the goan I network
PANAJI
Goa’s Chrys D’Souza endured a heartbreak as he had to settle for a third place finish in the Indian Junior Touring Cars class of the MRF Indian National Racing Championship despite winning the decisive race in Chennai on Saturday.
The Unimek Racing driver crossed the finish line first but incurred a 30-second penalty for an avoidable collision, which handed Prabhu AS (Arka Motorsports) the championship. Prabhu finished the championship with 103.5 points to D’Souza’s 95.5. The penalty pushed Chrys to third as Nikunj Vagh (Team N1) was elevated to
second spot.
Going into the fifth and final round of the IJTC category, Chrys was determined to close a six-point gap between him and leader Prabhu to secure another championship for his team. After a dramatic start to race one on Friday afternoon, where he was spun out at the second corner by Prabhu attempting a pass, Chrys fell behind at back of
the grid.
Refusing to let down his team, he managed to rejoin the race and pushed himself and his car in tough conditions of extreme temperatures in Chennai to win race one, bringing him closer to national championship victory.
Chrys needed to overtake leader Prabhu in race two which was the final battle to win the championship. In lap 4, he managed to push himself to pass Prabhu but not before there was contact between the two cars. As a result, although he crossed the chequered flag first, the incident set him back.
“We’ve had a great season overall although it is disappointing to lose the championship title after having come so close,” Chrys said. “We’re really looking forward to coming back to fight harder and be even faster next year.”
In his debut season as a racer of the series, Chrys displayed superb skills behind the wheel as well as supporting his team with preparing his car for every race. It will be very exciting to see what he and the Unimek Racing team bring to the competition next season.
