Rajiv finishes 12th, team 7th overall after ARRC Round 3

Rajiv Sethu squandered a chance to match his career-best top 10 finish to end 12th after the completion of Race 2, Round 3, of the Asia Road Race Championship (ARRC) at the Chang International Circuit here on Sunday.

Starting third on the grid in the Asia Production 250 class, 21-year-old Rajiv looked on course to make amends for his faltering Race 1 showing, where he finished a lowly 22nd.

In Adelaide, where the Round 2 of ARRC took place, Rajiv scripted his first ever top-10 finish to bag 14 points while in the entire 2018 season he earned just seven points.

Overall, Rajiv slipped two positions from the previous round to the 14th spot with 22 points, while teammate Senthil Kumar ended 21st. The team finished in seventh place out of 15 participants with 22 points.

Till the first six laps, Chennai-born Rajiv was among the top 10 racers in the eighth spot. In lap 7, Indonesian rider Rafid Topan overtook him as Rajiv exceeded track limit but saved himself from a crash, slipping to the 10th place.

From there on, the top eight riders pulled away in the final four laps as Rajiv could not maintain his momentum, sliding to 11th in that period to eventually finish 12th. He clocked 19:09:764.

"Today, I raced my best out of my 24 ARRC races in three years. For the first time, I fought in top five in two laps and I had the opportunity to be in the front bunch of AP250," Rajiv said.

"Overall, I learnt a lot and will be using this experience going forward. Last year, after my wrist fracture, I couldn't race well in Japan. This year I will surely benefit from my experience in Suzuka 4-hour endurance race next weekend and will apply the learning in the upcoming June-end round in Suzuka," he added.

The next round will be held in the Sukuza circuit in Japan from June 28.

Meanwhile, Rajiv's teammate Senthil Kumar, who is still getting used to the AP250cc bike with this being his first year in ARRC, could not make an impression as he finished 21st. He clocked 19:51:587.

"I couldn't match my target, but I learnt a lot here. With the next race in Suzuka circuit, probably the toughest track in the world, I am excited and waiting to learn there," 18-year-old Senthil said.

In ASB1000cc class, Malaysian rider Zaqhwan Zaidi of Honda Asia-Dream Racing with SHOWA team continued his golden run and finished 4th, taking Honda's solo team and rider both to Top 4 in the flagship class.

Meanwhile, Honda's Indian teen rider duo racing in the Honda Talent Cup (Honda's development programme for Asian riders run on NSF250R) made further gains.

After his first ever top nine finish in his debut season on Saturday, Kritik Habib crashed out in lap 8 after the bike just after him hit him on the corner. Mohammad Mikail was the 13th to cross the line.

--IANS

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