Rajini Krishnan claims 10th national title in Motorcycle Racing Championship

Though he finished third after a crash, the 41-year-old Krishnan from Chennai did just enough to claim his 10th national title and his first in a decade on the concluding day of the fifth and final round.

FILE PHOTO: Krishnan, who had made his National Championship debut in 2003, topped the leaderboard with 183 points and six wins, followed by Anish (164) and Rahil (156).

Veteran Rajini Krishnan of RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate won the title in the premier Pro-Stock 301-400cc category at the National Motorcycle Racing Championship here on Saturday.

Though he finished third after a crash, the 41-year-old Krishnan from Chennai did just enough to claim his 10th national title and his first in a decade on the concluding day of the fifth and final round here.

Also winning the national title was 19-year old Chennai collegian Alwin Sundar (AS Motorsports) in the Novice (Stock 165cc) category despite finishing second behind Allwin Xavier (Sparks Racing) who thus completed a triple crown.

In the girls category, Ryhana Bee (RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate), also from Chennai, marked her comeback season after a year’s absence due to injury by winning her fifth consecutive race.

She had sealed the championship after Round 4, but ensured that she closed the season on a winning note.

Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) had assured himself of the national title, his 10th, on Friday after finishing third in the Pro-Stock 165cc category. In the second race on Saturday, he cruised to fourth.

KY Ahamed led a 1-2 finish for TVS Racing with Deepak Ravikumar, while Rajiv Sethu (Idemitsu Honda SK69 Racing) came in third.

Krishnan, who needed just four points to win the championship going into the final round, had a roller-coaster weekend, marked by crashes in both the races.

In the first outing on Friday, he crashed to finish 12th, and without a point. In the second race on Saturday, starting from P12, he moved to second but hit an oil patch on the last lap.

However, he jumped back on to finish third behind Rahil Shetty (Gusto Racing) and Anish Damodara Shetty (Race Concepts) to earn 15 valuable points.

Anish Shetty crossed the finish line first, but he dropped to second following a five-second penalty for an infringement, elevating Rahil to the top of the podium.

Krishnan, who had made his National Championship debut in 2003, topped the leaderboard with 183 points and six wins, followed by Anish (164) and Rahil (156).

Youngster Sarthak Chavan from Pune, dominated the NSF 250R category in the Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup with a double which followed four consecutive wins over the previous two rounds.

However, he finished second in the championship, seven points behind Chennai youngster Kavin Quintal who had won the first four races of the season.

Kozhikode’s Amarnath Menon took the title in the Open (Apache RR310) category of the TVS One-Make Championship with four wins from 10 starts.