Chennai, January 11: Hyderabad’s Rahil Pillarisetty (RACR Castrol Power1) finished the season with a superb double while emerging champion in the premier Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open category on the concluding day of the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship at the Madras International Circuit, here on Sunday.
Chennai’s PM Soorya (Chandra LGE Racing) ended a nine-year wait for National title as he delivered a stunning win in the morning to pocket the championship in the Pro-Stock 200cc Open category and then cruised to third place in the next outing later in the day. Soorya’s arch-rival, Bengaluru’s Savion Sabu (Mad Rabbits Racing) could not present much of a challenge as he retired in Race-1 and came in fourth in Race-2.
The others who clinched the National championship included Chennai’s Jagathishree Kumaresan (One Racing) who retained her Girls (Stock 165cc) title, Rajender Beedani (MAI Racing) from Hyderabad who clinched the Stock 165cc (Novice) crown, Coimbatore’s Raj Kumar (Motul Sparks Racing) who topped the SuperSport Intermediate 165cc class for his maiden National title and Varun Patil (Mad Rabbits Racing) from Bengaluru who took the honours in the Stock 301-400cc (Novice) category.
Meanwhile, having won Race-1 on Saturday which helped him seal the championship, his first in eight years, 28-year-old Rahil repeated the feat today to provide a winning touch to his highly successful campaign which saw him score seven wins and three podium finishes in 10 races. today, he had to fight hard to beat two other teenaged prodigies of Petronas TVS Racing team, Chiranth Vishwanath (Bengaluru) and Rakshith Dave (Chennai), who finished second and third, respectively while their team-mate and a strong title contender Sarthak Chavan from Pune retired after a contact with Rajini Krishnan (RACR Castrol Power1) early in the race.
Jagathishree Kumaresan (One Racing), the 21-year-old archaeology graduate, retained her National crown in the Girls (Stock 165cc) despite finishing third behind former National champion Ann Jennifer (Motul Sparks Racing) and Saimah Ajaz Baig from Pune (KYT Helmet ISKB Racing). The race was reduced to four laps from the scheduled five following an incident on the last lap. “I didn’t really push myself as I had a good points lead. So, yes, it was a kind of Sunday ride today,” said Jagathishree, who finished with six wins and four podiums this season.
For Soorya, winning the championship was an emotional moment. “I lost my mother in April, and I wish she was here to share this moment. I had a difficult season but managed to put in consistent performances which helped me today when I won my maiden National title of my racing career which began in 2016. Through the season, I had close fights with Savion Sabu. He is just 18 and I am 32, but physically I am fit. Anyway, happy to win the championship and I thank the team for all the hard work behind the scenes,” said Soorya, a motorcycle engineer.
Similarly, Raj Kumar, who hails from a humble family in Coimbatore, waited for 10 years before winning his maiden National crown as he ended the season with four wins and two podium finishes. “It feels nice to win my first National championship. It has been a struggle for me and my family. I started racing in 2015. However, once my younger brother (Senthil Kumar) started doing well, I stopped to help him. But after a couple of years, I started racing again and competed with my brother who is nearly 10 years younger to me. I had a lot of injuries and setbacks, but I kept chasing my dream and finally realised it today by winning my first-ever National title. Yes, it feels great!”
Bengaluru’s Jagadeesh Nagaraj (Motul Sparks Racing) finished the season with a grand double in the Stock 301-400cc (Novice) category, and his late flourish saw him finish second in the championship behind fellow-Bengalurean Varun Patil who collected just enough points to annex the title.
Petronas TVS One-Make Championship: A seventh placed finish was sufficient for Chennai’s Mohan Babu to seal the championship in the Open (RR 310) category. Hari Haran R from Coimbatore, with a fine double win this weekend, clinched the championship in the Rookie (RTR 200) category while Pune’s Sarthak Chavan retained the title in the Electric RTE category with a run of four consecutive win. today’s last race was cancelled due to persistent drizzle.
The others who clinched the National championship included Chennai’s Jagathishree Kumaresan (One Racing) who retained her Girls (Stock 165cc) title, Rajender Beedani (MAI Racing) from Hyderabad who clinched the Stock 165cc (Novice) crown, Coimbatore’s Raj Kumar (Motul Sparks Racing) who topped the SuperSport Intermediate 165cc class for his maiden National title and Varun Patil (Mad Rabbits Racing) from Bengaluru who took the honours in the Stock 301-400cc (Novice) category.
Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup (Honda CB 300F): Chennai’s Solomon R won the championship in the Honda CB 300F category with a podium finish in the final race. He ended the season with three wins and five podium finishes.
The results (Provisional, all 6 laps):
Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open: 1. Rahil Pillarisetty (Hyderabad, RACR Castrol Power1) (11mins, 07.296secs); 2. Chiranth Vishwanath (Bengaluru, Petronas TVS Racing) (11:08.435); 3. Rakshith Dave (Chennai, Petronas TVS Racing) (11:08.644). Rider champion: Rahil Pillarisetty. Champion Team: RACR Castrol Power1.
Pro-Stock 200cc Open (Race-1): 1. Soorya PM (Chennai, Chandra LGE Racing) (11:51.058); 2. Rajkumar (Coimbatore, RDX Torque Racing) (11:53.613); 3. Tasmai Cariappa (Mysuru, ISBK Racing) (11:53.942). Race-2: 1. Mohan Babu (Chennai, Rockers Racing) (11:50.789); 2. Venkatesh Iyyappan (Chennai, Chandra LGE Racing) (11:52.400); 3. Soorya PM (Chennai, Chandra LGE Racing) (11:53.127). Rider champion: Soorya PM (Chennai, Chandra LGE Racing). Team: Chandra LGE Racing.
SuperStock Intermediate Up to 165cc: 1. Raj Kumar (Coimbatore, Motul Sparks Racing) (12:40.496); 2. Mohammed Samrul Zubair (Hyderabad, Motul Sparks Racing) (12:44.258); 3. G Balaji (Chennai, Team C2 Racing) (12:52.169). Rider champion: Raj Kumar. Team: Motul Sparks Racing.
Stock 301-400cc (Novice): 1. Jagadeesh Nagaraj (Bengaluru, Motul Sparks Racing) (12:04.950); 2. Kamal Navas (Chennai, Rockers Racing) (12:09.956); 3. Shreehari Pudel (Lalitpur, Mad Rabbit Racing) (12:17.791). Rider champion: Varun Patil (Bengaluru, Mad Rabbit Racing). Team: Mad Rabbit Racing.
Stock 165cc (Novice): 1. Lal Nunsunga (Aizwal, Motul Sparks Racing) (13:01.994); 2. Rajender Beedani (Hyderabad, MAI Racing) (13:02.102); 3. Vignesh Pothu (Mancherial, MAI Racing) (13:02.324). Rider champion: Rajender Beedani (Hyderabad). Team: MAI.
Girls (Stock 165cc) 5 laps: 1. Ann Jennifer AS (Chennai, Motul Sparks Racing) (08:44.219); 2. Saimah Ajaz Baig (Pune, KYT Helmet ISKB Racing) (08:45.285); 3. Jagathishree Kumaresan (Chennai, One Racing) (08:52.187). Rider champion: Jagathishree Kumaresan (Chennai, One Racing). Team: One Racing.
Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup – Honda CB 300F: 1. Tejash BA (Tumakuru) (12:50.270); 2. Amit Prasad (Bengaluru) (12:51.469); 3. Solomon R (Chennai) (12:58.129). Rider champion: Solomon R (Chennai).
Petronas TVS One-Make Championship – Open (RR 310): 1. Manoj Yesuadiyan (Chennai) (11:50.779); 2. G Balaji (Chennai) (11:50.906); 3. Abdul Baseem (Chennai) (11:51.163). Rider champion: Mohan Babu (Chennai).
Rookie (RTR 200): 1. Hari Haran R (Coimbatore) (13:09.911); 2. Akarsh Jangam (Vijayawada) (13:29.771); 3. Joshua A (Bengaluru) (13:29.836). Rider champion: Hari Haran R (Coimbatore).
Media (RTR 200): 1. Saran Kumar (Chennai) (12:50.067); 2. Nijin A (Pathanamthitta) (12:50.124); 3. Basu Sivaraj H (Chennai) (13:07.789).
MMSC-Nepal TVS Race (6 laps): 1. Shreehari Poudel (13:23.030); 2. Abhinav Raj Malla (13:23.108); 3. Deelip Danuwar (11:24.675).
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