Lani Zena Fernandez win girls’ race; Rajiv Sethu disqualified

Chennai, 30 Sept. 2023: Bengaluru teenager Chiranth Vishwanath (Petronas TVS Racing) and Chennai veteran Prabhu Arunagiri (Pacer Yamaha) shared honours by winning a race apiece in the premier Pro-Stock 165cc Open category in the fourth round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship at the Madras International Circuit, here on Saturday.

Rajiv Sethu (RACR Castrol Power1) continued his unbeaten run in the Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open class and crossed the chequered flag first but was later disqualified from both his races in the 165cc class. Chiranth was promoted as winner in the Pro-stock 165cc Open Race 1 as Rajiv Sethu was disqualified due to technical infringement. In Race 2, Prabh Arunagiri made it double as Rajiv Sethu was once again disqualified in the post-race scrutiny of the 165cc Race 2.

Another Bengalurean, 22-year-old six-footer Manvith Reddy (RACR Castrol Power1), bided his time to win the Novice (Stock 165cc) race after a couple of front-runners, including pole-sitter Vignesh Goud, retired, while his team-mate Puducherry’s Lani Zena Fernandez made the best of pole position start to score a comfortable victory, her second win of the season, in the Girls (Stock 165cc) class of the National championship.

Chiranth, only 16, was impressive in winning Race-1 of the Pro-Stock 165cc Open category. He showed a big heart for a close fight to overcome championship leader Rajiv Sethu, who despite starting P12 after a disastrous qualifying session, led briefly. However, a loose footrest and then a broken gear lever saw Sethu pull out of his battle with Chiranth and was content to finish second. Earlier, pole-sitter Sarthak Chavan, the 16-year-old from Pune, retired after a high-side crash at Turn-1 in the very first lap, but walked away unhurt, clearing the way for Chiranth to hit the front.

In Race-2 of the same category in the evening, Prabhu Arunagiri fully capitalised on a set of new tyres to a run-away win, while behind him his Pacer Yamaha team-mate Mathana Kumar did well to hold up the traffic that included Sarthak Chavan, who eventually finished second ahead of KY Ahamed. Mathana, who had scored a double in the first round in June, came fourth.

Sarthak suffered yet another crash after coming together with his Petronas TVS Racing team-mate KY Ahamed in the Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open race, a little later. With the two out of contention, Sethu stormed into the lead and fought off Hyderabad’s Rahil Pillarisetty (KTM Gusto Racing) for his sixth consecutive win of the season.

Chiranth Vishwanath ended the day on a winning note by topping the Open (RR310) category of the Petronas TVS One-Make Championship.

Thailand’s Vorapong Malahuan clocked a blistering lap of one minute, 49.198secs for pole position in the inaugural TVS E-Invitation Race category, ahead of two Petronas TVS Racing factory riders KY Ahamed (01:50.666) and Jagan Kumar (01:50.681).

Provisional results (all 6 laps unless mentioned): (before scrutiny)

National Championship – Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open: 1. Rajiv Sethu (Chennai, RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate) (11mins, 21.000secs); 2. Rahil Pillarisetty (Hyderabad, KTM Gusto Racing) (11:22.194); 3. Alwin Sundar (Chennai, KTM Gusto Racing) (11:27.023).

Pro-Stock 165cc Open (Race-1): 1. Chiranth Vishwanath (Bengaluru, Petronas TVS Racing) (09:56.159); 2. Ahamed KY (Chennai, Petronas TVS Racing) (10:03.002); 3. Race-2: 1. Prabhu Arunagiri (Chennai, Pacer Yamaha) (11:48.680); 2. Sarthak Chavan (Pune, Petronas TVS Racing) (11:52.473); 3. Ahamed KY (Chennai, Petronas TVS Racing) (11:52.859).

Novice (Stock 165cc): 1. Manvith Reddy K (Bengaluru, RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate) (13:16.375); 2. Abdul Basim (Chennai, Rockers Racing) (13:16.375); 3. Tasmai Cariappa (Mysuru, Pacer Yamaha 1) (13:16.869).

Girls (Stock 165cc, 5 laps): 1. Lani Zena Fernandes (Puducherry, RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate) (11:10.327); 2. Jagathishree (Chennai, One Racing) (11:12.974); 3. Ryhana Bee (Chennai, Axor Sparks Racing) (11:17.529). Qualifying (top 3, best lap): 1. Lani Zena Fernandez (02:12.592); 2. Ann Jennifer (Chennai, Alpha Racing) (02:13.274); 3. Ryhana Bee (02:16.213).

Support Race (301-400cc, Novice): 1. Rohit Lad (Bengaluru, Pvt) (12:50.702); 2. Aldrin Babu (Chennai, RACR Castrol Power1) (12:53.293); 3. Vivek M (Bengaluru, Eminence Racing) (12:53.336).

Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup (NSF 250R) – Qualifying (top 3, best lap): 1. Kavin Quintal (Chennai) (01:51.512); 2. Shyam Sundar (Chennai) (01:54.039); 3. AS James (Bengaluru) (01:55.017).

Petronas TVS One-Make Championship – Open (Apache RR 310): 1. Chiranth Vishwanath (Bengaluru) (11:34.135); 2. Senthil Kumar C (Coimbatore) (11:38.154); 3. G Balaji (Chennai) (11:42.214).

Girls (Apache RTR 200, 5 laps): 1. Saimah Ajaz Baig (Pune) (11:19.600); 2. Nadine Faith Balaji (Chennai) (11:20.014); 3. Aisvariya V (Coimbatore) (11:34.185).

TVS E-Invitation Race – Qualifying / Practice (top 3, best lap): 1. Vorapong Malahuan (Thailand) (01:49.198); 2. KY Ahamed (Chennai) (01:50.666); 3. Jagan Kumar (Chennai) (01:50.681).