Meiyappan clinched his first-ever national title, taking overall victory in Indian Touring Cars.
The winners of the 2024 MRF MMSC Indian National Car Racing Championship were crowned at the season finale at the Madras International Circuit. Sandeep Kumar secured the Formula 2000 title, while Chetan Surineni won the Formula 1600 title. Diljith TS took home two titles, taking overall victory in the Super Stock and Formula LGB 1300 categories.
Other championship winners include Gurunath Meiyappan (Indian Touring Cars) and Deepak Ravikumar (Indian Junior Touring Cars).
Formula 2000
The finale saw Arya Singh take his maiden Formula 2000 race win; the remaining two races were won by Aditya Swaminathan. The title battle went right down to the wire though, and Sandeep Kumar did just enough to pick up crucial points. He pipped Arya Singh by just three points to win the championship.
Results
Race 1
1. Arya Singh – 15mins 44.577secs
2. Jaden Rahman Pariat – 15mins 44.783secs
3. Chetan Korada – 15mins 49.833secs
Race 2
1. Aditya Swaminathan – 15mins 59.086secs
2. Arya Singh – 15mins 59.657secs
3. Jaden Rahman Pariat – 16mins 09.957secs
Race 3
1. Aditya Swaminathan – 15mins 54.237secs
2. Jaden Rahman Pariat – 15mins 54.507secs
3. Arya Singh – 16mins 00.352secs
Formula 1600
The MRF Formula 1600 championship boiled down to a three-way battle between Chetan Surineni, Veer Amar Sheth and Viswas Vijayaraj.
Vijayaraj won the first race, but Surineni bounced back the next day – winning Race 2 and finishing second in Race 3 to take home the title.
Results
Race 1
1. Viswas Vijayaraj – 16mins 03.286secs
2. Aman Nagdev – 16mins 03.550secs
3. Veer Sheth – 16mins 04.975secs
Race 2
1. Chetan Surineni – 17mins 12.071secs
2. Viswas Vijayaraj – 17mins 16.562secs
3. Aman Nagdev – 17mins 19.278secs
Race 3
1. Viswas Vijayaraj – 16mins 39.489secs
2. Chetan Surineni – 16mins 39.738secs
3. Veer Sheth – 16mins 47.179secs
Indian Touring Cars
Gurunath Meiyappan took an emotional maiden title in the Indian Touring Cars category. The 48-year-old had stepped away from racing for nearly two decades, but made his competitive return last season. With three race wins under his belt, he needed just five points to seal the title, and he did just enough to do so – finishing fourth in Race 1 and third in Race 2.
“I am totally exhausted but very satisfied to win my first-ever National championship. I missed the qualifying session yesterday as I was racing in Dubai (Porsche Cup) and returned home early this morning. After a two-hour sleep, I was at the track for the races,” said Meiyappan.
11-time national champion Arjun Balu had a difficult season as he failed to score points in four races.
Results:
Race 1
1. Ritesh Rai (Arka Motorsports) – 15mins 01.439secs
2. Biren Pithawalla (Team N1) – 15mins 08.362secs
3. Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) – 15mins 08.858secs
Race 2
1. Ritesh Rai (Arka Motorsports) – 22mins 08.620secs
2. Biren Pithawalla (Team N1) – 22mins 12.222secs
3. Gurunath Meiyappan (Race Concepts) – 22mins 23.804secs
Indian Junior Touring Cars
Deepak Ravikumar defeated his Performance Racing teammate Akkineni Anand Prasad for the title. And he did so in style – winning both races over the weekend as well.
Results
Race 1
1. Deepak Ravikumar (Team Performance Racing) – 15mins 27.357secs
2. Akkineni Anand Prasad (Team Performance Racing) – 15mins 31.118secs
3. Haktim Shabbir Jamnagarwala (Team Performance Racing) – 15mins 37.365secs
Race 2
1. Deepak Ravikumar (Team Performance Racing) – 22mins 34.641secs
2. Akkineni Anand Prasad (Team Performance Racing) – 22mins 37.484secs
3. Haktim Shabbir Jamnagarwala (Team Performance Racing) – 22mins 37.919secs
Super Stock
Diljith TS effectively sealed the Super Stock title with a round to spare. But the DTS racer didn’t hold back at the finale; he finished second in Race 1 and won Race 2.
Results:
Race 1
1. Zahan Commissariat – 16mins 37.212secs
2. Dilijith TS ( DTS Racing) – 16mins 37.615secs
3. Justin Singh (Redline Racing) – 16mins 40.756secs
Race 2
1. Dilijith TS (DTS Racing) – 23mins 40.218secs
2. Zahan Commissariat – 23mins 41.591secs
3. Jarshan Anand (DB Motorsport) – 23mins 54.807secs
Formula LGB 1300
Diljith TS also clinched the Formula LGB 1300 title, but he had to fight hard for this one, with the title decider going right down to the final race. His second and third place finishes (in Race 1 and Race 2, respectively) were ultimately enough for him to win the championship.
Results:
Race 1
1. Viswas Vijayaraj (DTS Racing) – 14mins 53.894secs
2. Diljith TS (DTS Racing) – 14mins 54.251secs
3. Bala Prasath (DTS Racing) – 15mins 10.025secs
Race 2
1. Dhruvh Goswami (MSport) – 25mins 18.849secs
2. Abhay M (MSport) – 25mins 19.081secs
3. Diljith TS (DTS Racing) – 25mins 23.650secs
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