Chennai, August 21: Day 1 of the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship (INMRC) concluded with some action-packed performances at Madras Motor Sports Club, Chennai.
While riders Rajiv Sethu and Senthil Kumar fought for top spots in the Pro-Stock 165cc category, 26 millenial riders raced their finest to grab laurels in the IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup NSF250R and CBR150R categories. Parallely, first race of newly introduced Honda Hornet 2.0 One Make Race saw a mix grid of 13 riders including two girls Ryhana Bee from Chennai and Lani Zena from Pondicherry putting up a tough fight with boys.
(L-R)- Veera Ashwin Lal, Kevin Kannan & Sudheer Sudhakar- Top 3 finishers of Honda Hornet 2.0 One Make Race | Special arrangment
Speaking on today’s race, Mr. Prabhu Nagaraj, Senior Vice President, Brand & Communication, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. Said, “The first day of Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship (INMRC) 2021 started on a good note with our ace rider Rajiv Sethu scoring second podium finish in PS165cc category. All our riders raced their finest showcasing their exceptional riding talent. The polished performances of our young guns in the CBR150R & NSF250R categories and mature performance by riders in Hornet 2.0 One Make Race proved that it is going to be a much excited season. Taking the results from a constructive day, we are confident that tomorrow’s races would yield us better results and justify the potential of all racers.”
MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship – ProStock 165cc
Representing the IDEMITSU Honda SK 69 racing team in Pro-Stock 165cc category are veteran riders Rajiv Sethu and Senthil Kumar. Starting from 4th on the grid, Rajiv moved up to one place in first lap itself. In a close battle for the second spot, Rajiv made a clean overtake at turn 4 of lap 2 but againe pushed back at 3rd by the nearest competitor. Using the experience of previous races and putting learnings from International races at the fore front, Rajiv once again leaped ahead of his nearest competitor in the final lap and finished the race at 2nd place with a total race time of 11:55.312. Team mate Senthil Kumar also held tight and gave a consistent performance to finish at the 4th place. Both Rajiv and Senthil were able to steal points for the team by finishing in the top 4.
(L-R)-Geoffrey R Emmanuel ,Kavin Quintal & Varoon S- Top 3 finishers of Race 1 IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup NSF 250R category | Special arrangement
Inaugural round of Honda Hornet 2.0 One Make Race
Saturday saw fierce riding in Race 1 of the category from the front runners Kevin Kannan, Veera Ashwin Lal and Sudheer Sudhakar. Leading the race was Kevin Kannan from Chennai who held on the top spot while competing a neck-on-neck battle with Sudheer Sudhakar of New Delhi. After clinching the 1st spot in pen ultimate lap, Sudheer lost control of the bike and suffered a crash at the last corner of lap 6 while contesting against Kevin Kannan. With total time of 13:28.543, Kevin finished the race at first. At the 2nd place stood teammate Veera Ashwin Lal of Madurai. Though pushed off the track, Sudheer Sudhakar picked himself up to finish the race at the 3rd place registering the best lap of 2:12.512.
IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup – NSF 250R & CBR150R categories
Setting off a brilliant start, Pune lad Sarthak Chavan rode with poise and jetted of to the first position overtaking teammate Kavin Quintal from the early seconds of the race. Throughout the race, Sarthak and Kavin were engaged in a tough fight to claim the first position. Intimidating his competitor, Kavin intelligently made a clean move and pushed back Sarthak. While trying hard to gain back the first spot, Sarthak suffered an unfortunate crash. Local boy Kavin thus won the race 1 of NSF250R category registering the best lap of 1:48.681. Lapping back home after Kavin were the Chennai boys Varoon S and Geoffrey R Emmanuel who grabbed 2nd and 3rd podium positions respectively.
The IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup CBR150R category saw 14 of our riders in an intense head-on battle for the top spots. The first lap itself witnessed a change in positions. While the pole starter Prakash Kamat drifted away at first corner of Lap 1, 13-year-old Rakshith S Dave took the lead. Maintaining his lead throughout the 6 laps race, Chennai boy Rakshith won his maiden victory with a comfortable lead of 4.816 seconds. The second spot saw a tough contestation from Theopaul Leander, Johann Reeves Emmanuel and Siddesh Sawant before Prakash Kamat from Bokaro Steel City made a brilliant recovery and manoeuvred past competition to finish at the 2nd place. Joining Rakshith and Prakash on podium was 20-year-old Chennai lad Theopaul Leander who finished the race at 3rd position, thus grabbing his first podium finish.
