Team Herald
PANJIM: Goan Keith Desouza took his maiden podium as he moved up to the second spot in his debut race in the Formula 1600 category of the National Racing Championships and also won the award for the fastest lap in the race with a lap time of 1:40.690, on Saturday.
The race took an interesting turn when Korada slammed into Reddy – leaving the latter with a broken rear wing. This incident costed both the racers the entire race, as consequently – Keith Desouza moved up to the second spot, and Arya Singh grabbed the third. It also compensated for Sandeep’s rather slow start, assuring that he stayed in the lead.
The FF1600 is the highest level racing series in India, with a grid comprising of the best seasoned drivers in India, wherein the Goan lad had to start in the sixth position due to a weight penalty. Keith had a good launch and got past 2016 Vento Cup champion Ishaan Doodhiwala into turn 1 when an incident between Anindith Reddy and Chetan Korada opened up an opportunity for Keith.
Keith took advantage of the same to make a move which saw him in 2nd position behind pole sitter Sandeep Kumar. The battle with Sandeep for the win was a close one with Keith pushing hard for overtake, but Sandeep didn’t put a foot wrong and Keith didn’t want to be over enthusiastic in pulling off a difficult overtake which could have led to a crash.
The difference between the two at the end was only half a second. Keith has also been the only Goan to have stepped up on the Formula Ford podium and bring home a National Championship Trophy this year.
Most of the drivers on the FF1600 grid have an average of 2000+ laps of experience in single seaters compared to just 30 laps that Keith has got this weekend.
