Double for Arunagiri, Lani Fernandez

CHENNAI: Rajiv Sethu, Vignesh Goud and Lani Zena Fernandez took unassailable leads across various categories with fluent victories as the fourth and penultimate round of the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship concluded at the Madras International Circuit, here on Sunday.

The spotlight was also on Chennai veteran Prabhu Arunagiri (Pacer Yamaha1) as he completed a grand double in the Pro-Stock 165cc Open category after surviving a stirring duel with KY Ahamed (Petronas TVS Racing) despite starting from P5.

The second-place finish put Ahamed on top of the championship standings displacing Rajiv Sethu who failed to score any points in this category (Pro-Stock 165cc Open) after being disqualified (technical infringement) from both of Saturday’s races and a crash in Sunday’s Race-3.

However, Sethu, the 25-year-old international from Chennai, salvaged his weekend by notching his seventh win in as many starts in the premier Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open category to open an 85-point lead. Sethu survived a tough fight with 16-year- old Sarthak Chavan (Petronas TVS Racing) from Pune who started P15 and even led briefly before yielding ground to the Chennai star in the last lap.

Later, 19-year-old Goud (Race’ists Motorcycle Club) from Hyderabad who started P19, shrugged off Saturday’s crash to record his sixth win in seven starts to secure a 54-point advantage in the Novice (Stock 165cc) class, while Puducherry’s Lani Zena Fernandez (RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate) completed a double in the Girls (Stock 165cc) category to move 45 points clear of her rivals with three wins in four outings this season.

Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup (NSF 250R)

Kavin Quintal, the 18-year-old from Chennai, was in a league of his own when winning both the races, virtually unchallenged. He won Sunday’s first race by over six seconds and the next, by 13.5 seconds to stamp his domination in this category and finish the round with a 45-point lead.