National motorcycle racing: Rajini Krishnan claims 10th National title after a decade

Chennai, Feb 5 (IANS) Veteran Rajini Krishnan (RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate) scripted a masterclass ride and though he finished third in the premier Pro-Stock 301-400cc category despite a crash, he did just enough to claim his 10th National title and his first in a decade on Saturday. It was the 41-year-old Chennai star's first National crown in 10 years and came on the concluding day of the fifth and final round of the MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship at the MMRT, here.

Also annexing the National titles was 19-year-old Chennai collegian Alwin Sundar (AS Motorsports) in the Novice (Stock 165cc) category despite finishing second behind Allwin Xavier (Sparks Racing) who thus completed a triple crown.

In the Girls' category, Ryhana Bee (RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate), also from Chennai, marked her comeback season after a year's absence due to injury, by winning the fifth consecutive race. She had sealed the championship after Round 4 but ensured that she closed the season on a winning note.

Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) had assured himself of the National title, his 10th, on Friday after finishing third in the Pro-Stock 165cc category. In the second race on Saturday, he cruised to fourth. KY Ahamed led a 1-2 finish for TVS Racing with Deepak Ravikumar second, while Rajiv Sethu (Idemitsu Honda SK69 Racing) came in third.

Rajini Krishnan, who needed just four points to annex the championship going into the final round, had a roller-coaster weekend, marked by crashes in both the races.

In the first outing on Friday, he crashed to finish 12th, and without a point. In the second race on Saturday, starting from P12, he moved to second but hit an oil patch on the last lap. However, he jumped back on to finish third behind Rahil Shetty (Gusto Racing) and Anish Damodara Shetty (Race Concepts), to earn 15 valuable points.

Anish Shetty crossed the finish line first, but he dropped to second following a five-second penalty for an infringement, elevating Rahil to the top step of the podium.

Rajini, who had made his National Championship debut in 2003, topped the leaderboard with 183 points and six wins, followed by Anish Shetty (164) and Rahil Shetty (156).

Provisional results (all 6 laps unless mentioned):

Pro-Stock 301-400cc (Race-2, 8 laps): 1. Rahil Shetty (Gusto Racing, Hyderabad) (15mins, 12.661secs); 2. Anish Damodara Shetty (Race Concepts, Bengaluru) (15:17.595); 3. Rajini Krishnan (RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate, Chennai) (15:31.119). National champion: Rajini Krishnan. Team championship: TVS Racing. Manufacturer championship: KTM.

Pro-Stock 165cc Open (Race-2, 8 laps): 1. KY Ahamed (TVS Racing, Chennai) (15:41.370); 2. Deepak Ravikumar (TVS Racing, Chennai) (15:41.461); 3. Rajiv Sethu (Idemitsu Honda SK69 Racing) (15:42.251). National champion: Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing, Chennai). Team championship: TVS Racing. Manufacturer championship: TVS.

Novice (Stock 165cc) (Race-3): 1. Allwin Xavier (Sparks Racing, Thrissur) (12:53.797); 2. Alwin Sundar (AS Motorsports, Chennai) (12:54.438); 3. Jinendra Kiran Sangave (Sparks Racing, Kolhapur) (13:03.099). National champion: Alwin Sundar. Team Championship: Sparks Racing.

Girls (Stock 165cc) 5 laps: 1. Ryhana Bee (RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate, Chennai) (10:53.980); 2. Lani Zena Fernandez (Speed Up Racing, Puducherry) (10:55.735); 3. Ann Jennifer (Sparks Racing, Chennai) (11:04.284). National champion: Ryhana Bee. Team Championship: RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate.

TVS One-Make Championship - Open (Apache RR310) Race-1: 1. Jagadeesh N (Bengaluru) (11:46.912); 2. Navaneeth Kumar S (Puducherry) (11:48.365); 3. Amarnath Menon (Kozhikode) (11:49.054). Race-2: 1. Amarnath Menon (11:50.667); 2. Ananthraj P (Chennai) (11:50.961); 3. Manoj Yesuadiyan (Chennai) (11:51.838). Champion: Amarnath Menon.

Rookie (Apache RTR 200) (Race-2): 1. Chiranth Viswanath (Bengaluru) (12:48.129); 2. Jinendra Kiran Sangave (Kolhapur) (12:48.443); 3. Shreyas Hareesh Cooparam (Bengaluru) (12:48.457). Race-3: 1. Chiranth Viswanath (12:42.924); 2. Jinendra Kiran Sangave (12:43.614); 3. KR Tamizhinian (Chennai) (12:44.221). Champion: Jinendra Kiran Sangave.

Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup - NSF 250R (Race-2, 8 laps): 1. Sarthak Chavan (Pune) (14:45.513); 2. Kavin Quintal (Chennai) (14:54.015); 3. Mohsin Paramban (Valancherry) (14:55.452). Champion: Kavin Quintal.

CBR 150 (Race-2): 1. Theopaul Leander (Chennai) (17:13.251); 2. Siddesh Sawant (Uttur) (17:13.492); 3. Raheesh Khatri (Mumbai) (17:14.100). Race-3: 1. Theopaul Leander (13:03.492); 2. Siddesh Sawant (13:04.026); 3. Vivek Gaurav (Patna) (13:04.517). Champion: Prakash Kamat (Bokaro Steel City).

Hornet 2.0 (Support class, Race-3): 1. G Balaji (Chennai) (13:33.889); 2. Udayi Prakash (Coimbatore) (13:34.521); 3. Shankar Guru (Chennai) (13:38.138). Champion: Kevin Kannan (Chennai).

TVS Media (Apache RTR 200, 5 laps): 1. Soham Thakur (11:46.045); 2. Manaal Mahatme (12:15.099); 3. Ajinkya Lad (12:16.537). Champion: Soham Thakur.