Ponda (Goa), May 1 (PTI) Delhi's Philippos Matthai, representing Team Speed Sport, recorded the fastest time on way to a triple crown in the second round of the BMC FMSCI Indian National Autocross Championship (INAC) here.

The 1.2-Km lap on the winding dirt-track with a couple of tricky corners saw Matthai clock a time of 1:36.37 seconds and was adjudged as the overall fastest driver.

Also Read | Bangladesh Scrap One Test Match Against Afghanistan Due to Tight Schedule.

Three Goans -- Azim Hanchi (1:40.64s), Amey Desai (1:41.06s) and Saamag Kudchadkar (1:41.81s) -- finished behind Matthai.

The eight INAC classes will see the top-five racers from each class, in every round, qualify for the grand finale, where they will battle it out for Indian National Autocross Champions 2023 crown in December this year.

Also Read | Kasumi Ishikawa, Japanese Table Tennis Star, Announces Retirement.

Matthai, a multiple-time national champion, won Autocross titles in 2019 and 2022, and has been racing for the last 22 years, and is a well-known racer in the popular longer-format Indian National Rally Championship (INRC).

Along with the INRC sub-class title, he now has three national championship trophies.

"Dirt track racing is relatively low-cost and people can witness the entire race from a vantage point and gives the drivers a thrill, to provide seat-edged excitement to the spectators," said Matthai.

Saamag Kudchadkar of Goa became the fastest driver, clocking 1:36.22s in time attack, a non-championship class and also won the INAC3 open class.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)