Mathana Kumar of Honda Ten10 Racing emerged the champion of the Super Sport Indian (up to 165cc) class in the third round of the MRF MMSC FMSCI National motorcycle racing championship at the MMRT track on Sunday.
Twenty-five year old Mathana, with three second-place finishes in five outings this season, came good in the second race.
Fluctuating fortunes
The race was one of fluctuating fortunes. Jagan, winner of the first race on Saturday, lead the pack initially.
He looked set for another win until a problem with his bike saw him drop down the grid, and later crash on the last lap, but he picked himself up to finish fifth.
By then, Mathana had moved to the front with Sylvester in hot pursuit.
“I am very happy to score my first win of the season. I’ve had issues with the bike, but I was determined to win today,” said Mathana.
Aravind Balakrishnan, also of Honda Ten10 Racing, dominated the Pro-Stock (up to 165cc) class by completing a fine double which took him to the top of the leaderboard.
Amarnath Menon of Gusto Racing scored his fifth win in six outings in the Super Sport Indian (300-400cc) class.
The results (Provisional): Third round: Super Sport Indian (up to 165cc) (Race two): Mathana Kumar (Honda Ten10 Racing) 18:06.287s; Harry Sylvester (TVS Racing) 18:06.744; Rajiv Sethu (Honda Ten 10 Racing) 18:15.142.
300-400cc: Amarnath Menon (Gusto Racing) 17:51.839; Antony Peter (Kingdom Motorsports) 17:51.945; Deepak Ravi Kumar (Moto-Rev) 17:52.117.
Pro-Stock (up to 165cc) (Race two): Aravind Balakrishnan (Honda Ten10 Racing) 18:56.859; Aravind Ganesh 19:04.364; Naresh Babu (RACR) 19:08.598.
Stock (up to 165cc): Novice (final): M. Anup Kumar (RACR) 13:15.938; Satyanarayana Raju (Sparks Racing) 13:15.940; Sri Rahil Pillarishetty (Sparks Racing) 13:16.195.
One-Make Championship: Honda CBR250 (Race one): Harikrishnan Rajagopal (Honda Ten10 Racing) 12: 27.667; Rajiv Sethu (Honda Ten10 Racing) 12: 27.808; Abhishek Vasudev 12:28.253.
Race two (9 laps): Rajiv Sethu (Honda Ten10 Racing) 18:37.642; Harikrishnan Rajagopal (Honda Ten10 Racing) 18:37.738; Amit Richard Topno (Pro Lap Racing) 18:38.064.
CBR 150 (Novice) (Race two): Satyanarayana Raju 13:27.240; Vysakh Sobhan 13:27.560; A. Amala Jerald 13:28.413.
TVS Apache RTR200 (Open): Race two: S. Sivanesan 13:13.935; Kannan Karnan 13:14.000; S. Yuvaraj 13:14.020.
Novice (Race two, 6 laps): M. Anup Kumar 13:19.447; J. Romario 13:23.279; A. Shankar Guru 13:24.762.