Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship: Chiranth Vishwanath, Prabhu Arunagiri share honours
Chiranth, just 16, was impressive in winning Race-1 of the Pro-Stock 165cc Open category.
Published: 02nd October 2023 09:26 AM | Last Updated: 02nd October 2023 09:26 AM | A+A A-
Chiranth ended the day on a winning note by topping the Open (RR310) category of the Petronas TVS One-Make Championship.
CHENNAI: Bengaluru teenager Chiranth Vishwanath (Petronas TVS Racing) and Chennai veteran Prabhu Arunagiri (Pacer Yamaha) shared honours by winning a race apiece in the premier Pro-Stock 165cc Open category while Rajiv Sethu (RACR Castrol Power1) continued his unbeaten run in the Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open class in the fourth round of the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship at the Madras International Circuit, here on Saturday.
Another Bengalurean, 22-year-old six-footer Manvith Reddy (RACR Castrol Power1), bided his time to win the Novice (Stock 165cc) race after a couple of front-runners, including pole-sitter Vignesh Goud, retired, while his teammate Puducherry’s Lani Zena Fernandez made the best of pole position start to score a comfortable victory, her second win of the season, in the Girls (Stock 165cc) class of the National championship.
Chiranth, just 16, was impressive in winning Race-1 of the Pro-Stock 165cc Open category. He showed a big heart for a close fight to overcome championship leader Rajiv Sethu, who despite starting P12 after a disastrous qualifying session, led briefly. However, a loose footrest and then a broken gear lever saw Sethu pull out of his battle with Chiranth and was content to finish second. Earlier, pole-sitter Sarthak Chavan, the 16-year-old from Pune, retired after a high-side crash at Turn-1 in the very first lap, but walked away unhurt, clearing the way for Chiranth to hit the front.
In Race-2 of the same category in the evening, Prabhu Arunagiri fully capitalised on a set of new tyres to a run-away win, while behind him his Pacer Yamaha team-mate Mathana Kumar did well to hold up the traffic that included Sarthak Chavan, who eventually finished second ahead of KY Ahamed. Mathana, who had scored a double in the first round in June, came fourth.
Sarthak suffered yet another crash after coming together with his Petronas TVS Racing team-mate KY Ahamed in the Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open race, a little later. With the two out of contention, Sethu stormed into the lead and fought off Hyderabad’s Rahil Pillarisetty (KTM Gusto Racing) for his sixth consecutive win of the season.
Chiranth ended the day on a winning note by topping the Open (RR310) category of the Petronas TVS One-Make Championship. Thailand’s Vorapong Malahuan clocked a blistering lap of one minute, 49.198secs for pole position in the inaugural TVS E-Invitation Race category, ahead of two Petronas TVS Racing factory riders KY Ahamed (01:50.666) and Jagan Kumar (01:50.681).
Aravind shines
R Aravind Raj’s 5 for 7 came in handy for Samsung India to thrash beat Employees Provident Fund Organization by 145 runs in the 19th Lucas TVS Thiruvallur DCA Trophy.
Brief scores: Group B: Samsung India 195/7 in 30 ovs (M Rajesh 52, S. Dinesh Kumar 34 n.o., G Naveen Kumar 31, A Dinesh Kumar 29) bt Employees Provident Fund Organization 50 in 15.2 ovs (R Aravind Raj 5/7).
