Maiden victory for Rahil Noorani in
round 2 of Volkswagen Polo R Cup 2011
Rahil Noorani won his first Volkswagen Polo R Cup 2011 race in round 2 of the championship, held over 17-18 July at Coimbatore. The 21 year-old rookie driver beat championship leader Vishnu Prasad into third place (from a ninth-place start), ahead of Ajay Kini from Bangalore. Noorani had a great start and led into the first corner ahead of Kini and Avdumbder Hede. Oshan Kothadiya from Pune fought Kini for a podium place, ultimately losing out to Prasad. Commenting on his first victory, winner Rahil Noorani said: ‘It feels great to win. I qualified on pole and the only thing on my mind was to lead into the first corner and take it from there. I stayed focussed, which helped me to win the race.’
Prithviraj Siddappa, Head of Volkswagen Motorsport India, was pleased with the result: ‘Another great race to start off round 2. It was an action-packed race and it was good to see different winners on the podium. It is great to see drivers giving more attention in analysing their data to see where they can improve. This shows the drivers are enthusiastic and determined to do well in this championship. The Polo Race cars are performing greatly, and we are very happy with the performance and efficiency of their engines.’ The 2011 Volkswagen Polo Cup India is run by Volkswagen India Motorsport in conjunction with JK Tyres. The field of 20 young racers drive identical and centrally-prepared 129bhp TDI Polo R Cup racing cars.
Race 2 saw many crashes, collisions and high-speed spins which saw the lead change hands a number of times. A reverse grid start saw race 1 winner Noorani roll from eighth position, with Prasad ahead in sixth. Mihir Dharkar from Mumbai took pole position, although an unfortunate spin dashed his hopes of holding onto the lead until the end of the race. The lead was passed to Kothadia, closely tailed by Prasad. A safety car outing saw Prasad close in on the leaders and on the tenth lap, he passed Kothadia to take pole and win the race. Kothadia then forced Noorani into a spin with three laps to go, but both drivers ended up on podium in second and third places respectively. Round 3 of the Volkswagen Polo R Cup 2011 will take place on 19-21 August at the Irungattukottai Race Track in Chennai.
[Image: Rahul Basu/zigwheels.com]
