Chennai, Sep 9 (IANS): Hubballi's Sarvesh Balappa (Axor Sparks Racing), with five wins this season, warmed up for the weekend's double-header by grabbing pole position in the Novice (Stock 165cc) class as the fourth round of the Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2022 commenced at the Madras International Circuit, here on Friday.
Leading the championship in the Novice category, the 23-year-old Balappa came up with a hot lap of 02mins, 08.591 secs in the qualifying session in the blazing afternoon sun. Filling up the front row were Mumbai's Kayan Zubin Patel (Axor Sparks Racing, 02:08.616) and Bengaluru's 12-year-old Shreyas Hareesh (Rockers Racing, 02:08.839).
Meanwhile, Petronas TVS Racing's KY Ahamed was the quickest in both the premier categories, the Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open and the Pro-Stock 165cc Open during the free practice sessions earlier in the day.
Ahamed clocked a blistering best lap of 01min, 52.889secs in the Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open category, to nose ahead of veteran Rajini Krishnan (RACR Castrol Power Ultimate1, 01:52.918) who leads the points table going into the weekend and is seeking his 11th National title.
Later, Ahamed was again in top form, clocking a flying lap of 01:57.379 in the Pro-Stock 165cc Open class, ahead of Pacer Yamaha's Prabhu Arunagiri (01:58.344), while points table topper Mathana Kumar (Pacer Yamaha) was the seventh quickest in 01:58.740, the organisers informed in a release on Friday.
Less than a second covered the top eight, thus holding out a promise of an intriguing qualifying session on the morrow and the race to follow.
The results (Qualifying, top 3, Best lap):
National Championship - Novice (Stock 165cc): 1. Sarvesh Balappa (Huballi, Axor Sparks Racing) (02mins, 08.591); 2. Kayan Zubin Patel (Mumbai, Axor Sparks Racing) (02:08.616); 3. Shreyas Hareesh (Bengaluru, 02:08.839).
Petronas TVS One-Make Championship - Open (RR 310): 1. Alwin Sundar (Chennai) (01:54.897); 2. Rahil Pillarisetty (Hyderabad) (01:55.058); 3. Kevin Kannan (Chennai) (01:56.327).
Girls (Apache RTR200): 1. Aditi Krishnan (Bengaluru) (02:11.772); 2. Nithila Das (Bengaluru) (02:13.958); 3. Saimah Ajaz Baig (Pune) (02:15.353).
Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup - Novice (CBR 150): 1. Raheesh Mudassar Khatri (Mumbai) (02:07.011); 2. Siddesh Sawant (Kolhapur) (02:08.642); 3. Shyam Babu (Chennai) (02:09.200).