Chennai, March 23: The grand finale of the 2016 MMSC Fmsci Indian National Drag Racing Championship will be run at the refurbished MMRT track in Sriperumbudur, near here this weekend with Round 2 scheduled for Saturday and the concluding round on Sunday.
For the first time the National Drag Racing Championship will be held at the iconic MMRT track which is being transformed into India’s only multi-event motorsport facility run by a club with provision to conduct events ranging from racing to karting to dirt track competitions.
Organisers Madras Motor Sports Club, backed by an enviable track record of organising motor sport events in India and abroad for over five decades, have taken the initiative to bring drag racing, still in a nascent state in the country, under the National Championship umbrella aided by regulations designed to provide a safe and controlled environment for enthusiasts in both two-wheeler and four-wheeler categories.
Chairman of the Meet Farhan Vohra said: “We at the MMSC have always endeavoured to provide a safe environment for racing and set a high benchmark in this respect. Keeping this in mind, we decided to provide a structure and organization to drag racing which is fast gaining popularity, especially among the youth.
“At this weekend’s races, we will be using state-of-the-art timing equipment which we imported from the USA and this move reflects our efforts to take the sport to the next level.
“Further, we have not compromised on safety, especially the riding kit for two-wheeler participants. In this regard, we are indebted to TVS Racing for their magnanimous offer to supply two-wheeler racing leathers to those who need.”
As was the case for the inaugural round in Hosur in November, the entries have been encouraging with nearly 100 participants vying for honours in various categories. The start-finish straight at the MMRT track has been extended to conform to the regulations.
The spotlight would be on Bengaluru’s Pratap Jayaram and National two-wheeler champion Jagan Kumar of TVS Racing from Chennai who won in the Indian Open class among cars and bikes, respectively.
Veteran Jayaram, driving a modified Reva, evoked memories of his salad days as racer a few decades ago by clocking the fastest time in the Hosur round and is expected to dish out a repeat performance this weekend.
Likewise, Jagan Kumar took no prisoners while riding his trusted TVS Apache RTR to victory in the Indian Open besides topping the time charts in the 165cc class.
Meanwhile, the Superbikes will lend a dash of glamour and to the proceedings with Mysuru’s Rizwan Ahamed starting out as a favourite to top the class like he did in the previous round.
The two-day event beginning Saturday will be a two-tier affair comprising National Championship and support races for both bikes and cars.
All four-stroke bikes fall into the National Championship category, the showpiece events being the Indian Open (modified) and the Superbikes.
The organizers have made it mandatory for two-wheeler participants in each and every class to be kitted out in racing leather suits. As a special gesture, TVS Racing will provide racing suits for participants who do not own their own kit.
In the four-wheeler category, the Indian Open (modified) and the Unrestricted classes form the National Championship backed by support races.