Consistency key to Vento title, says Dodhiwala

Throughout the season comprising of four rounds and 10 races, Dodhiwala finished outside the podium only once, while claiming five wins.

Something which the Hyderabad-based driver reckons that was pivotal in him beating title-rival Karminder Singh to the crown.

“If you look at last year, I scored seven second places finishes, yet I finished third in the championship,’’ Dodhiwala told Motorsport.com.

“This year I’ve regularly been able to make the step up and score wins on a regular basis. The championship is such that there is a massive points difference between finishing first and second (12 points).”

"[It] was a long and hard fought season but all the preparation helped. I was confident of doing well and it feels incredible now that I have won the cup," he added.

Top-five in MRF F1600

Next year, Dodhiwala will switch to single-seater machinery competing in the MRF F1600 series, which comes as a reward for winning the Vento Cup.

Although he has prior testing experience and plans to spend more time in the car over the winter, Dodhiwala has kept the expectations to a minimum heading into his first season in open-wheel cars.

“I’m going to try and keep an open mind,’’ he said. “Considering I did the Polo R Cup in 2014, it is my third year in touring cars. So it is a massive shift in terms of car and the dynamics.

“I’m not trying to keep any targets but a top-five finish in the championship will be a good first season for me.”

“Maybe first couple of races will be a little challenging, but I should be able to keep up with the pace pretty quickly,’’ he added.

Friendship with rival Singh

Dodhiwala’s on-track rivalry with Singh was the feature of the 2016 season, with the duo going head-to-head for the title.

But, as Dodhiwala elaborates, the two driver remains close friends outside the boundaries of a race track.

“Karminder [Singh], me and [2015 Vento champion] Anindith [Reddy] have been the best of friends off the track, irrespective of what fight we have on the track,’’ he said.  “

“The minute we are out on the car, we are back to our old friendship. It’s always refreshing to have this kind of friendship going in a motorsport fraternity.

“You always come to hear of these fierce rivalry like [Nico] Rosberg and [Lewis] Hamilton in F1. But for us, we are very comfortable with each other.”