Deepak, Venkatesan crowned Champs; Sarath, Ryhana play safe to clinch Championship titles

Chennai, 29 Sept 2019: Deepak Ravikumar of TVS Racing annexed the premier Pro-Stock 301-400cc title on a day dominated by Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing as the fifth and final round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2019 concluded at the MMRT, here today.

Ravikumar’s win today, his fourth this season, denied Honda a clean sweep of titles in the Pro-Stock category. While TVS had something to celebrate, Honda riders, Anish Shetty (Pro Stock 201-300cc) and Sarath Kumar (Pro-Stock 165cc) won the championship in their respective categories. Shetty, who had sealed the championship yesterday itself, finished the season with a double and seven wins on the trot, while Sarath won his first National championship title in nine years despite finishing third in his race.

The other National champions to emerge on the concluding day were Chennai riders Venkatesan I of Team Moto Maniacz in the Novice (Stock 165cc) and Ryhana Bee of Sparks Racing in the Girls category.

While Ravikumar had to fight hard for his crucial win, Sarath played it smart to finish third behind Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) and a charging Kevin Kannan (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing).

Likewise, Ryhana Bee rode carefully and was content to finish third that earned her sufficient points to win the championship. Finishing ahead of Ryhana in the race were 2018 champion Ann Jennifer (Sparks Racing) and Alisha Abdullah (Alisha Racing).

“I am absolutely delighted to win a National championship after a lapse of nine years. We had a strategy for today’s race and I am happy that it worked well,” said Sarath Kumar who had a brief stint in the FIM Moto3 World Championship a few years ago before a knee injury severely affected his racing career as the healing process took much longer than expected.

The Pro-Stock 165cc race turned out to be a two-man show with Kannan and Jagan exchanging lead through the eight laps while Sarath seemed content to be in a lonely third spot while behind him, championship contender Rajiv Sethu, who had won six races on the trot earlier this season, gradually faded from the contest. By finishing third, Sarath picked up sufficient points to clinch the title ahead of Sethu and Jagan Kumar.

The Girls race saw defending champion Ann Jennifer hitting the front and go on to win with a measure of comfort with Lani Zena Fernandez (Demonz Racing) and Alisha Abdullah (Alisha Racing) following home. Ryhana Bee finished fourth. However, after the post-race scrutiny, Lena was disqualified for “technical violation” and Ryhana was elevated to third place. Ryhana, thus, finished with a tally of 123 and secured the championship while Jennifer (108) was placed second.

“Since I had a bad qualifying session, I started only fourth on the grid and with the championship in stake, I was intent on collecting points without taking any risks. This is my first National championship title and I am extremely happy. My thanks to my team, Sparks Racing, Yamaha and all the mechanics who worked behind the scene,” said Ryhana.

In the Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup came from Chennai’s Md Mikail notched eight consecutive wins for the title in the NSF 250R class (FIM Moto3 spec bikes). Aizwal’s Lal Nunsanga who finished with seven wins, including a double in the final round, emerged champion in CBR 150 class.

The results (Provisional):

National Championship:

Pro-Stock 301-400cc (Race-2, 7 laps): 1. Deepak Ravikumar (TVS Racing) (13mins, 31.612secs); 2. Karthik Mateti (Gusto Racing) (13:32.042); 3. Rahil Shetty (Sparks Racing) (13:35.414). Championship winners: Deepak Ravikumar (Rider), TVS Racing (Team), TVS (Manufacturer).

Pro-Stock 201-300cc (Race-2, 7 laps): 1. Anish Shetty (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) (13:55.497); 2. Naresh Babu (Eneos Honda Chandra Racing) (13:55.727); 3. Aravind Balakrishnan (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) (14:04.454). Championship winners: Anish Shetty (Rider), Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing (Team), Honda (Manufacturer).

Pro-Stock 165cc (Race-2, 8 laps): 1. Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) (15mins, 59.392secs); 2. Kevin Kannan (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) (15:59.592); 3. Sarath Kumar (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) (16:10.802). Championship winners: Sarath Kumar (Rider), Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing (Team), Honda (Manufacturer).

Novice (Stock 165cc) Race-2: 1. Venkatesan I (Motomaniacz Racing) (13:09.759); 2. Manoj Y (Motomaniacz Racing) (13:09.871); 3. S Aravind (Rockers Racing) (13:10.028). Championship winners: Venkatesan I (Rider), Sparks Racing (Team), Yamaha (Manufacturer).

Girls (Stock 165cc, 5 laps): 1. Ann Jennifer (Sparks Racing) (11:07.846); 2. Alisha Abdullah (Alisha Racing) (11:16.374); 3. Ryhana Bee (Sparks Racing) (11:17.256). Championship winners: Ryhana Bee (Rider), Sparks Racing (Team), Yamaha (Manufacturer).

One-Make Championship organised by MMSC:

Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup – NSF 250R (Race-2): 1. Md Mikail (Chennai) (11:04.901); 2. Kavin Samaar Quintal (Chennai) (11:09.254); 3. Charan Thangavel (Chennai) (11:24.314). Race-3: 1. Md Mikail (14:26.574); 2. Kritik Vasant Habib (Gadag) (14:51.658); 3. Kavin Samaar Quintal (15:04.385). Rider champion: Md Mikail.

CBR 150 (Race-2): 1. Lal Nunsanga (Aizwal) (13:11.665); 2. S Rajdaswanth (Trichy) (13:12.646); 3. Samuel Martin (Bengaluru) (13:19.680). Rider champion: Lal Nunsanga (Aizwal).

TVS Open (RR 310) (Race-2, 8 laps): 1. Anand R (Chennai) (15:56.785); 2. Aravind Ganesh (Chennai) (15:58.363); 3. Soorya PM (Chennai) (15:58.607). Rider champion: Aravind Ganesh.

Novice (RTR 200) Race-2: 1. Venkatesan I (Chennai) (13:17.268); 2. Manoj Y (Chennai) 13:17.325); 3. Anish Samson (Bengaluru) (13:21.648). Rider champions: Venkatesan I (Chennai, Boys) and Nivetha Jessica (Chennai, Girls).

Media Championship: Jehan Darukhanawala (champion rider).