Oshan Kothadiya, Sai Prithvi take top honours in eRacing Championship

Young participants performed brilliantly in the tournament.

Pune’s Oshan Kothadiya and Chennai’s Sai Prithvi won a race each in the Pro Class of the Mumbai Falcons Indian eRacing Championship, in association with Volkswagen Motorsport. The duo picked up their first wins this season at the Daytona International Speedway.

The qualifying round saw Pune’s Muhammad Ibrahim post a laptime of 1:43.924, a mere 0.021 seconds ahead of defending champion – Amith Kutti. Championship leader Sai Prithvi from Chennai was third.

As the lights went out, Ibrahim made a good start to lead race 1, but a few corners later, Kutti outsmarted the leader to grab the lead. The duo fought for a couple of laps before Ibrahim attempted to retake the lead, resulting in both spectacularly crashing out of the race. Ujjwal Belwariar (Bangalore) graduated from Junior to Pro Class and had a dream debut with a podium, while Mumbai’s Raiden Samervel and Ooty’s Niranjan Kumar were on fourth and fifth position respectively.

The top 12 from race 1, are reversed for the start of Race 2. Kaushik Mohanraja started from pole and the entire field had a clean start. Unfortunately, he spun and a few cars hit him. Eventually Former Volkswagen Polo Cup Runner Up, Oshan Kothadiya won the race after an excellent drive from seventh on the grid. Mumbai’s Prathamesh Yedre and Lucknow’s Siddharth Mehdiratta earned their maiden podiums with second and third place respectively, ahead of Kumar and Kutti.

“After four rounds we have four different race winners in the Pro Class. It’s really competitive at the top. The champions now have the best opportunity possible to transition from this, into real-world racing.” said Moid Tungekar, CEO of Mumbai Falcons.

Gurgaon’s Garvit Agarwal started on the pole and won the Junior Race. Mumbai’s Janak Panchal and Tej Patel earned their maiden podiums, ahead of Jahaan Noble and Yash Khare. This weekend saw the commencement of the Amateur category with Deepak Raj, Guru Vishal & Deepak Walvekar finishing in the top three.

Head of Volkswagen Motorsport India Sirish Vissa said, "It is exciting to see a former Volkswagen Polo Cup runner up battling with and giving his competitors a tough fight. This shows how well competitors are driving. Both the races were exhilarating to watch, we hope that this close battle continues for the rest of the championship."

The eight-time champion and Founder of IR eSports, Rayomand Banajee added “We are happy with the excellent response that the Amateur category has received. We are confident that the entry-level classes will grow further, as we add on the Amateur PS4 category and a Women’s category.