• MRF F1600 triple-header to highlight 12-race card
• 4-Wheeler Championship returns to MMRT
• Drag Racing Championship set to kick-off

Chennai, July 18: The third round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship which has never failed to dish out high octane action while witnessing emergence of fresh talent, gets off to a start at the MMRT here on Friday even as the competition hots up among title contenders in various categories.

The championship returns to the MMRT after a gap of five months after the first round in February and the next in Coimbatore last month. A card of 12 races has been scheduled for the weekend. The programme includes Volkswagen Ameo Cup besides the first round of the MMSC fmsci Indian National Drag Racing Championship 2018 for four-wheelers which will be run post-lunch on Saturday and Sunday,

The three races in the MRF F1600, now in its seventh season, has proven to be an excellent platform for young guns to showcase their racing talent. The added incentive to the winner of the championship in the MRF F1600 is the chance to participate in the Mazda Road to Indy shootout in the United States later this year which has been organized by the MMSC. The winner of the shootout will receive a scholarship of USD 200,000.

The previous round at Coimbatore witnessed the emergence of 19-year old Ashwin Datta from Chennai who won all three MRF F1600 races in a display of raw pace that blitzed the field and gave himself a head-start in the championship.

Read more: MRF MMSC FMSCI National Racing / Drag Racing @ MMRT, Chennai

Adria (Italy), July 16: India’s Ruhaan Alva came up with a fighting drive to finish on the podium with a fifth place in the sixth round of the Easykart Italia Championship at the Adria International Raceway here on Sunday. It was Ruhaan’s second consecutive podium finish following his first runner-up place in the previous round.

Ruhaan, the 12-year old schoolboy from Bengaluru and supported by Play Factory, Sona Miller and Birel Art India, started the 100cc category final in 17^th spot but cut through the field to finish fifth. 

The top five finishers were presented with trophies on the podium.

Earlier, in the pre-final, Ruhaan had shown impressive pace to move from 12^th to fourth before getting involved in an incident that pushed him down to 15^th which put him 17^th on the grid for the final race that followed.

“I was quite happy with my pace through the weekend and was hopeful of strong result. Unfortunately, I could not qualify higher than 17^th for the final, but had a good run to finish fifth which put me on the podium,” said Ruhaan who is among the six drivers selected by the prestigious International Easykart Driver Talent program organized by Birel ART in Italy.

Ruhaan Alva’s next round is in September after the summer break in the championship.

• Rajiv Sethu pips champ Jagan Kumar for a double
• Fine win for Hyderabad rookie Karthik Meteti
• Amarnath Menon, Naresh Babu chalk up victories

Chennai, July 8: Local lad Rajiv Sethu (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) ended the weekend on a high by achieving a double in the premier Super Sport Indian 165cc class as the second round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2018 concluded at the MMRT here on Sunday.

In a virtual repeat of Saturday’s Race-1, Sethu scored another win over National champion Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) who, after leading for much of the eight-lap race, yielded ground and finished second ahead of Sarath Kumar (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing). The double win took Sethu to the top of the championship standings with 70 points, well clear of defending champion Jagan (62).

Also scoring wins today were Kozhikode’s Amarnath Menon who led a 1-2 finish for Gusto Racing in the Pro-Stock 301-400cc class, Naresh Babu of RACR (Pro-Stock 165cc) and Karthik Mateti who headed a Sparks Racing podium sweep in the Novice category while also setting a lap record in this class.

Sethu and Jagan were again locked in a tight fight from the start. Pole-sitter Jagan, though managed to stay ahead of Sethu, could not pull away. In the penultimate of the eight-lap race, Sethu finally moved past Jagan to emerge comfortable winner.

Amarnath Menon was involved in a three-way battle that included yesterday’s Race-1 winner and team-mate Sathyanarayana Raju and Prabhu Arunagiri (Team Alisha Abdullah). As the race progressed, Menon and Raju swapped lead positions lap by lap while opening up a gap on Arunagiri. Eventually, Menon got his nose in front and hung on to win his second race of the season with Raju in second spot followed by Arunagiri. Menon now heads the championship in this class with 72 points, 11 clear of Raju.

Earlier, Sparks Racing team swept all three podium spots in the Novice (Stock, 165cc) category race with Mateti, a 19-year old Commerce student from Hyderabad, Aditya Rao (Bengaluru) and Alexander AS (Chennai) taking the chequered flag in that order after a close fight. After two rounds, Mateti and Rao are tied with 43 points apiece, having one race apiece.

It was a fine win for rookie Mateti who is in his first full season of racing. He had participated in a few rounds of a one-make series last year before running out of funds. “I did not have much clue about racing bikes last year until I joined Sparks Racing. Today, it was a tough race and happy to win,” said Mateti who bettered the lap record set by Sathyanarayana Raju when he posted a best lap of 02mins, 07.492secs.

The results (Provisional – all 8 laps unless mentioned):

Super Sport Indian (165cc) – Race 2: 1. Rajiv Sethu (Idemitsu Honda Ten 10 Racing) (15mins, 37.026sec); 2. Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) (15:40.465); 3. Sarath Kumar (Idemitsu Honda Ten 10 Racing) (15:57.911).

Pro-Stock (165cc) – Race 2: 1. Naresh Babu (RACR) (16:57.586); 2. Anish D Shetty (Idemitsu Honda Ten 10 Racing) (17:03.115); 3. Senthil Kumar (Idemitsu Honda Ten 10 Racing) (17:07.286).

Pro-Stock (301-400cc) – Race 2: 1. Amarnath Menon K (Gusto Racing India) (15:37.673); 2. Sathyanarayana Raju (Gusto Racing India) (15:38.943); 3. Prabhu Arunagiri (Team Alisha Abdullah) (15:39.216).

Novice (Stock 165cc, 6 laps): 1. Karthik Mateti (Sparks Racing) (13:01.676); 2. Aditya Rao I (Sparks Racing) (13.04.384); 3. Alexander AS (Sparks Racing) (13:04.663).

Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup 2018 organised by MMSC – Open (CBR 250cc) Race 2: 1. Anish Shetty (Bengaluru) (16:48.671); 2. Abhishek Vasudev (Bengaluru) (16:49.460); 3. Amit Richard Toppo (Ranchi) (16:49.692). Novice (CBR 150cc) Race 2 (6 laps): 1. Mohamed Mikail (Chennai) (13:23.224); 2. Kritik Vasan Habib (Karnataka) (13:34.011); 3. Akshay V Murali (Kerala) 13:47.298.

TVS One-Make Championship – Open (Apache R310) Race 2: 1. Vivek Pillai (Chennai) (16:21.188); 2. Deepak Ravikumar (Chennai) (16:21.244); 3. Yashas RL (Bengaluru) (16:30.900). Novice (Apache 200) Race 2 (6 laps): 1. Karthik Mateti (Hyderabad) (13:37.283); 2. Venkatesan (Chennai) (13:50.679); 3. Alexander AS (Chennai) (13:50.726).

Chennai, July 7: Teenager Rajiv Sethu of Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing kept his wits about to win a tense battle against his arch-rival and defending champion Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) in the premier Super Sport Indian 165cc class at the MMRT on Saturday in the second round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship.

Equally impressive winner was the techie from Bengaluru, 23-year old Anish Shetty, who survived a close battle that went down to the wire, to finish on top in the Pro-Stock 165cc class. It was Shetty’s third win in a row, this season.

The combined race of Super Sport Indian and Pro-Stock 165cc was reduced from six laps to four following a heavy crash before Turn-3 resulting in a red flag on the very first lap. One of the riders involved in the incident, 21-year old Prashanth Kumar (Sparks Racing) from Karimnagar, Telangana, was immediately rushed to the hospital where he is said to be in a “critical, but stable” conditions after suffering multiple injuries.

On re-start, it was a virtual sprint thereafter, as Sethu, starting second on the grid behind Jagan Kumar, bided his time before the TVS racer ran wide in the penultimate lap. It was just the opening Sethu was waiting for, and he made his move and, held position for his first win of the season. Behind the front runners, championship leader KY Ahamed (TVS Racing) fell at the Bridge Complex “S” when running in the front bunch and eventually finished sixth. Jagan crossed the finish line in second position, followed by Sarath Kumar (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) to complete the podium.

Read more: Rajiv Sethu, Anish Shetty post fluent wins @ MRF MMSC FMSCI INMRC

Coimbatore, July 6:  The JK Tyre-FMSCI National Racing Championship 2018 will create history in its 21^st edition, unveiling an all-women’s team in its opening round set to start at the Kari Motor Speedway here on Saturday.

The six ladies who have been selected after a nation-wide talent hunt will represent Ahura Racing, with a celebrity driver in the form of Maharashtra actress Manisha Kelkar, leading the charge against the big boys of racing.

“We are proud to welcome an all-women’s team into the JKNRC,” Sanjay Sharma, JK Motorsports head, said. “We are confident that this will usher in a new trend, attracting many more ladies to motor sports,” he added.

As many as 25 top drivers, including last year’s champion Chittesh Mandody (Avalanche Racing) and former winner Vishnu Prasad (MSport), will be fighting for top honours in this category. Sandeep Kumar (Dark Don Racing), who finished just two points behind Chittesh last year, will also hope to do one better this time.

JKNRC’s blue riband event, the Euro JK 18 will pit the country’s top 11 racers against each other, in what promises to be a fast and furious affair. Last year’s third-place finisher Nayan Chatterjee will begin as the favourite, with defending champion Anindith Reddy graduating to the international circuit.

Read more: JKNRC will make history with all-women’s team as Round 1 begins on Saturday