Chennai, July 11 (IANS): Jagan Kumar of TVS Racing stamped his authority in the showpiece Group B (165cc) Open class with a lights-to-flag victory in the Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship here on Saturday, destroying a quality field that included international riders.
An equally impressive winner of the day was Prabhu Arunagiri of Moto-Rev Yamaha Racing team who easily won the Group C (165cc) Open class race, defeating the experienced Sumit Lucas Toppo, who, however, took the honours in the Honda One-Make Championship CBR 250 (Open) class.
Meanwhile, the two Suzuki Gixxer Cup races produced close battles as Vishwadev Muraleedharan and Anantha Raj won the honours in the Novice and Open classes, respectively.
Muraleedharan, in fact, achieved the only double of the day as he extended his domination in the Group D (165cc) Novice class by winning the race which was his third on the trot following twin victories in the first round last month in Coimbatore.
Starting from pole position, 27-year-old Jagan, who recently became the first Indian to win a race in the Asia Road Racing Championship in Indonesia, enjoyed an untroubled run as he opened up a lead by Turn 1 and gradually extended it.
Riding the TVS RTR 160, Jagan faced little challenge from the likes of veterans Rajini Krishnan of Moto-Rev Yamaha and Harry Sylvester (TVS Racing) and Sarath Kumar (Ten10 Racing), who finished behind the winner in that order.
"I had a good start and by the first corner, I was comfortably ahead. However, in the first three laps, I controlled the pace and was prepared to push, but I did not receive much of a challenge," said Jagan.
The results (Provisional):
Group B (165cc) Open (Race 1) 6 laps: Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) 1 (11 mins, 42.156 secs); Rajini Krishnan (MotoRev Yamaha Racing ) 2 (11:53.477); Harry Silvestar, TVS Racing (11:56.290) 3.
Group C (165cc) Open (Race 1) 6 laps: Prabhu Arunagiri (MotoRev Yamaha Racing) 1 (12:41.384); Sumit Lucas Toppo (Pro Lap Racing) 2 (12:48.658); Ananth Raj P. (Kingdom Racing India) 3 (12:54.617).
Group D (165cc) Novice (Race 1) 6 laps: Vishwadev Muraleedharan (Sparks Racing) 1 (13:23.157); Amarnath Menon K. (Apex Racing Academy) 2 (13:29.062); K. Kannan (United Tech Torque Racing) 3 (13:29.543).
Honda MMSC One-Make - CBR 250 Open (Race 1) 6 laps: Sumit Lucas Toppo (Pro Lap Racing) 1 (12:25.390); Sarath Kumar (Ten10 Racing) 2 (12:42.021); Rajiv Sethu (Ten10 Racing) 3 (12:42.344). CBR 150 (Novice, Race-1) 6 laps: Kishoar V.S. 1 (07:47.256); Piyush Ranjan 2 (07:48.066); Aravind B. 3 (07:48.175).
Suzuki Gixxer Cup - Open (Race-1) 6 laps: Ananth Raj 1 (13:26.065); Sathish Kumar 2 (13:27.125); Prakash S.K. 3 (13:27.363). Novice (Race-1) 6 laps (Short Loop): Vishwadev Muraleedharan (07:50.103) 1; Malsawmdawngliana (07:52.466) 2; Amarnath Menon K. (07:54.811) 3.