Chennai, Oct 4 (IANS) Sudarshana Rao of Team TVS Girling did just enough to claim the title in the Formula LGB Swift class with a race to spare in the sixth and final round of the JK Tyre National Road Racing Championship, here Saturday.
Driving conservatively with an eye on the points, the Chennai-based Rao finished third behind Ajay Kini (Wallace Sports) and team-mate S Narendran to pick up six points that took his tally to 76. It put him clear of Kini and Prithveen Rajan, who finished fourth today, both having 51 apiece.
Thus, the last race of the double-header Sunday would be a mere formality with Rao having taken an unassailable lead.
Meanwhile, Akhil Devarag of Rams Racing clinched the championship in the Formula Hyundai Endurance category by winning the last race of the season to tie with Sudanand Rajan (Wallace Sports) with 50 points.
The tie was broken on the basis of Saturday's results as both the drivers had an equal number of wins.
In the showpiece event, the Formula Rolon Chevrolet, championship leader Ashwin Sundar of Team NK Racing came in third behind Saran Vikram and last year's winner Gaurav Dalal (Red Rooster Racing).
Vikram made it a start-to-finish affair after starting from pole position while Dalal and Sundar seemed content to follow him in a procession.
The result put both Dalal and Sundar on level terms with 58 points with Vikram on 56 and the championship will be decided Sunday.
In the day's last event, the Superbikes race, Rohit Giri (Experts) and Sumit Lucas (1000cc) took the honours. The race was halted after two laps after Vivek Pillai crashed exiting Turn-1 when the gear slipped into neutral, sending the rider into the barriers. However, Pillai did not suffer any injuries.
The results:
Formula Rolon Chevrolet - Race 1 (10 laps): Saran Vikram 1 (18mins, 31.140 secs); Gaurav Dalal (Red Rooster Racing) 2 (18:36.672); Ashwin Sundar (Speed NK Racing) 3 (18:35.287).
Formula LGB Swift - Race 1 (10 laps): Ajay Kini (Wallace Sports) 1 (20:07.405); S Narendran (TVS Girling) 2 (20:13.858); Sudarshana Rao (TVS Girling) 3 (20:17.408).
Super Saloons - Race 1 (10 laps): Radha Selvaraj (RAD Racing) 1 (20:59.984); Sailesh Bolistetti (RAD Racing) 2 (21:02.248); B Vijaykumar (Prime Racing) 3 (21:07.671).
Super Bikes - Experts: Rohit Giri 1 (11:31.124); Praveen Keerthi 2 (11:32.326); Gopinadhan 3 (12:30.821). Novice: Sumit Lucas 1 (12:08.905); Balaji KV 2 (12:32.517); Gautam M 3 (12:04.911). 1000cc - Sanjay Kumar 1 (`1:11.992); Alok Sashidhar 2 (12:12.216); Ramji Govindarajan 3 (13:46.960).