Prabhu Arunagiri, Kayan Zubin top qualies;

David Bodapati August 5, 2022

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Prabhu Arunagiri takes pole on Friday. Photo by Srinivasa Krishnan

Chennai, 5 Aug 2022: Pacer Yamaha’s Prabhu Arunagiri and Mumbai youngster Kayan Zubin Patel (Axor Sparks Racing) qualified for pole positions in Pro-Stock 165cc and Novice (Stock 165cc) categories, respectively, in the third round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2022 which commenced at the Madras International Circuit, here on Friday.

Clocking a hot lap of one minute, 55.942secs, Arunagiri, a battle-scarred veteran, scored over fellow-Chennai riders, Rajiv Sethu (Idemitsu Honda SK69 Racing) and KY Ahamed (Petronas TVS Racing) with less than a second separating the trio.

Arunagiri, who failed to pick up any points in the previous round last month and placed fifth on the leaderboard, had just enough pace to hold off his rivals that included the experienced Petronas TVS Racing pair of Deepak Ravikumar and defending champion Jagan Kumar, who qualified P4 and P5. Mathana Kumar (Pacer Yamaha) who leads the championship in this category, could manage only P6.

Kayan Zubin Patel, who qualified for pole position in the Novice (Stock 165cc) category, at BIC on Friday. Photo by Anand Philar

Kayan (02.08.016) edged out team-mate Varun Nanjundegowda (02:08.175) from Mysuru while Hyderabad’s Md Samrul Zuair qualified third in 02:08.665. Hubbali’s Sarvesh Balappa (Axor Sparks Racing), winner of all four races in the previous two rounds, was fourth in 02:08.705.

Hailing from a family of Motocross specialists, Kayan switched to track racing a couple of seasons ago. “I used to participate in Autocross events like my dad and uncles, but switched track racing last season. It was hard work as I had shed weight. Last season, I was 120Kgs, but now, I am 85Kgs and want to reduce further,” said 21-year old Kayan who works in his family business.

Earlier, KY Ahamed enjoyed a fine Free Practice session in the premier Pro-stock 301-400cc category which he topped with a blazing lap of 01:51.085, followed by his Petronas TVS Racing team-mate Deepak Ravikumar (01:51.366) and National champion Rajini Krishnan (01:52.746) of RACR Castrol Power1.

Meanwhile, former champion Ann Jennifer (Alpha Racing), winner in the first round, topped the Free Practice time sheet in the Girls (Stock 165cc) category, clocking a best lap of two minutes, 09.980secs, ahead of defending champion Ryhana Bee (Pacer Yamaha) who did 02:10.180, and Lani Zena Fernandez (02:11.357) of RACR Castrol Power1. Championship leader, Aditi Krishnan (Winverve Apex Racing Academy) from Bengaluru was fifth fastest in 02:14.011.

Ann Jennifer who set the fastest time in Free Practice in the Girls Stock 165cc National Championship on Friday. Photo by Srinivasa Krishnan

The results (Qualifying – top 3, best laps):

National Championship – Pro-Stock 165cc Open: 1. Prabhu Arunagiri (Chennai, Pacer Yamaha) (01min, 55.942secs); 2. Rajiv Sethu (Chennai, Idemitsu Honda SK69 Racing) (01:55.947); 3. KY Ahamed (Chennai, Petronas TVS Racing) (01:56.066).

Novice (Stock 165cc): 1. Kayan Zubin Patel (Mumbai, Axor Sparks Racing) (02:08.016); 2. Varun Nanjunde Gowda (Mysuru, Axor Sparks Racing) (02:08.175); 3. Md Samrul Zubair (Hyderabad, Race’ists Motorcycle Club) (02:08.665).

Support race (Stock 301-400cc): 1. Jayanth Prathipati (Hyderabad) (02:03.385); 2. Sandeep Gorai (Raganpur) (02:04.701); 3. Shazan Khan (Bengaluru) (02:04.869).

Petronas TVS One-Make Championship – Open (Apache RR310): 1. Alwin Sundar (Chennai) (01:54.827); 2. Rahil Pillarisetty (Hyderabad) (01:54.870); 3. Manoj Yesuadiyan (Chennai) (01:55.216).

Girls (Apache RTR200): 1. Aditi Krishnan (Bengaluru) (02:13.521); 2. Ananya Awasthi (Chennai) (02:14.760); 3. Nishitha (Chennai) (02:15.850).

Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup – Novice (CBR 150): 1. Raheesh Mudassar Khatri (Mumbai) (02:07.249); 2. Siddesh Sawant (Kolhapur) (02:07.987); 3. Rajender Beedani (Jangaon) (02:08.946).

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