What a difference a day makes. Only the other day, Chennai’s Rajiv Sethu had a fight on his hands. But, this time around, he did not sweat much on his way to scoring a grand double in the premier Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open class in the Rolon Round of the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship at the Kari Motor Speedway in Chettipalayam here on Sunday.
Having learnt the hard way in the opener, Sethu did the course correction quickly and moved to the top without much ado in the second race. From there, he upped the pace for most part of the 14-lap event. Soon he found there was no big challenge coming his way and, relaxed a bit towards the end to seal a place on the podium.
Pacer Yamaha’s Mathana Kumar did likewise, scoring a double in the Pro-Stock 165cc Open category. The team looked set for another 1-2 finish, but Prabhu Arunagiri, who finished second in the opening race, retired after nine laps due to a mechanical issue.
Hyderabad’s 19-year-old Vignesh Goud (Race’ists Motorcycle Club) was equally commanding in the Novice (Stock 165cc) category as he won both races.
The results (provisional): National championship – Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open (14 laps): 1. Rajiv Sethu (RACR Castrol Power 1 Ultimate) 17:10.905s); 2. Sarthak Chavan (Petronas TVS Racing); 3. Rahil Pillarisetty (KTM Gusto Racing).
Pro-Stock 165cc Open (14 laps): 1. S. Mathana Kumar (Pacer Yamaha) 18:16.308; 2. Chiranth Vishwanath (Petronas TVS Racing); 3. K.Y. Ahamed (Petronas TVS Racing).
Novice (Stock 165cc) (10 laps): 1. Vignesh Goud (Race’ists MC) 14:38.296; 2. Tasmai Cariappa (Pacer Yamaha) 3. Savion Sabu (Axor Sparks Racing).
Girls (Stock 165cc) (8 laps): 1. Lani Fernandez (RACR Castrol Power 1 Ultimate) 11:49.553; 2. Ann Jennifer (Alpha Racing); 3. Jagathishree Kumaresan (One Racing).
Petronas TVS One-Make Championship – Open (Apache RR 310) (Race 1, 10 laps): 1. A. Alwin Sundar (Chennai) 12:51.163; 2. Manoj Yesuadiyan (Chennai); 3. C. Senthil Kumar (Coimbatore). Race-2 (10 laps): 1. Alwin Sundar 12:55.616; 2. C. Senthilkumar; 3. Manoj Yesuadiyan.
Rookie (Apache RTR 200) (10 laps): 1. Copparam Hareesh Shreyas (Bengaluru) 13:58.187; 2. Savion Sabu 14:02.196; 3. Nandanan (Chennai).
Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup (Open, NSF 250) (14 laps): 1. Kavin Quintal (Chennai) 17:11.908; 2. Rakshith S. Dave (Chennai); 3. Prakash Kamath (Steel City).
