Hondas Hit the Track
Mathana dominated the second round of the Honda One-make Championship in Chennai
THE NEW FOR 2016 RACE-PREPARED Honda CBR 150R and CBR 250R bikes set Chennai’s MMRT circuit on fire, and we were lucky enough to be present to witness some highly competitive racing.
Novice Class
RACE ONE
Friday’s CBR 150R Novice race saw Patna’s Piyush Ranjan dominating throughout the four laps, to finish over two seconds ahead of Shreyas Sannake from Miraj. Hubli’s Anish Shetty, who dominated this class in the first round at Coimbatore, snagged the last step on the podium, finishing six seconds behind the race leader. RACE TWO
The second CBR 150R Novice race saw Anish Shetty back in top form, setting the fastest lap of the race
(2:09.991), and finishing in first place, just .051 of a second ahead of Chennai’s
Soorya P M. Mahesh Murali from
Kerala finished on the third step of the podium, a second behind Soorya. Piyush Ranjan, the winner of the previous day’s race, crashed out on the last lap while trying to steal the lead, and did not finish the race. RACE THREE
Anish Shetty made it clear that he is a force to be reckoned with by winning Sunday’s Novice Class race as well. Second place went to Soorya P M, who set the fastest lap of the race, but even this was not enough to beat Shetty to the finish-line. Mahesh Murali once again finished a second behind Soorya to secure his second podium finish of the weekend.
Open Class
RACE ONE
Saturday’s Open Class race saw Mathana Kumar of the Honda Ten10 Racing team authoritatively finish the race four seconds ahead of team-mate Rajiv Sethu, with a blisteringly fast 2:02.764 best lap. We do salute Rajiv Sethu’s spirit and determination, coming out to race after being seriously injured in a crash during the previous round in Coimbatore. He limped to his bike, set the fastest lap of the race (2:02.720) and then proceeded to limp up to the podium to claim his trophy. S Sivanesan finished three seconds behind Sethu, to claim the last spot on the podium
RACE TWO
Race two again saw two Honda Ten10 Racing riders on the podium. Mathana led the race from start to finish, setting best laps and constantly increasing his lead and leaving the rest of the pack to fight for position. He finished the race seven seconds ahead of Rock Star
Racing’s Abhishek
V, who finished .359 of a second ahead of
Rajiv Sethu, who secured his second podium spot at the event.