Honda Ten10 Racing’s Rajiv Sethu grabs pole: SS165cc

David Bodapati December 14, 2018

970 2 minutes read

Chennai, 14 Dec 2018: Rajiv Sethu of Honda Ten10 Racing snatched the pole position in the premier Super Sport 165cc category with a blistering 01:54.906 flying lap to set up an intriguing clash with his TVS Racing rivals as the fifth and final round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship commenced at the MMRT, here on Friday.

Sethu, lying a distant third in the championship behind the TVS Racing duo of leader Jagan Kumar and second-placed Ahamed Arif, put in three laps in the 10-minute qualifying session as he scorched the track, displaying impressive pace. Jagan (01:55.231) qualified second ahead of Ahamed (01:55.951) for tomorrow’s Race-1 of the double-header.

Also grabbing pole position was Prabhu Arunagiri of Team Alisha Abdullah with a lap of 01:53.872 in the Pro-Stock 301-400cc category where he is third on the leaderboard for this class with 114 points. Championship leader Satyanarayana Raju of Gusto Racing (119 points) qualified third behind Sparks Racing’s Rahil Pilarishetty (66). The other title contender, Amarnath Menon (118), also of Gusto Racing, and struggling for pace, will start fourth on the grid tomorrow.

In the Girls section, leader Ann Jennifer of Sparks Racing comfortably bagged the pole position (02:13.615), well ahead of Kalyani Potekar (Apex Racing Academy) and privateer Nivetha Kumar.

Bengaluru-based Anish Damodara Shetty (Honda Ten10 Racing), enjoying a 16-point advantage, took the top spot on the front row in the Pro-Stock 165cc category with a lap of 01:59.630 while Anup Kumar (Team Alisha Abdullah) and Soorya PM (TVS Racing) completed the front row of the grid.

The results (Qualifying – National Championship):

Super Sport 165cc: 1. Rajiv Sethu (Honda Ten10 Racing) (01min, 54.906secs); 2. Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) (01:55.231); 3. Ahamed Arif (TVS Racing) (01:55.951).

Pro-Stock 301-400cc: 1. Prabhu Arunagiri (Team Alisha Abdullah) (01:53.872); 2. Rahil Pillarishetty (Sparks Racing) (01:53.880); 3. Satyanarayana Raju (Gusto Racing) (01:54.411).

Pro-Stock 165cc: 1. Anish Damodara Shetty (Honda Ten10 Racing) (01:59.630); 2. Anup Kumar (Team Alisha Abdullah) (02:00.091); 3. Soorya PM (TVS Racing) (02:00.243).

Girls (Stock 165cc): 1. Ann Jennifer (Sparks Racing) (02:13.615); 2. Kalyani Potekar (Apex Racing Academy) (02:15.406); 3. Nivetha Kumar (Pvt) (02:16.555).

Stock 165cc: 1. Abhimanyu Gautam (Jind) (02:08.638); 2. Venkatesan I (Chennai) (02:08.721); 3. Anand R (Chennai) (02:08.821).

One-Make Championship – TVS Apache 200 (Novice): 1. Kathik Mateti (Hyderabad) (02:16.433); 2. Alexander AS (Chennai) (02:20.305); 3. Anand R (Chennai) (02:20.720).

Honda Talent Cup – CBR 150 (Novice): 1. Mohamed Mikail (Chennai) (02;07.829); 2. K Vasant Habib (Gadag) (02:09.132); 3. Anandhu KK (Chennai) (02:10.042). CBR 250: 1. Anish Damodara Shetty (Hubballi) (02:01.251); 2. Amit Richard Topno (Ranchi) (02:01.271); 3.Abhishek Vasudev (Bengaluru) (02:02.076).

About Madras Motor Sports Club

The Madras Motor Sports Club has been the pioneer in developing and promoting motorsport in India since 1953, and we look to further improve in the years to come. It is the club’s endeavor to provide more opportunities for competitors, and to this end, it has chalked out various progressive programmes. From the days of Sholavaram , MMSC built its own racetrack which was inaugurated in 1979 and secured its FIA Grade-2 international certification in 2014, making it the only club which owns such a facility that has been further upgraded with international-standard Paddock, complete with VIP hospitality suites, 20 spacious garages and a separate Paddock on the western side with its own circuit. The club has organised the Porsche Super Cup, Formula Campos, Formula Asia, Asian touring car championships, Formula 3, Tata Prima Truck racing championship, the FIM Asia Road Racing Championships (2-wheelers) besides a host of other motorsport events over the years. The club also has active participation for its events from vehicle manufacturers who also use the Madras Motor Race Track (MMRT) extensively for testing their products.