Rajini Krishnan clinched a monumental 10th national title after winning the 2021 MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship in the premier Pre-Stock 301-400cc category. This is the superbike racing ace’s first national crown in a decade.
Read on to catch up on all the action from the fifth and final round at the Madras Motor Race Track.
- Krishnan claims first national title in a decade
- TVS dominates Pro-Stock 165cc category
- Autocar India’s Soham Thakur wins TVS Media title
Pro-Stock 301-400cc
On the back of what has been a tremendous season, Krishnan needed just four points to win the title going into the final round. But there were some speed bumps as crashes marred the finale for the 41-year-old.
He didn’t score any points in Race 1 after crashing on the second lap and recovering to finish 12th. In Race 2, he climbed from 12th to second, but then hit an oil patch on the very last lap. However, he managed to continue and finished the race third. Race Concepts’ Anish Damodara Shetty crossed the line first but was demoted to second place for an infringement. This handed victory to Gusto Racing’s Rahil Shetty.
The result was enough for Krishnan to win the title with 183 points and six wins. Anish Shetty finished second overall with 164 points. TVS Racing ended up winning the teams’ championship, while KTM took home the manufacturers’ title.
Results
Race 1
1. Anish Damodara Shetty (Race Concepts) - 11mins 19.140secs
2. Ahmed KY (TVS Racing) – 11mins 19.332secs
3. Rahil Shetty (Gusto Racing) – 11mins 19.636secs
Race 2
1. Rahil Shetty (Gusto Racing) - 15mins, 12.661secs
2. Anish Damodara Shetty (Race Concepts) – 15mins 17.595secs
3. Rajini Krishnan (RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate – 15mins 31.119secs
Pro-Stock 165cc
TVS Racing’s Jagan Kumar also secured his 10th national title as he wrapped up the Pro-Stock 165cc championship with one race to spare. He didn’t score a race win at the finale, admitting that he wasn’t really pushing as he wanted to pick up the necessary points. But a third place finish in Race 1 was enough for him to seal the title.
His TVS Racing teammate KY Ahmed enjoyed a strong weekend, winning both the races in the finale. In fact, TVS enjoyed a clean sweep in the category, taking home the teams’ and manufacturers’ titles as well.
Results
Race 1
1. KY Ahmed (TVS Racing) – 11mins 45.710secs
2. Rajiv Sethu (Idemitsu Honda) – 11mins 45.953secs
3. Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) – 11mins 48.726secs
Race 2
1. KY Ahamed (TVS Racing) - 15mins 41.370secs
2. Deepak Ravikumar (TVS Racing) - 15mins 41.461secs
3. Rajiv Sethu (Idemitsu Honda SK69 Racing) – 15mins 42.251secs
Novice and Girls (Stock 165cc)
Alwin Sundar finished all three races in the Novice Stock 165cc category in second place behind Allwin Xavier. But it was nevertheless enough for the 19-year-old to clinch the title.
Ryhana Bee had already wrapped up the Girls Stock 165cc title in the last round. But she didn’t take it easy at the finale and picked up yet another race win.
Results
Novice (Stock 165cc) Race 1
1. Allwin Xavier (Sparks Racing) – 12mins 54.639secs
2. Alwin Sundar (AS Motorsports) – 12mins 54.845secs
3. Samrul Zubair (Raceists) – 13mins 03.969secs
Novice (Stock 165cc) Race 2
1. Allwin Xavier (Sparks Racing) – 12mins 57.130secs
2. Alwin Sundar (AS Motorsports) – 12mins 57.484secs
3. Jinendra Kiran Sangave (Sparks Racing) – 13mins 02.255secs
Novice (Stock 165cc) Race 3
1. Allwin Xavier (Sparks Racing) – 12mins 53.797secs
2. Alwin Sundar (AS Motorsports) – 12mins 54.438secs
3. Jinendra Kiran Sangave (Sparks Racing) – 13mins 03.099secs
TVS One-Make Championship
Amarnath Menon took the title in the TVS Apache RR310 Open category with four wins from 10 starts. Meanwhile, Jinendra Kiran Sangave won the TVS Rookie (RTR 200) title after winning Race 1 and finishing second in Races 2 and 3.
Autocar India’s own Soham Thakur put in a dominant performance to clinch the TVS Media title, astride the Apache RTR 200.
Results
TVS Apache RR310 Open Race 1
1. Jagadeesh N – 11mins 46.912secs
2. Navaneeth Kumar S – 11mins 48.365secs
3. Amarnath Menon – 11mins 49.054secs
TVS Apache RR310 Open Race 2
1. Amarnath Menon – 11mins 50.667secs
2. Ananthraj P – 11mins 50.961secs
3. Manoj Yesuadiyan – 11mins 51.838secs
TVS Rookie (RTR 200) Race 1
1. Jinendra Kiran Sangave – 12mins 52.657secs
2. Chiranth Viswanath – 12mins 52.784secs
3. Abdul Bhasim – 12mins 52.877secs
TVS Rookie (RTR 200) Race 2
1. Chiranth Viswanath – 12mins 48.129secs
2. Jinendra Kiran Sangave – 12mins 48.443secs
3. Shreyas Hareesh Cooparam – 12mins 48.457secs
TVS Rookie (RTR 200) Race 3
1. Chiranth Viswanath – 12mins 42.924secs
2. Jinendra Kiran Sangave – 12mins 43.614secs
3. KR Tamizhinian – 12mins 44.221secs
Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup
Sarthak Chavan had a strong showing in the NSF 250R category. He followed up his four consecutive wins over the previous two rounds, with another double victory at the finale. But this wasn’t enough for him to win the title. Instead, Kavin Quintal, who had won the first four races of the season, edged out Chavan by seven points to take the title.
Prakash Kamat took home the CBR150 title, despite missing out on the podium all weekend.
Results
NSF250 Race 1
1. Sarthak Chavan – 07mins 26.094secs
2. Kavin Quintal – 07mins 32.266secs
3. Mohsin Paramban – 07mins 34.544secs
NSF250 Race 2
1. Sarthak Chavan – 14mins 45.513secs
2. Kavin Quintal – 14mins 54.015secs
3. Mohsin Paramban – 14mins 55.452secs
CBR150 Race 1
1. Vivek Gaurav – 13mins 04.401secs
2. Siddesh Sawant – 13mins 06.114secs
3. Raheesh Khatri – 13mins 06.157secs
CBR150 Race 2
1. Theopaul Leander – 17mins 13.251secs
2. Siddesh Sawant – 17mins 13.492secs
3. Raheesh Khatri – 17mins 14.100secs
CBR150 Race 3
1. Theopaul Leander – 13mins 03.492secs
2. Siddesh Sawant – 13mins 04.026secs
3. Vivek Gaurav – 13mins 04.517secs
Honda Hornet 2.0 One Make Race
The inaugural Honda Hornet 2.0 season concluded with a fierce battle for the podium positions. Contact between Ajai Xavier and Kevin Kannan in the last lap resulted in a crash for Kannan, while Xavier went wide on track. This made way for G Balaji to win the race.
Results
1. G Balaji - 13mins 33.889secs
2. Udayi Prakash - 13mins 34.521secs
3. Shankar Guru - 13mins 38.138secs
Also see:
2021 INMRC: Rajini Krishnan inches closer to title after Round 4