Rahil Pillarisetty notches first win in four years at the Indian National Motorcycle Racing C'ship

• CHENNAI — Hyderabad ace Rahil Pillarisetty (RACR Castrol Power1) pulled off his first win in four years as he pipped favourite Sarthak Chavan, the Pune teenager, to claim the honours in the premier Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open race even as the first round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship came to an abrupt end due to a massive thunderstorm at the Madras International Circuit here on Sunday.
•  
  
• The heavy rains accompanied by strong winds early afternoon caused considerable damage to the facility, while it also forced cancellation of the day’s remaining two races, which will be run in the second round in August.

Also read: Nagaland team to participate in 6th National Muaythai Championship

•  
  
• Earlier, Ann Jennifer (RACR Castrol Power1) from Chennai, Bengaluru’s Varun Patil (Mad Rabbit Racing) completed a double apiece in the Girls (Stock 165cc) and Stock 301-400cc (Novice) categories, respectively, while young Kedarnadh (Motul KTM Gusto Racing) from Tirupati topped the Stock 165cc (Novice) race.
•  
  
• The day’s highlight was Rahil’s brilliant win in the Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open Race-2 as he overcame a strong challenge from yesterday’s Race-1 winner Sarthak Chavan (Petronas TVS Racing) with a late burst. The pair was trailing Bengaluru teenager Chiranth Vishwanath (Petronas TVS Racing), who had taken the lead after a great start from P4.
•  
  
• Also in the mix was veteran Rajini Krishnan (RACR Castrol Power1), a multiple National champion, who was running P2 most of the race until yielding ground to Sarthak and Rahil. The duo then moved past Chiranth with Rahil successfully defending his P1 spot. Sarthak finished second, ahead of Chiranth.
•  
  
• Meanwhile, Ann Jennifer (RACR Castrol Power1) made a strong start to her bid to regain the national title, which she had last won in 2020. Showing good pace, she left the field chasing shadows for a repeat of her Saturday’s win in Race-1.
•  
  
• Ann Jennifer said, “I have made a good start to the season by winning both races. However, I feel the others might catch up as the season progresses, and so, I must continue working hard like I did during the off-season when I practised with the Pro-Stock boys and learnt a lot from them.
•  
  
• “I feel good considering where I was last year when I suffered a head injury from a crash in Round-3. The doctors advised me to quit racing, but the sport is in my blood, and I just couldn’t stop myself from getting on a race bike. Despite the two wins this weekend, I feel there is scope for improvement, and I hope I can be a bit quicker in the next round.”
•  
  
• R Solomon from Bengaluru completed a double by winning the second race in the Honda CB 300F class. He was in a league of his own as he finished over 10 seconds ahead of Chennai riders, Deepak Kumar and Swaroop Krishna, in the eight-lap race.
•  
  
• Sarthak Chavan emerged a convincing winner in the Electric RTE race while Chiranth Vishwanath (Bengaluru) finished second and C Senthilkumar (Coimbatore) third. Later, in the truncated Rookie (Apache RTR 200) race, Coimbatore’s Hari Haran took the honours ahead of Poojitha Anil Kumar (Bengaluru) and Sri Lankan Hesali Nehansa Peiris.
•  
  
• Full Result:
•  
  
• Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open (Race-2): 1. Rahil Pillarishetty (Hyderabad, RACR Castrol Power 1) (11mins, 03.229secs); 2. Sarthak Chavan (Pune, Petronas TVS Racing) (11:03.501); 3. Chiranth Vishwanath (Bengaluru, Petronas TVS Racing) (11:03.543).
•  
  
• Stock 301-400cc (Novice) Race-2: 1. Varun Patil (Bengaluru, Mad Rabbit Racing) (12:22.078); 2. Kamal Navas (Chennai, Rockers Racing) (12:22.412); 3. Jagadeesh Nagaraj (Bengaluru, 12:23.382).
•  
  
• Stock 165cc (Novice) Race-2: 1. Kedarnath (Tirupati, Motul KTM Gusto Racing) (13:09.435); 2. Rajender Beedani (Hyderabad, MAI Racing) (13:15.456); 3. Yashwant Varma (Visakhapatnam, Motul Sparks Racing) (13:25.449).
•  
  
• Girls (Stock 165cc) Race-2 (5 laps): 1. Ann Jennifer AS (Chennai, Motul Sparks Racing) (10:55.279); 2. Jagathishree Kumaresan (Chennai, One Racing) (10:57.190); 3. Rakshitha Dave (Chennai, RACR Castrol Power 1) (10:58.280).
•  
  
• Petronas TVS One-Make Championship:
•  
  
• Rookie (Apache RTR 200) Race-2 (4 laps): 1. Hari Haran R (Coimbatore) (09:11.487); 2. Poojitha Anil Kumar (Bengaluru) (09:19.950); 3. Hesali Nehansa Peiris (Sri Lanka) (09:20.010).
•  
  
• Electric RTE (4 laps): 1. Sarthak Chavan (Pune, Petronas TVS Racing) (07:21.348); 2. Chiranth Vishwanath (Bengaluru, Petronas TVS Racing) (07:27.075); 3. Senthilkumar C (Coimbatore, Petronas TVS Racing) (07:35.232).
•  
  
• Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup:
•  
  
• Honda CB 300F (Race-2, 8 laps): 1. Solomon R (Bengaluru) (17:03.481); 2. Deepak Kumar (Chennai) (17:13.576); 3. Swaroop Krishna (Chennai) (17:24.441

).