Chennai, September 22: Bengaluru’s Aditya Swaminathan set the tone and pace for the second round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship 2023 as he emerged fastest in the free practice session for the premier MRF Formula 2000 category at the Madras International Circuit, here on Friday.
Aditya returned a top time of one minute, 35.082 seconds, just about outpacing Chennai veteran Chetan Korada (01:35.717).
Meanwhile, Chetan Surineni, also from Bengaluru, was the fastest in the MRF Formula 1500 as he stopped the clock at 01:43.649, well clear of Mumbai’s Veer Sheth (01:46.058).
Earlier, multiple National champion Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) from Coimbatore was the quickest among the touring cars as he put in a hot lap of 01:51.867 after negotiating heavy traffic that had 19 cars on the track at various stages during the 30-minute free practice session.
In the Indian Junior Touring Cars (IJTC) category, Chennai’s Akkineni Anand Prasad (Team Performance Racing), who is lying second in the championship, topped the time sheets with a best lap of 01:56.079.
Thrissur’s Diljith TS (DTS Racing), who won all three races in the previous round in July, was the quickest in the Super Stock class, putting in a hot lap of 02:04.797.
Likewise, the experienced Angad Matharoo from Chandigarh, who also notched a triple crown in the first round, set the pace in the MRF Saloons (Toyota Etios) class, clocking a best lap of 02:03.367.
The day’s programme began with defending champion Viswas Vijayaraj (DTS Racing) from Nellore warming up for the Formula LGB 1300 triple-header with a top lap of 01:51.516 in the free practice session.
