Chennai: Mumbai Falcons, represented by Kush Maini and Mikkel Jensen (Denmark), won two of the three races while Bangalore Racing Stars tandem of Arjun Maini and Oliver Webb (England) took the honours in the other outing as the curtains came down on the inaugural franchise-based XI Racing League at the MMRT on Sunday.
The first race of the day, won by Bangalore, took a heavy toll with six cars packing up due to mechanical reasons. It left a six-car grid for the second and third races, but that did not take anything away from Mumbai’s double.
The Race-1 was interrupted by a Safety Car period after one of the cars blew the engine. Bangalore started fourth on the grid behind Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad, but with some smart tactics managed to pull ahead.
The teams were required to make a mandatory driver change between ninth and 14th minutes window and Bangalore, powered by Arjun Maini and England’s Oliver Webb got it spot on and then held off a late charging Mumbai (Kush Maini and Mikkel Jensen) to win the race. Hyderabad (Vitantonio Liuzzi-Gosia Rdest) completed the podium.
The second race began on reverse grid of the previous race standings. As such, Delhi’s Gaurav Gill, the three times Asia Pacific Rally champion, started from pole and led until he pitted for Raghul Rangasamy to take over.
Rangasamy maintained the track position to finish second behind Mumbai Falcons (Kush Maini and Jensen). Bangalore Racing Stars who had started fifth, came in third.
Mumbai Falcons went on to complete a double later in the evening, finishing on top in Race-3 ahead of Bangalore Racing Stars and Blackbirds Hyderabad.
The results (Provisional):
Race-1: 1. Bengaluru Racing Stars (Arjun Maini / Oliver Webb) (27mins, 23.458secs); 2. Mumbai Falcons (Kush Maini / Michel Jensen) (27:24.018); 3. Blackbirds Hyderabad (Vitantonio Liuzzi / Gosia Rdest) (27:28.969).
Race-2: 1. Mumbai Falcons (28:02.222); 2. AD Racing Delhi (Gaurav Gill / Raghul Rangasamy) (28:21.637); 3. Bangalore Racing Stars (28:25.847).
