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Rajini Krishnan extends domination with fourth win
· KY Ahamed clinches a heart-stopper
· Ryhana Bee back to winning ways
· Another double for Sarvesh Balappa
Chennai, July 10: Rajini Krishnan and Sarvesh Balappa pouched their fourth straight win, KY Ahamed won an absolute thriller that lit up the second round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2022 which concluded at the Madras International Circuit.
Pro-Stock 165cc open category
Race 1, Deepak Ravikumar scripted a grand recovery for Petronas TVS Racing with a fine win. The premier team had failed to pick up any points in the first round last month, but Ravikumar, displaying top pace, brought some cheer to his team as he took a comfortable win from Idemitsu Honda SK69 Racing’s Rajiv Sethu and Pacer Yamaha team’s Mathana Kumar, who had won both the races in the previous round. Petronas TVS Racing missed a 1-2 finish as KY Ahamed, hot on Ravikumar’s heels, crashed on exiting the last corner on the last lap.
Race 2, Starting P9 for the eight-lap race, Ahamed, who endured two crashes on Saturday, showed poise and required aggression to snatch a dramatic win from Mathana Kumar and Rajiv Sethu with just one-tenth of a second separating the trio at the finish. The eventual outcome was in suspense as the three front-running riders exchanged lead after two other contenders, Deepak Ravikumar and Prabhu Arunagiri from Pacer Yamaha, retired in the second half of the race. Ahamed then pulled out a last-gasp win in a photo-finish that would be remembered for long.
Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open category
Race 1, Veteran Rajini, a 10-time National champion, was in a league of his own through the six-lap race. He started from pole position, and was hardly challenged especially after his closest rival, Petronas TVS Racing’s KY Ahamed crashed attempting an overtake at the Bridge Complex “S” section. Ahamed, running a close second, made contact with Rajini’s Yamaha R3 and slid to the ground. It forced his team-mate, Deepak Ravikumar, immediately behind him, to run wide and Rajini disappeared into the distance for a comfortable victory. Ravikumar finished second ahead of Speed Up Racing’s Anand Rajendran.
Race 2, Rajini Krishnan, riding Yamaha R3 with a lighter frame than last year’s, was simply unstoppable while posting a fluent win that underlined his class and calibre, as he destroyed the field. His victory margin was over 10 seconds in the eight-lap race with KY Ahamed and Deepak Ravikumar coming in second and third, respectively. It was Rajini’s fourth win on the trot this season, following his double in the first round at Coimbatore last month.
Girls race (Stock 165cc)
Amidst all the action, Alpha Racing’s former champion Ann Jennifer made a strong start to her campaign by taking pole position. She clocked a best lap of 02:10.654 during the qualifying session in the morning while defending champion Ryhana Bee (Pacer Yamaha) took P2, ahead of Hyderabad’s Deepika Reddy Badam, also of Alpha Racing.
Ryhana Bee, after a disappointing first round in Coimbatore last month, bounced back to win her campaign on track. She took the top honours ahead of Bengaluru’s Aditi Krishnan from Winverve Apex Racing Academy who moved up a spot after second-placed Lani Zena Fernandez from Speed Up Racing was docked a 15-second penalty which dropped her to fourth behind Axor Sparks Racing’s Jagruti Penkar from Mumbai. Lani was penalised for “causing avoidable collision” that involved early race leader Ann Jennifer from Alpha Racing who finished fifth.
Novice (Stock 165cc) category
Race 1, Sarvesh Balappa, the 23-year old engineering student from Hubballi, kept his nerves to chalk up a hard-fought win while spearheading a 1-2-3 finish for Axor Sparks Racing. It was his third win in a row, following the double in the first round last month at Coimbatore.
Balappa, starting from pole position, dropped to third initially before the race was stopped following an on-track incident. He quickly regrouped and on restart, moved to the front and held off team-mate Kayan Zuhin Patel from Mumbai while Rohan R completed the podium.
Race 2, Hubballi’s Sarvesh Balappa continued his dream run as he finished the weekend with a double on the back of his two wins in the first round to remain unbeaten. Finishing second was Md Samrul Zubair from Hyderabad of Raceists Motorcycle Racing Club who started the race from P33 and worked his way up. His team-mate P Vignesh Goud, also from Hyderabad, was third.
Support Race – Stock 301-400cc (Novice): Mihir Vijay Sakpal from Mumbai representing Winverve Apex Racing Academy was the winner followed by Jayanth Prathipati from Hyderabad in second and Ashwin R from Bengaluru finished third.