Season Review: Prasad races to third JK Racing title

Over the years, Prasad has emerged as a popular figure in the Indian motorsport scene.

From National Karting to JK FB02 along with LGB Formula 4 and Polo Cup, the Indian has won pretty much every major title in India.

However, his inability to procure enough sponsorship has left him stranded in India for much longer than he would have probably liked.

Despite an illustrious cabinet packed with trophies, Prasad is yet to spend a full season in a foreign racing category.

Doubts over his future, however, haven’t proved to be a deterrent to his motivation or ability behind the wheel, as vindicated by his latest campaign in JKRIS.

Rabindra dominates round one

During the first round of the 2015 JK Racing India series, the Akhil Rabindra dominated the proceedings, illustrating how much experience of competing in Europe adds to the skills of a racing driver.

Rabindra won all three races on the road but was demoted to third place in race two for a jump start.

However, with Rabindra not eligible for points, Prasad took full advantage, bagging 28 of the possible 30 points. It remained as his biggest points haul of the season.

No single challenger emerges

The fact that Prasad was never consistently challenged by a single driver over the course of the season is best illustrated by how the second round panned out.

In the three races scheduled over the weekend, Prasad took victory in race one, Krishnaraaj Mahadik won the second race, while Ananth Shanmugam took the top spot on the podium in the final race.

Mahadik had a triple DNF in round one and as such wasn’t in a position to put a fight for the championship.

Likewise, Shanmugam was still some way off Prasad in the standings, despite another podium finish to his name.

BIC hosts the title showdown

Although Prasad and Shanmugam scored exactly the same number of points in round three, the latter had a steep hill to climb to overturn a 18 point deficit in the final round.

However, Shanmugam sustained his worst round of the season, failing to bag a single podium finish.

Prasad, meanwhile, won two of the three races to secure his third JKRIS title in style.

*Not eligible for points

Peroni’s season of two halves

The final two rounds at Greater Noida’s Buddh International Circuit saw the rise of Italy Costantino Peroni.

After his early-season struggles in a machinery he wasn’t versed with, Peroni suddenly emerged as the driver to beat, consistently scoring podium finishes and wins in the final round.

"At the beginning it was very hard because in my past experiences I have driven with tyres completely different from those," Peroni told Motorsport.com.

"There were a lot of good drivers and it hasn't been easy at all. This was a tough year for me with my exams and so this stint was a good way to be back racing,'' he added.

Rabindra’s subdued run

After a dominant first round in Coimbatore which included two victories and a third-place finish, there was a sudden downfall in Rabindra’s performance.

The Indian driver, who completed his maiden campaign in BRDC F4 this year, scored just two podium finishes over the rest of the season.

Other notable performances

Apart from the aforementioned drivers, two other racers stole the limelight.

This year’s National Racing Championship Karthik Tharani scored a few rostrum finishes over the second half of the season and nearly took a victory in the final round.

Likewise, Kush Maini had a promising car-racing debut, scoring his maiden podium finish in round two.

That said, there were some visible rough patches due to lack of experience in single-seaters.

However, the 16-year-old strives towards greatness and is willing to learn from his mistakes.

“It’s mostly about experience because it’s was my second round. I know I can’t use it as an excuse, but experience is really important in these cars. They are bigger and much different than karts,’’ Maini told Motorsport.com earlier this year.