INMRC 2018: KY Ahamed takes the podium at Round 1 held at Kari Motor Speedway, Coimbatore

KY Ahmed takes the podium at Round 1 of INMRC 2018 held at Kari Motor Speedway, Coimbatore.

Round 1 of India’s premier motorcycle championship MRF MMSC FMSCI INMRC was held on the weekend of June 6 to June 8, 2018. The motorcycle racing championship will be held over five rounds spread around the 2018 calendar. Each of the rounds will be held over three days.

The 2018 season of the MRF INMRC took off at the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore and received close to 200 entries. The championship witnessed immense competition in all the categories. The championship was divided into 9 categories having a distinct selection of the best riders in the country and their supporting teams.

Here’s how the riders fared in their respective categories:

Super Sport Indian (Open – up to 165cc):

The Super Sport Indian class saw Jagan Kumar of TVS Racing dominating the competitive class in Friday’s free practice. He clocked a best time of 1 min 12.686s, ahead of team-mates KY Ahamed and Deepak Ravikumar. However, KY Ahamed stole the show at the Rolon Round.

Race 1, Saturday: KY Ahamed started at the fourth position from the grid. Team-mate Jagan and Honda Ten10’s Manthana Kumar could not hold KY Ahamed back and were overtaken by the end of the second lap. Ahamed was struggling with a fogged up visor, and ended up missing a few braking points in the seven lap race day.

Race 2, Sunday: The second race was again dominated by KY Ahamed and TVS Racing had a 1-2 finish in SS 165cc class after Ahamed took first place ahead of team-mate Deepak Ravikumar. TVS Racing’s Jagan Kumar lost his form as he crashed following a front tyre deflation on the 10th lap, but proceeded to finish sixth. Manthana Kumar completed the podium by finishing in third place.

Pro Stock (Open – Up to 165cc):

The practice session on Friday started off with Anup Kumar of Team Alisha Abdullah setting the quickest time ahead of Anish Shetty of Honda ten10 Racing and Kevin Kannan of Rockers Racing. However, Anish Shetty managed to pull through to lead the pack in both the race days. The 15 lap main race on Sunday saw tough competition between Anish Shetty and three other riders as they were battling for the lead.  Kevin Kannan of Rockers Racing bagged second place on the podium while Mithun Kumar of Honda Ten10 racing rounded off the podium with third place.

Pro Stock (Open – 300cc to 400cc):

Antony Peter of Vortex Racing, a 22-year old automotive engineering student, won by a margin in this class.  Heavy downpour led the race to be red-flagged and altered to seven laps instead of ten. Peter who bagged the fourth place in the championship in this class last year, took the fifth slot on the grid and quickly moved up to behind leader Peddu Sriharsha of Sparks Racing Hyderabad. Four laps in, Peter transitioned to the front of the pack and maintained his lead before the race was red-flagged due to downpour for a very respectable win. Ananth Krishnan of Apex Racing Academy completed the podium after having a few close calls on the slippery track. The 15 lap race on Sunday saw a 1-2 finish by Gusto Racing. Amarnath Menon finished on the top with a time of 18m 22s 762ms closely followed by Satyanarayana Raju and Antony Peter of Vortex Racing.

Stock (Girls – Up to 165cc):

Ann Jennifer of Sparks racing won the stock girls race with a time of 11m 55s 766ms beating Nivetha Kumar of First 1 Racing and Czimkhy RV an entrant from Trivandrum. Heavy downpour blemished the track conditions making the race shorter to 8 laps. Ann finished in first place at the practice session in this category on Friday.

Stock (Novice – Up to 165cc):

Aditya Rao and Karthik Mateti of Sparks Racing delivered a 1-2 finish for the team. A 32 rider grid was formed after two gruelling heats. Akshay Murali of Apex Racing completed the podium.

Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup 2018 : One-Make Championship

Race 1 of the IHITC 2018 commenced on Saturday with riders piloting Race Spec Honda CBR250s. Senthil Kumar of Coimbatore finished in first place (13m 14s 654ms), followed by Anish Damodara Shetty and Jaden Gunawardena. The 15 lap second race saw Senthil Kumar and Anish Shetty finish in first and second place. The third place was bagged by Abhishek Vasudev from Bengaluru.

TVS One Make Championship Series:

» Novice – Apache RTR 200 4v:

Karthik Mateti won the first leg of this event on Saturday with a time of 15m 08s 752ms followed closely by Mohamed Shafin and AS Alexander. The second race on Sunday was made of 10 laps. Karthik and AS Alexander sustained their positions. However the second place on the podium was bagged by Anand R from Chennai.

» Open – RR310 R2:

Bengaluru’s Yashas RL took the win in the 10 lap race on Sunday with a time of 13m 16s 475ms. The second and third place was bagged by Vivek Pillai from Chennai and Peddu Sriharsha from Hyderabad. Deepak Ravikumar of Chennai leads the 15 lap second race followed by S Sivanesan. The podium was rounded off by Peddu Sriharsha.

» Girls – Apache RTR 180:

The 10 lap race held on Saturday saw Ryhana Bee (Chennai) finish first with a time of 12m 09s 398ms. Ryhana was followed by Ann Jennifer and RV Czimkay.

Photography Credit: Srinivasa Krishnan