Honda racer Rajiv Sethu pips Jagan Kumar for a double

Chennai lad Rajiv Sethu of Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing recorded a double in the premier Super Sport Indian 165cc class in the second round of MRF MMSC FMSCI National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2018 at the MMRT track at Sriperumbudur near here today.

In a virtual repeat of yesterday's first race, Sethu scored another win over national champion Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing).

Jagan Kumar, after leading for much of the eight-lap race, yielded ground and finished second ahead of Sarath Kumar (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing).

The double win took Sethu to the top of the championship standings with 70 points, well clear of defending champion Jagan (62).

Also scoring wins were Kozhikode's Amarnath Menon, who led a 1-2 finish for Gusto Racing in the Pro-Stock 301-400cc class, Naresh Babu of RACR (Pro-Stock 165cc) and Karthik Mateti who headed a Sparks Racing podium sweep in the Novice category while also setting a lap record in the class.

Menon was involved in a three-way battle that included team-mate Sathyanarayana Raju and Prabhu Arunagiri (Team Alisha Abdullah).

As the race progressed, Menon and Raju swapped lead positions lap by lap while opening up a gap on Arunagiri.

Eventually, Menon got his nose in front and hung on to win his second race of the season with Raju in second spot followed by Arunagiri.

Menon now heads the championship in this class with 72 points, 11 clear of Raju.

Earlier, Sparks Racing team swept all three podium spots in the Novice (Stock, 165cc) category race with Mateti, a 19-year old Commerce student from Hyderabad, Aditya Rao (Bengaluru) and Alexander AS (Chennai) taking the chequered flag in that order after a close fight.

After two rounds, Mateti and Rao are tied with 43 points apiece, having one race apiece.

Results (Provisional all 8 laps unless mentioned): Super Sport Indian (165cc) Race 2: 1. Rajiv Sethu (Idemitsu Honda Ten 10 Racing) (15mins, 37.026sec); 2. Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) (15:40.465); 3. Sarath Kumar (Idemitsu Honda Ten 10 Racing) (15:57.911).

Pro-Stock (165cc) Race 2: 1. Naresh Babu (RACR) (16:57.586); 2. Anish D Shetty (Idemitsu Honda Ten 10 Racing) (17:03.115); 3. Senthil Kumar (Idemitsu Honda Ten 10 Racing) (17:07.286).

Pro-Stock (301-400cc) Race 2: 1. Amarnath Menon K (Gusto Racing India) (15:37.673); 2. Sathyanarayana Raju (Gusto Racing India) (15:38.943); 3. Prabhu Arunagiri (Team Alisha Abdullah) (15:39.216).

Novice (Stock 165cc, 6 laps): 1. Karthik Mateti (Sparks Racing) (13:01.676); 2. Aditya Rao I (Sparks Racing) (13.04.384); 3. Alexander AS (Sparks Racing) (13:04.663).

Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup 2018 organised by MMSC