Former champion Jagan Kumar returns to winning ways

CHENNAI: It was a day of the “double” at the Madras International Circuit here on Sunday as the first round of the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2024 concluded with the new generation of riders emerging to displace the old guard.

Teenager Sarthak Chavan (Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open), schoolgirl Rakshitha Dave (Girls, Stock 165cc), Abdul Basim (Novice, Stock 165cc), and Kaushik Subbiah Ganesan (Novice, Stock 301-400cc) won both races this weekend in their respective National Championship categories. Barring Pune’s Sarthak, the other three riders are from Chennai.

Sarthak Chavan, the 17-year-old prodigy, established himself as the top gun in the premier Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open class, winning both races over the weekend in an emphatic manner. Following home in P2 in both races was another 17-year-old, Chiranth Vishwanath from Bengaluru, who just couldn’t match Sarthak’s pace. The duo dominated both races leaving the rest to scrap for the other podium spot.

Sarthak, however, missed a possible win, despite starting P7 on the grid, in the other premier category, the Pro-Stock 165cc, when he crashed again after tangling with Chiranth when the two were fighting for 1-2 positions. The Pune youngster had crashed in Race-1 on Saturday when leading.

Though both Sarthak and Chiranth recovered to rejoin the race, veteran TVS Racing team-mates Jagan Kumar, KY Ahamed and Deepak Ravikumar made the best of the free space in front to finish in that order. For Jagan, a multiple National champion, it was his first win of the season after a barren 2023.

Chennai schoolgirl, 15-year-old Rakshitha Dave completed a fine double in the Girls (Stock 165cc) category. Having won Race-1 on Saturday, she extended her domination with a sweeping win in Race-2 today, virtually unchallenged.

Similarly, another Chennai teenager Abdul Basim (Rockers Racing) achieved a clean sweep in the Novice (Stock 165cc) category, winning Race-2 today with as much ease as in the previous outing on Saturday.

Later, another Chennai rider, Kaushik Subbaiah Ganesan also notched a double in the Stock 301-400cc (Novice) class with another fine ride starting from pole position.

Bengaluru’s Harshith V Bogar continued to dominate the Rookie category as he finished the weekend with a double by winning Race-2 on Sunday on the back of his triumph in the previous outing on Saturday. CS Kedarnath (Tirupati) scrambled to second place while Saranjith KM (Thrissur) finished third.

Earlier, Pune’s Sarthak topped the TVS Electric RTE race quite comfortably with his arch-rival Chiranth Vishwanath finishing second and Chennai’s Alwyn Sundar third.