Chennai, 7 July 2017: Young Rajiv Sethu of Honda Ten10 Racing put the hammer down with a blistering lap to grab the pole position ahead of reigning champion Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) in the premium Super Sport Indian (up to 165cc) class as the second round of the MRF MMSC Fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship got off to a flier at the MMRT track in Sriperumbudur, near here, on Friday.
Also topping the qualifying session in their respective categories were Mithun Kumar of Honda Ten10 Racing (Pro-Stock 165cc), Deepak Ravikumar (Super Sport Indian 300-400cc) and Apex Racing Academy’s Aishwarya Pissay (Girls, Stock up to 165cc).
Sethu, the 22-year old from Chennai, who has been improving with each outing and a regular in the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship, clocked the fastest lap of one minute 59.344 seconds while Jagan Kumar, who went out at the fag end of the session after sorting out his bike and managed just three laps, had a best of 02:00.396) while KY Ahamed, also of TVS Racing, completed the front row with a 02:00.497.
Championship leader Mathana Kumar (Honda Ten10 Racing) was placed sixth after clocking 02:03.820, behind Prabhu Arunagiri (02:01.842) and S Kannan of TVS Racing (02:03.174).
Bengaluru’s Aishwarya Pissay expectedly took the pole position in the girls category ahead of Chennai’s Rhyana Bee (Speed Up Racing) and Ann Jennifer.
In the Pro-Stock (up to 165cc) qualifying session, Mithun Kumar, who won both the races in the first round at Coimbatore last month, was the quickest in 02:06.403, followed by Shyam Shankar and Naresh Babu.
Meanwhile, local entrant Deepak Ravikumar, who missed the Coimbatore round, snatched the pole position (01:58.716) in the Super Sport Indian (300-400cc) class as he pipped championship front-runner Amarnath Menon (Gusto Racing) by four-hundredth of a second while Vivek Pillai of Rockers Racing was third quickest in 01:58.882.
The results (Qualifying – Provisional):
National Championship – Super Sport Indian (up to 165cc): 1. Rajiv Sethu (Honda Ten10 Racing) (01min, 59.344secs); 2. Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) (02:00.396); 3. KY Ahamed (TVS Racing) (02:00.497). 300-400cc: 1. Deepak Ravikumar (Pvt) (01:58.716); 2. Amarnath Menon (Gusto Racing) (01:58.758); 3. Vivek Pillai (Rockers Racing) (01:58.882).
Pro-Stock (up to 165cc): 1. Mithun Kumar PK (Honda Ten10 Racing) (02:06.403); 2. Shyam Shankar (Pvt) (02:06.868); 3. Naresh Babu (Pvt) (02:07.022).
Girls (Stock up to 165cc): 1. Aishwarya Pissay (Apex Racing Academy) (02:18.767); 2. Rhyana Bee (Speed Up Racing) (02:19.238); 3. Ann Jennifer (Chennai) (02:19.315).
One-Make Championship – TVS Apache RTR200 (Open): 1. Prabhu V (Chennai) (02:10.770); 2. Sivanesan S (Chennai) (02:10.970); 3. Arun Muthukrishnan (Chennai) (02:11.464). Novice: 1. Shankar Guru (Chennai) (02:11.883); 2. Peddu Sriharsha (Hyderabad) (02:12.356); 3. Romario J (Chennai) (02:14.066).
Honda CBR 250 Open: 1. Hari Krishnan Rajagopal (Honda Ten10 Racing) (02:03.437); 2. Abhishek Vasudev (Bangalore) (02:03.567); 3. Rajiv Sethu (Honda Ten10 Racing) (02:03.900). CBR 150 (Novice): 1. Mahesh Murali (Thiruvananthapuram) (02:12.765); 2. Satya Narayana (Hyderabad) (02:12.775); 3. Vysakh Sobhan (Kerala) (02:12.975).
eom/AP Media Comm. press release
