Chennai (Tamil Nadu), October 3 (ANI): The 2022 FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship draws to a close here at Madras International Circuit in Chennai. Starting the season on a high note, Honda SK69 Racing team’s Rajiv Sethu performed par excellence and rounded off the Pro-Stock 165cc category at second position in the championship with a total one win and seven podium finishes.
On the other hand, the young guns of the Honda India Talent Cup displayed exemplary performances on the racetrack. The international rider Sarthak Chavan of Pune has taken over the championship title for Honda India Talent Cup NSF20R with his dazzling performance followed by Chennai’s Shyam Sundar (153 points) in the second position and Malappuram’s Mohsin P (134 points) at third.
Topping the leadership board of the 2022 Honda India Talent Cup CBR150R is Raheesh Khatri who has finished the season with an all-time high of back-to-back 10 wins. He’s followed by Kolhapur’s Siddesh Sawant (139 points) in second and Bengaluru’s Harshith V Boggar (128 points) secured the third position.
Speaking about the 2022 season, Prabhu Nagaraj – Operating Officer, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India said, “We are very pleased with the results. Our riders have fought hard and fast to gain top laurels. It is their grit and determination that have made them achieve such accomplishments. It is a proud moment for us as our ace performer Rajiv has bagged second place in the PS165cc category. Not only the national championship but our focus has been equal on the Honda India Talent Cup NSF250R and CBR150R riders as well. The millennial riders raced their hearts out like the big guns of racing. It is ecstatic to see Raheesh Khatri who came as an amateur and finished the season as a champion, whereas Sarthak Chavan too made it to the top once again. I wish good luck to the 5 young riders who will be challenging for a spot in the selection event of ATC this month.”
The final race of PS165cc of the national championship saw Rajiv Sethu & Senthil Kumar start the race 2nd and 7th respectively. Lying sixth and ninth one lap into the race, they lapped with very similar times to each other throughout the first half of the race. Both riders then joined the mix of top contenders and further pushed their throttle. Riding with determination and a steel-like vision of victory, Rajiv outpaced the whole pack to claim second place on the podium. Whereas Senthil emerged out of thin air and kept his competitor at bay to close the race at third place.
The 10-lap race of Honda India Talent Cup NSF250R saw Mohsin P, Shyam Sundar and Rakshith S Dave rounding off the podium at 1-2-3 positions. Starting off the race with a head start, Pune’s Sarthak Chavan rode fearlessly. However, after facing a technical glitch in his machine, he had to retire before completing the race. Nevertheless, riding on the back of his 7 wins, Sarthak Chavan has emerged victorious in the championship. In the absence of the race leader, Mohsin P took charge and finished at first place. Giving him a tough contention to the finish line was Shyam Sundar who finished the race at the second place with a total time of 18:41.542. Joining them on the third place was Chennai’s Rakshith S Dave who stopped the clock at 19:04.772.
The very last race of the 2022 Honda India Talent Cup CBR150R was no different as Mumbai’s Raheesh Khatri rose to victory once again. The 14-year-old rider carved quite a bit of momentum in the first lap, recorded a best lap of 2:06.605, and won the race with an 18-second lead. The race saw a three-way fight between Harshith V Boggar, Siddesh Sawant, and Rajender Beedani for P2 & P3 on the podium. While 18-year-old Harshith finished the race second and 20-year-old Siddesh finished third, Jangaon’s Rajender met with an incident in the last lap and could not finish the race.
The heated battle for top laurels in today’s race of the Honda Hornet 2.0 One Make category stretched to the finish line. Bouncing off a good start, poleman G Balaji continued his reign to the top and took another win in Round 5 with a total time of 13:38.195. Riding behind Balaji was Mumbai’s Kayan Zubin Patel who lost his pace due to a shake-up in turn 11 of the last lap and was forced to finish the race in fourth. However, it was a show put up by local riders Romario John and Prabhu V that grabbed eyeballs in this category. With Romario John and Prabhu V starting the race from 13th and 14th place on the grid, both made a strong and compelling leap in the initial laps to fight with a top bunch. Using the right techniques, Romario John managed to get an inch ahead of Prabhu just before the finish line and finished second. The local lad recorded the best lap of 2:13.742. Prabhu V closed the race at third. (ANI)
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Source: The Print
