Rajini, Deepak to resume battle

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The race for the coveted crown heats up as the fourth round of the MRF-FMSCI national bike racing championship will be host by the Madras Motorsports Club at the Irungattukottai track this weekend.

Speed enthusiasts are in store for an adrenalin pumping action with as many as 20 races including one-make series of Honda and Yamaha scheduled to be held on Saturday and Sunday.

The first three rounds had witnessed some outstanding performances from ace riders K. Rajini, R. Deepak, K. Jagan and Shyam Shankar in various categories. Deepak’s stunning show in the third round was noteworthy.

The Chennai youngster not only dominated the races he also rewrote the MMRT record books when Deepak clocked 1:56.6s around the 3.71km circuit on his Yamaha R15.

It was the fastest time for an Indian-made bike. Deepak is on a roll, winning the last three races and catching up the championship leader Jagan of TVS. Jagan has 51 points, while Deepak has 38.

When the season began, it looked Rajini would continue his strangle hold in the 600cc Super Bikes.

But the ‘fastest Indian on two-wheeler’ had to face some spirited fight from Deepak, currently the only racer to be part of bike as well as four-wheeler championships. Rajini, however, is on top of the premier category leaderboard with 50 points.

But Deepak is not far away. The Preethi Racing rider is placed second with 48 points. In the Group D (unmodified) class upto 165CC, Shyam Shankar of MotoRev India is sitting pretty with 58 points having notched up five stupendous victories in six races.

In the novice category, N. Abishek of MotoRev and S. Prativ are leading the 165cc and 130cc classes respectively.

The Yamaha R15 noive category has been a two-horse race so far. S. Madan and Allwyn Jebaz are fighting it out with 50 points each. Shyam Shankar is leading the R15 open category with 58 points.

The Honda one-make has also been gripping with D. Dinesh Kumar and Arvind Ganesh are fighting tooth and nail.

The duo are currently tied at 22 points each in the CBR150cc. M. Sudhakar is leading the CBF Stunner with 48 points, while Shyam Shankar is on top of CBR250R with 26 points.

Qualifying sessions will be held on Saturday morning followed by races in the afternoon and Sunday. Entry for public is free.