Tharanisingh dominates MRF FF1600 season opener

The reigning Formula Ford 1600 champion got right back to winning ways at the opening round of the National Racing Championship.

If there were any doubts about who the benchmark for the MRF Formula Ford 1600 field will be this season, defending champion Karthik Tharanisingh emphatically removed them as he got off to a rousing start by scoring a pole position and winning both races in the opening round of the FMSCI MMSC National Racing Championship at the Madras Motor Race Track near Chennai.

Tharanisingh, who also competed in the MRF Challenge and is gunning for a shot at the Rs.1.37 crore scholarship to compete in the Road to Indy shootout, was easily the class of the field after having come off racing seasons in which he had won the Volkswagen Polo R Cup, the FF1600 crown and even managed to get into the top five of the JK Racing India Series.

There is little in the way of competition for him as the likes of Goutham Parekh and Anindith Reddy Konda – the first Vento Cup champion – had no answer to Tharanisingh’s experience and pace around the MMRT.

Things were a little more uncertain in the Indian Junior Touring Car Championship and Super Stock races that also formed a part of the National Racing Champioship card.

Keith D’Souza and Anant Pithawalla took wins in the IJTC while Adith KC and Chandresh N Tolia took wins in the Super Stock class. The main point of interest in these two categories was seeing relatively more contemporary machines being fielded instead of clattering Esteems.

Competitors in the classes cite the availability of parts and low cost of procuring the old Esteems but also greater flex in its chassis than the stronger, more recent road cars as a reason for persisting with them.

Regardless of what the underlying reason may be, it is better for the image of the championship to have modern machines. A Volkswagen Polo was spotted too but it is unlikely the trend will persist as cost is put before everything else while Indian car manufacturers sit on the sidelines, content with one-make cup series.

The Vento Cup will make its debut under the MMSC banner this June and the hope for Volkswagen Motorsport India, as ever, is that other companies will agree to compete with it on a common arena.

Until that happens though, VW will be incorporating itself into the MMSC ladder as it did when it partnered with JK Tyre, with the Vento Cup champion getting a drive in the FF1600 series.

There is still no better way to learn racing than in a single seater. The chances may be slim but the rewards are big as Tharanisingh and his rivals intend to go on the Road to Indy.