Chennai, Oct 5 (IANS): Pune’s Sarthak Chavan (TVS Racing) made history becoming the youngest ever winner at 17 years of age to seal the title in the premier Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open class as the fifth and final round of the MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2024 headed towards a grand climax at the Madras International Circuit, here on Saturday. Sarthak, who will turn 18 at the end of October, clinched the crown by winning Race 1 which put him beyond reach of his rivals in the points tally.
Riding with great maaturity, Sarthak tucked himself behind race leader and teammate Chiranth Vishwanath, the 17-year-old from Bengaluru, before making a move late in the six-lapper to notch his eighth win in nine races. Veteran Rajini Krishnan (RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate) was placed third. The result put Sarthak 57 points ahead of Chiranth on the leaderboard.
“It feels great to win my maiden National title. I have had a good season this year with five podium finishes at the Asian level. At the start of the season, I was focused on my riding and wanting to do well,” said Sarthak.
Later, Chiranth Vishwanath, the 17-year-old from Bengaluru, won the other premier class race, Pro-Stock 165cc Open, which went down to the wire after a few heart-stopping moments, as TVS Racing swept the podium spots with K.Y. Ahamed and Sarthak Chavan finishing second and third, respectively.
The six-lap race had three different leaders until Chiranth went past Sarthak and Ahamed with a daring move at the last corner as the trio finished within a second of each other.
The victory, though, kept Chiranth anchored in fourth spot on the leaderboard while Ahamed and his mentor and multiple National champion Jagan Kumar, who finished fourth today, and Sarthak are separated by only three points ahead of Sunday’s concluding race.
Meanwhile, the Girls (Stock 165cc) race threw up an unexpected result as the two championship contenders, Ryhana Bee (One Racing) and Rakshitha Dave (RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate), made contact and crashed in the third lap.
Their retirement saw Jagathishree Kumaresan (One Racing) notch an easy win ahead of teammate SP Shuria and Saimah Ajaz Baig (Motul Sparks Racing). With today’s win, Jagathishree moved to the top of the leaderboard with a 22-point advantage over Ryhana, going into Sunday’s concluding race.
Chennai’s Kaushik Subbiah Ganesan (RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate) picked up crucial points after finishing third in the Stock 301-400cc (Novice) race behind Raj Kumar C (RDX Torque Racing) and Savion Sabu (Mad Rabbit Racing) to keep his top spot on the points table. He leads Raj Kumar by 17 points ahead of Sunday’s final race.
Abdul Basim (Rockers Racing) maintained his form and scored his eighth win in the Novice (Stock 165cc) category, having already sealed the championship in the previous round. He held off his close rival, Tasmai Cariappa (Motul Sparks Racing).
Mohsin Paramban triumphs
Scoring his sixth win in nine starts, Malappuram’s Mohsin Paramban only confirmed his title in the NSF 250R category. He had to fight hard for today’s success as he crossed the finish line in a close formation with second-placed Siddesh Sawant (Kolhapur) and Bengaluru’s Savion Sabu.
Senthilkumar C. (Coimbatore) chalked up his sixth win in the Open (RR 310) category to move 13 points clear of second-placed Manoj Yesuadian (Chennai) on the leaderboard to set up an exciting battle for the title on Sunday when Race-2 will be run. Senthil’s elder brother Raj Kumar came in third but is not in contention for the title.
Bengaluru’s 20-year-old Harshith V. Bogar provisionally clinched the championship in the Rookie (Apache RTR 200) category despite finishing second behind Akarsh Jangam from Vijayawada while CS Kedarnath (Tirupati) came in third in the six-lap race. Going into the concluding race to be run on Sunday, Harshith enjoys an insurmountable 44-point lead over Kedarnath.
Pune’s Saimah Ajaz Baig took the title in the Girls' (Apache RTR 200) category by finishing second behind Sarah Khan (Mumbai) and ahead of Aisvariya V. (Coimbatore). The 21 points that Saimah earned put her on top of the leaderboard after the championship in this category.
The results (Provisional – all 6 laps unless mentioned):
National Championship – Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open (Race-1): 1. Sarthak Chavan (Pune, TVS Racing) (11mins, 04.916secs); 2. Chiranth Vishwanath (Bengaluru, TVS Racing) (11:05.126); 3. Rajini Krishnan (Chennai, RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate) (11:05.903).
Pro-Stock 165cc Open (Race-1): 1. Chiranth Vishwanath (Bengaluru, TVS Racing) (11:42.136); 2. KY Ahamed (Chennai, TVS Racing) (11:42.256); 3. Sarthak Chavan (Pune, TVS Racing) (11:42.581).
Stock 301-400cc (Novice) Race-1: 1. Raj Kumar (Coimbatore, RDX Torque Racing) (12:18.326); 2. Savion Sabu (Bengaluru, Mad Rabbit Racing) (12:18.504); 3. Kaushik Subbiah Ganesan (Chennai, RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate) (12:18.668).
Novice (Stock 165cc) Race-1: 1. Abdul Basim RS (Chennai, Team Rockers Racing) (12:55.636); 2. Tasmai Cariappa (Mysuru, Motul Sparks Racing) (12:58.727); 3. Lal Nunsanga (Mizoram, Motul Sparks Racing) (12:59.713).
Girls (Stock 165cc) Race-1 (5 laps): 1. Jagathishree Kumaresan (Chennai, One Racing) (11:03.823); 2. SP Shuria (Bengaluru, One Racing) (11:29.946); 3. Saimah Ajaz Baig (Pune, Motul Sparks Racing) (11:39.598).
Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup (NSF 250R) Race-1: 1. Mohsin Paramban (Malappuram) (11:22.331); 2. Siddesh Sawant (Kolhapur) (11:22.425); 3. Savion Sabu (Bengaluru) (11:22.568).
TVS Racing One-Make Championship – Open (Apache RR 310) Race-1: 1. Senthilkumar C (Coimbatore) (11:44.902); 2. Manoj Yesuadiyan (Chennai) (11:47.405); 3. Raj Kumar C (Coimbatore) (11:48.223).
Rookie (Apache RTR 200) Race-1: 1. Akarsh Jangam (Vijayawada) (13:14.266); 2. CS Kedarnadh (Tirupati) (13:14.285); 3. Harshith V Bogar (Bengaluru) (13:14.662).
Girls (Apache RTR 200): 1. Sarah Khan (Mumbai) (13:24.959); 2. Saimah Ajaz Baig (Pune) (13:25.639); 3. Aisvariya V (Coimbatore) (13:27.976).