Bike racing stalwart Rajini Krishnan wins historic 10th National title

Irungattukottai (near Chennai), 5 Feb. 2022: Current Indian two-wheeler racing stalwart Rajini Krishnan scripted a piece of historic masterclass to create a milestone in the annals of Indian National Motorcylce Championship by winning a rare TENTH NATIONAL title on the concluding day of another season, of the MRF MMSC fmsci Motorcycle Racing Nationals at the 3.7-km MMRT track, here on Saturday.

The 41-year old, Chennai-born star’s first National crown in 10 years. The last came in 2012, which was his 9th title after his debut crown in 2003. Rajini started his RACR, a racing academy in 2017 and with a focus to attract attention to his new venture, he realised he had to ride again. And what a success, as he struggled and overcame all odds, to win a National Championship again at the age of 41 years, almost winning his final race starting from P12.

He took an unwarranted risk of going for a winning-end to his campaigan, and reached P2, but suffered a crash in the last lap. He was quick on his heels to pick-up his bike and rejoin the race to get on to the podium, lighting up the final few moments, but not before his fans skipped a beat or two, and the the fifth and final round of the Madras Motor Sports Club promoted Nationals came to a grand end.

Another biking stalwart, Jagan Kumar of TVS Racing, had assured himself of the National title, his 10^th, on Friday, after finishing third in the Pro-Stock 165cc category. In the second race today, he cruised to fourth. KY Ahamed led a 1-2 finish for TVS Racing with Deepak Ravikumar second, while Rajiv Sethu (Idemitsu Honda SK69 Racing) came in third. Thus, the final round proved to be a good outing for the motorsport connossieur providing an op to witness two biking legends create history winning their 10th title each.

Rajini Krishnan finished third in the premier Pro-Stock 301-400cc category. Also annexing the National Championship title was 19-year old Chennai collegian Alwin Sundar of AS (Anand-Sindy) Motorsports in the Novice (Stock 165cc) category despite finishing second behind Allwin Xavier of Sparks Racing. He thus completed a triple crown.

In the Girls category, Ryhana Bee (RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate), also from Chennai, marked her comeback season after a year’s absence in 2020 due to injury, by winning her fifth consecutive race. She had sealed the championship after Round 4, but ensured that she closed the season on a winning note. She swept all the rounds and kept her slate clean, a rare achievement on the track with high competition.

Rajini Krishnan, who needed just four points to annex the championship going into the final round, had a roller-coaster weekend, marked by crashes in both the races. In the first outing yesterday, he crashed before finishing 12^th, and earned no point (only the first ten riders score points).

In the second race on Saturday, (Sunday’s races were advanced to Saturday due to COVID travel restrictions) starting from P12, he moved to second but hit an oil patch on the last lap. However, he jumped back on to the bike, to finish third behind Rahil Shetty of Gusto Racing and Anish Damodara Shetty of Race Concepts, to earn 15 valuable points. However, he needed just 4 points and an eight-place finish. Anish Shetty crossed the finish line first, but he dropped to second following a five-second penalty for an infringement, elevating Rahil to the top step of the podium.

Rajini, who had made his National Championship debut in 2003, topped the leaderboard with 183 points and six wins, followed by Anish Shetty (164) and Rahil Shetty (156).

Elsewhere, youngster Sarthak Chavan from Pune, dominated the NSF 250R category in the Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup with a double which followed four consecutive wins over the previous two rounds. However, he finished second in the championship, seven points behind Chennai youngster Kavin Quintal who had won the first four races of the season.

Kozhikode’s Amarnath Menon took the title in the Open (Apache RR310) category of the TVS One-Make Championship with four wins from 10 starts.

Provisional results (all 6 laps unless mentioned):

Pro-Stock 301-400cc (Race-2, 8 laps): 1. Rahil Shetty (Gusto Racing, Hyderabad) (15mins, 12.661secs); 2. Anish Damodara Shetty (Race Concepts, Bengaluru) (15:17.595); 3. Rajini Krishnan (RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate, Chennai) (15:31.119). National champion: Rajini Krishnan. Team championship: TVS Racing. Manufacturer championship: KTM.

Pro-Stock 165cc Open (Race-2, 8 laps): 1. KY Ahamed (TVS Racing, Chennai) (15:41.370); 2. Deepak Ravikumar (TVS Racing, Chennai) (15:41.461); 3. Rajiv Sethu (Idemitsu Honda SK69 Racing) (15:42.251). National champion: Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing, Chennai). Team championship: TVS Racing. Manufacturer championship: TVS.

Novice (Stock 165cc) (Race-3): 1. Allwin Xavier (Sparks Racing, Thrissur) (12:53.797); 2. Alwin Sundar (AS Motorsports, Chennai) (12:54.438); 3. Jinendra Kiran Sangave (Sparks Racing, Kolhapur) (13:03.099). National champion: Alwin Sundar. Team Championship: Sparks Racing.

Girls (Stock 165cc) 5 laps: 1. Ryhana Bee (RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate, Chennai) (10:53.980); 2. Lani Zena Fernandez (Speed Up Racing, Puducherry) (10:55.735); 3. Ann Jennifer (Sparks Racing, Chennai) (11:04.284). National champion: Ryhana Bee. Team Championship: RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate.

TVS One-Make Championship – Open (Apache RR310) Race-1: 1. Jagadeesh N (Bengaluru) (11:46.912); 2. Navaneeth Kumar S (Puducherry) (11:48.365); 3. Amarnath Menon (Kozhikode) (11:49.054). Race-2: 1. Amarnath Menon (11:50.667); 2. Ananthraj P (Chennai) (11:50.961); 3. Manoj Yesuadiyan (Chennai) (11:51.838). Champion: Amarnath Menon.

Rookie (Apache RTR 200) (Race-2): 1. Chiranth Viswanath (Bengaluru) (12:48.129); 2. Jinendra Kiran Sangave (Kolhapur) (12:48.443); 3. Shreyas Hareesh Cooparam (Bengaluru) (12:48.457). Race-3: 1. Chiranth Viswanath (12:42.924); 2. Jinendra Kiran Sangave (12:43.614); 3. KR Tamizhinian (Chennai) (12:44.221). Champion: Jinendra Kiran Sangave.

Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup – NSF 250R (Race-2, 8 laps): 1. Sarthak Chavan (Pune) (14:45.513); 2. Kavin Quintal (Chennai) (14:54.015); 3. Mohsin Paramban (Valancherry) (14:55.452). Champion: Kavin Quintal.

CBR 150 (Race-2): 1. Theopaul Leander (Chennai) (17:13.251); 2. Siddesh Sawant (Uttur) (17:13.492); 3. Raheesh Khatri (Mumbai) (17:14.100). Race-3: 1. Theopaul Leander (13:03.492); 2. Siddesh Sawant (13:04.026); 3. Vivek Gaurav (Patna) (13:04.517). Champion: Prakash Kamat (Bokaro Steel City).

Hornet 2.0 (Support class, Race-3): 1. G Balaji (Chennai) (13:33.889); 2. Udayi Prakash (Coimbatore) (13:34.521); 3. Shankar Guru (Chennai) (13:38.138). Champion: Kevin Kannan (Chennai).

TVS Media (Apache RTR 200, 5 laps): 1. Soham Thakur (11:46.045); 2. Manaal Mahatme (12:15.099); 3. Ajinkya Lad (12:16.537). Champion: Soham Thakur.

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 its racing activities from Sholavaram to its present location, the MMRT circuit 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. Parallelly, MMSC imported timing equipment specifically for Drag racing. 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. MMSC also constructed a 500-capacity grand stand with provision for garages / storage below. In another upgrade, the MMSC purchased Digi flags from TAG Heuer Chronolec that will be positioned strategically around the track. The facilities are also extensively used by various vehicle manufacturers for testing their products, displays and corporate days.