The inaugural round of Asia Road Racing Championship (ARRC) 2022 ended with IDEMITSU Honda Racing India Team – Honda’s solo Indian team earning 11 points in a single round for the first time in AP250 class of the championship.
Maintaining good pace, Indian rider Rajiv Sethu at Buriram International Circuit earned 5 additional points. Senthil Kumar too showcased his full power and recorded his best-ever finish in AP250 class of ARRC at 13th spot (earlier highest 14th). With this, the 20-year-old Indian rider grabs his highest ever 3 points in the championship.
After his 13th place starts in race 2 of AP250 class, Rajiv paced up in the initial 5 laps and moved up to 12th position. His steady performance till the chequered flag resulted in an 11th place finish. After the end of round 1, Rajiv now has a total of 8 points in his kitty.
“Today my entire focus was to maintain steady performance and grab more points for the team. I made a great start and overtook two riders. This round has helped us to test our strategies and make further improvements on the track. I am confident that in the next rounds, I will be able to push harder and secure positions in top bunch,” said Rajiv Sethu in a statement.
Parallelly in the ASB1000cc class, Malaysian rider Md Zaqhwan Zaidi of Honda Asia-Dream Racing showed a great strength on the track. Leading from the beginning, Zaqhwan dropped to 4th position in the last few laps. However, the Malaysian rider competed fearlessly and pushed his machine harder in the exciting last lap to finish a close 2nd in the Race2.
Exemplifying the true racing spirit and making India proud, IDEMITSU Honda Racing India team rider Sarthak Chavan created history as the first Indian rider to break into Top 7 group in Thailand Talent Cup 2022 – Honda’s development program for Asian riders run on NSF250R. (ANI)
