Indian Motor Sport (One-make Races)
The second round of the MRF Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship saw top racers battle it out at Chennai’s Sriperumbudur circuit
Following a rainy race weekend in Coimbatore, the MRF MMSC Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship (INMRC) arrived in Chennai on the second weekend of July for some high-octane racing action. Although the weather threatened to play spoilsport, a major part of the weekend had perfect conditions for racing. The 3.7-kmlong track at the MMRT was a hive of
activity as racers and their teams milled about, fine-tuning their machines before each session. Find a comfortable perch and settle down for a weekend’s worth of racing activity in the next couple of pages.
SS 300-400 Class RACE ONE
The six-lap Super Sport 300-400 Class race was the second one on Saturday.
After starting from the second position on the grid, Amarnath Menon (Gusto Racing Team) made quick work of finishing the race in first place along with a best lap-time of 1:56.395. Having claimed the top spot at both races in the first round at Coimbatore, he made it seem almost too easy. The man who started at pole, Deepak Ravi (Moto Rev), had to settle for third place after he was overtaken by Vivek Pillai (Rockers Racing).
RACE TWO
Sunday morning’s race saw the top three from the previous day pull away and create a seven-second gap between themselves and the rest of the pack. Soon the trio were engaged in battle among themselves at the end of which Amarnath Menon emerged victorious yet again. Deepak Ravi bounced back and claimed the second step on the podium with a best lap-time of 1:57.449. Although he fought well, Vivek Pillai had to settle for third place.
Super Sport 165 Class RACE ONE
Honda Ten 10 Racing’s Rajiv Sethu was the man to watch over the weekend. He started from pole, only to be passed by TVS Racing’s Jagan K, but soon Jagan faced some technical issues which saw him fall back out of contention. Rajiv sped past and pulled away, opening up a comfortable three-second lead by the end of the six-lap race, setting the fastest lap in the process (1:58.851). He was followed by K Y Ahamed of TVS Racing in second place and Prabhu Arunagiri of R.A.C.R in third place. Jagan was able to nurse his bike to a sixth-place finish.
RACE TWO
Sunday’s race saw Jagan take the lead for TVS Racing early on, only to crash out at Turn Four on the fifth lap. Rajiv took back the lead to cross the line four seconds ahead of his team-mate, Mathana Kumar, in second. Mathana and Prabhu Arunagiri fought for second place for the duration of the race, but in the end Prabhu had to settle for third place once again.
Pro-Stock Class RACE ONE
After ruling both the races in the previous round and starting from pole, Mithun Kumar of Honda Ten 10 Racing lost momentum and finished in sixth position while his team-mate, B Aravind, took the top spot after a fierce battle with Aravind Ganesh of Moto Rev and Naresh Babu of R.A.C.R., who finished in second and third place respectively. The top three riders were within less than half a second of each other. Yashas R L of Team Rockers Racing and Anish Shetty of Honda Ten 10 Racing were not to be taken lightly either. Although they finished in fourth and fifth place respectively, they were barely a second off B Aravind’s time.
RACE TWO
The 165-cc Stock Class race was redflagged due to several incidents, and restarted to complete the five-lap race. Sparks Racing’s Peddu Sri Harsha was able to fight off stiff competition to claim the top spot, closely followed by Speed Up Racing’s Vysakh Sobhan. Anup Kumar of R.A.C.R. was able to keep the rest of the pack behind him to secure the last spot on the podium.
Stock Class
The 165-cc Stock Class race was redflagged due to several incidents, and restarted to complete the five-lap race. Sparks Racing’s Peddu Sri Harsha was able to fight off stiff competition to claim the top spot, closely followed by Speed Up Racing’s Vysakh Sobhan. Anup Kumar of R.A.C.R. was able to keep the rest of the pack behind him to secure the last spot on the podium.
Stock Class Ladies
The practice and qualifying sessions for the ladies were held on Friday. After her thrilling win at Coimbatore, Aishwarya Pissay of Apex Racing continued to shine and claimed pole position. However, the next day Ryhana Bee of Team Speed Up Racing showed phenomenal talent on the track and out-rode her peers to cross the finish line first, setting the fastest lap (2:15.217) of the race in the process. Ryhana established a significant two-second lead at the front, leaving Aishwarya to battle it out with Kalyani Potekar of TeamSpeed Up Racing for second place. Kalyani won that bout and put herself on the second step, leaving third place for Aishwarya.