INDIA in F1

Tag: Indian National Racing Championship

  • Rajini, Jagan bounce back; Jennifer, Samrul win

    Rajini, Jagan bounce back; Jennifer, Samrul win

    Chennai, 7 August 2022: Veterans Rajini Krishnan (RACR Castrol Power1) and Jagan Kumar (Petronas TVS Racing) bounced back in style with superb victories to provide a fitting climax to the third round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2022 at the Madras International Circuit, here on Sunday.

    Also notching impressive wins on the day were Hyderabad’s Md Samrul Zubair (Race’ists Motorcycle Club) in the Novice (Stock 165) category after starting 21st on the grid and local rider, Ann Jennifer (Alpha Racing), the former champion, in the Girls (Stock 165cc) class.

    Rajini, chasing his 11th National title, shrugged off a third place finish yesterday to win handily in the next outing today in the premier Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open category to stretch his championship lead to 51 points.

    Rajini’s two decades of racing experience was very much in evidence as he paced himself brilliantly and bided his time starting from P3 before making his move while keeping in mind the track condition which initially was damp following spots of light drizzle before the start. He also dealt with close attention from the Petronas TVS Racing pair of Deepak Ravikumar and Race-1 winner KY Ahamed with panache to notch his fifth win in sixth starts. “I did not really push because of the track conditions, and later eased off just a bit,” said Rajini who now leads Ravikumar by 51 points in the championship standings.

    In contrast, last year’s champion Jagan Kumar, who missed the previous round owing to a wrist injury he suffered in the Rolon Round at Coimbatore in June, and still nursing a painful right wrist, recorded his first win of the season in the other premier category, the Pro-Stock 165cc Open, to end a drought that stretched to 10 months and 12 races.

    Jagan made the best of the situation that saw front-running and yesterday’s winner Rajiv Sethu (Idemitsu Honda SK69 Racing) crashing early in the eight-lap race and later, new leader Deepak Ravikumar, also of Petronas TVS Racing, retiring in the second-half of the race. Needing no second invitation, Jagan blasted past team-mate KY Ahamed and Pacer Yamaha’s Prabhu Arunagiri to victory. Arunagiri, who led briefly after Sethu’s exit, finished second ahead of Ahamed. Championship leader Mathana Kumar (Pacer Yamaha) came in fifth and enjoys a 28-point cushion over Sethu.

    Earlier, Md Samrul Zubair came up with a brilliant performance to win the Novice (Stock 165cc) category race which he started from P21. The race also ended a five-win streak of Hubballi’s Sarvesh Balappa (Axor Sparks Racing) who finished ninth. However, Balappa remains at the top of the championship standings in this category with a 36-point lead over Bengaluru teenager Chiranth Vishwanath (Rookies Racing) who finished third behind Mumbai’s Kayan Zubin Patel (Axor Sparks Racing) in today’s race.

    Meanwhile, Ann Jennifer scored her second win of the season after the two front-runners, Ryhana Bee (Pacer Yamaha) and Lani Zena Fernandez (RACR Castrol Power1) crashed in consecutive laps at the same spot exiting the last corner. For much of the five-lap race, the battle raged in front between Ryhana and Lani, with Ann lying in third. However, with the two in front crashing but subsequently recovering to finish the race, it was a comfortable win for Ann who thus moved to the top of the championship standings in this category with 60 points.

    Others who maintained their unbeaten run were:

    Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup – Sarthak Shrikant Chavan from Pune (NSF 250, 6 wins); Raheesh Mudassar Khatri from Mumbai (CBR 150, 6 wins).

    Petronas TVS One-Make Championship – Chiranth Vishwanath from Bengaluru (Rookie, 6 wins); Aditi Krishnan from Bengaluru (Girls, RTR200, 3 wins).

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

    National Championship – Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open (Race-2, 8 laps): 1. Rajini Krishnan (Chennai, RACR Castrol Power1) (15mins, 09.788secs); 2. Deepak Ravikumar (Chennai, Petronas TVS Racing) (15:10.049); 3. KY Ahamed (Chennai, Petronas TVS Racing) (15:11.842).

    Pro-Stock 165cc Open (Race-2, 8 laps): 1. Jagan Kumar (Chennai, Petronas TVS Racing) (15:50.649); 2. Prabhu Arunagiri (Chennai, Pacer Yamaha) (15:50.794); 3. KY Ahamed (Chennai, Petronas TVS Racing) (15:51.092).

    Novice (Stock 165cc, Race-2, 6 laps): 1. Md Samrul Zubair (Hyderabad, Race’ists Motorcycle Club) (13:06.841); 2. Kayan Zubin Patel (Mumbai, Axor Sparks Racing) (13:07.254); 3. Chiranth Vishwanath (Bengaluru, Rookies Racing) (13:08.310).

    Girls (Stock 165cc, 5 laps): 1. Ann Jennifer (Chennai, Alpha Racing) (11:00.636); 2. Jagathishree (Chennai, Pacer Yamaha) (11:02.138); 3. Jagruti Penkar (Mumbai, Axor Sparks Racing) (11:09.459).

    Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup – NSF 250 Open (Race-2, 10 laps): 1. Sarthak Shrikant Chavan (Pune) (18:19.395); 2. Kavin Quintal (Chennai) (18:41.408); 3. Shyam Sundar (Chennai) (18:45.910).

    Novice (CBR 150, Race-2): 1. Raheesh Mudassar Khatri (Mumbai) (12:49.567); 2. Rajender Beedani (Jangaon) (12:49.849); 3. Harshith V Bogar (Bengaluru) (13:01.044).

    Support Race – Hornet 2.0 (Race-2): 1. Allwin Xavier (Chennai) (13:23.706); 2. Sudheer Sudhakar (New Delhi) (13:25.265); 3. G Balaji (Chennai) (13:25.293).

    Petronas TVS One-Make Championship – Open (Apache RR310, Race-1): 1. Alwin Sundar (Chennai) (11:45.653); 2. Rahil Pillarisetty (Hyderabad) (11:45.659); 3. P Anantharaj (Chennai) (11:47.459). Race-2: 1. Rahil Pillarisetty (Hyderabad) (11:40.643); 2. Jagadeesh N (Bengaluru) (11:40.661); 3. P Ananthraj (Chennai) (11:42.608).

    Rookie (Apache RTR 200, Race-2): 1. Chiranth Vishwanath (Bengaluru) (12:30.498); 2. Shreyas Hareesh (Bengaluru) (12:40.139); 3. Abdul Basim RS (Chennai) (12:40.250).

    Media (Apache RTR 200, 5 laps): 1. Karan Singh (Delhi) (11:53.563); 2. Ishan Lee (Pune) (11:54.038); 3. Mandar Sheela Sawant (Pune) (11:57.498).

  • Rajini Krishnan bounces back, double for KY Ahamed

    Rajini Krishnan bounces back, double for KY Ahamed

    Chennai, 10 October 2021: Ace rider Rajini Krishnan (RACR Castrol Power Racing) came into his own to script a fine win while TVS Racing’s KY Ahamed completed a double as the third round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2021 concluded at the MMRT, here on Sunday.

    Rajini Krishnan, 41, diced with yesterday’s Race-1 winner Hyderabad’s Rahil Shetty (Gusto Racing) and Deepak Ravikumar (TVS Racing) before winning the thrilling battle in the premier Prostock 301-400cc category with less than a second covering the trio. The win, his fourth of the season from six starts, helped Rajini (118 points) to maintain his top position in the championship table with Rahil 17 points adrift.

    Later, local challenger Ahamed kept his nerves to record his second win of the weekend with team-mate and defending champion Jagan Kumar delivering a 1-2 finish for TVS Racing while Rajiv Sethu (Idemitsu Honda SK69 Racing) was third. The result could have been different as early leader, Deepak Ravikumar (TVS Racing) crashed heavily exiting the last corner in the fifth lap. The result notwithstanding, Jagan continues to head the points table with 126 points, followed by Ravikumar (85), Sethu (83) and Ahamed (77).

    Rajini Krishnan leads the premier Prostock 301-400cc class (118 points) Photos Anand Philar

    One of the top rides of the day, however, was from Chennai collegian Alwin Sundar (AS Motorsports), who started P34 and won the Novice (Stock 165cc) race, his third of the season, as did Ryhana Bee (RACR Castrol Power Racing) in the Girls (Stock 165cc) category. Sundar is currently placed second in the championship in the Novice class with 103 points to leader Anfal Akdhar’s 113. Ryhana heads the Girls table with 75 points, well clear of Mumbai’s Jagruti Penkar of Sparks Racing (45).

    Riding a Yamaha R3, Rajini Krishnan brought into play his vast experience to win a tight battle with Rahil Shetty, astride a KTM 390, as the two swapped leads over eight laps with third-placed Ravikumar in the mix.

    The contest, at times, turned physical with Rajini and Rahil coming into contact, but both escaped any mishap. “It was a tough race. Rahil is extremely fast, like he was yesterday. I also had an eye on the championship points and didn’t want to make any mistakes like in the previous round when I crashed,” said Rajini.

    KY Ahamed (No.33) powering his way to victory in the Prostock 165cc Open race (Oct 10)

    The Prostock 165cc Open race was full of suspense as to the eventual outcome, though TVS Racing appeared heading towards another podium sweep like on Saturday. The quartet of Ravikumar, Ahamed, Jagan Kumar and Rajiv Sethu was bunched tight at the front with the TVS trio leading by turns.

    However, Ravikumar tragically crashed when the front tyre washed away and he was fortunate to fall outside the track on the grass allowing Ahamed, Jagan and Sethu, besides rest of the field to zip through.  

    The results (Provisional):

    National Championship – Prostock 301-400cc Open (Race-2, 8 laps): 1. Rajini Krishnan (RACR Castrol Power, Chennnai,) (15mins, 04.136secs); 2. Rahil Shetty (Gusto Racing, Hyderabad) (15:04.561); 3. Deepak Ravikumar (TVS Racing, Chennai) (15:04.719).

    Prostock 165cc Open (Race-2, 8 laps): 1. KY Ahamed (TVS Racing) (15:40.885); 2. Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) (15:41.020); 3. Rajiv Sethu (Idemitsu Honda SK69 Racing) (15:41.146).

    Novice (Stock 165cc) Race-2 (6 laps): 1. Alwin Sundar (AS Motorsports, Chennai) (13:05.747); 2. Sarvesh Balappa (Sparks Racing, Hubballi) (13:06.309); 3. Allwin Xavier (Sparks Racing, Thrissur) (13:06.342).

    Girls (Stock 165cc, 5 laps): 1. Ryhana Bee (RACR Castrol Power Racing, Chennai) (10:53.801); 2. Ann Jennifer (Sparks Racing, Chennai) (11:07.230); 3. Jagruti Penkar (Sparks Racing, Mumbai) (11:09.601).

    One-Make Championship organised by MMSC:

    Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup – NSF 250R (Race-2, 8 laps): 1. Sarthak Chavan (Pune) (14:46.889); 2. Kavin Quintal (Chennai) (14:53.056); 3. Mohsin Paramban (Malappuram) (15:02.291).

    Honda Novice (CBR 150) Race-2 (6 laps): 1. Prakash Kamat (Bokar Steel City) (13:10.827); 2. Ikshan Shanbhag (Satara) (13:13.736); 3. Theopaul Leander (Chennai) (13:26.125).

    Honda Hornet 2.0 (Race-2, 6 laps): 1. Ullas Santrupt Nanda (Chennai) (13:20.440); 2. Alwin Sundar (Chennai) (13:20.867); 3. Prabhu V (Chennai) (13:21.107).

    TVS Open (Apache RR 310) Race-1 (6 laps): 1. Jagadeesh N (Bengaluru) (11:47.095); 2. Aditya Rao I (Bengaluru) (11:48.755); 3. Navaneeth Kumar S (Puducherry) (11:50.591). Race-2: 1. Jagadeesh N (11:46.122); 2. Venkat Prabhu (Chennai) (11:49.456); 3. Yashas RL (Bengauru) (11:49.969).

    TVS Rookie (Apache RTR 200) Race-2 (6 laps): 1. Shreyas Hareesh (Bengaluru) (12:53.089); 2. Jinendra Kiran Sangave (Kolhapur) (12:53.628); 3. Vignesh Goud (Hyderabad) (12:53.660).

    TVS Media (Apache RTR 200) (5 laps): 1. Soham Thakur (Mumbai) (11:37.219); 2. Manaal Mahatme (Mumbai) (11:47.104); 3. Ajinkya Lad (Mumbai) (12:04.009).