India's Shank Sarath Kumar and Rajiv Sethu improved their timings in their respective categories as the fifth round of the Asia Road Racing Championship, being hosted by the Madras Motor Sports Club, got off the blocks in style here on Friday.
Veteran Thailand star Decha Kraisart (Yamaha) clocked a sizzling one minute, 41.305 seconds around the 3.717 km track in the third Free Practice session late in the afternoon, bettering the previous best of 01:42.787 set by Kawasaki rider from Malaysia Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman who is also the current championship leader.
The 600cc riders improved their timings through the three practice sessions before Kraisart led a bunch of nine who broke Kamaruzaman's record (01:42.785) set in 2013 when the event was last run at this venue. Karmaruzaman (01:41.801) himself was the third quickest in FP-3 behind compatriot Md Zaqhwan Zaidi (Honda, 01:41.501).
Trailing the front-runners was the lone Indian entrant in this class, Sarath Kumar who was about three seconds off the pace, but like other riders, improved his timings through the day.
Meanwhile, the 18-year old Rajiv, taking part in the Asia Production 250cc class, was also off the pace, but improved his timing by nearly seven seconds over three practice sessions.
Indian wild card entry in the Underbone 150cc class, Prabhu Arungagiri qualified 14th on the grid dominated by Malaysian riders.
Also Read
The final round of the two MMSC One-Make Championships (Open class), Honda CBR 250 and TVS Apache 200, also got underway with one practice session apiece.
Ranchi's Amit Richard Topno (Pro-Lap Racing), currently lying fifth in the championship, was quickest in the Honda CBR 250 category while leader Rajiv sat out of the practice session while Prabhu V. topped the TVS Apache class ahead of Sivanesan S. who has already clinched the title, and was the third quickest behind Anand Kumar S.
--IANS
tri/bg
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content