Words by Afzal Rawuther
The MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2017 is set for a scintillating finish with the fifth and final round scheduled to be held this weekend with over 200 participants.
This has been one of the most closely-fought championships in recent history. The Super Sport Indian (165cc) will be the main event and will commence today with practice sessions, followed by the qualifying rounds and 15 races that include One-make championships by Honda and TVS Racing.
The racing weekend will draw to a close with the fourth and final round of the MMSC fmsci Indian National Drag Racing Championship for two-wheelers at the same venue with practice session on Saturday afternoon and the race on Sunday.
But the focus will undoubtedly be on the Super Sport Indian (165cc) with Honda Ten10 Racing’s Rajiv Sethu and defending champion Jagan Kumar of TVS Racing (who is seeking a hat-trick of titles) going head to head for the title. The two are separated by just one point in the championship with Sethu, in his debut season after clinching the Pro-Stock championship last year, leading the table with 123 points closely followed by Jagan on 122 points with four wins from the eight races so far.
Not too far behind is Sethu’s team-mate Mathana Kumar on 109 points with one win in the third round and three other podium finishes. A poor result in round four saw him slipping to third on the leaderboard.
In the Pro-Stock class, Aravind Balakrishnan (Honda Ten10 Racing) is well-placed on 126 points ahead of Moto-Rev’s Aravind Ganesh (105) who though without a win, has been scoring consistently to be in contention for the title.
In the Super Sport Indian (300-400cc) class Amarnath Menon (Gusto Racing) enjoys a 39-point lead but has to be watchful about Deepak Ravi Kumar (Moto-Rev) who scored heavily in the previous round to put himself in title contention.