Racing News

HondaRacing India’s Rajiv Sethu impresses with a strong start Closes the action packed race 1 of PS165cc categorywith 2^nd position on podium

·      Theopening round of Honda Hornet 2.0 One Make Race sawKevin Kannan, Veera AshwinLal and Sudheer Sudhakar grab podium finishes

·      NSF250Rsaw Chennai boysKavin Quintal, Varoon S and Geoffrey R Emmanuel on top spots

·      Maidenvictory for young rider Rakshith S Dave; Prakash Kamatgrabs 2^ndposition &Theopaul Leander completes the podium with his first podiumfinish on 3^rdin CBR150R class

Chennai, 21 August,2021:Day 1 of the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National MotorcycleRacing Championship (INMRC) concluded with some action-packed performances atMadrasMotor Sports Club, Chennai.

While riders Rajiv Sethu and Senthil Kumar fought fortop spots in the Pro-Stock 165cc category, 26 millenial riders raced theirfinest to grab laurels in the IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup NSF250R andCBR150R categories. Parallely, first race of newly introduced Honda Hornet 2.0 One Make Race saw a mixgrid of 13 riders including two girls Ryhana Bee from Chennai and Lani Zenafrom Pondicherry putting up a tough fight with boys.

Speakingon today’s race, Mr. Prabhu Nagaraj, Senior VicePresident, Brand & Communication, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt.Ltd. Said, “The first day of Indian National MotorcycleRacing Championship (INMRC) 2021 started on a good note with our ace riderRajiv Sethu scoring second podium finish in PS165cc category.All our ridersraced their finest showcasing their exceptional riding talent.The polishedperformances of our young guns in the CBR150R &NSF250R categories andmature performance by riders in Hornet 2.0 One Make Race proved that it isgoing to be a much excited season. Taking the results from a constructive day,we are confident that tomorrow’s races would yield us better resultsand justifythe potential of all racers.”

MRF MMSC FMSCIIndian National Motorcycle Racing Championship – ProStock 165cc

Representing the IDEMITSUHonda SK 69 racing team in Pro-Stock 165cc category are veteran riders RajivSethu and Senthil Kumar. Starting from 4th on the grid, Rajiv moved up to oneplace in first lap itself. In a close battle for the second spot, Rajiv made aclean overtake at turn 4 of lap 2 but againe pushed back at 3rd by the nearestcompetitor. Using the experience of previous races and putting learnings fromInternational races at the fore front, Rajiv once again leaped ahead of hisnearest competitor in the final lap and finished the race at 2nd place with atotal race time of 11:55.312. Team mate Senthil Kumar also held tight and gavea consistent performance to finish at the 4th place. Both Rajiv and Senthilwere able to steal points for the team by finishing in the top 4.

Inaugural round ofHondaHornet 2.0 One Make Race

Saturday saw fierceriding in Race 1 of the category from the front runnersKevin Kannan, VeeraAshwin Lal and Sudheer Sudhakar. Leading the race was Kevin Kannan from Chennaiwho held on the top spot while competing a neck-on-neck battle with SudheerSudhakar of New Delhi.After clinching the 1^stspot in pen ultimatelap, Sudheer lost control of the bike and suffered a crash at the last cornerof lap 6 while contesting against Kevin Kannan. With total time of 13:28.543,Kevin finished the race at first. At the 2nd place stood teammate Veera AshwinLal of Madurai. Though pushed off the track, Sudheer Sudhakar picked himself upto finish the race at the 3^rdplace registering the best lap of 2:12.512.

IDEMITSU HondaIndia Talent Cup – NSF 250R & CBR150R categories

Setting off abrilliant start, Pune lad Sarthak Chavan rode with poise and jetted of to thefirst position overtaking teammate Kavin Quintal from the early seconds of therace. Throughout the race, Sarthak and Kavin were engaged in a tough fight toclaim the first position. Intimidating his competitor, Kavin intelligentlymadea clean move and pushed back Sarthak.While trying hard to gain back the firstspot, Sarthak suffered an unfortunate crash. Local boy Kavinthus won the race 1of NSF250R category registering the best lap of 1:48.681. Lapping back homeafter Kavin were the Chennai boys Varoon S and Geoffrey R Emmanuel who grabbed2^nd and 3^rd podium positions respectively.

The IDEMITSUHonda India Talent Cup CBR150R category saw 14 of our riders in an intensehead-on battle for the top spots. The first lap itself witnessed a change inpositions.While the pole starter Prakash Kamat drifted away at first corner ofLap 1, 13-year-old Rakshith S Dave took the lead. Maintaining his lead throughoutthe 6 laps race, Chennai boy Rakshith won his maiden victory with a comfortablelead of 4.816 seconds. The second spot saw a tough contestation from TheopaulLeander, Johann Reeves Emmanuel and Siddesh Sawant before Prakash Kamat fromBokaro Steel City made a brilliant recovery and manoeuvred past competition tofinish at the 2^ndplace. Joining Rakshith and Prakash on podium was20-year-old Chennai lad Theopaul Leander who finished the race at 3^rdposition,thus grabbing his first podium finish.

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