INMRC 2016- Round 3, Day 1: Honda One Make Series

Honda One make championship, part of the Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship (INMRC) 2016, commenced day 1, Round 3 with the opening races of all three of its categories –CBR 250 Open Championship, Honda All-ladies Championship, CBR 150 Novice.

As their names suggests, the CBR 250 Open and the CBR 150 novice categories were raced on track-spec Honda CBR 250s and CBR 150s. The CBR 150s also featured in the Honda All-Ladies Race.  

CBR 250R Open Championship Race 1
This six-lap race was the first for Honda One Make on Day 1. It saw a total of 13 competitors around the 3.7km long Madras Motor Race Track (MMRT), results of which, turned out pretty much as expected.
That’s because Team Ten10 Racing’s riders, Mathana Kumar and Hari Krishnan R, strong performers in the championship thus far, clinched the first 2 podiums. Trichy’s Mathana Kumar crossed the finish line with a total time of 12:20:800 minutes, while Hari Krishnan finished just under two seconds later, with a total time of 12:22:051 minutes. Ananth Raj P finished third, completing the four laps in 12.32.051 minutes. The final race will be held on Sunday.

Honda All Ladies Race
This year’s season is the first time that Honda has introduced an All-ladies class in its One Make series. It is a four-lap race and comprises seven racers. Here, it was Bengaluru’s Aishwarya P M who, clocking 09.49.114 minutes, edged past local girl A Ryhana Bee(time: 09.49.564 minutes) to clinch victory in the third round. Shruthi from Chennai finished third with a total time of 10.06.350 minutes.

CBR 150 Novice Race 1
Among the three races, the CBR 150 Novice race (four laps) was the one where the fight for top-spot was the fiercest. Soorya P M (time: 09.02.273) barely managed to maintain his lead ahead of Anish D Shetty (time: 9.02.312) throughout; the two just about avoided a collision a few metres short of the finish line. Soon after, Mahesh Murali M finished third with a time of 9.03.395 minutes.

The second races for the ‘CBR 250 Open’ and ‘CBR 150 Novice’ classes will be held on September 4, 2016, Day 2 of Round 3.