National Motorcycle Racing Championship: Mathana Kumar double winner in Group C

The first round of Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship (INMRC) concluded at Coimbatore’s Kari Motor Speedway on Sunday, with the inaugural Suzuki Gixxer Cup serving as the support race. The INMRC comprise of three different groups while the Gixxer cup is divided into two classes - one for amateurs and the other for more seasoned racers.

Group C Open (165CC) - Mathana Kumar triumphs

Mathana Kumar S from Ten10 Racing started his INMRC campaign in the best way possible, winning both the Group C races astride the Honda CBR. Ananth Raj P of Kingdom Racing and Meka Vidhuraj(United Tech Torque Racing) traded second and third places in both races, but failed to pose a serious challenge on Kumar.

Group C open(165CC) Race 1 (10 laps)

1. Mathana Kumar S (Ten10 Racing) (13mins,03.708secs)
2. Ananth Raj P (Kingdom Racing India) (13:10.662)
3. Meka Vidhuraj (United Tech Torque Racing) (13:11.905)

Race 2:

1. Mathana Kumar S (Ten10 Racing) (12:56.337)
2. Meka Vidhuraj (United Tech Torque Racing) (13:00.304)
3. Anand Raj P (Kingdom Racing India) (13:09.096)

Group D Novice (165 CC) - Vishwadev Muraleedharan takes double victory

Vishwadev Muraleedharan, a 22 year old MBA graduate from Coimbatore, faced little opposition as he cruised to successive victories in Group D(165CC) category on Sunday. The Sparks Racing driver enjoyed a 4 second win margin in the first race, which he doubled during the second race.

Amarnath Menon K(Apex Racing Academy) was Muraleedharan’s closest challenger in both races, while the final podium spot was shared by Shankar Guru A and Mahesh Murali.

Group D (165cc) Novice – Race 1 (10 laps)

1. Vishwadev Muraleedharan (Sparks Racing) (13:55.536)
2. Amarnath Menon K (Apex Racing Academy) (13:59.159)
3. Shankar Guru A (13:59.376)

Race 2:

1. Vishwadev Muraleedharan (Sparks Racing) (14:01.215)
2. Amarnath Menon K (Apex Racing Academy) (14:09.309)
3. Mahesh Murali (14:10.727).

Group D Novice (130CC) - Yashwin Kumar and Kannan Karnan share wins

In the first race of 130CC group, Deva Umapathy passed pole sitter Kannan Karnan of TVS Racing and never looked back to take a commanding win at the Kari Motor Speedway. However, the Chennai-born driver was later disqualified for a technical infringement, handing race victory to Yashwin Kumar who had overtaken Sivanesan on the last lap of the 10 lap race.

Kannan Karnan who suffered from four stitches on his left palm after crashing twice at turn 1 on Saturday, was the clear winner in race 2, having passed Yashwin Kumar on the sixth lap. Shoban Kumar K finished a distant third and occupied the final spot on the podium.

Group D (130cc) Novice – Race 1 (10 laps)

1. Yashwin Kumar R (14:45.491)
2. Sivanesan (14:53.638)
3. Sebastian J Selvaraj (14:54.101)

Race 2:

1. Kannan Karnan (TVS Racing) (14:55.990)
2. Yashwin Kumar R (15:05.739)
3. Shoban Kumar K (15:17.308)

Gixxer Cup Open class

Abhishek Vasudev was the first victor of the Suzuki Gixxer Cup in the Open class, taking top spots in both the races of the weekend. Akash Prasad Dingare was also consistent in his results, grabbing the final spot on the podium in both race 1 and 2.

Suzuki Gixxer Cup (Open) – Race 1 (10 laps)

1. Abhishek Vasudev (13:59.556)
2. Ananth Raj P (14:01.879)
3. Akash Prasad Dingare 3 (14:11.106).

Race 2:

1. Abhishek Vasudev (13:36.852)
2. Mathana Kumar S (14:00.416)
3. Akash Prasad Dingare (14:13.945).

Gixxer Cup Novice class

The Novice class of Gixxer Cup also saw a double winner in form of Amarnath Menon K, who enjoyed a two-three seconds victory margin in both the races. Malsawmdawngliana finished third in the race but was the clear runners up in the final race.

Novice – Race 1 (10 laps):

1. Amarnath Menon K (14:16.653)
2. Vishwadev Muraleedharan (14:18.004)
3. Malsawmdawngliana (14:22.229)

Race 2:

1. Amarnath Menon K (Kerala) (14:14.499)
2. Malsawmdawngliana  (Aizwal) (14:15.306)
3. Sreejith PR (Kerala)  (14:20.617).

The next round of Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship is scheduled at Chennai’s Madras Motor Race Track(MMRT) from July 10-12.