Shivamogga rider Rajendra RE from Petronas TVS Racing was the winner of the round 5 of the MRF Mogrip National Rally Championship 2W promoted by GodSpeed held in Pune. The delayed start due to fog and time constraints forced the organisers to cut down the rally distance to half and run as per finish schedule. Heavy rains this year had damaged the tarmac to maximum possible extent and the pebbles layer provided the riders a different challenge and experience.
The rally which was suppose to be 51kms was reduced to approximate 26kms, with one forward and reverse after regrouping, the third run was cancelled due to time constraints. Petronas TVS Racing riders riding a TVS RTR450 dominated the overall class, Rajendra with a total time of 27min 54sec was the leader followed by his team mate Abdul Wahid Tanveer in second position with six seconds difference, he lost lot of time in the first run and was faster than Rajendra in reverse but still fell short for the top slot. Samuel Jacob was 8sec slower but managed to complete the podium, he was unable to be below the 14min band in both the stages with 28:10 he finished third. Nataraj R seemed to be much more slower and took over 30min and finish fourth.
Privateers from Pune dominated the Star of Maharashtra class, the veteran rider Amar Sathe riding on a Hero Xpulse 200 2V though not being the fastest in both the stages managed to finish on top with least timing of 36:43 which included 30sec Liaison penalties, Niraj Wanjale finished in second position riding a Hero Impulse and 16sec difference as he was also carrying a Liaison penalty of 30sec. Kishor D Jadhav riding a Hero Impulse though was the fastest, his 4min 10sec Liaison penalties put him bottom down the order, but still managed to stay third.
Class 1A Superbikes Expert GroupA class had a lone finisher Vinay Prasad BK a privateer from Bengaluru riding a Hero Xpulse 200 4V clocked both the stages in 34min including 1min Liaison penalty.
Supersport 130 GroupB: Chalass K Bose a privateer from Kottayam riding a Honda Stunner was the winner with a total time of 33min 27sec, Gaurav Ajit Pathare from Mumbai riding a Yamaha Gladiator finished in second position with 8min Liaison penalties, one of the front runner Anoop Manjappa from Bengaluru riding a Honda Stunner finished third, as he crashed in the first few kms from start and had to pull out from ditch to rejoin, but made up some good time in the second stage and had to finish third. Vinoth Kumar S from Erode did not take a start since his vehicle stalled during reccee due to mechanical issues.
Supersport 165 GroupB: The Coimbatore rider K SasiKumar a privateer riding a Hero Impulse with a total time of 33min 12sec was the winner of the class, Mobin Shah from Mumbai also riding a Hero Impulse with over 3min difference was second.
Supersport 260 GroupB: The podium was fully occupied by Petronas TVS Racing riders on a TVS RTR200, Imran Pasha with a total time of 29min 31sec was the winner of the class followed by his teammate Sachin D with 30sec difference, their third rider in the class Banteilang Jyrwa with 9sec difference stood third. Privateer from Bengaluru Jeevarathinam J riding a TVS Apache RTR 180 with 6min 46sec difference missed the podium, Abhimanyu Ray from Pune riding a KTM Duke was fifth with 2min 51sec difference including 1min Liaison penalties.
Supersport 400 GroupB: Russell Jossy a privateer from Navi Mumbai riding a KTM Duke390 was the winner with 32min 29sec, Hansraj Saikia from Guwahati riding a KTM Duke had few electrical issues with the bike and managed to finish second with 1min 49sec difference including 1min 10sec Liaison penalties., rider from Coimbatore riding a KTM Duke390 was Venu RameshKumar with further difference of 1min 15sec which included 1min 20sec liaison penalties stood third. Mohammed Zaheer from Bengaluru riding a Adventure 390, had to ride both the stages with flat tyre right from start and with 10min 3sec further difference including 1min 10sec liaison penalties finished fourth, GS Amogh Nag from Bengaluru riding a KTM Duke390 with further 8min 7sec difference including 15min 10sec liaison penalties was fifth.
Supersport 550 GroupB: Naresh VS the championship leader a privateer from Bengaluru riding a Himalayan was the winner with 34min 43sec. Yogesh V Mirji from Miraj riding a Himalayan was 7min 5sec slower to finish in second position. Nilesh Yashwant Thakare from Nashik riding a Himalayan had a puncture thus forcing him to pull out just before start.
Ladies class GroupB: Aishwarya PM from Petronas TVS Racing riding a TVS RTR200 was the winner by clocking 35min 29sec, the rising star Fazeela U from Palakkad a privateer riding a Hero Impulse was slower by 1min 34sec to finish in second position, Deeksha Srivastava from Pune riding a Hero Impulse was third with 8min 48sec difference.
Superstock upto 450 GroupD: Privateer Sabarish R from Coimbatore riding a TVS Apache RTR200 was the winner of the class with a total time of 32min 52sec, Goutham Rao R also from Bengaluru riding a TVS Apache RTR200 came in second position with 1min 46sec difference, came in third was the first timer from Guwahati riding a Hero Xpulse 200 was Kaustav Kalita with 4min 47sec including 1min 10sec liaison penalty.
Scooter upto 210 GroupB: This class saw the highest entries till now in any of the season. Shamim Khan from Petronas TVS Racing riding a NTORQ 124 is back into limelight in the championship while locking horns with the leader Pinkesh Thakkar from JB Racing riding a Aprilla SR150 who finished fourth this round. Shamim finished on top with a total of 32min 36sec as his teammate Karthik N also on a NTORQ 124 finished in second position with only one second difference, Venkatesh Shetty a privateer from Mumbai riding a Aprilla SR150 secured third position with a difference of 35seconds. Pinkesh finished fourth with a further difference of 7sec. Subramanya T also from JB Racing riding a Aprilla SR150 was fifth with a further difference of 7sec. Syed Asif Ali from Petronas TVS Racing riding a NTORQ 124 was sixth with 23sec difference.
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