VW Ameo Cup Round 3: Sourav Bandyopadhyay takes his first ever lead

Sourav Bandyopadhyay took full advantage of the partially altered track layout due to heavy rains.

The first day of the Volkswagen Ameo Cup’s final round turned out to be one of the trickiest racing weekends of the 2017 season, but it also proved to be quite rewarding for Sourav Bandyopadhyay - who dominated the race.

After a heavy downpour on August 18, the Ameo Cup 2017 Round 3 races were reduced to the short loop of the circuit owing to waterlogging on a part of the long loop of the Madras Motor Racetrack. Under these conditions, it was a partially new track layout that all the drivers were faced with.

Sourav had already achieved pole position during the qualifying session on August 18. Going into the race, Sourav carried his momentum from the previous day. Getting off the line with a perfect launch, he made sure that he was not caught by Karminder into the first turn of the first lap. On the other hand, it was Sandeep who got closer to Karminder and kept attacking for the second position.

While Sourav kept building his lead in the front, Karminder defended his second position from Sandeep. The battle for second position kept getting intense as Sandeep refused to give up. Ultimately, by the tenth lap, Sandeep started losing grip from his tyres and started falling back. While the two fought for the second position, Dhruv Mohite caught up with them but was unable to get past the two drivers. Karminder Pal Singh finished in second, ahead of Sandeep Kumar.

Having concluded the first race of the weekend, Sirish Vissa, Head of Volkswagen Motorsport India, said “The weather conditions at Chennai have been extreme with rain playing a spoil sport early on during free practice and today with extreme heat. The short loop was a new playing field for all. I have to congratulate Sourav as well as Karminder and Sandeep for keeping it cool and driving a good race today. Like always, we now look forward to the exciting second race with the reverse grid tomorrow.”