Honda rider Rajiv Sethu grabs pole

: Rajiv Sethu of Honda Ten10 Racing Friday snatched pole position in the premier Super Sport 165cc category with a flying lap of 01:54.906 in the fifth and final round of the MRF MMSC FMSCI National Motorcycle Racing Championship at the MMRT at nearby Sriperumbudur.

Sethu, lying a distant third in the championship behind the TVS Racing duo of leader Jagan Kumar and second-placed Ahamed Arif, put in three laps in the 10-minute qualifying session as he scorched the track, displaying impressive pace.

Jagan (01:55.231) qualified second ahead of Ahamed (01:55.951) for tomorrows Race-1 of the double-header.

Also grabbing pole position was Prabhu Arunagiri of Team Alisha Abdullah with a lap of01:53.872in the Pro-Stock 301-400cc category, where he is third on the leaderboard for this class with 114 points.

Championship leader Satyanarayana Raju of Gusto Racing (119 points) qualified third behind Sparks Racings Rahil Pillarishetty (66).

In the girls section, leader Ann Jennifer of Sparks Racing comfortably bagged the pole position (02:13.615), well ahead of Kalyani Potekar (Apex Racing Academy) and privateer Nivetha Kumar.

Bengaluru-based Anish Damodara Shetty (Honda Ten10 Racing), enjoying a 16-point advantage,took top spot on the front row in the Pro-Stock 165cc category with a lap of 01:59. 630 while Anup Kumar (Team Alisha Abdullah) and Soorya PM (TVS Racing) completed the top three.