2016 Vento Cup: Karminder takes win in Race 1 of Round 3
The drivers in the Volkswagen Vento Cup seemingly got faster and faster all through the third round of the championship held at the Madras Motor Racing Track. One of the reasons for this, was the fact that the track had been freshly resurfaced, and there was also the fact that the drivers were getting used to the track itself.
Karminder Pal Singh leads the pack during Race 1 of Round 3 of the 2016 Vento Cup
During qualifying, Ishaan Dodhiwala set the fastest lap time of 1min 55.821sec, while Karminder Pal Singh, Keith Desouza and Aditya Pawar lined up behind him. Of course, this meant that the battle was going to be a close one, with Ishaan still the favourite for the race win.
Race winner Karminder in his Vento Cup car during the first race of Round 3
However, when the five red lights went out, it was Karminder who took advantage of the slower start that Ishaan made, and moved into the lead. There was simply no catching him after that, with the driver holding his own all the way to the chequered flag. Ishaan was in hot pursuit, but had to settle for second place. With Keith Desouza dropping places at the start of the race, he did well to recover and finish fourth, one position behind Aditya Pawar who finished in third place.
Karminder flanked by second-place man Ishaan Dodhiwala, and third-placed Aditya Pawar
Karminder had this to say of his win, "My launch off the grid was the best today â" that helped me get past Ishaan in the first corner itself. From then, I just wanted to drive a clean race and make no mistake. I went off a little bit mid-way through, but fortunately Ishaan made the same mistake and I retained my lead in the race."
The second race of the weekend, will see last year's Junior Cup winner, Pradeep Rao starting on pole, with Niranjan Todkari second and Dhruv Behl third. This, due to the reverse grid format.
Starts Rs 8.78 Lakhs
999cc
Automatic
105
175
17.69 Kmpl
Related Stories
