Chennai: Rajiv Sethu of Honda Ten10 Racing snatched the pole position in the premier Super Sport 165cc category with a flying lap of 01:54.906 to set up an intriguing clash with his TVS Racing rivals as the fifth and final round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship commenced at the MMRT, here on Friday.
Sethu, lying a distant third in the championship behind the TVS Racing duo of leader Jagan Kumar and second-placed Ahamed Arif, put in three laps in the 10-minute qualifying session as he scorched the track, displaying impressive pace. Jagan (01:55.231) qualified second ahead of Ahamed (01:55.951) for tomorrow’s Race-1 of the double-header.
Also grabbing pole position was Prabhu Arunagiri of Team Alisha Abdullah with a lap of 01:53.872 in the Pro-Stock 301-400cc category where he is third on the leaderboard for this class with 114 points. Championship leader Satyanarayana Raju of Gusto Racing (119 points) qualified third behind Sparks Racing’s Rahil Pillarishetty (66). The other title contender, Amarnath Menon (118), also of Gusto Racing, and struggling for pace, will start fourth on the grid.
In the Girls section, leader Ann Jennifer of Sparks Racing comfortably bagged the pole position (02:13.615), well ahead of Kalyani Potekar (Apex Racing Academy) and privateer Nivetha Kumar.
The results (Qualifying – Pole Positions only):
Super Sport 165cc: 1. Rajiv Sethu (Honda Ten10 Racing) (01min, 54.906secs).
Pro-Stock 301-400cc: 1. Prabhu Arunagiri (Team Alisha Abdullah) (01:53.872).
Pro-Stock 165cc: 1. Anish Damodara Shetty (Honda Ten10 Racing) (01:59.630).
Girls (Stock 165cc): 1. Ann Jennifer (Sparks Racing) (02:13.615).
Stock 165cc: 1. Abhimanyu Gautam (Jind) (02:08.638).
One-Make Championship – TVS Apache 200 (Novice): 1. Kathik Mateti (Hyderabad) (02:16.433).
Girls: 1. Ann Jennifer (Chennai) (02:20.765).
Honda Talent Cup – CBR 150 (Novice): 1. Mohamed Mikail (Chennai) (02;07.829).
CBR 250: 1. Anish Damodara Shetty (Hubballi) (02:01.251).