Amith Kutti jumps into lead after Round 1

Chennai racer dominates as Mumbai Falcons’ Indian eRacing Championship begins

by Suman Gupta

Mumbai, July : Chennai’s Amith Kutti launched his campaign in the fourth edition of the Mumbai Falcons Indian eRacing Championship, in association with Volkswagen Motorsport, in style, winning both the Pro races here on Monday.

The defending champion warded off Season 2 winner Sai Prithvi’s challenge to take a commanding lead after Round 1. Bangalore’s Ujjwal Belwariar won the Junior race, edging past Sayee Saran who had taken pole position.

Reigning champion Amith Kutti and Sai Prithvi were engaged in a keen battle for pole on the Spa Francorchamps Circuit, with the former finishing ahead in 2:13.718. Prithvi was a close 0.13 seconds behind while Niranjan Kumar was third.

The latest season of the Indian eRacing Championship (earlier ISRL) extends to eight rounds and will see multiple new classes as the season progresses. A women’s class along with two separate amateur classes are also set to be introduced soon.

“We are proud to be associated with the Indian eRacing Championship. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the IR eSports team has done a stellar job in keeping the spirit of motorsport flying in the minds of racers,” Ameet Gadhoke, owner of Mumbai Falcons, said.

Sirish Vissa, Head Volkswagen Motorsport India added “The Indian eRacing Championship is making motorsport racing fun, exciting and a unique learning experience for our young and aspirational racers in India. With the continuous development of this platform, it intends to offer a near realistic experience along with reaching out to a wider audience of potential race drivers.”

Race 1 began on a furious note with three cars attempting to enter a corner side by side in the first lap itself before Kutti and Prithvi pulled away. However, a massive crash in the midfield saw multiple cars suffering severe damage.

Kutti eventually won just 0.75 seconds ahead of Prithvi while Hyderabad’s Bhanu Teja was third. Sonipat’s Ankit Tyagi was fourth.

With the reverse grid coming into play for the top 12, Ankit Roy started with the advantage of pole. But after just a few corners, he made a mistake and went off-track, setting off a chain reaction of incidents, resulting in numerous cars suffering damage. Ankit Tyagi took the lead while Kutti made his way up to fourth.

Kutti was on a charge though, and eventually grabbed the lead as also the race ahead of Tyagi & Teja.

F3 Asia Race winner & guest racer for the weekend, Sri Lanka’s Eshan Pieris, representing the CMSC, suffered technical issues and an accident in Race 1. The highly rated racer started seventeenth in Race 2 and made some excellent moves to finish fifth.

Macau’s Frederico Joaquin finished fourteenth, climbing from 21st, after missing Race 1.

“We have created the Junior Class to help newcomers adapt to the sport in slower cars. We are thankful to Mumbai Falcons and Volkswagen Motorsport for their continued support. We also welcome and thank Red Bull for their support,” 8-time champion and founder of IR eSports Rayomand Banajee said.

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