• Rajiv Sethu champion in Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open category
• Girls title for Lani Zena Fernandez
• Vignesh Goud tops in Novice class

Chennai, October 22: Though he was denied a ninth-straight win, Rajiv Sethu, the 25-year-old from Chennai, crowned himself champion in the premier Pro-Stock 301- 400cc Open category on debut as the fifth and final round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2023 concluded at the Madras International Circuit here on Sunday.

Also clinching the National titles were: Hyderabad’s Vignesh Goud of Race’ists Motorcycle Club (Novice - Stock 165cc) and Puducherry’s Lani Zena Fernandez of RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate (Girls - Stock 165cc). The championship standings in the Pro-Stock 165cc Open were not declared pending settlement of a disputed result in Round 4.

Even as Sethu, nursing an injured left shoulder, delivered a third-straight rider championship to his team, RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate, in the Pro-Stock 301- 400cc Open category, it was young Sarthak Chavan, the 16-year-old from Pune from the Petronas TVS Racing stable who scripted a stirring win after starting from P17.

He passed a flagging Sethu on the last lap for the biggest victory of his blossoming National championship career. Finishing second behind Sarthak was his team-mate, the16-year-old Bengalurean Chiranth Vishwanath after a good move on Sethu who settled for a third place. The P3 did not matter for Sethu as he had already taken an unbeatable lead in the points table going into the race.

Later, Sethu finished the season by winning the Pro-Stock 165cc Open race in style despite starting from P10, with Sarthak and Chiranth coming in second and third, respectively. The race was reduced to five laps following a crash (rider okay) leading to a red flag and re-start.

Lani Zena Fernandez also finished the season on a victorious note, winning the Girls (Stock 165cc) race with ease. The race was reduced to three laps from the scheduled five following a stoppage due to pile-up (riders okay) in the very first lap and was re-started. It was her fourth win in nine starts.

Meanwhile, Bengaluru’s Savion Sabu gave a rousing finish to his season by achieving a double in the Novice (Stock 165cc) race, but his winning burst did not stop Vignesh Goud from clinching the championship in this category.

Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup: Kavin Quintal, the Chennai teenager, stamped his authority in the NSF 250R Open category with seventh win in nine starts to confirm his championship title in this class.

Petronas TVS One-Make Championship: Bengaluru’s Chiranth Vishwanath notched up his sixth win today in nine starts today to bag the championship in the Open (RR 310) category, holding off Romario John and G Balaji.

TVS E Motorcycle Time Attack: Sarthak Chavan (Pune) clocked the fastest lap in the Time Attack, posting a time of 01min, 47.304secs with a top speed of 186 Kmph. Chiranth Vishwanath (Bengaluru) was second quickest in 01:48.066 (179.8 Kmph) while former Moto3 rider from Japan, Hiroki Ono was third best in 01:49.116 (196.8 Kmph).

Provisional results (all 8 laps unless mentioned):

National Championship – Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open (Race-2):

1. Sarthak Chavan (Pune, Petronas TVS Racing) (14mins, 59.041sec);

2. Rahil PIllarisetty (Hyderabad, KTM Gusto Racing) (14:59.566);

3. Rajiv Sethu (Chennai, RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate) (14:59.656).

Pro-Stock 165cc Open (Race-2, 5 laps):

1. Rajiv Sethu (Chennai, RACR Castrol Power 1 Ultimate) (09:55.075);

2. Sarthak Chavan (Pune, Petronas TVS Racing) (09:56.286);

3. Chiranth Vishwanath (Bengaluru, Petronas TVS Racing) (09:57.533). Rider champion: Not declared pending enquiry. Team champions: Not declared pending enquiry.

Novice (Stock 165cc, Race-2, 6 laps):

1. Savion Sabu (Bengaluru, Axor Sparks Racing) (12:56.237);

2. Kaushik Subbiah Ganesan (Chennai, AS Motorsports) (12:56.400);

3. Aadit Shah (Vadodara, Axor Sparks Racing) (12:56.667).

Girls (Stock 165cc) 3 laps:

1. Lani Zena Fernandez (Pucucherry, RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate) (06:40.083);

2. Nadine Faith Balaji (Chennai, Alpha Racing) (06:54.558);

3. Adlin Seles (Chennai, Alpha Racing) (07:00.642).

Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup – NSF 250R Open (Race-2):

1. Kavin Quintal (Chennai)(15:09.312); 

2. Johann Reeves Emmanuel (Chennai) (15:14.912); 

3. Mohsin P (Mallapuram) (15:14.974).

Petronas TVS One-Make Championship: Open (301-400cc, RR 310) Race-2 (6 laps):

1. Chiranth Vishwanath (Bengaluru) (11:39.641); 

2. Romario John (Chennai) (11:40.117); 

3. G Balaji (Chennai) (11:40.157).

Media (Apache RTR) Race-1 (5 laps):

1. Joel Kolathoor Raju (Thane) (11:19.208); 

2. Alshin K Thomas (Pune) (11:19.312); 

3. Ananya Awasthi (Pune) (11:19.646).

Media (Apache RTR) Race-2 (5 laps):

1. Alshin K Thomas (Pune) (11:15.520); 

2. Joel Kolathoor Raju (Thane)

(11:15.642); 

3. Punya Prasun Sharma (11:21.399).