Motorsport weekend wrap: Jagan, Sarthak win at National Motorcycle Racing C’ship 2024; Stenhouse secures Talladega Speedway victory
This weekend, the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2024 held its fifth and final round at the Madras International Circuit (MIC) in Chennai.
Published : Oct 07, 2024 13:36 IST , Chennai - 3 MINS READ
National champions (left to right) - Jagathishree Kumaresan, Kaushik Subbiah Ganesan, Jagan Kumar, Abdul Basim and Sarthak Chavan. | Photo Credit: Special Arranegemtn
This weekend, the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2024 held its fifth and final round at the Madras International Circuit (MIC) in Chennai.
Francesco Bagnaia completed a weekend double to stay alive in the MotoGP title race.
National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2024: Jagan Kumar bids adieu with Pro-Stock championship title, Sarthak Chavan clinches maiden crown
Veteran Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) bid adieu to his illustrious racing career after clinching his 11th national title during the fifth and final round of the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2024 on Sunday.
Jagan, the 36-year-old from Chennai, rolled back the years with a stunning last-corner overtake while winning the concluding Pro-Stock 165cc Open race that saw his old mates, KY Ahamed and Deepak Ravikumar, following him home. The win, his third of the season, put him five points clear of Ahamed in the final championship standings.
Joining him on the National Championship podium were Sarthak Chavan (TVS Racing); Abdul Basim (Rockers Racing), Jagathishree Kumaresan (One Racing) and Kaushik Subbiah Ganesan (RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate). Chavan wrote another piece of history by becoming the first-ever Electric motorcycle racing champion as he finished unbeaten across five races in the TVS RTE Electric category.
Results:
NASCAR: Stenhouse takes Talladega Speedway win, Byron retains Playoffs lead
Driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. celebrates in Victory Lane after a NASCAR Cup Series auto race. | Photo Credit: AP
For the third time in five races, a non-playoff driver lifted the trophy as Ricky Stenhouse Jr. held off the field in overtime to claim victory in Alabama. He secured his fourth Cup series win, keeping Brad Keselowski and William Byron at bay by 0.006 seconds in a thrilling three-wide finish.
Overtime was enforced after a massive 23-car accident brought a red flag and stopped the race for nearly 10 minutes. Team Penske’s Austin Cindric was leading in the closing stages before being hit from behind on the backstretch by Keselowski.
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This resulted in a major incident involving cars three rows behind the leader, collecting 23 cars in total and sidelining playoff drivers Cindric, Joey Logano and Chase Briscoe. The collision affected eight of the 12 playoff cars in varying degrees and prevented nine drivers from competing further.
With only one more race remaining in this round to decide the top eight, Byron retained the lead at the top of the table while Christopher Bell leapt to second after a disastrous race for Ryan Blaney dropped him to sixth. The bottom four drivers, who are at risk of elimination are Logano, Daniel Suarez, Cindric and Briscoe.
MotoGP: Bagnaia completes weekend double in Japan, cuts the gap to leader Martin
Francesco Bagnaia claimed top honours at the Japanese Grand Prix. | Photo Credit: Getty Images
Francesco Bagnaia claimed top honours not once but twice at the Japanese Grand Prix to stay alive in the driver’s title fight. He cut the gap to rival Jorge Martin, who currently leads the championship, to 10 points.
RELATED | Japanese GP: Bagnaia holds off Martin to seal double
The Ducati rider, who has been catching up to Martin, was dealt a minor blow last weekend at the Indonesian Grand Prix. Despite winning Saturday’s sprint, he finished third at the main race while Martin took the checkered flag in a crash-filled race to extend his lead to 21 points.
In need of points, Bagnaia made the most at the Motegi track. After dominating practice and winning Saturday’s sprint, Bagnaia kept Martin in his rearview mirror for 20 laps to clinch an eighth win of the season.