Double delight for Pune teenager Sarthak Chavan

CHENNAI: Sarthak Chavan, the 17-year-old blossoming talent from Pune, came up with two brilliant rides to win races in both the premier Pro-Stock categories, the 301-400cc Open and the 165cc Open, to hog the limelight in the second round of the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2024 – Powered by STORM, at the Madras International Circuit, here on Saturday.

Sarthak, who recently took to yoga as part of his fitness regime, was in a league of his own in winning the Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open race with 6.8 seconds to spare on a drying track following overnight downpour. Later, he had to fight hard for his success in the Pro-Stock 165cc outing which he clinched with a superb double slip streaming at Turn 8 on the last lap to overtake the two team-mates in front, Jagan Kumar and Chiranth Vishwanath.

To round off a highly-successful day, Sarthak also bagged a special award from Indian Oil, the new partners for the championship, for the fastest lap of the day across all categories – one minute, 50.329 seconds – in the Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open race.

Also to finish on the top step of the podium in the National championship were three riders from Chennai. Seventeen-year-old Abdul Basim (Rockers Racing) notched his third win in as many starts in the Novice (Pro-Stock 165cc) class, while Jagathishree Kumaresan (One Racing) scored her maiden win in the Girls (Stock 165cc) category a day after her 20th birthday and Kaushik Subbaiah Ganesan (RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate) completed a hat-trick of wins in the Stock 301-400cc (Novice) category.

The two Pro-Stock races headlined the day’s proceedings. Sarthak was in a league of his own in the Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open race. His closest rival, 17-year-old Chiranth from Bengaluru, faded from the contest due to issues with his machine to finish a distant seventh, while KY Ahamed and Deepak Ravikumar completed a 1-2-3 sweep for TVS Racing.

The Pro-Stock 165CC Open race saw the lead changing hands throughout the six-lapper. Pole-sitter Chiranth did not have a good start and settled behind Sarthak. Joining the duo was 10-time National champion Jagan Kumar, probably in his last season before retirement. The trio exchanged leads before Sarthak made the decisive move in the last lap when he overtook both his team-mates for a deserving win.

Provisional results (all 6 laps unless mentioned):

National Championship – Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open (Race-1): 1. Sarthak Chavan (Pune, TVS Racing) (11mins, 10.394secs); 2. KY Ahamed (Chennai, TVS Racing) (11:17.203); 3. Deepak Ravikumar (Chennai, TVS Racing) (11:17.271)

Pro-Stock 165cc Open (Race-1): 1. Sarthak Chavan (Pune, TVS Racing) (11:48.647); 2. Jagan Kumar (Chennai, TVS Racing) (11:49.075); 3. Chiranth Vishwanath (Bengaluru, TVS Racing) (11:49.131)

Girls (Stock 165cc) Race-1 (5 laps): 1. Jagathishree Kumaresan (Chennai, One Racing) (11:01.998); 2. Nadine Faith Balaji (Chennai, Alpha Racing) (11:02.529); 3. Rakshitha Dave (Chennai, RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate) (11:02.750)

Novice (Stock165cc) Race-1: 1. Abdul Basim RA (Chennai, Rockers Racing) (13:16.987); 2. Tasmai Caiappa (Mysuru, Motul Sparks Racing) (13:17.286); 3. Lal Nunsanga (Aizawl, Motul Sparks Racing) (13:20.595)

Stock 301-400cc (Novice) Race-1: 1. Kaushik Subbiah Ganesan (Chennai, RACR Castrol Power 1 Ultimate) (12:20.570); 2. Varun Patil (Bengaluru, Pvt) (12:23.923); 3. Raj Kumar (Coimbatore, RDX Torque Racing) (12:23.936)

Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup – Open (NSF 250R) Race-1: 1. Mohsin Paramban (Malappuram) (11:24.301); 2. Prakash Kamat (Bengaluru) (11:26.095); 3. AS James (Bengaluru) (11:26.708)

TVS One-Make Championship: Open (Apache RR310) Race-1: 1. Senthilkumar C (Coimbatore) (11:46.899); 2. Manoj Yesuadiyan (Chennai) (11:47.176); 3. Jayanth P (Chennai) (11:53.759)

Girls (Apache RTR 200) 5 laps: 1. Saimah Ajaz Baig (Pune) (11:35.770); 2. SP Shuria (Tiruchi) (11:36.742); 3. Sarah Khan (Mumbai) (11:37.709)

Rookie (Apache RTR 200) Race-1: 1. Harshith V Bogar (Bengaluru) (13:20.137); 2. CS Kedarnath (Tirupati) (13:40.737); 3. Akarsh Jangam (Vijayawada) (13:45.396)