Rajiv grabs 4 points in Race 2 of Thai ARRC

Indian rider Rajiv Sethu Sunday grabbed four points after finishing 12th in the final race of Round 3 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship (ARRC) here as IDEMITSU Honda Racing India Team crossed the 20-point mark for first time.

The 21-year-old Rajiv is ranked 14th overall with 22 points, while the Indian team also has 22 points and is now in Top 7 Teams of AP 250 class Championship.

Team-mate Senthil, however, ended the race with no gain at the 20th spot out of 25 riders. He is ranked 21st with 2 points in his debut season.

Boosted by his maiden third row start from 7th, Rajiv made a good start overtaking 2 riders at start line itself.

For the next 5, Rajiv was in top 9 riding in less than 1 second gap. In turn 4 of lap 6, Indonesian rider Rafid had a high-side and Rajiv exceeded track limit to save himself from crash slipping to 10th.

From 7th lap onwards, Rajiv, Rafid and three more riders fought to maintain their positions. It was on the slipstream in home straight of lap 9 that Rajiv emerged 12th.

Fighting till the last corner, Rajiv took the call to avoid the risk of crash and maintained his position to win 4 points in race 2.

Rajiv showed remarkable improvement, recording the first Indian rider Qualifier finish in Top 7, new fastest lap time (1:53:573) and over 33% reduction in total race time gap with lead rider from 18 seconds to just 5 seconds in the 10 lap race.

The hot and sweltering weather condition was matched by heated AP250 race 2 on track too. After Thai rider Muklada returned to pits in starting lap, the frenzy continued till end line with A.P Honda's Thai rider Tatchakorn Buasri stopping the clock followed by Indonesian Honda rider Awhin Sanjaya (2nd) and Muhammad Faerozy completing the AP 250 race 2 podium.

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 flagship class.