Rajiv, Prabhu, Mithun grab pole positions at INMRC qualifying session

Chennai, Sep 21: Honda racer Rajiv Sethu snatched the pole position in the premier Super Sport Indian 165cc class ahead of his TVS Racing rivals to set up an intriguing contest on the morrow after the qualifying session in the fourth round of the MRF MMSC Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship (INMRC) at the Madras Motor Racing Track here on Friday.

Rajiv put in a blistering lap of one minute, 54.999 seconds to nose out TVS duo of defending champion Jagan Kumar (01:55.034) and Deepak Ravikumar (01:55.409). 

Jagan heads the championship table with 112 points, well clear of team-mate K.Y.Ahamed (91) who qualified fourth (01:55.481). Rajiv (70), who drew a blank in the previous round earlier this month, is placed fourth in the championship behind Ravikumar (74).

Earlier, Prabhu Arunagiri (Team Alisha Abdullah) qualified for pole position in the Pro-Stock 301-400cc category though he did just three laps, but his timing of 01:54.857 was enough to put him ahead of the pack. 

Sparks Racing's Rahil Pilari Shetty was second quickest followed by championship leader in this category, Amarnath Menon (Gusto Racing).

Another Honda racer Mithun Kumar topped the qualifying session in the Pro-Stock 165cc class with Naresh Babu (RACR) and Senthil Kumar (Honda) completing the front row for Saturday's race.

Sparks Racing riders dominated the qualifying sessions in the Novice (165cc) and Girls (Stock 165cc) categories by claiming top two slots. 

In the girls category, championship leader Ann Jennifer expectedly took the pole position ahead of team-mate Ryhana Bee while Bengaluru's Aditya Immaneni and Karthik Mateti from Hyderabad were 1-2 in the Novice (165cc) class.

Immaneni enjoyed a fruitful afternoon as he also clinched pole position in the Yamaha MMSC One-Make Championship (Novice).