The MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2017 is set for a grandstand finish in view of the intense battles for titles as the fifth and concluding round kicks off at the MMRT track here on Thursday with nearly 200 entrants in the fray.
In one of the most closely-fought championships in recent times, the Super Sport Indian (165cc) class will headline the programme which commences on Thursday with practice sessions, followed by qualifying and 15 races that include One-Make championships involving the country's top manufacturers Honda, TVS and Yamaha, spread over the next three days.
The weekend bash will conclude with the fourth and final round of the MMSC fmsci Indian National Drag Racing Championship for two-wheelers at the same venue with a practice session on Saturday afternoon and final runs on Sunday.
The Super Sport Indian (165cc) promises to be another shoot out between Honda Ten10 Racing's Rajiv Sethu and defending champion Jagan Kumar of TVS Racing who is seeking a hat-trick of titles.
Sethu, in his debut season in this class after clinching the Pro-Stock championship last year, leads the table with 123 points, including three wins, while Jagan, who won four of the eight races thus far, is placed second on 122.
Lurking behind the duo is Sethu's team-mate Mathana Kumar on 109 points and who came into the reckoning after scoring his only win of the season in the third round besides three other podium finishes. A disappointing Round 4 saw him slip one spot to third on the leaderboard.
In the Pro-Stock class, Aravind Balakrishnan (Honda Ten10 Racing) is well-placed on 126 points ahead of Moto-Rev's Aravind Ganesh (105) who though without a win, has been scoring consistently to be in the hunt.
Similarly, Amarnath Menon (Gusto Racing) enjoys a healthy 39-point cushion in the Super Sport Indian (300-400cc) class, but needs to keep an eye on Deepak Ravi Kumar (Moto-Rev) who scored a double in the previous round to put himself in title contention.
The Novice (Stock 165cc) category is set for a close finish. Sri Rahil Pillarishetty of Sparks Racing leads with 61 points with team-mate Peddu Sriharsha and RACR's Anup Kumar tied in second spot with 50 apiece. A further six points adrift of the trio is another Sparks Racing rider Satyanarayana Raju.
The final race in the Girls (Stock 165cc) category will be of academic interest as Bengaluru's Aishwarya Pissay (Apex Racing) has already sealed the championship with a round to spare as she leads Indore's Kalyani Potekar (Speed Up Racing) by 34 points with a maximum of 25 available.
--IANS
sam/bg
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