JKNRC: Dark Don's Arya strikes it hot on day one

Despite a good qualifying round, Kyle, on his maiden outing at this venue, did not enjoy a great start

Kolkata's Arya Singh (Dark Don Racing) played it cool on a rather hot day to finish on top of the podium in the premier Formula LGB4 class on the opening day of the 25th JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship (JKNRC) at the Kari Motor Speedway in Chettipalayam on Saturday.

It was Chennai's Kyle Kumaran of DTS Racing who packed a punch at the start winning the JK Tyre Novice Cup with ease. The Dubai-based 19-year-old did the country proud winning the silver in the Rotax Max Challenge Grand finale in Bahrain last year. Obviously, the expectations were high and, he did not disappoint.

Despite a good qualifying round, Kyle, on his maiden outing at this venue, did not enjoy a great start. "I am not used to the race track and this is probably my second race on a car and that was a bit difficult for me," he said.

But he still won by a decent distance before the safety car came in. His teammate Joel Joseph (Ernakulam) and Bengaluru’s Dhruvh Goswami had to rest content for the next two places.

Quite soon, Allwin caught the attention of the crowd with his skilful riding in the JK Tyre presents Royal Enfield Continental GT Cup. With the format changed to the Pro-Am Series, the pressure was on the professionals to perform. But Allwin, an experienced star that he is, struck the right balance to finish ahead of defending champion Anish D. Shetty of Bengaluru.

Later in the day, Anish bounced back to win the second race in style.

The results (Provisional):