MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2023 Round 2 Day –2

Chennai, July 8: Rajiv Sethu (RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate) stamped his authority on the two premium Pro-Stock categories, 301-400cc and 165cc, as he won races in both to headline the second round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2023 at the Madras International Circuit, here on Saturday.

Earlier, Hyderabad’s Vignesh Goud continued his win-spree by topping the Novice (Stock 165cc) race, his third after a double in the first round at Coimbatore last month, while former champion Anne Jennifer qualified for pole position in the Girls (Stock 165cc) category.

Sethu, who was struggling to get his racing career back on track after a couple of disappointing seasons, continued his dramatic turnaround this year following a double in the Pro-Stock 301-400cc category in Coimbatore last month. He followed up with another win here today after surviving a huge high-side scare before ending the day with a grand victory in the Pre-Stock 165cc class.

Off to a fine start from pole position, Sethu, showed strong pace to open a small lead in the very first of the six-lap outing. In the next lap, he survived a massive moment as he saved a high-side crash but slipped to second spot behind TVS Petronas Racing’s Deepak Ravikumar. Sethu then used his pace to regain the lead and never looked back for a commanding win, his third of the season. Finishing third behind Ravikumar was another Petronas TVS Racing rider, KY Ahamed who gained the podium spot when team-mate Sarthak Chavan crashed midway through the race.

In the Pro-Stock 165cc race, it was 16-year-old Bengalurean Chiranth Vishwanath (Petronas TVS Racing) who caused a huge buzz by qualifying for pole position in a highly-experienced quality grid in the morning ahead of Sethu. Later in the day, Chiranth, in his debut season at this level, even led the race for a while before crashing after making contact with another rider. By then, Sethu had slipped past for the lead. While Chiranth dropped down the grid, the Pacer Yamaha pair of Mathana Kumar and Prabhu Arunagiri made ground to finish in that order behind Sethu.

Earlier, starting from pole position, Vignesh Goud (Race’ists Motorcycle Club) fought off close attention in the early part of the six-lap race boasting of a 24-bike grid, before pulling out a decisive lead which he nursed to the finish with Abdul Basim (Rockers Racing) coming in second from a P6 start and Chengalpet’s Sangeeth Sundar third.

Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup (NSF 250): In the day’s last race, Chennai’s Kavin Samaar Quintal extended his dominance in this category with his third consecutive win of the season and in a commanding fashion. He followed up with his double in the first round last month with another easy win today, ahead of Bengalurean AS James and Steel City’s Prakash Kumar Kamat.

Petronas TVS One-Make Championship: In the Girls (RTR 200) category, Bengaluru’s Nithila Das scored her second win of the season after holding off local challenger Nadine Faith Balaji while Mumbai’s Sarah Khan finished third. Later, another Bengalurean, Shreyas Hareesh yet again topped the Rookie race that was red-flagged and cut to four laps instead of scheduled six following a couple of on-track incidents, for his third win on the trot this season.

The results (Provisional – all 6 laps unless mentioned): 

National Championship – Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open (Race-1)

1. Rajiv Sethu (Chennai, RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate) (11mins, 13.782secs)
2. Deepak Ravikumar (Chennai, Petronas TVS Racing) (11:18.209)
3. KY Ahamed (Chennai, Petronas TVS Racing) (11:23.380)

Pro-Stock 165cc Open (Race-1)

1.  Rajiv Sethu (Chennai, RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate) (11:49.749)
2. Mathana Kumar (Trichy, Pacer Yamaha) (11:49.865)
3. Prabhu Arunagiri (Chennai, Pacer Yamaha) (11:50.099)

Qualifying

1. Chiranth Vishwanath (Bengaluru, Petronas TVS Racing) (01:55.861)
2. Rajiv Sethu (RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate) (01:56.199)
3.  Prabhu Arunagiri (Chennai, Pacer Yamaha) (01:56.390)

Novice (Stock 165cc) (Race-1)

1. Vignesh Goud (Hyderabad, Race’ists Motorcycle Club) (13:04.013)
2. Abdul Basim RS (Chennai, Rockers Racing) (13:04.542)
3. Sangeeth Sundar (Chengalpet, Rookies Racing) (13:06.615)

Qualifying – Girls (Stock 165cc – Top 3, best lap)

1. Ann Jennifer (Chennai, Alpha Racing) (02:09.781)
2. Ryhana Bee (Chennai, RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate) (02:09.969)
3. Lani Fernandez (Puducherry, RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate) (02:11.494)

Support Race (Stock 301-400cc Novice)

1. Meckline Gaunkar (Margao, Gusto Racing) (12:41.421)
2. Rohit Lad (Bengaluru, Pvt) (12:42.669)
3. Aldrin Babu (Chalakkudy, RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate) (12:44.555)

Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup (NSF 250, Race-1)

1.  Kavin Samaar Quintal (Chennai) (11:11.508)
2. AS James (Bengaluru) (11:22.881)
3. Prakash Kumar Kamat (Steel City) (11:28.859)

Petronas TVS One-Make Championship – Rookie (Apache RTR 200, Race-1, 4 laps)

1. Shreyas Hareesh (Bengaluru) (08:27.416)
2. Savion Sabu (Bengaluru) (08:27.628)
3. Nandanan (Chennai) (08:32.240)

Girls (Apache RTR 200, Race 1, 5 laps)

1. Nithila Das (Bengaluru) (11:17.235)
2. Nadine Faith Balaji (Chennai) (11:17.855)
3. Sarah Khan (Mumbai) (11:27.218)