From correspondents in Tamil Nadu, India, 08:05 PM IST

K. Vinoth of Wallace Sports, who finished second in the JK Tyre Junior Cup National racing championship (Formula Maruti) was elevated to the top spot after teammate Vikash Anand, who was earlier adjudged winner, was excluded from the five Round 2 races that were held over the weekend.

Vikash, the 15-year-old schoolboy from Chennai, had finished the championship, contested over two rounds of 10 races, with 73 points to Vinoth's 71.

The Stewards, following post-race scrutiny, ruled that the engine of Vikash's car did not conform to homologation specifications and was hence illegal. Consequently, the Stewards divested Vikash of all the 15 points he had scored in the five races of Round 2.

The decision automatically elevated Vinoth to the top spot. He had won six of the 10 races as against Vikash's one and hence, the revision of final positions did some justice to the biker-turned four-wheeler racer in his third Junior Cup series.

According to Chief Steward G. Manohar, the combustion chamber of one of the three cylinders did not conform to the regulations.

'We had no choice but to exclude Vikash from the second round results. It would mean that those who had finished behind him in the championship automatically gained one spot,' he told IANS.

'We had sealed the engines after yesterday's qualifying rounds and opened them today after the races,' he said. The Stewards then conducted an enquiry before annulling Vikash's results from Round 2.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)