MMSC Volkswagen Vento Cup 2016 Round 3: Day 2

The second day turned out to be very hectic for the racers in the third round of the MMSC Volkswagen Vento Cup 2016. The day comprised of Race 2 and Race 3, and it was the Hyderabad-based racer Ishaan Dodhiwala who shined in both the races and gained valuable lead over his peers in the championship. However, Karminder Pal Singh and Keith Desouza are not far behind and still carry a fair chance of winning the championship by scoring wins in the next round. Here’s all that you need to know from both the races.

Race 2

The race started off with drivers arranged in the reverse order and with Pradeep Rao starting on the pole position. Rao started off with a neat launch and stayed in the lead. However, Day 1’s podium finisher Aditya Pawar went off the track and onto the grass, causing an incident on the second corner of the very first lap. While, in another incident, at the third corner on the same lap, Keith Desouza got into a brush with another car, which forced him all the way back on the grid. Meanwhile, Dhruv Behl kept climbing up the order steadily up until second place, with Ishaan keenly following him on third. The early incidents on C2 and C3 lead to the safety car being called out and it lasted till the end of the third lap.

Soon after the safety car was removed Pradeep blasted off with his lead and was trailed aggressively by Dhruv, Ishaan and Niranjan. However, the race was red-flagged on the eighth lap when guest driver Raunak Ajinkya washed out and hit the tyre wall on the bridge. The race resumed back once the track was cleared, and with three laps remaining Pradeep once again took the lead. However, a little mistake at turn two of the track forced him to lose his spot to Ishaan. Ishaan then took the lead, which he carried until the finish line. Following suit, Dhruv and Niranjan also took advantage of the situation to jump to the second and third place, respectively, and they ultimately finished in the same positions. The first race’s winner, Karminder was trying his best to gain spots and he ultimately finished fourth, while he started off on ninth.

Race 3

The second race of the day was a very clean one, contrary to the events of the above-mentioned Race 2. Ishaan started on pole position and maintained it all the way till the chequered flag with a healthy lead over other drivers. Behind were Keith and Karminder fighting for second place, and it was the latter who triumphed the battle, and that too on the first corner of the first lap. Keith did put some pressure on Karminder on the fourth lap between C2 and C3 but went wide, allowing Karminder to extend his lead over him (Keith). Karminder then raced to the finish line maintaining his second spot, while Keith settled on fourth following a mistake on the last corner allowing Niranjan to pass him and finish third in the race.

The racers will now head to the last and the final round of the 2016 VW Vento Cup, which is slated to take place at the Buddh International Circuit, Noida, in late September.