Chennai: Raghul Rangasamy, from Mamallapuram, retained the title in the MRF F1600 category as did Kolhapur’s Dhruv Shivaji Mohite in the Indian Touring Cars class on the concluding day of the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Car Racing Championship at the MMRT here on Sunday.
Also winning the National titles in their respective categories were Rithvik Thomas (Super Stock), the 26-year old from Bengaluru, and Chennai’s Ashwin Datta (Formula LGB 1300), who had sealed the title on Saturday itself.
Hyderabad’s Jeet Jhabakh (Ameo Class) and Aiman Sadat (Bangladesh, Ameo Class Junior) also finished first.
Rangasamy, 26, thus earned a sponsored drive from MRF Tyres for one round of the Civic Cup Racing Championship in the United Kingdom. Although he finished fifth in the last race, he picked up sufficient points to annex the title for the second year in a row. He collected as many as 138 points from a highly productive weekend.
With the ITC championship hanging in balance, the focus was on leader Arjun Balu (Race Concepts), who led Rayo Racing’s Mohite by four points. However, the reverse grid put paid to Balu’s aspirations as he started ninth while Mohite occupied P6. In the 10-lap race, Narendran eventually came out on top.
He was followed by Mohite, Karthik Tharani, South African guest driver Daniel Rowe and Balu. Jhabakh, the 26-year old businessman for whom racing is a hobby, had not entertained any hopes of winning the championship. “I did not have the best of starts to the season, and so decided to enjoy myself rather than worry about points. I am thrilled to win the title,” said Jhabakh.