MRF Challenge Series(14th Feb) - Thala Ajith Kumar's car got stuck

Ashwin Sundar completed a fine run in the Formula 1600 class by winning the championship in the MRF Challenge series, here Sunday(14th feb 2010). While the 20-year-old from Chennai took the first 15-lap race quite comfortably, he had to fight his way in the second that he began in the sixth spot due to reverse grid. After moving up a couple of positions in the opening lap, Sundar slipped past the front runners and once ahead, pulled away for a commanding victory. The Saloon Car race dished out some surprise results after championship leader Sailesh Bolisetti suffered ECU problems in the very first lap and lost track position, allowing Siddharth Kishore to win comfortably from R. Sriram and Nithvin S. Ravindran.

However, the cynosure this day was Tamil actor Ajith Kumar who presence on the Formula 1600 grid pulled in record crowds. But then, the script went away in the first race when Ajith’s car got stuck in one gear and could not start the 15-lapper. The situation grew tense as a section of spectators turned restive before Ajith decided to put in a few laps at slow speed just to placate his fans who subsequently jumped the barriers and invaded the paddock to get a closer look at their hero. Police and security helped to keep the situation under control. Ajith, however, had no problems in the second race though he started from the back of the grid and finished seventh out of eight finishers.

The results:

Formula 1600 (15 laps): Race 1 - 1. Ashwin Sundar (NK Racing, 25 mins, 45.091 secs); .2. Chris Wootton (Australia, 25:47.591); 3. Parthiva Sureshwaren (25:53.954). Race 2 - 1. Ashwin Sundar (25:44.135); 2. Gaurav Gill (25:56.886); 3. Arjun Balu (25:59.985).