National Motorcycle Racing Championships | Rajani Krishnan notches two titles
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On the final day of the Rolon Round of the Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2022, veteran Rajini Krishnan continued his winning ways with a double in the premier pro-stock 301-400cc category, as did Pacer Yamaha's Mathana Kumar and Hubballi's Sarvesh Balappa of Axor Sparks Racing.
Mathana Kumar swept the podium for a Bangalore team Pacer, Yamaha, by winning both races in the pro-stock 165cc category, with teammates Prabhu Arunagiri and Mithun Kumar following him home in a race that was a catastrophic for the two big teams, Petronas TVS Racing and Idemitsu Honda SK69 Racing, with none of their top riders finishing.
Even when their main opponents went out for various reasons, the Pacer Yamaha riders provided a close to perfect performance and were a cut above the others in both pace and technique. "All credit to the riders who performed extremely well this weekend. It has been a decade since Pacer Yamaha had a podium sweep whether Saturday's 1-2 or today's 1-2-3 finish. Yes, it brought back memories of our team's halcyon days," said Pacer Yamaha owner Shekar Bhojanna, who started tuning bikes in 1976.
Earlier today, last year's champion Rajini took the lead early in the 14-lap race and cruised to victory, with Petronas TVS Racing's KY Ahamed and guest rider from Thailand Vorapong Malahuan finishing second and third, respectively, in a near duplicate of Saturday's race.
Balappa, unlike on Saturday when he was proclaimed champion of the first race after the two riders who finished ahead of him were disqualified, set the pace from the outset in the novice race and was never really disturbed or contested en route to a magnificent victory.
After victor Lani Zena Fernandez (RACR Castrol Power 1) from Puducherry was disqualified for a "technical infringement," former champion Ann Jennifer (Alpha Racing) was promoted to the top spot, with Bengaluru's Aditi Krishnan (Winverve Apex Racing Academy) and Mumbai's Jagruti Penkar (Axor Sparks Racing) rounding out the podium.
Jagathishree Kumaresan (Pacer Yamaha), who had finished sixth, was also disqualified for an infraction. Following an accident on the final lap, defending champion Ryhana Bee (Pacer Yamaha), who won all five events last year, finished a dismal 10th.
The results (Provisional): MMSC National Championship – Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open (Race-2, 14 laps): 1. Rajini Krishnan (RACR Castrol Power 1, Chennai) (17mins, 24.801secs); 2. KY Ahamed (Petronas TVS Racing, Chennai) (17:30.128); 3. Vorapong Malahuan (Petronas TVS Racing, Thailand) (17:31.642).
Pro-stock 165cc Open (Race-2, 14 laps): 1. Mathana Kumar (Pacer Yamaha, Chennai) (18:22.071); 2. Prabhu Arunagiri (Pacer Yamaha, Chennai) (18:22.128); 3. Mithun Kumar (Pacer Yamaha, Chennai) (18:41.533).
Novice (Stock 165cc, Race-2, 10 laps): 1. Sarvesh Balappa (Axor Sparks Racing, Hubballi) (14:33.419); 2. Chiranth V (Rookies Racing, Bengaluru) (14:38.810); 3. Aldrin Babu (RACR Castrol Power 1, Chennai) (14:46.913).
Girls (Stock 165cc, 8 laps): 1. Ann Jennifer (Alpha Racing, Chennai) (11:53.085); 2. Aditi Krishnan (Winverve Apex Racing Academy, Bengaluru) (11:56.205); 3. Jagruti Penkar (Axor Sparks Racing, Mumbai) (12:03.051).
Petronas TVS One-Make Championship – Apache RR310 Open (Race-1, 10 laps): 1. Rahil Pillarisetty (Hyderabad) (13:04.172); 2. Ananthraj P (Chennai) (13:05.484); 3. Navaneeth Kumar S (Puducherry) (13:06.797).
Race-2 (8 laps): 1. Jagadeesh N (Bengaluru) (10:29.569); 2. Rahil Pillarisetty (Hyderabad) (10:32.080); 3. Venkatesan I (Chennai) (10:34.880).
Rookie (Apache RTR200, Race-2, 10 laps): 1. Chiranth V (Bengaluru) (13:51.474); 2. Shreyas Hareesh (Bengaluru) (13:51.852); 3. Abdul Basim (Chennai) (14:06.275).
Media (Apache RTR 200, 8 laps): 1. Ishan Lee (Pune) (12:47.978); 2. Mandar Sawant (Pune) (12:52.501); 3. Stephen Neil Gershom (Bengaluru) (12:54.566).
Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup – NSF250 Open (Race-2, 14 laps): 1. Sarthak Shrikant Chavan (Pune) (12:24.097); 2. Shyam Sundar (Chennai) (12:34.188); 3. AS James (Bengaluru) (12:44.324).
Novice (CBR 150, Race-2, 14 laps): 1. Raheesh Mudassar Khatri (Mumbai) (20:28.652); 2. Siddesh Sawant (Kolhapur) (20:54.257); 3.
Harshith V Bogar (Bengaluru) (21:08.255).
Support Race (Hornet 2.0, Race-2, 10 laps): 1. Ullas Santrupt Nanda (Bengaluru) (15:08.672); 2. Allwin Xavier (Thrissur) (15:10.826); 3. Romario (Chennai) (15:10.868).
