Date:25/09/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/09/25/stories/2006092511411800.htm

Sport

Impressive show by Gaurav Gill

Sports Reporter

STEALING THE SHOW: Gaurav Gill of Delhi, who hogged the limelight at the JK Tyre National racing championship on Sunday. — Photo: K. Pichumani

CHENNAI: Gaurav Gill drove a near-perfect race to claim the honours in the Formula Rolon category as the third leg of the JK Tyre National racing championships came to an end at the MMST Track, Sriperambudur, near here on Sunday.

The 24-year-old from Delhi, sponsored by Team Wallace Sports, stamped his authority by winning both the races by a comfortable margin. If the first race was a cakewalk, the second race was a walk in the park for the time difference between him and the second place was around 20 seconds.

"I was held up in the traffic," joked Gaurav Dalal, pretty much summing up the dominance of Gaurav Gill.

Comeback

Making a comeback this season after a decade, 43-year-old Akbar Ebrahim of Speed NK Racing finished second and third in Race 1 and Race 2 respectively in Formula Rolon. In his 21st year in racing, C. Rajaram made his first win this year by winning Race 2 of the Formula LGB Swift category.

Despite being penalised for practicing on Sunday morning without clearance — he was shifted three places down and had to start from fifth place — the championship leader in Formula Swift category, Saran Vikram (Team Mars), finished first in Race 1.

All the remaining three legs will be held in Chennai. The next round will be on October 7 and 8.

The results: Formula Rolon: Race 1: 1. Gaurav Gill 19:42.6s, 2. Akbar Ebrahim 19:50.3, 3. Gaurav Dalal 19:50.8; Race 2: 1. Gill 19:50.853, 2. Gaurav Dalal 20:18.362s, 3. Ebrahim 20:25.945.

Formula LGB Hyundai: Race 1: Ashwin Sunder 20:25.6, 2. Sudarshan Rao 20:34.1, 3. Rayomand Banajee 20:57.2; Race 2: 1. Banajee 19:28.289, 2. Ajay Kini 19:29.968,3. C. Rajaram 19:51.978.

Formula LGB Swift: 1. Saran Vikram 20:10.548, 2. Sunder 20:23.381, 3. Rajaram 20:35.932; Race 2: 1. Rajaram 20:42.361, 2. B. Vijay Kumar 20:44.454, 3. Sanjay Mahadevan 21:05.356.