Biren pitawalla

Indian National Car Racing Championship:  Veteran Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) scripted a master class as he shrugged off fading light and a drying track following afternoon showers to win the only race of the day in the third round of the Indian National Car Racing Championship at the Madras International Circuit, here on Saturday.

The eight-lap race for the touring cars witnessed some drama even before it commenced. Pole-sitter and Balu’s team-mate Gurunath Meiyappan, the championship leader in the Indian Touring Cars category, retired with a turbo issue on the outlap itself and could not take the start.

Balu, the 48-year-old multiple champion from Coimbatore, who had qualified P3, made a great start and overtook Ritesh Rai, the private entrant from Chennai, by Turn-2 in the opening lap and never looked back.