Classy Balu leaves field cold in national racing

Coimbatore - Arjun Balu (Tiger Sport), marked his return to touring car racing with a brilliant win in the super saloon class on the opening day of the second round of the 15th JK Tyre-FMSCI National Racing Championship here Saturday.

The classy Balu, still to recover fully from a bout of jaundice that forced him to skip the first round and an anti-rabies course following a dog bite a month ago, all but overshadowed the debut of LGB Formula 4 cars that evoked mixed response from the drivers.

While Balu destroyed the super saloon field, Sarosh Hataria (WSRF with Tiger Sport) benefited greatly after the retirement of pole-sitter Ashwin Sundar (Dark Don Racing) who had collided with Vishnu Prasad (Meco Racing) to win the Formula 4 race that saw two of the 15 laps run behind the Safety Car.

Meanwhile, Fahad Kutty (Team Game Over) took the honours in the Indian Junior Touring Cars class after surviving a close battle with championship leader Feroze Khan in a race that witnessed its quota of incidents with cars running into one another, especially at the tricky first and second corners.

But it was 36-year-old Balu’s driving that brightened up the day. The former Rally champion, starting second on the grid behind veteran Radha Selvarajan (RAD Racing), jumped into the lead in the second lap and then opened up a sizeable lead for a commanding win.

Selvarajan finished second, ahead of Vijaykumar Rajvirdhan (Prime Racing), the pair content to hold positions after Balu opened up a big lead.

Balu, who barely put a wheel wrong with his clean racing lines, said: “The car was set up nicely today, though there is still a lot of work to be done on that. I was surprised that everything held together. But I am still not fully fit after the jaundice and losing weight. I had to take an injection after the race because I was feeling weak.”

The Formula 4 race witnessed a close battle up and down the field with Sundar, back on racing track after a two-year break, leading initially before he retired after locking wheels with Vishnu Prasad.

While Sarita made the best of the situation to win from Sudarshan Rao (Rayo Racing) and S Narendran (WSRF with Tiger Sport), the Formula 4 car received varying reviews from the drivers.

The podium finishers obviously praised the car for its handling, stability and safety, but elsewhere, concerns were raised over these same factors, though it was felt that with a bit more running, the cars would attain optimum performance.

“Some of our cars are not yet ready and we still haven’t had much track time to test them, but hopefully, things will settle down after a few races,” said Meco Racing team boss Akbar Ebrahim.

The results:

Indian Touring Cars (15 laps): Arjun Balu 1 (Tiger Sport) 18mins, 55.036secs; Radha Selvarajan (RAD Racing) 2 (19:01.065); Vijaykumar Rajvirdhan (Prime Racing) 3 (19:07.772).

Indian Junior Touring Cars (15 laps): Fahad Kutty (Game Over) 1 (20:31.248); S Feroze Khan 2 (Red Line Racing) 2 (20:33.181); Emmanuel Clarke (Moto-Rev India) 3 (20:33.401).

LGB Formula 4 (15 laps): Sarosh Hataria (WSRF with Tiger Sport) 1 (20:05.655); Sudharshan Rao (Rayo Racing) 2 (20:05.725); S Narendran (WSRF with Tiger Sport) 3 (20:05.951).