National racing championship: Yasin sets Coimbatore track on fire

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At 16, K. Yasin Ahamed may not be old enough to ride on Indian roads, but there is no stopping the pint-sized fella on the race track.

Barely a year after cutting his teeth in the world of speed biking, Ahamed — the youngest competitor at the Sidvin-MMSC national championship — is setting the circuit on fire. His scintillating podium finish in the Group D 130cc category took everyone by surprise.

The Class X student from Chennai handled his TVS Victor bike on the demanding terrain at Kari Motor Speedway with clinical precision. Leaving a barrage of riders in his wake, Ahamed cruised to the podium in Race 1, before posting another impressive result — fourth in the second race.

Ahamed made his track debut at the Honda one-make championship last year and made immediate impact. His second-place finish at the season finale caught the eye of TVS Racing who rewarded the youngster with a contract to ride for them in the national championship.

As many as 14 races were held on Sunday, but relatively a quite day for the medical staff at the track. Riders from Moto-Rev India Chennai-based team with the most number of entries in the championship– continued their monopoly. K. Rajini and his monstrous 600cc Yamaha enthralled the small gathering as he won hands down with a whopping 17-second margin. R. Deepak was distant second followed by Rajini’s Moto-Rev teammate M. Gautam.

Shyam Sankar also completed a grand double in the Group C 165cc (restricted modifications) which saw a nail-biting finish for the second spot.

Going into the final lap, Moto-Rev rider A. Prabhu and Ten10’s K. Vinoth collided in the first corner to hand over the second spot to Ranchi’s Sumit Lucas Toppo, who started from pole before being pushed back. N. Abhishek came home third.

Shyam will be representing the country at the Honda Cup in Japan end of this month. “It turned out to be a good preparation for me ahead of the race in Japan.

The windy conditions here were tricky this weekend and the bumpy track made it complicated. However, the results were satisfying,” added Shyam who also won the Yamaha R15 race.

Results: National championship races: Superbikes (600cc):

1. K. Rajini (Moto-Rev India); 2. Deepak Ravikumar; 3. M. Gautam (Moto-Rev).
Group B 165cc Open: 1. K. Jagan (TVS Racing); 2. Deepak Ravikumar; 3. Harry Sylvester (TVS Racing).
Group C 165cc Open: 1. Shyam Shankar (Moto-Rev); 2. Sumit Lucas Toppo (Performance Racing); 3. N. Abhishek (Moto-Rev).
Group D 165cc Novice: 1. R Ramesh Kumar (Moto-Rev); 2. P. Sandesh (Performance Racing); 3. Kamlesh Thakkur (Sparks Racing). Group D 130cc Novice: 1. Kamlesh Thakkur (Sparks Racing); 2. Shmailsen (Moto-Rev); 3. Abdul Wahab (TVS Racing).

One-make championship (all winners):
CBF Sunner Open: Thamarai Kannan.
CBR 150R Open: Arvind Ganesh.
CBR 250R: Gautam M. YZF R15 Open: Shyam
Shankar.
YZF R15 Novice: R Ramesh Kumar.
TVS – Apache RTR 180: SK
Prakash.