As it happened: Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship

The 2023 Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship- Round 2

The second round of the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2023, which got underway at the Madras International Circuit with more than 150 entries in the running, raised expectations of exciting duels because it was possible that younger riders would continue to push the seniors, as they did in the season-opener at Coimbatore last month. 

The three-day event included 15 races along with practice and qualifying sessions. Leading riders and bike manufacturers like Honda, TVS, Yamaha, and KTM participated in four National Championship categories:

Pro-Stock 301-400cc;

Pro-Stock 165cc;

Novice (Stock 165cc) and;

Girls (Stock 165cc).

The event featured the Petronas TVS One-Make Championship, comprising races in the NSF 250, Open (Apache RR 310), Rookie (RTR 200), and Girls (RTR 200) categories.

In the two premier Pro-Stock categories, 310-400cc and 165cc, respectively, Rajiv Sethu (RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate) and Mathana Kumar (Pacer Yamaha) each won twice to kick off the season in Coimbatore. However, both riders were put to the test by two of Petronas TVS Racing's newest additions: Sarthak Chavan from Pune and Bengaluru's Chiranth Vishwanath. Shreyas Hareesh (Rockers Racing), another young rider aged 12 from Bengaluru, made an impression with two top-10 finishes in the Pro-Stock 165cc division. 

The ever-improving Lani Fernandez (RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate) from Puducherry won the fiercely tough Girls' race. Hyderabad’s Vignesh Goud (Race'ists Motorcycle Club) also bagged a double in the Novice class. 

The TVS One-Make Championships saw Nithila Das of Bengaluru make an impression by winning the Petronas Girls' race. Chennai's Kavin Quintal (NSF 250), Alwin Sundar (Petronas TVS Open), and Shreyas Hareesh (Petronas TVS Rookie) had a clean sweep this weekend as they topped their respective categories.