- Rajiv Sethu completes Race 2 in 15th position; adds one more point to his kitty
- Senthil Kumar gains five positions in Race 2, finishes the race with 17th position
- Idemitsu Honda Racing India ranks ninth in overall team standings
Indemitsu Honda Racing India Team witnessed a bittersweet success in Round 6 of the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship held at Sepang International circuit. After a rather disappointing result in Race 1, the riders gave their best shot in Race 2 which earned the team one more point.
Despite injuries to the back and hand from the highside crash in Race 1, Rajiv Sethu managed to maintain his 15th position in Race 2. After a strong start, Rajiv was able to quickly acquire the 11th position in Turn 2 and continued to stick with the bunch of Top 15 riders for four laps of the race. Unfortunately, in the fifth lap, Rajiv missed a gear which resulted in going wide and running off the track. This cost him two positions and furthermore, his injuries were holding him back from giving his full commitment. However, by completing the Race in 15th position, Rajiv managed to win one point for the team. It is the eighth time that Rajiv has managed to finish in the Top 15 in the Asia Production 250cc class during this year’s 2019 ARRC season.
As for his teammate Senthil Kumar, 18-year old showed progressive improvement in Round 6 of the championship. After gaining three positions in Race 1, Senthil managed to register his fastest personal lap time of 2:28:241 at Sepang International circuit. However, his unfortunate luck of a poor start was prevalent in Race 2 as well which pushed him back to the 29th position. However, Senthil rode aggressively and overtook the seven riders and returned back to his starting position. In the following lap, he overtook two more riders and moved up to the 17th position which he continued till he crossed the chequered flag. In the eighth lap race, Senthil managed to gain five positions overall.
As for the podium, Race 2 of the Asia Production 250cc class was won by Awhin Sanjaya from Astra Honda Racing followed by Andy Fadly trailing by only 0.048 seconds in second and Reynaldo Chrisantho in third. With Round 6 of the FIM ARRC completed at Sepang International Circuit, the championship now heads to Thailand for Round 7 Finale at Buriram circuit in December.
