Greater Noida, Dec 1 (IANS): Mumbai driver Rahil Noorani clinched the Volkswagen Polo R Cup after a podium finish in Race 3 at the Buddh International Circuit here Sunday.
Pune's Gaurav Mehta won an action filled Race 2 to win his first ever race in a competitive series. South African Jeffrey Kruger returned to the top step of the podium in Race 3 to end the season on a high.
Race 2 was red-flagged after young driver Samarth Jaiswal crashed with the car rolling multiple times. Jaiswal walked away unhurt.
"Today happens to be my birthday and this is the best gift I could have given to myself. It was a very emotional moment for me. This is my third attempt and previous two times I missed out by couple of points so this is very special and I am third time lucky. The engineers, mechanics and entire Volkswagen team are responsible for this so a big thank you to all of them," said Noorani.
Noorani has been offered a seat for the JK Tyre FB 02 in 2014 and a guest drive at the 2014 Scirocco R-Cup. Kruger was named the Star of Polo R Cup and has been offered a guest drive at the 2014 Golf R Cup in Europe. Yatin Magu, who won in the junior category, has been offered a fully sponsored seat for next season's Polo R Cup.
Race 2 started with Angad Singh Matharoo on pole alongside Delhi's Lee Keshav Gupta. Both got overtaken at the start, allowing third placed Mehta to jump into the lead as they headed into the first corner.
Lee slotted into second with Kruger up to third at the end of Lap 1. Kruger made his move on Lee on Lap 2 and moved in to second place and looked to challenge Mehta. However, the lap was red-flagged on Lap 4 when Jaiswal made contact on the rear left and flipped multiple times at the penultimate corner.
Fortunately the driver walked away unhurt. The race could not restart and Gaurav was adjudged the winner. Jeffrey finished second ahead of Lee, who took his second podium of the season.
Race 3 saw Kruger on pole with Karthik Tharani Singh in second. Kruger continued his string of great starts to keep the lead after Turn 1 followed by Robyn Kruger and Noorani.
Noorani got a great run on Robyn and managed to pass her on Lap 3. Slow starting Karthik, who had slipped down to fourth, also started to put pressure on Robyn.
The next lap he also made a move and made it stick, moving into third. Behind them Prashanth Tharani Singh and Matharoo collided forcing Prashanth to go off and lose positions. Kruger crossed the finish line with another brilliant performance with Noorani and Karthik taking the other two steps on the podium.
In the Ultima Queens Cup featuring top lady drivers from Europe in Race Polo TDI cars, Dutch Sheila Verschuur stole the show in both the races by wining by big margins.