Honda racers shine in Race 1 of Asia Dream Cup

The fifth round of the Asia Dream cup (ADC) and Asia Road Racing championship (ARRC) got off to a scintillating start at the Buddh International Circuit here on Saturday.

In the Asia Dream cup, Honda racers Hari Krishnan, Sethu Rajiv and S. Mathana Kumar put up a spirited display to claim 7th, 10th and 13th positions respectively in the first race. The trio will have another shot on Sunday in the second race to pick up a podium finish.

Claiming the first spot in Asia Dream Cup was Hiroki Nakamura of Japan who clocked 17.01.674 followed by Indonesian riders Yassiin Gabriel Somm and Muhd Febriansyah, who finished second and third respectively in a closely contested race.

Meanwhile, in the first race of the SuperSports 600CC category, the Indian challenge received an early setback as the only Indian in the grid, Sarath Kumar had to withdraw from the race owing to a crash during the qualifying stage.

Anthony Keith West from Australia emerged victorious clocking 25.21.592 followed by Dectha Kraisart from Thailand and Ahmad Yudhistira from Indonesia in second and third place respectively.

In the third event of the day, Honda CBR 250cc Open, Sethu grabbed the pole position clocking a total time of 2.32.667 minutes and was closely followed by Mathana Kumar, who finished second. Mithun Kumar P.K. finished third to complete the top three.

As many as 21 Indian riders took part in the CBR 250R Team championship, which is Honda's flagship event.

--IANS

tri/vm