Mikail, riding the FIM Moto3-spec NSF 250R bike in the Idemitsu Honda Talent Cup one-make championship, clocked a blistering lap of 01minute, 47.887secs around the 3.717-km MMRT circuit in the qualifying session. It was the fastest lap ever in a National championship event for bikes up to 250cc.
Second behind Mikahil who is full time into racing and studies from home, was another Chennai teenager, Varoon Sadasivam (01:49.327) with Pune’s 12-year-old Sarthak Shrikant Chavan (01:51.342) qualifying third.
“I am very happy with my qualifying session, but I am working hard to do even better,” said Mikail who is leading the championship in his category.
As well as these teenagers rode, the spotlight was on the Pro-Stock 301-400cc qualifying session where seven-time National champion in the lower category Jagan Kumar, lying a distant ninth on the leaderboard after a string of disappointing performances, showcased his mettle by putting in a hot lap of 01:54.037 for pole position. Former National champion in this class, Amarnath Menon (Team Alishaa Racing) was second in 01:54.807 while TVS Racing Deepak Ravikumar (01:55.221) completed the front row on the grid for tomorrow’s race.
Bengaluru-based Anish Shetty (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) topped the qualifying session in the Pro-Stock 201-300cc category with a flying lap of 01:57.646. Erula Racing’s Mithun Kumar (01:58.310) was the second quickest and Aravind Balakrishnan (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) qualified third in 01:59.192.
Earlier, international Rajiv Sethu (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing), leading the championship in the Pro-Stock 165cc class, put the hammer down by topping the Free Practice session with a flying lap of 01minute, 59.115 seconds, pipping his closest rival, TVS Racing’s Jagan Kumar (01:59.239). Sethu’s team-mate Sarath Kumar, also in the championship reckoning and trailing Jagan by just one point, was third quickest in 02:00.103, ahead of TVS Racing’s Kevin Kannan (02:01.102). The qualifying session is scheduled for Saturday.