- KY Ahmed sweeps Round 1 of SuperSport 165 class
- Anish Shetty scores second win in the ProStock 165 class
- Senthil Kumar victorious in Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup
The first round of 2018 Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship has concluded with a blitzing ride from KY Ahmed and Anish Shetty. With an overcast sky threatening to dampen the mood at the Kari Speedway, the two riders scored their second wins of the weekend in the Race 2 of the SuperSport 165 and the ProStock 165 categories respectively.
The flagship race of the INMRC started with Idemitsu Honda Ten10 rider Mathana Kumar on pole, although TVS Racing riders Jagan Kumar and Ahmed managed to slip past in the first half. KY Ahmed successfully defended the first position despite pressure from Mathana and his team-mate Rajiv Sethu. However, Jagan, the defending champion suffered from a punctured tyre and dropped to the back of the grid. By the end of the race, Deepak Ravikumar, the third TVS rider also managed to slip past the two Honda racers to secure the second position. Mathana finished third, just like in the Race 1 of the weekend.
Anish Shetty and his Idemitsu Honda Ten10 team-mate Mithun Kumar finished first and third in the ProStock 165 category, while Rockers Racing rider Kevin Kannan scored the second spot. The ProStock 301-400cc Race 2 was clinched by Amarnath Menon from Gusto Racing, followed by his team-mate Satyanarayana Raju and Vortex Racing’s Antony Peter.
The Stock 165 Novice class was won by Aditya Rao from Sparks Racing, while his team-mate Karthik Mateti finished second. Akshay V Murali from Apex Racing Academy finished third. The Stock 165 Girls race was marred by a drizzle. Nevertheless, Ann Jennifer from Sparks Racing did well to hold on to the first position. She was followed by Nivetha Kumar from First 1 Racing and privateer Czimkhy RV.
The weekend also witnessed One Make Championships from Honda and TVS. Just like in the Race 1, Senthil Kumar and Anish Shetty scored the first two slots of the Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup. Abhishek Vasudev finished third. TVS conducted two races of the Apache RR310 Cup and one of the Novice Apache RTR 200 Cup today. Yashas RL and Vivek Pillai clinched the first two spots in the first race of Apache RR310 Cup, while Deepak Ravikumar and S Sivanesan did the same in the Race 2. Peddu Sriharsha finished third in both the races. As for the novice category, the second race was won Karthik Mateti, and was followed by Anand R and AS Alexander.
The circus will now move to the MMRT circuit at Sriperumbudur, Chennai, which will host the subsequent four rounds. The second round will be conducted between 5 July 5 and 8 July.
