2021 INMRC: Rajini Krishnan, Jagan Kumar win in Round 1

Rajini Krishnan and Jagan Kumar have kicked off the 2021 MRF MMSC Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship (INMRC) with a dominant display, winning both races in their respective categories. Round 1 of the championship was held at the Madras Motor Race Track (MMRT).

• Rajini Krishnan, Jagan Kumar dominate Pro-Stock races
• Autocar India’s Soham Thakur wins TVS Media race

Read on to find out how the races panned out in each category:

Pro-Stock 301-400cc

Superbike racing ace Rajini Krishnan won both Pro-Stock 301-400cc races, astride a Yamaha R3. Despite making a poor start in Race 1 and dropping to 7th place, he was able to carve through the field to secure a comfortable win ahead of Rahil Shetty (Gusto Racing) and Anish Damodara Shetty (Race Concepts).

Krishnan put on an even stronger display in the next race, to win easily from reigning champion KY Ahamed (TVS Racing) and Anish Shetty.

Results

Race 1 – Rajini Krishnan (RACR Castrol Power Racing) 11min, 28.636sec; 2. Rahil Shetty (Gusto Racing) 11min 30.050sec; 3. Anish Damodara Shetty (Race Concepts) 11min 30.267sec

Race 2 – 1. Rajini Krishnan (RACR Castrol Power Racing) 15min 15.580sec; 2. KY Ahamed (TVS Racing) 15min 17.169sec; 3. Anish Damodara Shetty (15min 17.977sec)

Pro-Stock 165cc

Defending champion Jagan Kumar also picked up two wins for TVS Racing, riding an Apache RTR 160. Race 1 saw Kumar finish well ahead of Honda racer Rajiv Sethu. But Sethu ensured Kumar would have to work hard for his next win, chasing him through all eight laps of Race 2.

TVS’ other rider Deepak Ravikumar finished 3rd in both the races.

Results

Race 1 – 1. Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) 11min, 50.845sec; 2. Rajiv Sethu (Idemitsu Honda SK69 Racing) 11min 55.312sec; 3. Deepak Ravikumar (TVS Racing) 11min 57.519sec

Race 2 – Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) 15min 48.429sec; 2. Rajiv Sethu (Idemitsu Honda SK69 Racing) 15min 48.476sec; 3. Deepak Ravikumar (TVS Racing) 15min 54.822sec

Novice Stock 165cc

Both Novice Stock 165cc races were marred by crashes. AS Motorsports’ Alwin Sundar secured his first national-level win in Race 1 after Allwin Xavier crashed on the last lap. He followed that up with a dominating win in Race 2 the next day.

Results

Race 1 – 1. Alwin Sundar (AS Motorsports) 13min 09.026sec; 2. Anfal A (Rockstar Racing) 13min 09.157sec; 3. Teja TVR Namburu (Gusto Racing) 13min 09.335sec

Race 2 – 1. Alwin Sundar (AS Motorsports, Chennai) 13min 04.324sec; 2. Anfal A (Rockstar Racing, Thrissur) 13min 05.899sec; 3. Jinendra Kiran Sangave (Pvt, Kolhapur)

RACR Castrol Power Racing’s Ryhana Bee picked up a win in the Girls Stock 165cc category , making her return to racing after an injury put her out of competition for a year. The race saw defending champion Ann Jennifer (Sparks Racing) and Lani Zena Fernandez (Speed Up Racing) crash out on the third lap, giving Bee a clear run to victory

Results

Race 1 – 1. Ryhana Bee (RACR) 10min 59.842sec; 2. Baddam Deepika Reddy (Gusto Racing) 11min 21.426sec; 3. Jagruthi Kiran (Sparks Racing) 11min 21.647sec

Honda Hornet 2.0 One Make race

The round saw the introduction of the new Honda Hornet 2.0 one-make series, which saw Kevin Kannan take home wins in both races. Sudheer Sudhakar scored a double podium result.

Speaking with Autocar India earlier, Prabhu Nagaraj, senior vice president – brand and communication, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India, said Honda is looking at opening up the series to customers as well in the future.

Results

Race 1 – 1. Kevin Kannan 13min 28.543sec; 2. Veera Ashwin Lal  3min 49.116sec; 3. Sudheer Sudhakar 13min 52.208sec

Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup

Over in the Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup, Kavin Quintal won both races in the NSF250 Open category. Meanwhile, Rakshith S Dave picked up victory in both races of the CBR150 category.

Results

NSF250 Open Race 1 – 1. Kavin Quintal 11min 04.310sec; 2. Varoon Sadasivam 11min 15.762sec; 3. Geoffrey Reviven Emmanuel 11min 16.398sec

NSF250 Open Race 2 – 1. Kavin Quintal 14min 51.472sec; 2. Sartak Chavan 15min 01.335sec; 3. Samuel Martin 15min 09.450sec

CBR150 Race 1 – 1. Rakshith S 13min 12.373sec; 2. Prakash Kamath 13min 17.189sec; 3. Theopaul Leander 13min 21.759sec

CBR150 Race 2 – 1. Rakshith S Dave 13min 20.170sec; 2. Prakash Kamath 13min 26.483sec; 3. Shyam Babu 13min 55.118sec

TVS One-Make Championship

Amarnath Menon and Yashas RL won a race apiece in the TVS Apache RR310 Open category. In the TVS Rookie category, Jinendra Kiran Sangave emerged as the one to beat, taking home victory in both races.

Autocar India’s own Soham Thakur won the first TVS Media race, while Rakshita Srihari Dave won in the TVS Girls’ category.

Results

TVS Apache RR 310 Open Race 1 – 1. Amarnath Menon 12min 18.421sec; 2. Yashas RL 12min 19.175sec; 3. Jagadeesh N 12min 19.737sec

TVS Apache RR 310 Open Race 2 – 1. Yashas RL 11min 54.802sec; 2. Manoj Yesudiyan 11min 57.307sec; 3. Amarnath Menon 11 min 57.376sec

TVS Rookie (RTR 200) Race 1 – 1. Jinendra Kiran Sangave 13min 00.501sec; 2. Zenas Zhotan Bailey 13min 21.271sec; 3, Jagathishree 13min 21.432sec

TVS Rookie (RTR 200) Race 2 – 1. Jinendra Kiran Sangave 12min 58.183sec; 2. Jagathishree 13min 09.244sec; 3. Zenas Bailey 13min 09.286sec

TVS Media (RTR 200) Race 1 – Soham Thakur 11min 56.577sec; 2. Ajinkya Lad 12min 26.279sec; 3. Vishal Joshi 12min 28.684sec

TVS Girls (RTR 200) Race 1 – 1. Rakshita Srihari Dave 11min 21.305sec; 2. Adlin Seles 11min 25.725sec; 3. Nishita Palani 11min 32.585sec

Also see:

Ashish Raorane on tackling Dakar as a privateer and more