Kovai Singam riders top Motorcycle Endurance League

Kovai Singam, represented by the experienced Harry Sylvester and Mathana Kumar, won the first ever race of the Motorcycle Endurance League (MEL) at the Kari Motor Speedway (KMS) here Sunday.

The Singam duo completed 67 laps during the 90-minute endurance race ahead of Delhi Dragonz pair of Satish Kumar and Padmanabhan while Hyderabad High Riders - Vivek Pillai and Ramesh Kumar - finished third.

Chennai Crackers were leading the race comfortably when they suffered a mechanical failure on Lap 55 with less than 15 minutes to go, ending their chances of a victory.

This was the first round for the MEL which is promoted by the Indian Motorcycle League. Pre-season favourites Chennai Crackers qualified on pole with their star rider Jagan Kumar setting the fastest time.

Jagan started for the Chennai Crackers and pulled away from the chasing pack, setting a series of fastest laps. His team-mate Prakash S.K. took over from him and continued to lead before handing back to Jagan.

Kovai Singam were in second place with Sylvester, and impressive Satish Kumar led the charge for Delhi Dragonz.

With Chennai Crackers pitted with a problem, Kovai Singam took the lead and crossed the line in first place at the 90-minute mark ahead of Delhi Dragonz and Hyderabad High Riders.

The Pune Panthers team of Abhishek and Akash Chandra Mohan finished in fourth position while Chennai Crackers recovered to finish fifth.

Sylvester said: "It was a very interesting race and different to how we normally race. Jagan and Chennai Crackers were too fast for us, but due to their problem, we got ahead.

"A big thanks to TVS Racing and the entire Singam team for all the hard work they put in. Mathana and I both had good stints and I am happy to come out ahead."

In the Enduro 130 class, P.K. Mithun Kumar finished ahead of Sebastian and Rama Krishnan while G.A. Sunil took the win in the Enduro 160 class. In the support race, the Orange class, G. Rajaram won both races ahead of Antony Peter.

The results:

MEL Class (90 minutes): 1. Kovai Singam (Harry Sylvester / Madana Kumar); 2. Delhi Dragonz (Satish Kumar / Padmanaban); 3. Hyderabad High Riders (Vivek Pillai / Ramesh Kumar). Championship points: 1. Delhi Dragonz 26; 2. Kovai Singam 25; 3. Hyderabad High Riders 19.

Enduro 130 class: 1. P.K. Mithun Kumar; 2. Sebastian; 3. Rama Krishnan. 160 Class: 1. G.A. Sunil; 2. Akash P. Desai; 3. Naresh Babu.

Orange class (Support race) - Race 1: 1. G. Rajaram; 2. E. Antony Peter; 3. C. Dinesh. Race 2: 1. G. Rajaram; 2. E. Antony Peter; 3. Naveen Kumar.