Greater Noida, December 2, 2012 – Ameya Walavalkar was crowned the Volkswagen Polo R Cup 2012 Champion in style when he passed pre-race favourite and leader Jeffrey John Kruger on the last lap to win Race 1 at the Buddh International Circuit. Ameya becomes the third winner of the only one make series in India, the Volkswagen Polo R Cup, after Sailesh Bolisetti and Vishnu Prasad. Prashanth Tharani Singh won Race 2 ahead of Munjal Savla and Jeffrey John Kruger.
In Race 1, Jeffrey, one of the two guest drivers from South Africa, had a strong start and pulled away from pole position. Ameya too had an excellent start and overtook Avdumber Hede in the first corner on lap 1. Ameya and Avdumber started closing in on Jeffrey in lap 4 when he lost some pace. Ameya caught Jeffrey with one lap to go and got the perfect opportunity to pass him and pulled off a great move at the end of the long straight to win his 4th race of the season. Ameya finished Race 1 with a final time of 14:48.856 with Jeffrey 0.745 seconds behind and Avdumber a 1.276 seconds behind the leader respectively.
In Race 2, pole sitter Prashanth Tharani Singh led from the start to finish and took his first Polo R Cup victory. Behind him Munjal Savla and Siddharth TT battled all race long with the latter unable to get past. Jeffrey took advantage of the battle ahead of him and got past Siddharth on the final lap to take the final podium position. Prashanth finished first in Race 2 with a total time of 12:18.930 with Munjal 4.160 seconds behind him and Jeffery another 0.108 seconds behind Munjal. Race 2 was a 5 lap race instead of 6 laps, owing to an accident during the formation lap.
Volkswagen 2012 Polo R Cup Champion Ameya Walavalkar was ecstatic after being crowned the Champion. Ameya commented, “It is an unbelievable feeling to win the Volkswagen Polo R Cup. I would like to dedicate this victory to the entire Volkswagen Motorsport team who have worked closely with me to make this possible. I am overwhelmed to be at the BIC. Jeffrey set the benchmark yesterday but I was lucky to get ahead of Avdumber at the start which set the tone for the rest of the race. I kept up with Jeffrey and finally got past him on the last lap.”
Race 2 winner Prashanth Tharani Singh was extremely excited with his first ever Polo R Cup win. He commented, “I am really happy to win my first race especially at the BIC. This circuit is brilliant to drive on and really challenging. The start was crucial and once I got ahead, all I wanted to do was set consistent laps and retain the lead. This is the perfect ending to a good season.”
Prithviraj Siddappa, Head of Volkswagen Motorsport India, said, “The Sidvin Festival of Speed is an important milestone in Indian motorsport and we are thrilled to be part of it. It is not often you get Volkswagen, JK Tyre and MRF Tyres under one roof for one spectacular event. This season has been fantastic and the season finale at the BIC is definitely the highlight of the year. I would like to congratulate Ameya for winning the Championship and no one can be more deserving than him. All the drivers have really improved drastically over the season and it is great for us to see that. Most importantly I would like to thank the Volkswagen Motorsport team for the endless hours they have spent in making this championship a success.”
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