JKNRC Grand Finale: Karthik Tharani bags Euro JK Cup as Nayan Chatterjee crashes out

The finale of the 21st JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing championship’s premier category, Euro JK Cup, concluded with Karthik Tharani being crowned champion with 97 points.

Going into the last race of the competition, the main title rivals, Karthik and Nayan Chatterjee were tied at the top of the table. As they were starting fifth and sixth, respectively, it was expected that the two racers would be involved in a delectable battle on the circuit for the conclusion of the cup.

However, it was not to be. During the first lap itself, Nayan was running in third and more importantly, had moved ahead of Tharani. It was during the next one that disaster struck for Chatterjee.

Manav Sharma was lined up behind the title contender during Turn 1 and could not manage to brake in time to avoid ramming into the back of the Mumbai driver’s car. Manav stopped at the side of the track immediately afterwards, but Nayan continued without his rear wing for a little while longer before ultimately retiring.

The incident brought out the safety car, but once that period was over, Karthik was right on the rear wheel of the top two drivers, having climbed up to P3. After a few minor attempts at overtaking the leaders, the Chennai racer swooped past Brayan Perera and Yash Aradhya to claim the lead.

Arya Singh, who had begun the race in fourth, dropped down the grid initially only to later snatch back his position. It was while he was fighting with Brayan for P3 that his car ran wide and bounced off the ground, resulting in yet another non-finish. The fourth DNF of the event came from Mira Erda, who at one point was running seventh.

With the championship decided and Tharani building up a sizeable lead, the entertainment came from Yash and Brayan battling it out behind him. The two drivers continued to stick close till the very last corner but Aradhya held onto his position ahead of Perera.

Kush Maini, driving an exhibition race, picked up places from P12, where he had begun, to be racing in fourth before he pulled back to seventh during the last lap.

While the last race of the competition did not provide an on-track tussle between the title contenders, it remained dramatic enough to make up for it. Karthik walked away with the trophy, but the competitor in him would surely be happy to get another win under his belt.