Rugved Barguje sparkles in Goa Round 5: Supercross Nationals

Mapusa (Goa),13 Nov 2022: Braving a dislocated shoulder that is yet to heal, Pune’s Rugved Barguje from Petronas TVS Racing team won a golden double to win the Best Rider tag and reclaimed the championship lead in the premier class from veteran CD Jinan in the fifth and penultimate round of the MRF Mogrip National Supercross Championship promoted by Godspeed Racing at the Carnival grounds, Opposite to Bodgeshwar Temple in Mapusa here on Sunday.

Going into the Goa round trailing by a point to CD Jinan, Rugved won both the motos comfortably on Sunday to take a five-point lead ahead of the last round in Bengaluru next Sunday. Jinan finished second in both the motos of Group A SX1 class, the feature event of the day. Rugved leads the championship with 172 points to Jinan’s 167. Originally slated as the fifth round on Nov 6 but put off due to rains, Bengaluru will now be the sixth and final round on Nov 20.

In Moto 1 of the Group A SX1, the 21-year rider from Pune, Rugved, did not get the best of starts he is known for, but still got the hole-shot and quickly squeezed into the lead at the first corner pushing veteran rider and championship contender CD Jinan to second and rode a steady and consistent race on a tight and technical track to win by about seven bike lengths. Jinan, the 47-year stalwart from Thrissur, who started on the far-side behind the gates, endured the disadvantage to follow the leader and reduced the gap towards the end. But it was Rugved’s day as he took a comfortable victory despite the pain he endured at every jump and jerk. In the fourth round in Vadodara, Rugved Barguje had a nasty fall and dislocated his right shoulder. The braveheart, got up and finished fifth, for a valuable 11 points and came back to win Moto2 in severe pain with his shoulder heavily taped after shots of painkillers.

“I had an amazing day and I am very happy to get two race wins under my belt. Hoping for the best next weekend,” said Rugved.

In the 12-lap second moto, boxed by the top two riders Prajwal V took a ‘fall’ at the first corner affecting Jinan and Rugved wasted no time to zoom into the lead. Jinan trailed in third behind Ajay Srinivas, who crashed later in the opening lap itself, but Jinan played safe later, and retained his second position. Rugved, meanwhile, slowly increased the gap managing the hoops in quick time with good technique and was careful on the long jumps to protect his lead. Jinan, made a couple of mistakes and lost some time with two laps to go, and the Pune lad won with ease to reclaim the title-lead in the top class.

Triple for Sarthak Chavan; Jinendra leads Class 2

Pune’s Sarthak Chavan won both the SX2 motos in Class 2 and added one more moto winning the Junior SX1 first race. But Jinendra Sangave, who represented India in the MiniGP World finals recently, recovered to a third place in the first Moto and took a second in the next, to increase his Championship lead to a comfortable 157 points with Shlok Ghorpade and Ajay Srinivas fighting behind him, more than 20 points adrift.

Indian Experts class goes to wire – Arun sparkles

Popular privateer Arun T from Hassan won the  Indian Experts Group C Class 6 but it was Petronas TVS star Sachin D who took a slender one-point championship lead from teammate Imran Pasha as the Championship battle goes to the wire.  Arun also won the Private Experts Class 5 ahead of Yogesh and Shabuddin Syed, a popular local rider from Goa Racing team.

Akshat Hupale virtually seals the Junior SX2 title

Another Pune rider Akshat  Hupale virtually sealed the Junior SX2 championship winning the first moto in Class 8 while Bengaluru school boy Bhaiarav C upset the applecart of the champion astride a Gasgas machine in Moto2 and in the process displayed enough skills to defend a marauding Sujan in the last two laps with a mature ride. Way behind, Akshat made sure he took the third, which was enough to seal the championship.

Podium for Ananstya Pol

Shlok Ghorpade and Sarthak Chavan shared the honours in the Junior SX1 but it was Bengaluru lass Anastya Pol, who stole the limelight with a podium in the second Moto, competing on equal terms with boys.

Provisional Results – Round 5:

(Results are NOT official and will be updated soon with official version)

Class 1: SX1 Moto1: 1. #9 Rugved Barguje (Petronas TVS Racing-RTR300); 2. #50 CD Jinan (Petronas TVS Racing-RTR300); 3. #75 Sarthak Chavan (Pune, Kawasaki KX).

Class 1: SX1 Moto2: 1. Rugved Barguje (Petronas TVS Racing-RTR300); 2. CD Jinan (Petronas TVS Racing-RTR300); 3. Shlok Ghorpade (KTM150 Satara).

Class 2: SX2 Moto1: 1. Sarthak Chavan (KX250F- Pune); 2. Ajay Srinivas (KX250F- Bengaluru); 3. Jinendra Sangave (KX250F- Ichalakaranji, Kolhapur);.

Class 2: SX2 Moto2: 1. Sarthak Chavan (KX250F- Pune); 2. Jinendra Sangave (KX250F- Ichalakaranji); 3. Shlok Ghorpade (KTM150 – Satara).

Class 4: Locals: 1. Tanweer Shaikh; 2. Sarvesh Korgonkar; 3. Mayur Kolekar; (All Goa, on Impuse).

Class 5: Indian Experts: 1. Arun T (Hassan) 2. Sachin D (Bengaluru – TVS Racing) 3. Imran Pasha (Mysore – TVS Racing).

Class 6: Private Experts: 1. Arun T (Hassan, Xpulse); 2. Yogesh PD (Bengaluru) 3. Shabuddin Syed ().

Class 7: Junior SX1 Moto1: Sarthak Chavan (Pune); 2. Shlok Ghorpade (Satara); 3. Jinendra Sangave (Kolhapur);

Class 7: Junior SX1 Moto2: 1. Shlok Ghorpade (Satara); 2. Sarthak Chavan (Pune); 3. Ananstya Pol (Bengaluru).

Class 8: Junior SX2 Moto1: 1. Akshat Hupale (KTM SX 85 -Pune); 2. Sujan J (KTM65-  Coimbatore).

Class 8: Junior SX2 Moto2: 1. Bhairav C (Gasgas – Bengaluru); 2. Sujan J (KTM65-  Coimbatore); 3. Akshat Hupale (KTM SX85 -Pune);