Buddh Vento Cup: Dodhiwala takes all-important pole in finale

The Hyderabad-based driver was in supreme form clinching pole after a good run in the two practice sessions at Buddh International Circuit.

Although Singh was his closest challenger, but he was 1.314s away, unable to get any closer to Dodhiwala's time of 2m25.938s - the only driver to breach not only 2m26's but also get into the 2m25's.

Guest driver Rishaad Mody surprised with the third best time, keeping Keith Desouza at bay by a mere 0.346s.

Behind the top four, Arafath Mohammed ended fifth with Gowdham Murugan sixth - only 0.786s separated Mody to Murugan.

In a fairly incident-free session, Affan Sadat Safwan Islam, Aditya Pawar, Arunshowry Vallabhaneni and top junior driver Jeet Jhabakh completed the top 10.

Among the 18 drivers, Pradeep Rao and Vento race winner Niranjan Todkari were unable to set a lap time.

Earlier on, the drivers were given extra time before qualifying to get used to the Formula 1 circuit, with many racing in a highly demanding track for the first time.

With a tightly packed schedule alongside Round 5 of Asia Road Racing Championship, the two races will take place on Saturday and Sunday.

Qualifying results: