National racing tourney to start on Saturday

Coimbatore, Aug 4 (IANS) The second round of the 20th National Racing Championship gets under way at the Kari Motor Speedway here on Saturday, with the table toppers looking to consolidate their positions on the leader board.

The Chennai duo of Vishnu Prasad and Joseph Matthew has already laid claim to the mantle of strong favourites, after comprehensively winning all their races in the opening round of the Euro JK 17 and the Suzuki Gixxer Cup.

Kolhapur's Chittesh Mandody was equally imperious in the LGB Formula 4, sweeping the maximum possible 30 points.

He, however, would be aware that defending champion Vishnu feels very much at home in this category and can upset his applecart.

In the JK Tyre RedBull Road to Rookie Cup, Sri Lanka's Jaden Gunawardena remained unbeatable in the first round. But as he is not eligible for points, Aizawl's young Lalhruaizela is ahead on the table with second and third-place finishes.

All eyes will be on Vishnu Prasad (40 points), though, when the curtain goes up this weekend. He didn't take long to get used to the BMW FB02 car and surprised everybody by breezing to victory in each of his races.

Second placed Anindith Reddy (27 points) and Nayan Chatterjee (24 points), though will be breathing down his neck. Hyderabad's Anindith, last year's winner, and Mumbai's Nayan, second runner-up, have not only pedigree and speed but also enough experience in this car.

One good weekend for either could easily open up the race. Bengaluru's Akash Gowda is not far behind too, with 21 points in his kitty.

(This story has not been edited by Social News XYZ staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)