VW Ameo Cup Day 1: Karminder Singh takes the lead

Volkswagen's 200bhp+ Ameo Cup car debuts with the 2017 season of MRF International Racing Championship.

The first season of the Volkswagen Ameo Cup started on July 15, 2017 at the Kari Motor Speedway, Coimbatore. The very first round of the event comprised of two practice sessions and a qualifying round.

The day was a triumphant one for Delhi’s Karminder Singh, last year’s Vento Cup runner-up, who grabbed the pole position after being quickest in both the free practice sessions before acing the qualifying time sheets. Chennai’s Sandeep Kumar was second ahead of Kolhapur’s Dhruv Mohite.

The Ameo Cup is a part of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship – which at the Kari Speedway will only feature Indian Touring Car (ITC) races. For the ITC class race, it was Ashish Ramaswany who emerged victorious.

Bengalurean Deepak Paul Chinnappa started on pole after defending champion and original pole-sitter Arjun Narendran from Red Rooster Performance, missed the race due to engine problems, but dropped to last after failing to engage the clutch when the lights went off.

However, he fought his way back and eventually passed front-runner Ashish Ramaswamy to open up what seemed to be a winning lead. But with two laps to go, Chinnappa lost two gears and Ramaswamy seized the opportunity to regain the lead to win.

The first day of the Ameo Cup was a significant day for Volkswagen Motorsports India – it was the first time that a VW Cup car has been able to edge out ITC class cars in the lap time department. Winner of the Ameo Cup category – Karminder Singh, scored the winning lap time of 1 minute 09.368 seconds, whereas Narendran, with his bespoke Maruti Suzuki Esteem, managed 1 minute 09.658 seconds.

Race 1: Volkswagen Ameo Cup (15/07/2017)

1) Karminder Singh - 15 Laps

2) A Sandeep Kumar - +0.426

3) Dhruv Mohite - +0.773

Race 1: Indian Touring Cars (15/07/2017)

1) Arjun Narendran – 15 Laps

2) Deepak Paul Chinnappa - +0.570

3) Ashish Ramaswamy – +0.175