Coimbatore,  IDEMITSU Honda SK69 Racing team on Saturday started its points tally with podium finish in the first Pro-Stock 165cc race of MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship (INMRC) at the Kari Motor Speedway, here.

The IDEMITSU Honda SK 69 Racing team's Rajiv Sethu led Honda's charge. PS165 cc class of championship. While the morning qualifier had put Rajiv Sethu 5th on the race grid, the afternoon race saw him back on the track fully charged up vying to earn valuable points for the team.

Starting the race fearlessly, he gave tough competition to other riders and maintained his steady performance until the last lap. Making the most of drama filled race, Rajiv lapped back home at 3rd position thus earning 15 points for the team. While his teammate Senthil Kumar managed to finish 8th despite the technical issue in the machine.

Speaking on the inaugural round of the 2022 season, Prabhu Nagaraj - Operating Officer, Brand and Communication, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Pvt Ltd said, "We have started the 2022 season with the high spirits. Today, we saw strong performances by our young as well as experienced riders. Despite the slow start in the qualifying, Rajiv has brought a podium for us in Pro-Stock 165cc category of national championship. Our young riders from IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup impressed us with their stellar performances. Sarthak with his international exposure displayed his racing prowess and won the NSF250R race."

"On the other side, Raheesh Khatri and Siddesh Sawant fought with full power in the CBR150R. Our new platform, Honda Hornet 2.0 One Make Race further gave the opportunity to the racing enthusiasts and saw exciting moments from our customers while enjoying and learning new skills and techniques. As all the riders are geared and motivated, we are set for better results tomorrow."

Eleven millennial riders of the IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup NSF250R on Saturday displayed utmost confidence and rode with confidence on the racetrack. With prior experience of riding the Moto3 machine NSF250R both on national and international circuits, Sarthak Chavan recorded the fastest ever lap of 1:12.785 of the Kari Motor Speedway.

Motivated by his morning performance, the Pune boy lead the race 1 from start to finish. Clocking total time of 12:24.392. He was followed back home by Chennai's Shyam Babu at 12:40.808. At the third spot was AS James from Bengaluru. While Velachery's Mohsin P recorded the best lap of 1:32.210 in the race but he unfortunately crashed in lap 4.

The race 1 of CBR150R category witnessed a two-way racing action between Raheesh Khatri and the pole starter Siddesh Sawant till the chequered flag. Starting 7th on the grid, Raheesh Khatri quickly steered his way to first position in the start itself. From thereon, the youngest rider maintained his calm till the end and secured his maiden win with a timing of 14:46.340. Keeping the fight on, Kolhapur's Siddesh Sawant managed to overtake Raheesh in last lap but settled for 2nd, merely 0.068 seconds behind Raheesh.

Siddesh recorded the best lap of 1:27.227 in Saturday's race. Rounding up the podium was the Chennai lad Shyam Babu who took total time of 15:06.707. Saturday turned out to be an unfortunate day for Harshit Bogar as he could not start the race due to crash in formation lap whereas the rookies Beedani Rajendera and Pothu Vignesh crashed out after 5 laps.