Speed stars: Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2023

The Madras International Circuit hosted round three of the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship from August 4-6. With over 150 entries, the competition saw a new generation of talented teenage riders emerge, challenging the established stars.

In the qualifying rounds on day one, Chennai’s Rajiv Sethu and Hyderabad’s Vignesh Goud clinched pole positions in the Pro-Stock 301-400cc and Novice (Stock 165cc) categories respectively. Rohit Lad from Bengaluru secured pole in the Stock 301-400cc (Novice) category. In other categories, Senthilkumar C from Coimbatore topped the Open (RR 310) division, and Nadine Faith Balaji from Chennai dominated the Girls (Apache RTR 200) field for pole. Kavin Samaar Quintal stood out in the Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup (NSF 250) practice session, and Bengaluru’s Copparam Shreyas Hareesh excelled in the Rookie (RTR 200) category’s free practice session.

Day two saw four races take place before Shreyas’ fatal accident. The top spots went to Chennai’s Rajiv Sethu and Hyderabad’s Vignesh Goud in the Pro-Stock 301-400cc and Novice (Stock 165cc) categories respectively, similar to what it was in qualifying. Similarly, in the Stock 301- 400cc (Novice) category, the previous day’s top qualifier Rohit Lad won the race. In the Girls (Apache RTR 200) category, the Lead racers Nadine Faith Balaji and Sarah Khan collided, thus demanding a red flag. In the restart, Nithila Das took the top honour.

The remaining races for the round were cancelled after the incident and are scheduled to be held one day before the start of round four.