Nayan Chatterjee leads JK Tyre National Racing Championship with wins in Coimbatore

by Suman Gupta

Nayan Chatterjee capped off the second round of the JK Tyre Racing Championship in Coimbatore with two wins on Sunday, emerging as leader of the Euro JK16 series!

Starting from pole in Race 4, Nayan made a quick getaway opening a massive 2.2 second gap by the end of Lap 2. He then paced himself before the last few laps turned into a nail-biter as Ananth Shanmugam closed in and battled for the lead. The Mumbai teenager, however, soaked up the pressure and maintained position as he crossed the finish line.

Earlier in the day, Nayan dominated Race 3 despite starting fourth from the grid. Nayan shot into the lead early in the race with scintillating pace. Such was his performance that he had pulled a gap of nearly three seconds at the helm before a Red Flag period wiped his advantage. That didn't deter him one bit though. At the restart, Nayan set off opening a gap of almost eight-tenths and ultimately won the race by 1.4 seconds, created in just three laps from the restart, ahead of the pack.

His triumphs catapulted him into the lead of the championship with 58 points, 10 clear of the next.

It has been a consistent weekend for the 18-year-old as he finished on the podium in all four races of the second round. Nayan claimed pole position for Race 1 but dropped to third place at the start before muscling his way back to second position. He then tried an aggressive move at Turn 1 later on for the lead but was pushed out on to the dirt, costing him a place. Nayan fought for several laps and crossed the finish line in 3rd place. Starting from P3 in Race 2, Nayan belted out consistent pace as he challenged for second place, ultimately tailing his rival ahead to secure the final rostrum spot.

A delighted Nayan spoke to us post the race ‘The weekend started really well. I got pole so I was excited. I was the fastest! But Saturday didn't go as well as I had hoped even though I got those two podium finishes. But the team got behind it and I had a lovely Sunday! I felt like I was in the zone in Race 3 and Race 4 went well too despite the challenge towards the end. I defended my position well. I did what I had to. Got my lines correct and kept the pace that was needed. Very happy with the twin wins! I can't thank Mr Akbar Ebrahim (of Meco Motorsports) enough for guiding me as always and JK Tyre for their support.’

Nayan has been competing in the senior category since 2013, has won over 40 podium finishes! After being backed by both Cello and Venus, Nayan is also going to take part in at least one round of the newly-launched F4 South East Asia Championship.

For more updates on Nayan, as well as videos from his races, you can check out his Facebook page @NayanChatterjeeRacing and follow him on Twitter @NayanChats!