Chennai Ameo Cup: Bandyopadhyay sails to easy victory in Race 1

The Kolkata-based driver did not give any leeway as he was comfortable in winning at the Madras Motor Race Track from championship leader Karminder Singh. He won by 7.3 seconds.

Behind second-placed Karminder was Chennai’s A Sandeep Kumar. Dhruv Mohite and Jeet Jhabakh finished fourth and fifth respectively.

The Ameo Cup is part of the third round of the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Racing Championship.

Being on pole, Bandyopadhyay maintained the lead from the start with Karminder Singh 0.440 seconds behind.

With the 2.1Km short loop being used for the race, it gave little opportunity for the drivers to overtake. Heavy rain on Thursday night forced the organisers to use the short loop as against the full 3.74Km track length.

In fact, the start was also delayed due to rain causing electricity problems at the track. 

Throughout the race, the order remained the same, with Bandyopadhyay leading Karminder and Sandeep being in third place.

After the completion of four laps, Bandyopadhyay had extended his lead. But behind, Sandeep had begun to challenge Karminder.

But Bandyopadhyay was in a world of his own, with a lead of about 3.7 seconds over Karminder.

As the race wore on, Bandyopadhyay began to extend his lead. With eight laps left, Bandyopadhyay was ahead by 4.2 seconds, but the order remained the same behind him.

With six laps remaining, Bandyopadhyay continued to remain in a strong position with a lead of 5.766 seconds over second-placed Karminder.

Three laps from the end, Bandyopadhyay was ahead by 6.269 seconds, while Karminder and Sandeep maintained a gap of early two seconds.

In the end, it was a clean and easy victory for Bandyopadhyay.