Hondas Rajiv claims third victory, Sarath finishes 3rd

Chennai, Aug 3 (IANS) A month after Round 2, the IDEMISTU Honda Racing India team on Saturday returned stronger in round 3 of MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship.Making gains over their first row start in Pro-Stock 165 and Pro-Stock 201-300 class, IDEMITSU Honda India Racing team riders added 5 more podiums to the team's kitty on Saturday.PS 165 race on Saturday was a thrill till the end with the top 3 riders closing in less than 1 second gap. Once again for the third consecutive race, Honda's Asia Road Racing Championship rider Rajiv Sethu had a good start over his first position start on the grid. Despite a quick overtake by Jagan in lap 3, Rajiv kept his cool and tailed him closely waiting for an opportunity to break through. Finally, it came in the 6th lap when Rajiv's quick maneuver resulted in his being the first to cross the chequered line in just 12:01:973.Making it a double podium for IDEMISTU Honda Racing India team was his teammate Sarath Kumar who finished 3rd with total time of 12:02:833.In the debut season in the ProStock 201-300cc class, the rider trio from IDEMISTU Honda Racing India team continued to dominate the ranks.After his morning qualifier of 1:57:384, Hubli boy Anish Shetty maintained his momentum in the race too. Stopping the clock at 12:11:667, Anish grabbed his second win in this class. Completing the podium were Bengaluru boy Abhishek V (2nd) and local boy Aravind B. (3rd).
--IANS dm/bbh