Mumbai's Nayan Chatterjee and Hyderabad's Anindith Reddy scorched the track on Day 1 of the 20th JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship in Round 2 here, winning one race each in the highly competitive Euro JK 17 category.
Kolhapur's Chittesh Mandody (Avalanche Racing), Joseph Matthew and Sri Lanka's Jaden Gunawardena were the other victors of the day, comfortably winning the LGB Formula 4, Suzuki Gixxer Cup and Red Bull Road to Rookie Cup races.
As expected, the Euro JK turned out to be a heart-stopper with the top five drivers locked in an intense battle. As expected, Round 1 leader Vishnu Prasad began at pole and seemed to be in his elements once again, building a comfortable lead up front. He clocked the race's fastest lap (1:01.218) and looked set for another win.
But in Lap 6, Sandeep Kumar crashed and the safety car came out, leading to a dramatic turn of events. It didn't bother Vishnu as he held on to his lead one again. But behind him, Australia's Ricky Capo found his opportunity and jumped into the second position as Nayan Chatterjee and Anindith Reddy tussled for supremacy. Capo held on to his position for his first podium finish in India.
It wasn't meant to be Vishnu's day though. In the penultimate lap, his engine suddenly stalled, and he could only watch helplessly as the field zoomed past him. Nayan eventually took home his first victory while Anindith had to be happy with the third place on the podium.
Race 2 was equally gripping, with the reverse grid coming into play. Nayan started at sixth and Anindith at fourth while Vishnu had to begin from the pit lane: last. Yet, he managed to beat one driver after another to take a very deserving third place.
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