Seasoned Rajiv Sethu shrugged off a bad start when he missed a gear and chalked up a brilliant victory in the premier Pro-Stock 301-400cc race on debut in this category in the fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2023.
Sethu is representing RACR Castrol Power 1 Ultimate while Mathana Kumar crafted a 1-2 finish for Pacer Yamaha in the Pro-Stock 165cc Open class as the duo lit up the Rolon Round at the Kari Motor Speedway, here on Saturday.
As the lights went off for the 10-lap race, Sethu slipped to fourth from the pole position due to the mistake but quickly recovered to more than hold his own in a quality field that included Pune teenager and debutant Sarthak Chavan (Petronas TVS Racing) who came in second ahead of Hyder’bad’s Rahil Pillarisetty (KTM Gusto Racing), the organisers informed in a release on Saturday.
Commenting on his performance, Sethu said: “It was a tough race. I made a mistake at the start and missed a gear and was pushed down to fourth. But I managed to recover and hit the front. I had to keep an eye on young Sarthak (Chavan) who pushed me till the end.”
Later, in a virtual repeat of l’st year’s Rolon Round, Mathana Kumar and team-mate Prabhu Arunagiri delivered a 1-2 for Pacer Yamaha while Bengaluru teenager Chiranth Vishwanath saved the blushes for Petronas TVS Racing team by finishing third, thus justifying his recruitment.
Mathana started from P5, a slot behind Arunagiri, but the duo hit the front after pole-sitter Jagan Kumar (Petronas TVS Racing) crashed in the very first lap. The Yamaha pair eased past Sarthak Chavan, the second of the new Petronas TVS Racing recruit this season, and Chiranth. Later in the race, Sarthak crashed and eventually finished ninth while Jagan rode the wind to come in sixth behind his old rival Rajiv Sethu.
Earlier, Vignesh Goud, the 19-year-old from Hyderabad, scored a commanding win in the Novice (Stock 165cc) race, starting from pole. Off to a good start, he built up a sizeable lead through the initial five laps, leaving the 26-bike grid way behind, and t”en “chilled” for the remaining five for an easy maiden win.
Vignesh finished ahea’ of Bengaluru’s Savion Sabu (Axor Sparks Racing) and Tasmai Cariappa (Pacer Yamaha) from Mysuru.
Honda India Talent Cup (Open, NSF 250): The ever-improving Chennai youngster, Kavin Quintal, dominated the NSF 250 race from start to finish to yet again demonstrate the talent that has seen him participate in the Asia Road Racing Championship this season as part of the Honda team. In P’ was Mallapuram’s Mohsin Peramban while Rakshith Dave (Chennai) came in third.
Petronas TVS One-Make Championship: Bengaluru schoolgirl Nithila Das, among the youngest competitors, rode fearlessly to win in the Girls’ category (Apache RTR 200) with Nadine Faith Balaji (Chennai) and Sarah Khan (Mumbai) finishing distant second and third, respectively.
Another Bengalurean, Copparam Hareesh Shreyas clinched a fine win in the Rookie category (Apache RTR 200) sparing nearly 2′ seconds to Chennai’s Nandanan. Finishing third was Dev Agastya, also from Bengaluru.
The results (Provisional, all 10 laps unless mentioned):
National Championship – Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open (Race-1): 1. Rajiv Sethu (Chennai, RACR Catrol Power 1 Ultimate) (12:19.559); 2. Sarthak Chavan (Pune, Petronas TVS Racing) (12:22.325); 3. Rahil Pillarisetty (Hyderabad, KTM Gusto Racing) (12:26.047).
Pro-Stock 165cc Open (Race-1): 1. Mathana Kumar S (Trichy, Pacer Yamaha) (13:05.237); 2. Prabhu Arunagiri (Chennai, Pacer Yamaha) (13:06.150); 3. Chiranth Vishwanath (Bengaluru, Petronas TVS Racing) (13:10.145).
Novice (Stock 165cc) (Race-1): 1. V’gnesh Goud (Hyderabad, Race’ists Motorcycle Club) (14:43.414); 2. Savion Sabu (Bengaluru, Axor Sparks Racing) (14:47.233); 3. Tasmai Cariappa PC (Mysuru, Pacer Yamaha) (14:47.536).
Support Race – Stock 301-400cc (Novice): 1. Vivek M (Pvt) (14:04.787); 2. Meckline Gaunkar (Gusto Racing India) (14:23.551); 3. Vijesh Kumar (AS Motorsports) (14:25.576).
Petronas TVS One-Make Championship – Girls (Apache RTR 200, 8 laps): 1. Nithila Das (Bengaluru) (11:56.833); 2. Nadine Faith Balaji (Chennai) (12:09.343); 3. Sarah Khan (Mumbai) (12:18.509).
Rookie (Apache RTR 200, Race-1): 1. Copparam Hareesh Shreyas (Bengaluru) (13:56.152); 2. Nandanan (Chennai) (14:17.112); 3. Dev Agastya (Bengaluru) (14:45.185).
Honda India Talent Cup (Open, NSF 250, Race-1): 1. Kavin Quintal (Chennai) (12:24.983); 2. Mohsin Peramban (Mallapuram) (12:36.156); 3. Rakshith S Dave (Chennai) (12:38.831).
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