National motorcycle: Sethu scores back-to-back wins

Sethu lost out to TVS Racing’s Jagan Kumar at the start of the race, but was handed back the lead when the latter retired from the race with a technical problem.

With no other rider able to put on a challenge from behind, Sethu cruised to the finishing line to win the race by 2.236s.

KY Ahamed and Prabhu Arunagiri, who also compete against each other in the Suzuki Asia Challenge, occupied the other two spots on the podium.

“Early in the race, I had some problems with the bike and had no choice but to allow Jagan to pass me, but when he dropped out, I moved in front and did not look back," Sethu said.

The second race got off to a similar start with Kumar passing polesitter Sethu in the Bridge complex to take over the lead.

While the reigning champion suffered no technical gremlins this time, a crash at turn 4 allowed Sethu to take back-to-back victories.

Mathana Kumar finished neary four seconds adrift in second, while Arunagiri once again finished on the podium in third.

“I had a tough fight with Jagan initially and after he passed me at the Bridge Complex, I decided to bide my time before trying to regain the lead. But he crashed soon after and I broke free to win,” Sethu explained.

Menon continues winning spree in Super Sport 300-400cc 

In the Super Sport 300-400cc category, Amarnath Menon also completed a double win with a dominant display in Chennai.

Having started from second, the Guston Racing rider moved to the lead early on and extended his advantage with every passing lap, ending 3.5s clear of Vivek Pillai after six laps of racing,

Deepak Ravikumar occupied the final spot on the grid, but finished nearly four seconds behind runner-up Pillai.

In the second race, Menon fended off MotoRev’s Deepak Ravi Kumar to take the win, the two riders separated by just 0.159s at the flag.

Menon has won all four races held so far this season, giving him a healthy points advantage heading into the next round.

Rocker’s Racing Pillai finished on the podium once again, albeit in third place.

Krishnan, Sethu share Honda one-make wins

In the Honda one-make series, it was Hari Krishnan who took the winning honours in Race 1, beating Arvind Balakrishna by over a second.

Sethu finished third, but would go on to win Race 3 - making it three victories across two categories in a single weekend

Anish D Setty was second, while Balakrishnan added another podium with a third place finish.

Double for Prabhu in TVS one-make

Prabhu V joined Sethu and Menon in the list of riders who took a double win in their category, but faced a much sterner challenge from rivals in the Open class of TVS one-make series.

Prabhu kept Sivanesan S at bay by just 0.047s in Race 1, the two crossing the line side-by-side at the end of the final lap.

The Chennai-based driver enjoyed a comparatively larger 0.695s advantage in the second race over Sivanesan, who once again emerged as the former’s nearest challenger.

Bangalore’s Yahas RL finished third on both occasions, but someway behind the leading duo.