Chennai, September 9: Local collegian Alwin Sundar (AS Motorsports) grabbed pole position in the Novice (Stock 165cc) category as the second round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship commenced at the MMRT, here on Friday.
Sundar, who leads the championship after his double in the previous round last month, clocked a best of 02 minutes, 07.596 seconds, followed by two riders from Thrissur, Allwin Xavier (Sparks Racing) (02:08.911) with Anfal A (Rockstar Racing) (02:09.069). The trio will head a 38-bike grid for the first race tomorrow.
Earlier, Bengaluru-based Anish Damodar Shetty (Race Concepts), who is placed second in the championship astride a KTM RC 390, topped the practice session in the premier Pro-Stock 301-400cc category, clocking a best lap of 01:53.332, ahead of Hyderabad’s Rahil Shetty (Gusto Racing, 01:53.469), also on a KTM, and Soorya PM (Rockers Racing, 01:53.876) on a Yamaha.
Championship leader, Rajini Krishnan (RACR, 01:54.126), who won both the races in Round-1 last month, was slightly off the pace in fifth position on his Yamaha R3, behind Jagadeesh N (Sparks Racing, 01:53.968).
In the other premier category, the Pro-Stock 165cc, Idemitsu Honda SK69 Racing’s Rajiv Sethu (01:56.899) was the quickest in the practice session, with two TVS Racing riders, defending champion and arch-rival Jagan Kumar (01:57.132) and Deepak Ravikumar (01:57.773) trailing in second and third spots.
The qualifying session for both the Pro-Stock category will be held tomorrow followed by first of the two races.
The Girls (Stock 165cc) too warmed up for tomorrow’s qualifying session with title holder Ann Jennifer (Sparks Racing) emerging quickest in practice run with a 02:10.097, followed by Round-1 race winner Ryhana Bee (RACR, 02:10.277) and Puducherry’s Lani Zena Fernandez (Speed Up Racing, 02:10.578).
In the One-Make Championships organized by the Madras Motor Sports Club, Navaneeth Kumar from Puducherry (TVS Open), Hyderabad’s Baddam Deepika Reddy (TVS Girls) and Prakash Kamath from Bokaro Steel City (Idemistu Honda CBR 150) qualified for pole positions in their respective categories.
