Jeet Jhabakh dominates with two wins at the first round of Ameo Class 2019 National Championship in Coimbatore

Volkswagen Motorsport India concluded the Race 2 and Race 3 of its Ameo Class 2019 National Championship at the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore today. With the top 8 finishers of Race 1 starting in the reverse grid of Race 2, Viraj Jhala was on pole followed by Avik Anwar on the first row and Aiman Sadat and Siddharth Mehdiratta on row two. 

The second race of a weekend is always action packed with faster drivers starting on reverse grid and charging from the back. Pratik climbed up the order with aggressive driving early on in the race and took lead followed by Avik and Aiman staying close behind him till the end of the race. Despite crossing the finish line ahead of everyone, Pratik was handed over 10 second penalty that pushed him down from first to seventh spot, thus handing over the win to Avik who had started from pole position. The highlight of the race remained Junior driver Aiman who clinched his first podium in the overall category in his first race weekend itself. Anmol had a difficult start from seventh position, but he gradually moved up and bagged the third position.

The grid positions for the third and final race of Round One were based on the second best lap time achieved by the drivers during Friday’s qualifying session. Jeet took pole position while Pratik joined him on the front row. Saurav Bandyopadhyay and Anmol took the third and the fourth positions respectively on the grid. 

The Race 3 started off very clean. Once the lights went off Jeet Jhabakh very carefully and strategically maintained and defended his pole position throughout the race. Anmol jumped up one position by overtaking Pratik in the first lap itself. Thereafter the trio Jeet, Anmol and Pratik held their positions throughout the race. Pratik did feel the heat with Saurav trying to move ahead of him but he managed to hold his position.

On the conclusion of the first race weekend of Ameo Class 2019 National Championship Mr. Sirish Vissa, Head of Volkswagen Motorsport India said, “The Race 2 was quite difficult for few of our competitors because they ran far-off the regulations in terms of exceeding the track limits, but the three winners really did a good job and managed to achieve the first three positions. I am really impressed to see Bangladesh achieve the first two positions and make their country proud. All of the drivers in the last race have set a benchmark in terms of driving standards by putting on one of the cleanest race we all have come across.” He added, “This year, we are also happy to be recognized as the class of Indian National Racing Championship which means whoever wins the series this season will be recognized as the Indian National Racing Champion, so that is something which I am really proud of. The crowning glory for us is the fact that the best lap for the first 16 drivers out of 18 was within a second.  This is a testament to how well the technical team prepares the cars and how evenly matched all of them are.”

He further added, “Along with pre-season testing for the drivers to get to grips with the race car, we had organized a fitness assessment test along with a discussion about nutrition. National Egg Co-Ordination Committee (NECC) who is again onboard with us as the ‘Nutrition Partner’ took them through the importance of eggs in one’s diet. We are very thankful for NECC along with Venky’s for their consistent support to the program.”

Volkswagen Ameo Cup 2019 Round 2, 3 and 4 will be held at Madras Motor Race Track in Chennai in July, August and October respectively.

Volkswagen Ameo Class 2019 Round 1 Race 2: Results:

Volkswagen Ameo Class 2019 Round 1 Race 3: Results:

About Volkswagen Motorsport India: Taking ahead more than 50 years of enriching global motorsport legacy of Volkswagen, Volkswagen Motorsport India commenced operations with the Polo Cup India in 2010. The vast global expertise, coupled with rich dynamic history of the Group has enabled Volkswagen Motorsport India to progress swiftly and become the best one make series in a short span of time. The Volkswagen Polo R Cup enhanced awareness as well as underlined the technological advancement of Volkswagen in India. In 2015, Volkswagen Motorsport India shifted to Vento Cup and continued to provide a vital platform for the talented young racers to demonstrate their capabilities nationally and internationally by nurturing them. In the one-make series, all participating cars are technically identical with the same performance making it possible for only the most skilled drivers to leave an impact. Since 2017, Volkswagen Motorsport India has been running the Ameo Cup in the same format with a car that has been completely developed and built with local talent at Volkswagen plant in Pune. Successes in Indian Rallying: Under the Customer Sport Initiative, Volkswagen Motorsport India started providing teams and individuals running Volkswagen Polo rally cars in the Indian Rally Championship (IRC) with technical assistance and spares support from 2013. The Volkswagen Polo since then has won several championships and is has become popular in national rallying to the extent that more than half the competing grid in 2018 comprised of Volkswagen Polo cars.