leela Krishnan, a former multiple national rally champion and one of the country’s premier racecar tuners, made a spectacular return to competitive racing with two second-place finishes in a thrilling entry at the halfway stage of the six-leg championship. He is currently placed sixth in the standings. “I am looking forward for the coming weekend and hope to give Rajvirudhan a run for his money,” Krishnan said.