TVS, Honda racing riders share qualifying honours in national

TVS Racing and Honda Racing riders set up another interesting battle as they shared the qualifying honours in the fifth and final round of the MRF MMSC FMSCI National Motorcycle Racing Championship at the MMRT at nearby Sriperumbudur on Friday.

KY Ahamed (01:53.674) led a 1-2 for TVS Racing in the premier Pro-Stock 301-400cc class along with Deepak Ravikumar (01:53.823) while Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing dominated the Pro-Stock 201-300cc category with Anish Shetty (01:57.646) and Abhishek Vasudev (01:58.281) occupying the top two spots on the grid for Saturday's race.

In the Pro-Stock 165cc class, Honda and TVS set the tone for Saturday's qualifying and race.

Sarath Kumar (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing, 01:59.790) was the quickest in the Free Practice session ahead of two TVS Racing riders, Ahamed (01:59.793) and seven-times National champion Jagan Kumar (02:00.121) while championship leader Rajiv Sethu (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) was fourth in 02:00.702.

In the Girls category, defending champion Ann Jennifer (Sparks Racing) clocked 02:11.902 in her flying lap to qualify for pole position ahead of Lani Zena Fernandez of Speed Demonz Racing (02:13.599) while championship leader Ryhana Bee (Sparks Racing) was fourth (02:14.212) behind Alisha Abdullah (Alisha Racing, 02:14.087).

The qualifying session for the Novice (Stock 165cc) saw Abhimanyu Gautam (Sparks Racing), Manoy Y (Team Motomaniacz) and championship leader I Venkatesan (Team Motomaniacz) occupying the front row in that order for Saturdays race that will see a massive 40-bike grid.

The qualifying session was run in two batches in view of the large number of entries.

The FMSCI, governing body for motorsport in India, and the Madras Motor Sports Club, felicitated Aishwarya Pissay, winner of the FIM Baja World Cup (womens category).

Sita Raina, Chairperson, Women in Motorsport, Fmsci, and Manoj Dalal, Secretary, MMSC, presented mementos to Aishwarya.

The FMSCI also organised a workshop on fitness for women riders competing in the ongoing National Motorcycle Racing Championship, with Manav Mukund, Director, Strength and Conditioning, Sports Dynamix, making a presentation.