Yuva, Suhail, Sarath Mohan hog limelight: Sprint Nationals

By David Bodapati

Bengaluru, 22 August 2021: Celebrated bike racer Yuvakumar of Hero Motosports and privateers Suhail Ahmed and rookie Sarath Mohan hogged limelight with three gold each in the week-end Sprint Rally Nationals here. While the `Hero star’ pipped the other two bagging the `fastest rider’ tag, clocking superfast sprint times in both the opening rounds of the Motorsport Inc FMSCI Indian National Rally Sprint Championship at the Moto Farm in Kanakapura, about 70 km from here, on Saturday and Sunday, another veteran Vishwas SD sparkled with a 15-year old bike winning the first race of the year, the Group A upto 600cc class which has foreign bikes.

The 2021 Round 1 brief report is here. For those who want to comapare with last year, 2020 Round 1 and 2 report is here. 2020 Champions’ List.

Promoted by Motorsport Inc, with Jaidas Menon, a former National Rally champion at the helm, the Sprint Nationals became the fourth Motorsport FMSCI National, to begin action in a tight bio-bubble following all COVID protocols after Meco Karting and MMSC Bike and Drag Nationals. The Sprint Nationals are supported by Reach Home Safe, a safety app, Chandan Motors (Bengaluru), Hero Motosports, Red Bull and of course, the Motofarm at Kanakapura, who offered their lovely dirt track which was well-maintained. Sprint is a T20 version of the 2w stage rally with the bikes taking a short 7.5km stretch once each in Round 1 and 2 on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. From this year, a select few from South Zone round will join the finalists from other zones in the Championship finals, which decides the National Championship titles in 9 different classes.

Competing against foreign bikes, the 34-year Yuvakumar, left behind a disappointing 2020 and began the 2021 campaign for another National title in right earnest. Yuva, as he is popularly known, overcame a disqualification in Race 1 on Saturday and went on to claim three more top finishes for gold. The three-time Desert Storm winner and five time National champion in Dirt Track and 2w rallies said: “I was keen on winning both the races today. The track is slippery and very tricky (after the rain) but my bike `Hero Xpulse200′ was up to it and helped me take the challenge with ease. Going into the season with these victories, I am confident of good performance and looking to better show this year.”

Yuvakumar’s loss on Saturday in the Group D upto 260cc class in the Stock class, saw that three privateers zoom to the podium. It was a success story for debutant Samuel ‘Pablo’ Abraham, who stole the gold with a fairy-tale victory. Nicknamed `Pablo’, in his home state, the Ernakulam rider beat the field despite a crash where he hit a tree and lost over 10 seconds, about 1 km before the chequered flag but brought home his bike with a gold. Piloting a Unni PK (Kawasaki garage, Bengaluru) prepared XPulse 200, the 27-year old B.Com student went flat out sprinting to the finish in style clocking 09min, 08seconds to win the Stock Group D upto to 260cc class followed by another Bengaluru rider Sanjay Somasekhar, who is dubbed as the `fastest privateer’ by his friends. Sanjay, who took the silver behind Samuel, and won a golden double in the non-championship class, the Star of Karnataka, which is now renamed as South Zone Star. Sneha, also had a double delight winning both the rounds in the depleted Ladies class, the other support race, to encourage women in motorsports. “I would like to thank Veekshak KY and Vishnu Prasad Jahagirdar from Speed Lab Aautomotive Solutions, for the well-prepared bikes and also my sponsors Project83x and Radical & Co,” said Sanjay.

Another Bengaluru war horse, Naresh VS of Venus Racing, got only a bronze in this class but had two gold in the Group B upto 165cc Class and also a silver in the second round in the Open upto 600cc class on Sunday. Two gold, three silver and two bronze in different classes in the two rounds makes him the highest decorated medallist in the week-end. The former Hero and TVS rider, who has six National Championship titles under his belt in both Supercross (2012, 2013) and Dirt Track Nationals (4 titles in 4 different classes in 2010, his debut year as rookie), had to be content with the bronze in this class. The 2014 K1000 INRC winner, also missed the Group B 130cc National Sprint title by a point last year, as he had issues with the bike but promised to come back with better show this year.

The third rider who was the cynosure of all eyes on the week-end is defending Bullet class champion Suhail Ahmed, another former champion, who won eight national titles over the years. The Garden City rider, who turns 34 in another few days on August 28, began his title defence with a double gold in the Bullet class, winning both the rounds on Saturday and Sunday. He also added one more gold winning the Group B up to 400cc Class on Sunday, pushing aside the challenge from reigning champion in this class, Sudeep Kottary, who took the gold on the first round on Saturday. “It was like an enduro type of track and very challenging. And I have to appreciate the tough competitors that we have this year. I had issues with the engine but I am glad to qualify for the next round in Goa,” quipped Kottary from Mangalore.

“I am very elated with the double win in bullet class on both the days and the win on Duke 390 in Round 2. I lost out in the first round because of electrical issues. However, I am so glad to qualify for both the classes for the final round. The terrain was tricky with short corners with a few jumps and overall, I enjoyed the stage,” said Suhail Ahmed who rode XPulse in Group B upto 400cc and Himalayan in Bullet class.

The class also saw evergreen biker, who rides out of passion, Venu Ramesh Kumar, a garment exporter more famous for his exploits in the Indian National Rally Championship, both for bikes and cars. Astride a KTM Duke 390, the 51-year biker is the ‘Big Daddy’ of them all and is rightly appointed the Rider Representative from this year. Maturing like old wine, as do rally drivers world over, he is still beating much younger riders and getting podiums regularly like the silver he got in the Group B upto 400cc bikes in Round 1. “It is a pleasure to see huge response from the bikers for the past few years as the number of entries in all 2w-rallies increased consistently. But the life of privateers had not changed much and it is time to provide them support and sponsors. Factory teams have to come forward at least by providing spares and service at nominal price and also by way of sponsoring part expenses for talented and young riders. It will be much helpful for them to grow faster and we are also working with FMSCI trying to rope in factory teams. Let us hope for the best,” said the passionate motorsport lover from Coimbatore.

Unable to kick off the motorsport bug, the 42-year Bengalurean, Vishwas SD, still rides for fun and frolic and has not left his 2006 model Yamaha WR250F, a 250cc liquid-cooled single-cylinder four-stroke DOHC engine. Despite the fancy words, the bike with less than 40 per cent power than the present-day monsters, was a beauty in the hands of Vishwas, as he tamed it to take the gold over the 7.5-km dirt tract at the Moto Farm with some beautiful jumps in the feature event, the Group A upto 600cc Class in Round 1 on Saturday, the first race that began the Sprint National 2021. “Riding on such terrain needs rhythm. I managed to do it despite some suspension issues,” said the respected IT professional, who along with his team designed a Professional and affordable CCTV app which uses Artificial Intelligence (AI).

However, the Malayali trio took over Group A upto 600cc Class on Sunday winning all the podium places with Sarath Mohan taking the gold followed by Samuel Abraham from Ernakulam and Sinan Francis, the defending Overall champion of 2020 (last year it was Group A upto 800cc). Amidst all these racing stories there is another bit which showcases the Biker-spirit, the true old culture that seems to continue with the two-wheeler riders. The Ernakulam IT professional, Sinan, was kind enough to lend his bike to Samuel, to enter the biker folklore as Samuel, under Bethania Racing banner, riding such a powerful bike for the first time went on to not only beat him (Francis) to silver by 0.05 seconds but also made his mentor proud winning the stock class upto 260cc despite a crash beating another privateer Sanjay Somasekhar. “I am extremely thankful to my technical team Unni TK,N1 Concept, Bike Point and Sinan Francis from 72 Racing but for whom I would not have won,” confessed Samuel.

But it was 25-year youngster, Sarath Mohan who was another star of the weekend bagging three gold. The rider from Ponnani in Malappuram district racing a Ramdev-tuned Suzuki RMX 450 won both the Open Class upto 600cc races but also won the Group A upto 600cc Class on Sunday. “I could not push a lot. But I enjoyed the stage as the terrain was dry yesterday and I was trying to flow through the corners and made up speed in the long stretches,” said the 25-year-old who made his debut in the Sprint nationals. Last year, he took part in the INRC 2w rally and finished second in the championship in his class.

The Scooter class was won by Elango G, a privateer from Erode on Saturday, while Subramanya T, who came second in Round 1 turned the tables and won the second round on Sunday with Karthik N from Bengaluru, who finished third on Day 1, taking the second on Sunday. Elango recovered to a bronze in Round 2 as he faced some mechanical issues.

The 32-year Rakesh Kumar, astride a Yamaha YBX, won a double gold in the Group B upto 130cc Class as he defeated defending champion Sudeep Kottary on both the days. Ajin Abraham from Kottayam took the third place in Round 1 on Saturday while V Patteeswaran came third on Sunday. Popular as Rocky among his friends, Rakesh said: “I feel good to get a double victory. Winning both the rounds is a very satisfying feeling and want to improve and get more wins.”

Sprint Nationals 2021 Final (provisional) results: (Round 1 on Saturday and Round 2 on Sunday; Bike number given after podium place):

1. Group A Upto 600cc Class (Foreign bikes only): 1. #18 Vishwas SD (Yamaha WR250F) (Bengaluru) (09min, 03sec); 2. #1 Badal Subash Doshi (KTM450EXC-F 6days) (Pune) (09:06); 3. #4 Sarath Mohan (Suzuki RMX450z) (Malappuram) (09:11).

Round 2: 1. Sarath Mohan (Suzuki RMX450z) (Malappuram) (00hrs, 08min, 10.000sec); 2. Samual Abraham (KTM450EXC) (Ernakulam) (00:08:19.460); 3. Sinan Francis (KTM450EXC) (Ernakulam) (00:08:19.510).

2. Group B upto 165cc Class: 1. #32 Naresh VS (Hero Impulse) (Bengaluru) (08:55); 2. #29 Pavan BK (Hero Impulse) (Bengaluru) (09.10); 3. #55 Subramanya T (Bengaluru) (09:14).

Round 2: 1. Naresh VS (Hero Impulse) (Bengaluru) (08:30.280); 2. Pavan BK (Hero Impulse) (Bengaluru) (08:30.650); 3. Subramanya T (Bengaluru) (08:32.000).

3. Scooter Class: 1. #59 Elango G (Erode) (09:50); 2. #65 Subramanya T (09:56); 3. #97 Karthik Naidu (TVS N-Torq) (Bengaluru) (10:00).

Round 2: 1. Subramanya T (09:08); 2. Karthik N (Bengaluru) (09:18); 3. Elango G (Erode) (09:47);

4. Group B Upto 130cc Class: 1. #63 Rakesh Kumar V, (Yamaha YBX) (Bengaluru) (09:35); 2. #8 Sudeep Kottary (Honda Stunner) (Mangaluru) (09:41); 3. #58 Ajin Abraham (Kottayam) (09:48).

Round 2: 1. Rakesh Kumar V (Yamaha YBX) (Bengaluru) (09:12); 2. Sudeep Kottary (Honda Stunner)  (Mangaluru) (09:13); 3. V Patteeswaran (09:37).

5. Open Class upto 600cc: 1. #12 Sarath Mohan (Suzuki RMX450) (Malappuram) (08:38); 2. #19 Badal Subhash Doshi (Pune) (09:01); 3. #72 Sinan Francis (KTM450EXC) (Ernakulam) (09:06).

Round 2: 1. Sarath Mohan (Suzuki RMX450z) (Malappuram) (08:06); 2. Naresh VS (Bengaluru) (08:24); 3. Sinan Francis (KTM450EXC) (Ernakulam) (08:27).

6. Bullet Class: 1. #14 Suhail Ahmed (Himalayan) (Bengaluru) (09:17); 2. #22 Naresh VS (Himalayan) (Bengaluru) (09:18); 3. #51 Sarath Kumar S (Himalayan) (Bengaluru) (09:20).

Round 2: 1. #14 Suhail Ahmed (Bengaluru) (08:37); 2. Naresh VS (Bengaluru) (08:38); 3. Sarath Kumar S (Himalayan) (08:51).

7. Group D upto 260cc Class: 1. #40 Samuel Abraham (Hero XPulse) (09:08); 2. #23 Sanjay Somasekhar (Bengaluru) (09:09); 3. #50 Naresh VS (09:11)

Round 2:  1. #100 Yuvakumar (XPulse 200) (Bengaluru) (08:24); 2. #23 Sanjay Somashekar (Bengaluru) (08:39); 3. #50 Naresh VS (Bengaluru) (08:42).

8. Group B upto 260cc Class: 1. #37 Yuvakumar (XPulse 200) (Bengaluru) (08:36); 2. #84 Pavan BK (Hero XPulse 200) (Bengaluru) (08:48); 3. #06 Suhail Ahmed (XPulse 200) (Bengaluru) (8:49).

Round 2:  1. #37 Yuvakumar (Bengaluru) (08:04); 2. Sanjay Somashekar (Bengaluru) (08:12); 3. (Hero XPulse) Pavan BK (Bengaluru) (08:15).

9. Group B upto 400cc Class: 1. #02 Sudeep Kottary (KTM Duke 390) (Mangalore) (09.26); 2. #09 V Venu Ramesh Kumar (KTM Duke 390) (Coimbatore) KTM Duke 390 (10:12); 3. #16 Sajeesh Reghunathan (Mangaluru) (10:15).

Round 2: 1. #5 Suhail Ahmed (KTM Duke 390) (Bengaluru) (08:35); 2. #02 Sudeep Kottary (KTM Duke 390) (Mangalore) (09.04); 3. #16 Sajeesh Reghunathan (Kerala) (09:26).

Non-Championship classes: Ladies Class: 1. #27 Sneha (09:56). Round 2: 1. Sneha (10:46).

South Zonal Star (formerly Star of Karnataka): 1. #66 Sanjay Somashekar (Bengaluru) (09:12); 2. Karan M (10:34).

Round 2: 1. #66 Sanjay Somashekar (Bengaluru) (08:27); 2. Anoop Manjappa (09:46); 3. Nikhil  S Shrivatsa (10:19).

(Note: Timing given till the nearest second, except for a tie)

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