National Motorcycle Racing C'ship: Surya, Raj Kumar end championship drought

Chennai, Jan 11 Hyderabad’s Rahil Pillarisetty (RACR Castrol Power1) finished the season with a superb double while emerging champion in the premier Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open category on the concluding day of the MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship at the Madras International Circuit, here on Sunday.

Chennai’s PM Soorya (Chandra LGE Racing) ended a nine-year wait for National title as he delivered a stunning win in the morning to pocket the championship in the Pro-Stock 200cc Open category and then cruised to third place in the next outing later in the day. Soorya’s arch-rival, Bengaluru’s Savion Sabu (Mad Rabbits Racing) could not present much of a challenge as he retired in Race-1 and came in fourth in Race-2.

The others who clinched the National championship included Chennai’s Jagathishree Kumaresan (One Racing) who retained her Girls (Stock 165cc) title, Rajender Beedani (MAI Racing) from Hyderabad who clinched the Stock 165cc (Novice) crown, Coimbatore’s Raj Kumar (Motul Sparks Racing) who topped the SuperSport Intermediate 165cc class for his maiden National title and Varun Patil (Mad Rabbits Racing) from Bengaluru who took the honours in the Stock 301-400cc (Novice) category.

Meanwhile, having won Race-1 on Saturday which helped him seal the championship, his first in eight years, 28-year-old Rahil repeated the feat today to provide a winning touch to his highly successful campaign which saw him score seven wins and three podium finishes in 10 races.

Today, he had to fight hard to beat two other teenaged prodigies of Petronas TVS Racing team, Chiranth Vishwanath (Bengaluru) and Rakshith Dave (Chennai), who finished second and third, respectively while their team-mate and a strong title contender Sarthak Chavan from Pune retired after a contact with Rajini Krishnan (RACR Castrol Power1) early in the race.

Jagathishree Kumaresan (One Racing), the 21-year-old archaeology graduate, retained her National crown in the Girls (Stock 165cc) despite finishing third behind former National champion Ann Jennifer (Motul Sparks Racing) and Saimah Ajaz Baig from Pune (KYT Helmet ISKB Racing). The race was reduced to four laps from the scheduled five following an incident on the last lap. “I didn’t really push myself as I had a good points lead. So, yes, it was a kind of Sunday ride today,” said Jagathishree, who finished with six wins and four podiums this season.

For Soorya, winning the championship was an emotional moment. “I lost my mother in April, and I wish she was here to share this moment. I had a difficult season but managed to put in consistent performances which helped me today when I won my maiden National title of my racing career which began in 2016. Through the season, I had close fights with Savion Sabu. He is just 18 and I am 32, but physically I am fit. Anyway, happy to win the championship and I thank the team for all the hard work behind the scenes,” said Soorya, a motorcycle engineer.

Similarly, Raj Kumar, who hails from a humble family in Coimbatore, waited for 10 years before winning his maiden National crown as he ended the season with four wins and two podium finishes. “It feels nice to win my first National championship. It has been a struggle for me and my family. I started racing in 2015. However, once my younger brother (Senthil Kumar) started doing well, I stopped to help him. But after a couple of years, I started racing again and competed with my brother who is nearly 10 years younger to me. I had a lot of injuries and setbacks, but I kept chasing my dream and finally realised it today by winning my first-ever National title. Yes, it feels great!”

Bengaluru’s Jagadeesh Nagaraj (Motul Sparks Racing) finished the season with a grand double in the Stock 301-400cc (Novice) category, and his late flourish saw him finish second in the championship behind fellow-Bengalurean Varun Patil who collected just enough points to annex the title.

Petronas TVS One-Make Championship: A seventh placed finish was sufficient for Chennai’s Mohan Babu to seal the championship in the Open (RR 310) category. Hari Haran R from Coimbatore, with a fine double win this weekend, clinched the championship in the Rookie (RTR 200) category while Pune’s Sarthak Chavan retained the title in the Electric RTE category with a run of four consecutive win. Today’s last race was cancelled due to persistent drizzle.

The others who clinched the National championship included Chennai’s Jagathishree Kumaresan (One Racing) who retained her Girls (Stock 165cc) title, Rajender Beedani (MAI Racing) from Hyderabad who clinched the Stock 165cc (Novice) crown, Coimbatore’s Raj Kumar (Motul Sparks Racing) who topped the SuperSport Intermediate 165cc class for his maiden National title and Varun Patil (Mad Rabbits Racing) from Bengaluru who took the honours in the Stock 301-400cc (Novice) category.

Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup (Honda CB 300F): Chennai’s Solomon R won the championship in the Honda CB 300F category with a podium finish in the final race. He ended the season with three wins and five podium finishes.

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