Sandeep claims MRF Formula 2000 crown

Sandeep Kumar and Chetan Surnineni won the MRF Formula 2000 and 1600 titles as the curtains came down on the fourth and final round

Sandeep Kumar and Chetan Surnineni won the MRF Formula 2000 and 1600 titles as the curtains came down on the fourth and final round of the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Car Racing Championship 2023 at the Madras International Circuit on Sunday.

Also picking up the National titles in their respective categories were Gurunath Meiyappan (Race Concepts, Indian Touring Cars), Deepak Ravikumar (Performance Racing, Indian Junior Touring Cars) and T.S. Diljith (DTS Racing, Super Stock and Formula LGB 1300).

The championship battle in the MRF Formula 2000 went down to the wire. Sandeep did just enough to pick up crucial points and pip Arya Singh by three points to claim the crown. Incidentally, both the MRF F2000 races were won by Aditya Swaminathan.

Likewise, Chetan won Race-1 and finished second in Race-2 behind Viswas Vijayaraj to claim the championship in the MRF F1600 category. The 48-year-old Gurunath needed just five points going into the fourth round, where he finished fourth in Race-1 and third in Race-2 to seal the ITC crown with a tally of 171 points.

The results (provisional, 8 laps unless mentioned):

MRF F2000 (Race-2, 10 laps): 1. Aditya Swaminathan (15:59.086); 2. Arya Singh (15:59.657); 3. Jaden Rahman Pariat (16:09.957). Race-3: 1. Aditya (15:54.237); 2. Jaden (15:54.507); 3. Arya (16:00.352).

MRF Formula 1600 (Race-2, 10 laps): 1. Chetan Sureneni (17:12.071); 2. Viswas Vijayaraj (17:16.562); 3. Aman Nagdev (17:19.278). Race-3: 1. Viswas (16:39.489); 2. Chetan (16:39.738); 3. Veer Sheth (16:47.179).