Chennai MRF F1600: Tharani fends off Reddy to win Race 1

At the start of the race, Tharani led the field from pole position, with fellow front-row starter Raghul Rangasamy closely following behind in second place.

The two drivers went head-to-head for the lead in the opening laps, before a mistake for Rangasamy allowing Reddy to take over second.

After resisting an initial counter attack from Rangasamy, Reddy started hammering down race leader Tharani, who had established a decent cushion for himself in the first half of the race.

The Hyderabad-based driver manage to bring down the gap to less than half a second with a series of fastest laps, but ultimately failed to make a move on the 2015 champion.

Tharani, therefore, went on to take the victory by a thin margin of 0.305s, with Rangasamy completing the podium.

Practice pacesetter Sandeep Kumar could finish no higher than fourth, having lost a place to Reddy in the opening lap.

Arya Singh was classified fifth, ahead of Chetan Korada, Sidharth Trivellore and 2016 Vento Cup champion Ishaan Dodhiwala.

Jai Sampath finished down in ninth place after running as high as sixth, while Antony George was the last of the classified finishers in 10th.

Race 1 Results: