Toyota EMR series commences at Coimbatore
Toyota kept the promise they made at the end of the inaugural season of the EMR series last year and renewed the season for 2014. The first round of this year's championship was part of the MMSC-FMSCI National Racing Championship that took place at the Kari Speedway in Coimbatore last weekend. This is the first time the Toyota series has gone to Coimbatore with last year's races being held in Chennai and Delhi.
Similar to the last year, there were four races that were held over the weekend. Qualifying was held on Friday with two races on Saturday and two on Sunday. Race 1 saw Dean Mascarenhas starting on pole. Despite a poor start, last year's third place finisher in the championship, Varun Anekar quickly grabbed the lead. Varun held off relentless attacks from Dean to claim the top spot on the podium while new driver to the series Gokul Krishna finished in third.
Toyota EMR at Coimbatore 2014
Race 2 proved to be much better for Dean, who started from fifth, thanks to the reverse grid start. Dean didn't make the same mistake twice and had a great start, charging to the lead by the end of the first lap. He built a strong lead and took a comfortable win over Varun Anekar and Gokul Krishna.
Race 3 started in the original qualifying order. Dean held the lead for five laps before Varun made a dive and held on to take the lead. This time Varun managed to build a good lead and finished on top while Dean took second spot and Hashim sealed the third position.
Vidyuth started on pole for Race 4 thanks to the reverse starting order. He managed to hold onto the lead for a good portion of the race but with five laps to go, Advaith Deodhar surged for the lead and made it stick. Dean Mascarenhas meanwhile was steadily climbing through the pack and overtook Vidyuth for second spot. Advaith, however, was too far ahead by the time the chequered flag dropped and Dean had to settle for second ahead of Vidyuth.
Watch this space for reports on the next and final round that will happen at the Buddh International Circuit from September 18 -21, 2014.
