Ryhana has the final say; Prabhu sizzles

Ryhana Bee (RACR Castrol Power Ultimate) regained the title in the girls’ category after a two-year gap as the fourth round of the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship (INMRC) 2021 concluded at the MMRT on Saturday.

The 29-year old Prabhu Arunagiri scripted a maiden win for Pacer Yamaha, a team which was competing in the National Championship after a 12-year break. Prabhu prevailed in the second race of the Pro-Stock 165cc Open category beating a quality field.

The 41-year-old Rajini Krishnan (RACR Castrol Power Ultimate) took a giant step towards the title in the premier Pro-Stock 301-400cc category by moving to 168 points, 47 ahead of Anish Damodara Shetty of Race Concepts.

Ryhana, 24, who sat out the 2020 season owing to injuries after winning the championship in 2019, staged a remarkable recovery to catch up with early leader and defending champion Ann Jennifer before making a decisive pass on the final lap for her fourth consecutive win. The victory took Ryhana to 100 points, way ahead of Mumbai’s Jagruti Kiran Penkar (Sparks Racing, 57 points) with just one race remaining.

Alwin Sundar (AS Motorsports) won the Novice (Stock 165cc) race, his fourth of the season. With 128 points, he is level with Anfal Akdhar (Rockstar Racing).

The results (provisional, six laps unless mentioned): Pro-Stock 301-400cc (Open): Race 1: 1. Vorapong Malahuan (TVS Racing, Thailand) (11m 18.244s); 2. Rajini Krishnan (RACR Castrol Power Ultimate, Chennai) (11:18.657); 3. Anish Damodara Shetty (Race Concepts, Bengaluru) (11:18.921); Race 2 (8 laps): 1. Rajini Krishnan (15:04.127); 2. Anish (15:04.297); 3. Deepak Ravikumar (TVS Racing, Chennai) (15:04.454); Pro-Stock 165cc (Open): Race 1: 1. Deepak (TVS Racing, Chennai) (11:48.162); 2. Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing, Chennai) (11:48.484); 3. Rajiv Sethu (Idumitsu Honda SK69 Racing) (11:50.454); Race 2 (5 laps): 1. Prabhu Arunagiri (Pacer Yamaha, Chennai) (09:57.247); 2. Sethu (09:57.505); 3. Jagan (09:57.655).

Novice (Stock 165cc): 1. Alwin Sundar (AS Motorsport, Chennai) (13:03.215); 2. Sarvesh Balappa (Sparks Racing, Hubbali) (13:05.798); 3. Anfal Akthar (Rockstar Racing, Thrissur) (13:05.856).

Girls (Stock 165cc, 5 laps): 1. Ryhana Bee (RACR Castrol Power Ultimate, Chennai) (11:02.702); 2. Ann Jennifer (Sparks Racing, Chennai) (11:02.886); 3. Lani Zena Fernandez (Speed Up Racing, Puducherry) (11:03.512).

Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup – NSF 250: Race 1: 1. Sarthak Chavan (Pune) (11:11.037); 2. Kavin Quintal (Chennai) (11:14.091); 3. Geoffrey Revinen Emmanuel (Chennai) (11:15.060); Race 2 (8 laps): 1. Sarthak (14:47.030); 2. Kavin (14:47.277); 3. Revinen (14:59.460).

TVS One-Make Championship – Open (RR 310): Race 1: 1. Amarnath Menon (Kozhikode) (11:46.925); 2. Jagadeesh N. (Bengaluru) (11:47.761); 3. Manoj Yesudian (Chennai) (11:47.899); Race 2: 1. Manoj Yesudian (11:47.967); 2. Ananthraj P. (Chennai) (11:48.088); 3. Amarnath Menon (11:49.172).