Chennai
The penultimate day of the final round of the 2021 Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship (INMRC) and Honda India Talent Cup was full of many ups and downs. From getting a podium finish in PS165cc of the national championship to having a red-flagged NSF250R race, the day saw all elements of a racing event. Continuing to gain on the points tally, Honda SK69 Racing Team's Rajiv Sethu clinched second place on the podium in the Pro-165cc race of the national championship. Fighting fiercely from the start itself, Rajiv quickly leapt to first place. While continuing to maintain his lead, a small mistake in lap 4 moved him down.
However, showing the mark of a truly brilliant racer Rajiv kept his calm and bounced back to finish second. Unfortunately, Mathana Kumar and Senthil Kumar could not finish the race. After an unfortunate crash between 4 out of 9 riders in the Honda India Talent Cup NSF250R class, it was a 4-lap shootout for 5 millennial riders Sarthak Chavan, Kavin Quintal, Samuel Martin, Mohsin P and Vivek Kapadia. Racing his finest from the get-go, Pune's Sarthak Chavan finished on top followed by Chennai's Kavin Quintal who finished in second place.
In a head on battle for the third spot between Samuel Martin and Mohsin P, Valanchery's Mohsin moved ahead of Samuel and confirmed third place on the podium. Whereas, Sameul Martin and Vivek Kapadia finished 4th and 5th respectively.
The first race of the day saw a mixed show of performance by 12 next-gen riders in CBR150R class of Honda India Talent Cup. With as many as four riders crashing on the track, the race was all about maintaining steady and consistent performance. 19-year-old Vivek Gaurav of Patna made his way to the first position with a comfortable lead of 1.713 seconds. Starting the race from the last row, 19-year-old Siddesh Sawant of Uttur finished second. Giving a tough competition to Siddesh in the last few laps was 14-year-old Raheesh Khatri of Mumbai who ultimately secured third place at the podium, recording the best lap of 2:07.611.
Boosted by his performance in yesterday's qualifier, Chennai's Kevin Kannan finished race 1 of Honda Hornet 2.0 One Make Race in the first place. Joining him on the podium at the second and third place were G Balaji and Ajai Xavier. Race 2 saw race leader Kevin Kannan crashing out as was in the midst of a 3 bike collision, thus eliminating him from the race. The action-packed race saw G Balaji, Ajai Xavier and Prabhu V riding against each other for P1. It was G Balaji who rose to victory followed by Ajai Xavier in second and Prabhu V in third place.