2020 INMRC Round 1: Anish Shetty, Honda set the pace

The Indian motorsport scene is finally back on track with two major national championships – the JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship (JK NRC) and MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship (INMRC) kicking off their 2020 seasons over the weekend. Anish Damodar Shetty ended up stealing the spotlight in the Pro-Stock 301-400cc class, while Honda put up a strong display in the Pro-Stock 165cc with seven podium finishes.

• Anish Damodar Shetty wins three races in Pro-Stock 301-400cc
• Honda notch up two wins and seven podiums in Pro-Stock 165cc
• Sarthak Chavan wins both Honda India Talent Cup NSF250R races

Here’s how the races panned out in all the classes:

INMRC Pro-Stock

Anish Damodar Shetty enjoyed a stellar Round 1 as he won three out of four races in the premier Pro-Stock 301-400cc class. With no prior testing time, this was his first outing on the Race Concepts prepared KTM RC 390, making his hat trick of wins all the more incredible. The only other race winner in the class was TVS Racing’s KY Ahamed, who defeated seasoned racer, Jagan Kumar to win the first race.

Elsewhere, superbike racer and multiple national championship winner, Rajini Krishnan endured a mixed bag of races. While his weekend was marred by a few crashes and technical issues, he pulled off a spirited recovery in the final race to go from 24^th to 4^th on the grid. Kumar pulled off an equally impressive feat in the same race, going from 26^th to 3^rd.

The Pro-Stock 165cc class ended up being a more competitive affair with four different winners in as many races. Eneos Honda Erula Racing’s Rajiv Sethu and Mathana Kumar, along with TVS Racing’s KY Ahamed and Jagan Kumar took home a win each.

But Honda emerged on top of the overall standings, with a total of two race wins and seven podium finishes.

Stock 165cc

Rajini Krishnan’s own RACR Castrol Power Racing clinched two race wins in the Novice Stock 165cc, courtesy Ullas Santrupt. Privateer Mohan Babu P and Rulexx Rockers Racing’s Aravind Selvam were the other two winners.

The Girls Stock 165cc class saw Sparks Racing’s Ann Jennifer stamp her authority, as she won both the races in Round 1.

TVS One-Make Championship

Navneeth Kumar and Abhishek Vasudev from Bengaluru both topped all the four races in the Novice and Open categories of the TVS One One-Make Championship. Meanwhile, Jagruthi Kiran Penkar won the sole race in the Girls category.

Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup

Round 1 of the 2020 INMRC saw the return of the Honda India Talent Cup, with young riders aged between 12 and 19 competing on the championship-winning NSF250R Moto3 racer. With prior experience riding the NSF250R, Sarthak Chavan won both the races over the weekend.

There was also the Novice CBR 150 category, which essentially acts as a feeder series for those looking to compete in the Honda India Talent Cup NSF250R. Shyam Sundar ended up winning both races after a tough battle with Prakash Kamat & Vivek Rohit Kapadia.

Also see:

Arjun Balu wins 2020 Indian Touring Class title

India’s longest racetrack coming up in Andhra Pradesh