Chiranth Vishwanath notches maiden win of season at Chennai

Chiranth Vishwanath from Bengaluru and his TVS Racing team-mate Pune’s Sarthak Chavan hogged the limelight with thrilling wins in the two Pro-Stock categories after surviving close battles in the third round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2024 – Powered by STORM at the Madras International Circuit, here on Saturday. Incidentally, both the 17-year-old mavericks recorded the grand “treble” of pole position, fastest lap and race win. Chiranth literally scrapped his way to his maiden win of the season in the Pro-Stock 165cc Open category. Though starting from pole, Chiranth, nursing a painful left leg after a heavy fall in this morning’s Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open race, fell behind his seniors Jagan Kumar and KY Ahamed after surviving a contact with Sarthak who crashed. Later in the race, Chiranth went past Jagan and Ahamed for his maiden win of the season. Sarthak recovered from the fall to finish fifth.
Earlier in the day, in the Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open race, pole-sitter Sarthak led from the start, closely shadowed by Chiranth. The pair pulled away from the pack with Sarthak hanging on to a slender lead. On the last lap, the pair exchanged positions in the span of two corners, before Sarthak managed to get back in front. Going into the final turn, a right-hander, Chiranth made a desperate move, taking the risky outside line and crashed leaving Sarthak a clear winner. Chiranth managed to get up and finish 10th. Second behind Sarthak was Hyderabad’s Rahil Pillarisetty (KTM Gusto Racing India), ahead of team-mate Alwin Sundar.
Chennai teenager Abdul Basim (One Racing) maintained his unbeaten run in the Novice (Stock 165cc) class by notching a fifth consecutive win, while former National champion Ryhana Bee (Motul Sparks Racing) recorded her first win of the season in the Girls (Stock 165cc) category after the race was reduced to three laps from scheduled five due to an on-track incident involving pole-sitter Ann Jennifer (Alpha Racing India) in the very first lap.