Mathana lands maiden win

Mathana Kumar of Honda Ten10 Racing emerged from the shadows of his peers, chalking up his maiden win of the season in the premier Super Sport Indian (up to 165cc) class as the third round of the MRF national motorcycle racing championship concluded at the MMRT track in Chennai on Sunday.

Mathana, a 25-year old from Trichy, with three second-place finishes in five outings this season, came good in Race 2 and the 25 points he garnered took him to 91 points, just 14 behind teammate Rajiv Sethu even as defending champion Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) squandered a double by crashing on the last lap.

Aravind Balakrishnan, also of Honda Ten10 Racing, dominated the Pro-Stock (up to 165cc) class by completing a double that took him to the top of the leaderboard while Gusto Racing’s Amarnath Menon from Kozhikode scored his fifth win in six outings in the Super Sport Indian (300-400cc) class.

Anup Kumar M of RACR team took the honours in the highlycompetitive novice (stock up to 165cc) race in a near-photo finish ahead of Sparks Racing duo of Satyanarayana Raju (Sparks Racing) and Sri Rahil Pillarishetty.

The Super Sport Indian (up to 165cc) race was one of fluctuating fortunes. Jagan, winner of the first race on Saturday, initially led a tightly-packed bunch of five riders that also included Sethu, Mathana, and TVS Racing mates K.Y. Ahamed and Sylvester.

Jagan looked good for another win until a problem with his bike saw him drop down the grid and later crashed on the last lap, but picked himself up to finish fifth. By then, Mathana had moved to the front with Sylvester in hot pursuit. Sethu survived a contact with Ahamed who fell and retired, to come in third.

The Super Sport Indian 300400cc race was as dramatic with front-runner Dinesh Kumar (Team Alisha Abdullah) went into a puddle at Turn 1 and crashed. It allowed Menon to move ahead along with Anthony Peter. The pair traded positions once before Menon took a decisive lead on the last lap and win a close race.