Tag: MRF

Chennai, 29 Sept 2019: Deepak Ravikumar of TVS Racing annexed the premier Pro-Stock 301-400cc title on a day dominated by Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing as the fifth and final round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2019 concluded at the MMRT, here today.

Ravikumar’s win today, his fourth this season, denied Honda a clean sweep of titles in the Pro-Stock category. While TVS had something to celebrate, Honda riders, Anish Shetty (Pro Stock 201-300cc) and Sarath Kumar (Pro-Stock 165cc) won the championship in their respective categories. Shetty, who had sealed the championship yesterday itself, finished the season with a double and seven wins on the trot, while Sarath won his first National championship title in nine years despite finishing third in his race.

The other National champions to emerge on the concluding day were Chennai riders Venkatesan I of Team Moto Maniacz in the Novice (Stock 165cc) and Ryhana Bee of Sparks Racing in the Girls category.

While Ravikumar had to fight hard for his crucial win, Sarath played it smart to finish third behind Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) and a charging Kevin Kannan (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing).

Likewise, Ryhana Bee rode carefully and was content to finish third that earned her sufficient points to win the championship. Finishing ahead of Ryhana in the race were 2018 champion Ann Jennifer (Sparks Racing) and Alisha Abdullah (Alisha Racing).

“I am absolutely delighted to win a National championship after a lapse of nine years. We had a strategy for today’s race and I am happy that it worked well,” said Sarath Kumar who had a brief stint in the FIM Moto3 World Championship a few years ago before a knee injury severely affected his racing career as the healing process took much longer than expected.

The Pro-Stock 165cc race turned out to be a two-man show with Kannan and Jagan exchanging lead through the eight laps while Sarath seemed content to be in a lonely third spot while behind him, championship contender Rajiv Sethu, who had won six races on the trot earlier this season, gradually faded from the contest. By finishing third, Sarath picked up sufficient points to clinch the title ahead of Sethu and Jagan Kumar.

The Girls race saw defending champion Ann Jennifer hitting the front and go on to win with a measure of comfort with Lani Zena Fernandez (Demonz Racing) and Alisha Abdullah (Alisha Racing) following home. Ryhana Bee finished fourth. However, after the post-race scrutiny, Lena was disqualified for “technical violation” and Ryhana was elevated to third place. Ryhana, thus, finished with a tally of 123 and secured the championship while Jennifer (108) was placed second.

“Since I had a bad qualifying session, I started only fourth on the grid and with the championship in stake, I was intent on collecting points without taking any risks. This is my first National championship title and I am extremely happy. My thanks to my team, Sparks Racing, Yamaha and all the mechanics who worked behind the scene,” said Ryhana.

In the Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup came from Chennai’s Md Mikail notched eight consecutive wins for the title in the NSF 250R class (FIM Moto3 spec bikes). Aizwal’s Lal Nunsanga who finished with seven wins, including a double in the final round, emerged champion in CBR 150 class.

The results (Provisional):

National Championship:

Pro-Stock 301-400cc (Race-2, 7 laps): 1. Deepak Ravikumar (TVS Racing) (13mins, 31.612secs); 2. Karthik Mateti (Gusto Racing) (13:32.042); 3. Rahil Shetty (Sparks Racing) (13:35.414). Championship winners: Deepak Ravikumar (Rider), TVS Racing (Team), TVS (Manufacturer).

Pro-Stock 201-300cc (Race-2, 7 laps): 1. Anish Shetty (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) (13:55.497); 2. Naresh Babu (Eneos Honda Chandra Racing) (13:55.727); 3. Aravind Balakrishnan (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) (14:04.454). Championship winners: Anish Shetty (Rider), Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing (Team), Honda (Manufacturer).

Pro-Stock 165cc (Race-2, 8 laps): 1. Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) (15mins, 59.392secs); 2. Kevin Kannan (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) (15:59.592); 3. Sarath Kumar (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) (16:10.802). Championship winners: Sarath Kumar (Rider), Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing (Team), Honda (Manufacturer).

Novice (Stock 165cc) Race-2: 1. Venkatesan I (Motomaniacz Racing) (13:09.759); 2. Manoj Y (Motomaniacz Racing) (13:09.871); 3. S Aravind (Rockers Racing) (13:10.028). Championship winners: Venkatesan I (Rider), Sparks Racing (Team), Yamaha (Manufacturer).

Girls (Stock 165cc, 5 laps): 1. Ann Jennifer (Sparks Racing) (11:07.846); 2. Alisha Abdullah (Alisha Racing) (11:16.374); 3. Ryhana Bee (Sparks Racing) (11:17.256). Championship winners: Ryhana Bee (Rider), Sparks Racing (Team), Yamaha (Manufacturer).

One-Make Championship organised by MMSC:

Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup – NSF 250R (Race-2): 1. Md Mikail (Chennai) (11:04.901); 2. Kavin Samaar Quintal (Chennai) (11:09.254); 3. Charan Thangavel (Chennai) (11:24.314). Race-3: 1. Md Mikail (14:26.574); 2. Kritik Vasant Habib (Gadag) (14:51.658); 3. Kavin Samaar Quintal (15:04.385). Rider champion: Md Mikail.

CBR 150 (Race-2): 1. Lal Nunsanga (Aizwal) (13:11.665); 2. S Rajdaswanth (Trichy) (13:12.646); 3. Samuel Martin (Bengaluru) (13:19.680). Rider champion: Lal Nunsanga (Aizwal).

TVS Open (RR 310) (Race-2, 8 laps): 1. Anand R (Chennai) (15:56.785); 2. Aravind Ganesh (Chennai) (15:58.363); 3. Soorya PM (Chennai) (15:58.607). Rider champion: Aravind Ganesh.

Novice (RTR 200) Race-2: 1. Venkatesan I (Chennai) (13:17.268); 2. Manoj Y (Chennai) 13:17.325); 3. Anish Samson (Bengaluru) (13:21.648). Rider champions: Venkatesan I (Chennai, Boys) and Nivetha Jessica (Chennai, Girls).

Media Championship: Jehan Darukhanawala (champion rider).

Chennai, 28 Sept 2019: Bengaluru-based fitness trainer Anish Damodara Shetty (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) posted his sixth win in a row to annex the Pro-Stock 201-300cc title in the fifth and final round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship at the MMRT, here today.

Meanwhile, 15-year old Mohamed Mikail from Chennai chalked up his sixth consecutive win and seventh from eight starts in the NSF 250R (FIM Moto3-spec bikes) category of the Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup with two races to spare and which would be run tomorrow. Finishing second behind Mikail was 12-year old Sarthak Shrikant Chavan from Pune ahead of Gadag’s 19-year old Kritik Vasanth Habib.

Also scoring a decisive win was Abhimanyu Gautam (Sparks Racing) from Jind, Haryaya, in the Novice (Stock 165cc) category to move to the top of the leaderboard in this class.

Experienced Sarath Kumar (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) eked out a close win over TVS Racing’s Jagan Kumar to jump into championship lead in the Pro-Stock 165cc category. He leads team-mate Rajiv Sethu by six points. Sethu finished fifth. Kevin Kannan ensured a double podium for Honda by coming in third ahead of TVS Racing’s KY Ahamed after the six-lap race was red-flagged and reduced to four following a big crash involving two riders, Akash C and Anand R (both riders ok) at the back of the field.

The 24-year old Shetty, who hails from Hubballi, Karnataka, took an unassailable lead in the championship standing with a tally of 190 points, 67 clear of second-placed team-mate Abhishek Vasudev, with one more race to be run tomorrow and a maximum of 50 points at stake. Incidentally, it is Shetty’s second championship, having won the Pro-Stock 165cc title last year.

The race was reduced to four laps from scheduled six following a crash involving Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) and Satyanarayana Raju (Gusto Racing) who were competing in the Pro-Stock 301-400cc category that was run on the same grid as the 201-300cc class.

After the race, Gusto Racing’s Karthik Mateti from Hyderabad was declared winner (301-400cc) ahead of fellow-Hyderabadi Rahil Pillari Shetty (Sparks Racing) and Chennai’s KY Ahamed (TVS Racing). Deepak Ravikumar (TVS Racing), who finished fourth, continues to head the championship with a 12-point lead over Ahamed with Mateti a further 11 points behind in third spot.

“At the start of the season, my goal was to win the championship in my category and I am happy that could achieve that. My thanks to my entire team, especially owner Ramji Govindarajan sir who all worked hard towards my success. My aim is to compete and win all formats of two-wheeler racing. Earlier this year, I won the Desert Storm (Cross-country Rally) and now this.

“Today, I knew if I win, I would seal the championship. Initially, I rode hard, seeing I had a good lead, I eased up. To win six races in a row is just amazing!” said a beaming Shetty.

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

National Championship:

Pro-Stock 301-400cc (Race-1, 4 laps): 1. Karthik Mateti (Gusto Racing India) (07:43.694); 2.Rahil PIllari Shetty (Sparks Racing) (07:45.529); 3. KY Ahamed (TVS Racing) (07:45.650).

Pro-Stock 201-300cc (Race-1, 4 laps): 1. Ansih D Shetty (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) (08:02.611); 2. Mathana Kumar S (Honda Erula Atomic Racing) (08:04.556); 3. Mithun Kumar PK (Honda Erula Atomic Racing) (08:06.279).

Pro-Stock 165cc (Race-1, 4 laps): 1. Sarath Kumar s(Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) (08:05.465); 2.K Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) (08:05.639); 3. K Kannan (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) (08:06.066).

Novice (Stock 165cc) Race-1: 1. Abhimanyu Gautam (Sparks Racing) (13:05.011); 2. Manoj Y (Team Motomaniacz Racing) (13:08.802); 3. Annish Samson (Team Speed-Up Racing) (13:08.970).

One-Make Championship organised by MMSC:

Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup – NSF 250R (Race-1): 1. Md Mikail (Chennai) (11:07.289); 2. Sarthak Shrikant Chavan (Pune) (11:10.531); 3. Kritik Vasant Habib (Gadag) (11:10.624). CBR 150 (Race-1): 1. Lal Nunsanga (Aizwal) (13:11.576); 2. AS James (Chennai) (13:14.024); 3. Samuel Martin (Bengaluru) (13:15.938).

TVS Open (RR 310) Race-1): 1. Soorya PM (Chennai) (11:56.038); 2. Anand R (Chennai) (11:57.899); 3. Sivanesan Sethu (Chennai) (12:00.715). Novice (RTR 200) Race-1: 1. Anish Samson (Bengaluru) (13:13.028); 2.Manoj V (Chennai) (13:13.061); 3. Ullas Santrupt (Bengaluru) (13:13.188). Girls (RTR 200) 5 laps: 1. Lakiya Lee (Chennai) (11:29.416); 2. Nivetha Jessica (Chennai) (11:39.457); 3. Haritha Muralikrishnan (Chennai)(11:40.534).

Chennai, 27 Sept 2019: TVS and Honda set up another mouth-watering wheel-to-wheel battle as they shared the qualifying honours in the fifth and final round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship at the MMRT, here today.

KY Ahamed (01:53.674) led a 1-2 for TVS Racing in the premier Pro-Stock 301-400cc class along with Deepak Ravikumar (01:53.823) while Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing dominated the Pro-Stock 201-300cc category with Anish Shetty (01:57.646) and Abhishek Vasudev (01:58.281) occupying the top two spots on the grid for tomorrow’s race.

In the popular Pro-Stock 165cc class, Honda and TVS set the tone for tomorrow’s qualifying and race. Sarath Kumar (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing, 01:59.790) was the quickest in the Free Practice session ahead of two TVS Racing riders, KY Ahamed (01:59.793) and seven-times National champion Jagan Kumar (02:00.121) while championship leader Rajiv Sethu (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) was fourth in 02:00.702.

In the Girls category, defending champion Ann Jennifer (Sparks Racing) clocked 02:11.902 in her flying lap to qualify for pole position ahead of Lani Zena Fernandez of Speed Demonz Racing (02:13.599) while championship leader Ryhana Bee (Sparks Racing) was fourth (02:14.212) behind Alisha Abdullah (Alisha Racing, 02:14.087).

The qualifying session for the Novice (Stock 165cc) saw Abhimanyu Gautam (Sparks Racing), Manoy Y (Team Motomaniacz) and championship leader I Venkatesan (Team Motomaniacz) occupying the front row in that order for tomorrow’s race that will see a massive 40-bike grid. The qualifying session was run in two batches in view of the large number of entries.

AISHWARYA PISSAY FELICITATED

The FMSCI, governing body for motorsport in India, and the Madras Motor Sports Club, felicitated Aishwarya Pissay, winner of the FIM Baja World Cup (women’s category). Sita Raina, Chairperson, Women in Motorsport, Fmsci, and Manoj Dalal, Secretary, MMSC, presented mementos to Aishwarya.

The FMSCI also organised a workshop on fitness for women riders competing in the ongoing National Motorcycle Racing Championship, with Manav Mukund, Director, Strength and Conditioning, Sports Dynamix, making a presentation on fitness.

Chennai, 26 Sept 2019: The MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2019 is set for a grand climax at the MMRT this weekend that will witness as many as 18 races and edge-of-the-seat, high-stakes battles for titles across all categories. With double points being awarded for this fifth and final round, there is everything to ride for, especially for the front-runners.

The National Championship, comprising Pro-Stock category (200-300cc, 301-400cc and 165cc) which will no doubt headline the weekend, Novice (Stock 165cc) and Girls (Stock 165cc), are all set for close finishes with not much separating the top riders on the leaderboard, in terms of points. For the manufacturers – TVS, Honda, Yamaha and KTM – there is plenty to gain from this weekend.

The situation is much the same in the TVS One-Make Championship that has three categories in Open (RR 310), Novice and Girls (RTR 200), and also the Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup – NSF 250R (FIM Moto3-spec) and CBR 150 (Novice). Both TVS and Honda have invested time and effort in plenty to identify and develop young talent that has turned out in good numbers from across country.

MMSC president Ajit Thomas said: “This being the final round of the season, we again would like to extend our sincere thanks to our title sponsors MRF Tyres who, for the first time supplied slick tyres for Pro-Stock categories, besides India’s top two-wheeler manufacturers TVS, Honda, Yamaha and KTM who have been associated with us in our constant endeavour to nurture and develop talent. The ever-increasing number of entries, especially in the Novice category, is a testimony to growing popularity of the sport. The Madras Motor Sports Club too has evolved in providing and upgrading infrastructure and technology at considerable expense with focus on safety and comfort at the MMRT circuit.”

Predicting close races, Race Director Manoj Dalal, said: “This weekend, we look forward close competition, that has been a feature through the year, with the championship titles up for grabs. The season has also seen intense rivalry between riders, teams and manufacturers like never before. In a bid to inject more interest and competition, we decided to double the points across all National Championship categories for the this (final) round. Hence, we are in this exciting situation where every title, be it individual or team, is wide open, and we expect extremely competitive races.”

About Madras Motor Sports Club

Since its humble beginnings in 1953, the Madras Motor Sports Club has grown in stature as the hub of motorsport activity in India. Having moved from Sholavaram to its present location in Sriperumbudur in 1979, MMSC has kept pace with changing times by upgrading facilities. At a cost of about Rs 20 Crore, the MMSC built a pit complex comprising 20 garages, VIP hospitality suites and a viewing gallery, on the eastern side, apart from a second Paddock on the western side with its own short circuit. The Control Room too was upgraded with state-of-the-art hardware while the track itself was improved to meet the exacting FIA standards for Grade-2 certification. The facilities are also extensively used by various vehicle manufacturers for testing their products, displays and corporate days.

Chennai, 15 Sept 2019: Friday, the 13^th hit Sohil Shah hard as he lost a huge lead to the man from the temple town of Mahabalipuram, Raghul Rangasamy. On Sunday, Raghul kept his wits about him to retain the title in the MRF F1600 category  edging out Shah in the last round, as did Kolhapur’s Dhruv Shivaji Mohite in the Indian Touring Cars class, who too put paid to the hopes of Arjun Balu, on the concluding day of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship here at the MMRT circuit.

Also winning the National titles in their respective categories were Rithvik Thomas, the 26-year old from Bengaluru (Super Stock), Chennai’s Ashwin Datta (Formula LGB 1300) who had sealed the title yesterday itself, Hyderabad’s Jeet Jhabakh (Ameo Class) and Aiman Sadat (Bangladesh, Ameo Class Junior).

Rangasamy, 26, thus, earned a sponsored drive from MRF Tyres in one round of the Civic Cup Racing Championship in the United Kingdom. Although he finished fifth in the last race, he picked up sufficient points to annex the title for the second year in a row while finishing a highly productive weekend when he earned as many as 138 points.

“I am thrilled at this opportunity to race abroad and thank MRF for this opportunity which came as a pleasant surprise for me. As for this weekend, I came in trailing Sohil Shah by 43 points after a poor start to the season and was determined to win as many races as possible. Friday, when I picked up 68 points, gave me a huge boost. Overall, I am happy at the way the season ended after such a sluggish start that I had in the summer,” said Rangasamy had started weekend in seventh position on the leaderboard.

With the ITC championship hanging in balance, the focus was on leader Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) who led Rayo Racing’s Mohite by four points. However, the reverse grid put paid to Balu’s aspirations as he started ninth while Mohite occupied P6. As the 10-lap race unfolded, it went topsy-turvy with septuagenarian D Vidyaprakash making two places to take the lead before he was overhauled by the faster Arjun Narendran (Arka Motorsports) and the Ventos of Mohite and Karthik Tharani while Balu made a few spots but got stuck behind Daniel Rowe, the South African guest driver.

Eventually, Narendran, a former National champion and taking part in this round as a non-registered driver (not eligible for championship points) won by the proverbial country mile, followed by Mohite, Tharani, Daniel Rowe, the South African guest driver and Balu.

Mohite, winner of three National karting titles and the Volkswagen Ameo Cup last year, said: “It feels great to win the Touring Cars championship. It has been a great experience to race with some of the legends of Indian racing. My thanks to the Volkswagen team for the support they provided and my championship win is due to this wonderful team effort. So far, it has been a great journey for me, from karting to the Ameo Cup, but winning the Touring Cars title tops it all. Coming into this weekend, I knew it would be tough going, but the unfortunate retirement of Arjun Balu yesterday turned everything in my favour.”

Rithvik Thomas, 26, said: “Yes, obviously, winning the Super Stock championship is a great feeling, but I would have enjoyed the success more if there had been a tight fight right up to the final race. Coming here, I was hoping that it would be so, but I will take this title anyway.”

Jhabakh, the 26-year old businessman for whom racing is a hobby, had not entertained any hopes of winning the championship. “I did not have the best of starts to the season, and so decided to enjoy myself rather than worry about points. I am thrilled to win the title and my thanks to the entire Volkswagen team which is like a family to me, for the support I received from them,” said Jhabakh.

Provisional results (all 8 laps): MRF F1600 (Race-3): 1. Raghul Rangasamy (Mamallapuram) (13:27.614); 2. Yash Aradhya (Bengaluru) (13:32.277); 3. Sohil Shah (Bengaluru) (13:33.707).

Race-4: 1. Nayan Chatterjee (Mumbai) (13:43.620); 2. Nirmal Umashankar (Chennai) (13:43.763); 3. Manav Sharma (Faridabad) (13:45.136).

Indian Touring Cars (Race-2, 10 laps): 1. Arjun Narendran (Arka Motorsports) (18:56.842); 2.Dhruv Shivaji Mohite (Rayo Racing) (19:16.864); 3. Karthik Tharani (Rayo Racing) (19:17.401).

Super Stock (Race-1, 7 laps): 1. Rithvik Thomas (Race Concepts) (14:10.391); 2. Sudanand Daniel (Race Concepts) (14:16.329); 3. Archit Mylanda (Race Concepts) (14:44.876). Race-2 (10 laps): 1. Rithvik Thomas (20:18.368); 2. Sudanand Daniel (20:30.084); 3. R Raja Shekar (Race Concepts) (20:51.372).

Formula LGB 1300 (Race-2): 1. Deepak Ravikumar (Momentum Motorsports) (15:34.910); 2. Tijil Rao (Momentum Motorsports) (15:37.407); 3. Arya Singh (DTS Racing) (15:40.848).

Volkswagen Ameo Class (Race-2): 1. Anmol Singh Sahil (Delhi) (15:43.297); 2.Jeeth Jhabakh (Hyderabad) (15:44.294); 3. Tasmin Peper (South Africa) (15:44.692).

Race-3: 1. Tasmin Peper (South Africa) (15:30.299); 2. Jeffrey Kruger (South Africa) (15:30.612); 3. Jeet Jhabakh (Hyderabad) (15:46.550).

National Championship winners:

MRF F1600: – Raghul Rangasamy (Mamallapuram).

Indian Touring Cars – Driver: Dhruv Shivaji Mohite (Kolhapur, Rayo Racing). Team: Race Concepts (Bengaluru).

Super Stock – Driver: Rithvik Thomas (Bengaluru, Race Concepts). Team: Race Concepts (Bengaluru).

Formula LGB 1300 – Driver: Ashwin Datta (Chennai, Momentum Motorsports). Team: Momentum Motorsports (Chennai).

Volkswagen Ameo Class: Jeet Jhabakh (Hyderabad) and Aiman Sadat (Bangladesh, Junior).

 

Chennai, 14 Sept 2019: A second-place finish saw Ashwin Datta of Momentum Motorsport emerge champion in the Formula LGB 1300 category with a race to spare in the fifth and final round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship at the MMRT, here today.

On a day of hectic scramble for points, Mamallapuram’s Raghul Rangasamy eked out a two-point lead over Bengaluru teenager Sohil Shah in the premier MRF F1600 category with a win and a fifth-place finish in the two races run today. Faridabad’s Manav Sharma was the other winner. With two more races to be run tomorrow, Rangasamy has 142 points to Shah’s 140 while Mumbai’s Nayan Chatterjee (121) is placed third.

Likewise, in the popular Indian Touring Cars category, Dhruv Mohite (Rayo Racing), driving the Volkswagen factory-supported Vento, moved within four points of leader Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) who retired in today’s race due to a freak incident (tyre deflation) in the very first lap. Mohite went on to finish second behind Volkswagen guest driver Daniel Rowe (South Africa), but earned full quota of 25 points. Balu has 148 points as against Mohite’s 144 going into tomorrow’s final race which will be have a reverse-grid start.

Pole-sitter Balu (Race Concepts) pulled out a good lead in the very first lap, but lost the power-steering by Turn-3 when the belt came off. Soon after, the power-steering pulley fell and hit the rim of the left rear tyre leading to deflation and retirement. Up ahead, Rowe and team-mate Mohite, and former National champion Arjun Narendran (Arka Motorsports), a non-registered driver, were involved in a three-way battle. The trio finished the race in that order.

Datta, who turns 21 in November, needed just one point to seal the championship going into this weekend and he managed to come in second behind team-mate Deepak Ravikumar and ahead of Mohamed Ryan (M Sport) in the eight-lap race that was run behind a Safety Car in the mid phase due to on-track incidents involving three cars.

The result took Datta’s tally to 163 points, well clear of Sohil Shah (M Sport, 95) who opted not to race in this category and concentrate on his races in the MRF F1600 class. Lying third in the championship is Chirag Ghorpade (Momentum Motorsport, 85).

“It feels great to win the championship with one race to spare. I had a good race today, starting from 11^th position as I could not post a time in the qualifying session due to some problems with my car. After about three laps, three cars in front of me, went off the track and later, myself and Mohit Aryan were dicing for first and second. However, both of us went off the track under late braking in the last lap. In the process, Deepak Ravikumar capitalised and won the race ahead of me,” said Datta.

Mumbai’s Saurav Bandyopadhyay, following a third-place finish behind two South African Guest drivers, Jeffrey Kruger and Tasmin Peper in the Volkswagen Ameo Class race, maintained his top spot on the leaderboard with 357 points, ahead of Pratik Sonawane (334) from Pune and Hyderabad’s Jeet Jhabakh (328) with two more races to be run tomorrow.

The results (Provisional, all 8 laps unless mentioned):

MRF F1600 (Race-1): 1. Raghul Rangasamy (Mamallapuram) (13mins, 29.135secs); 2. Sohil Shah (Bengaluru) (13:30.653); 3. Yash Aradhya (Bengaluru) (13:34.392).

Race-2 (7 laps): 1.Manav Sharma (Faridabad) (14:48.254); 2. Nayan Chatterjee (Mumbai) (14:48.848); 3. Vishnu Prasad (Chennai) (14:48.857).

Indian Touring Cars (Race-1): 1. Daniel Rowe (South Africa) (15:25.637); 2. Dhruv Shivaji Mohite (Kolhapur) (15:27.894); 3. Arjun Narendran (Coimbatore) (15:28.264).

Formula LGB 1300 (Race-1): 1. Deepak Ravikumar (Momentum Motorsport) (18:56.445); 2. Ashwin Datta (Momentum Motorsport) (18:57.279); 3. Mohamed Ryan (M Sport) (18:57.770).

Volkswagen Ameo Class (Race-1): 1. Jeffrey Kruger (South Africa) (15:36.052); 2. Tasmin Peper (South Africa) (15:38.620); 3. Saurav Bandyopadhyay (Mumbai) (15:39.554).

Chennai, 8 Sept 2019: KY Ahamed led a podium sweep for TVS Racing in the premier Pro-Stock 301-400cc category while Anish Shetty spearheaded a 1-2-3 finish for Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing while notching his fifth consecutive win in the Pro-Stock 201-300cc class as the fourth round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship concluded at the MMRT, here today.

Earlier, international rider Rajiv Sethu continued his win-spree in the popular Pro-Stock 165cc category after overcoming a poor start as Idemitsu Honda Ten10 team swept all the podium spots. For 21-year old Chennai-based Sethu, it was his sixth win in a row.

Also continuing his golden run was Venkatesan I in the Novice (Stock 165cc) category as he headed a 1-2 finish for Team Moto Maniacz Racing with Manoj Y in tow. For the Chennai-based Venkatesan, it was his fourth win on the trot.

Meanwhile, Ryhana Bee, the 22-year old from Chennai, notched her third consecutive win in the Girls category of the National Championship to give herself a 35-point lead over defending champion and Sparks Racing team-mate Ann Jennifer who finished second ahead of Alisha Abdullah (Alishaa Racing).

The podium sweep in the 301-400cc category that Ahamed scripted provided a big cheer for TVS Racing on a weekend dominated by arch-rivals Honda. Ahamed managed to finish ahead of his mentor and former seven-times National champion Jagan Kumar who finally picked up his first points this weekend after failing to finish Race-1 and retiring in both the Pro-Stock 165cc races he had taken part. Championship leader in this category, Deepak Ravikumar came in third.

Sethu, starting from pole position, had another poor start due to electrical problems, but he recovered quickly to tuck in behind Sarath Kumar even as two key TVS Racing rivals, Jagan Kumar and KY Ahamed, retired due to engine problems. Sethu and Sarath exchanged lead until the last lap when the former moved to the front for his sixth consecutive win. Sarath was content to follow home in second place while team-mate Kevin Kannan crossed the finish line in third position for his maiden podium of the season.

Meanwhile, 15-year old Md Mikail, riding the FIM Moto3-spec NSF 250R in the Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup one-make championship organised by MMSC, completed a treble this weekend as he zipped to his fifth consecutive win and sixth in seven starts.

The fifth and final round of the championship will be held at the same venue from September 27 to 29.

The results (Provisional, all 8 laps unless mentioned):

National Championship:

Pro-Stock 301-400cc (Race-2): 1. KY Ahamed (TVS Racing) (15mins, 29secs); 2. Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) (15:30.137); 3. Deepak Ravikumar (15:31.307).

Pro-Stock 201-300cc (Race-2): 1. Anish Shetty (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing); Abhishek Vasudev (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) (16:10.234); 3. Aravind Balakrishnan (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) (16:20.165).

Pro-Stock 165cc (Race-2): 1. Rajiv Sethu (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) (16:04.365); 2. Sarath Kumar (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) (16:04.708); 3. Kevin Kannan (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) (16:17.731).

Novice (Stock 165cc, Race-2, 6 laps): 1. Venkatesan I (Motomaniacz Racing) (13:15.876); 2. Manoj Y (Motomaniacz Racing) (13:16.699); 3. Abhimanyu Gautam (Sparks Racing) (13:17.100).

Girls (Stock 165cc, 5 laps): 1. Ryhana Bee (Sparks Racing) (11:10.964); 2. Ann Jennifer AS (Sparks Racing) (11:14.255); 3. Alisha Abdullah (Alishaa Racing) (11:24.427).

One-Make Championship organised by MMSC:

TVS Open (RR 310, Race-2): 1. Anand R (Chennai) (15:56.926); 2. Vivek Pillai (Chennai) (15:58.525); 3. Anup Kumar (16:00.556). Novice (RTR 200, Race-2, 6 laps): 1. Venkatesan I (Chennai) (13:19.642); 2. Manoj Y (Chennai) (13:19.928); 3. Alwin Sundar (Chennai) (13:20.311).

Idemitsu Honda Talent Cup – NSF 250R (Race-3): 1. Md Mikail (Chennai) (14:38.263); 2. Geoffrey Emmanuel (Chennai) (14:49.888); 3. Kritik Vasant Habib (Gadag) (14:50.114). CBR 150 (Race-2, 6 laps): 1. Lal Nunsanga (Aizwal) (13:13.907); 2.Samuel Martin (Bengaluru) (13:15.559); 3. S Rajsaswanth (Trichy) (13:15.960).