Starting on a high note and ending on a high note, the 2022 MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship has drawn to a close. The rally held at the Madras International Circuit in Chennai, the team came back with 1 win & 7 podium finishes.
Topping the leadership board Raheesh Khatri finished the season with an all-time high of back-to-back 10 wins. He’s followed by Kolhapur’s Siddesh Sawant (139 points) on second and Bengaluru’s Harshith V Boggar (128 points) secured third position.
On the other hand, the young guns of IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup displayed exemplary performances on racetrack. The international rider Sarthak Chavan of Pune has taken over the championship title for IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup NSF20R with his dazzling performance followed by Chennai’s Shyam Sundar (153 points) at second position and Malappuram’s Mohsin P (134 points) at third.
Speaking about the 2022 season, Mr. Prabhu Nagaraj - Operating Officer, Brand & Communication, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India said, “We are very pleased with the results. Our riders have fought hard and fast to gain top laurels. It is their grit and determination that has made them achieve such accomplishments. It is a proud moment for us as our ace performer Rajiv has bagged second place in PS165cc category. Not only the national championship but our focus has been equal on the IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup NSF250R and CBR150R riders as well. The millennial riders raced their hearts out like the big guns of racing. It is ecstatic to see Raheesh Khatri who came as an amateur and finished the season as a champion, whereas Sarthak Chavan too made it to the top once again. I wish good luck to the 5 young riders who will be challenging for a spot in the selection event of ATC this month.”
Rajiv Sethu and Senthil Kumar finish second & third in final race of PS165cc
The final race of PS165cc of national championship saw Rajiv Sethu & Senthil Kumar start the race 2nd and 7th respectively. Lying sixth and ninth one lap into the race, they lapped with very similar times to each other throughout first half of the race. Both riders then joined the mix of top contenders and further pushed their throttle. Riding with determination and steel like vision on victory, Rajiv outpaced the whole pack to claim the second place on podium. Whereas Senthil emerged out of thin air and kept his competitor at bay to close the race at third place.
IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup - NSF250R Open class & CBR150R Novice class
The 10-lap race of IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup NSF250R saw Mohsin P, Sham Sundar and Rakshith S Dave rounding off the podium at 1-2-3 positions. Starting off the race with a head start, Pune’s Sarthak Chavan rode fearlessly. However, after facing a technical glitch in his machine, he had to retire before completing the race. Nevertheless, riding on the back of his 7 wins, Sarthak Chavan has emerged victorious in championship. In the absence of the race leader, Mohsin P took charge and finished at first place. Giving him a tough contention to the finish line was Sham Sundar who finished the race at the second place with a total time of 18:41.542. Joining them on the third place was Chennai’s Rakshith S Dave who stopped the clock at 19:04.772.
The very last race of the 2022 IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup CBR150R was no different as Mumbai’s Raheesh Khatri rose to victory once again. The 14-year-old rider carved quite a bit of momentum in first lap, recorded best lap of 2:06.605 and won the race with 18 second lead. The race saw a three-way fight between Harshith V Boggar, Siddesh Sawant and Rajender Beedani for P2 & P3 on podium. While 18-year-old Harshith finished the race second and 20-year-old Siddesh finished third, Jangaon’s Rajender met with an incident in the last lap and could not finish the race.