Today's Top StoriesIndian Chennai-Oct-5-IANS-A-spectacular-crash-saw-Saran-Vikram-being-docked-of-his-championship-points-and-thus News

 

Chennai, Oct 5 IANS A spectacular crash saw Saran Vikram being docked of his championship points and thus forfeiting his title in the LGB Swift class in the sixth and concluding round of the 11th J.K. Tyre Racing Championship here Sunday.

SPO13SportsCrash cost Vikram Swift class title in J.K.Tyre racingChennai, Oct 5 IANS A spectacular crash saw Saran Vikram being docked of his championship points and thus forfeiting his title in the LGB Swift class in the sixth and concluding round of the 11th J.K. Tyre Racing Championship here Sunday.Vikram, driving for Team WSRF with Leela, clinched the championship going into the final round, but in a moment of madness, he weaved his way into the path of his main rival Karthik Shankar Team TVS Girling within 50 metres of the start of the race, leading to a massive collision at the MMST track.As both cars spun across the track, the vehicles behind them, all travelling at full throttle, smashed into them. One of the cars was airborne and fortunately did not flip into the barriers and the spectators.The race was red-flagged amidst utter commotion as the drivers involved in the incident, none of whom was injured, openly accused Vikram of reckless driving.Worse followed when one of the mechanics came under the recovery truck's "boom". He was rushed to the medical centre at the track before being shifted to a nearby hospital with a spinal injury.Speaking to IANS, Vikram said he weaved across the track to defend his line and that Shankar, forced to put two wheels on the grass, lost control. "His car came into contact with mine and as we locked, we spun across. I had already won the championship and so there was no reason for me to take him out," he said.Shankar said: "Yesterday, Saran openly told me that he would take me out and he did precisely that."The Stewards, following an enquiry, decided to strip Vikram of his championship points leaving Shankar as the champion in the Swift class, but strangely, there was no official announcement to this effect.Vikram started the next race, but retired with mechanical problems while the experienced Rayomand Banajee won comfortably.Meanwhile, Gaurav Dalal of Team Red Rooster Racing took the title in the Formula Rolon class after a third place finish in the overnight held-over race from the third round. However, Dalal failed to fnish on the podium in the two sixth round races that were also run over the weekend with young Akhil Kushlani dominating with a second and first place finishes.The results:Formula Rolon 8 laps: Race 1 - 1. Sarosh Hataria 14mins, 36:203secs; 2. Akhil Kushlani 14:43:753; 3. Rayomand Banajee 14:50:930. Race 2 - 1. Kushlani 14:38:714; 2. Hataria 14:39:594; 3. Anand Prasad 14:55:816. Round 3 - Race 2 - 1. Kushlani 14:43:271; 2. Banajee 14:50:436; 3. Gaurav Dalal 14:53:537.Formula Swift 8 laps: Race 1 - 1. Kartik Shankar 15:35:960; 2. Saran Vikram 15:40:085; 3. Prithveen Rajan 15:48:944. Race 2 - 1. Rayomand Banajee 16:01:183; 2. Prtihveen Rajan 16:04:850; 3. Akhil Devarag 16:05:869. Non-championship races:Super Bikes - 600 cc 8 laps: Race 1 -1. Praveen Keerthi 15:48:184; 2. Gopinandhan 16:09:029; 3. Kathi Venkataraman 16:09:238. Race 2 - 1. Keerthi 15:32:850; 2. Kathi Venkataraman 16:06:339; 3. Gopinandhan 16:19:997. 1000 cc 8 laps: Race 1 - 1. Alok Sashidhar 15:49:507; 2. Mazhar Ahmed 16:45:638; 3. Sanjay 16:46:667. Race 2 - 1. Sashidhar 15:47:768; 2. Ahmed 16:19:730 3. Deepak Murali 16:58:354. Saloon cars - Race 1 6 laps: Race 1 - 1. Radha Selvaraj 12:29:565; 2. Vidyaprakash 12:31:673; 3. Sailesh 12:43:509. Race 2 8 laps: 1. Vidyaprakash 16:51:600; 2. B Vijayakumar 17:02:608; 3. Siddharth Kishore 17:03:129. Race Star Cars - Race 1 6 laps: 1. Mazdayar Vatcha 14:00:554; 2. Deepak Chinnappa 14:08:284; 3. M.S.Ravindra 14:15:009. Race 2 8 laps: 1. Vatcha 18:43:342; 2.Chinnappa 18:49:816; 3. Ravindra 18:50:276.--Indo-Asian News Serviceaph/pt/av/vt699 Words05101858