Kovai Singam brought great cheer to the home crowd winning the season’s opening MEL class race of the IPL-style Motorcycle Endurance League at the Kari Motor Speedway circuit in Chettipalayam near here on Sunday.
Not many gave the team a chance to win as there were big guns in Chennai Crackers, Pune Panthers and Mumbai Dons. But, they failed to fire when it mattered most. On the other hand, Kovai Singam, with Harry Sylvester (Chennai) and S. Madanakumar (Tiruchi) riding high on confidence, planned the day well to finish on top.
Both Harry and Madanakumar coordinated well right through. They did not do anything silly. They maintained the right pace and worked smart at the pit stop. And, it paid rich dividends for the team.
“We are very excited with this win. An endurance race is all about nursing your bike. Thankfully, we never crashed. We also maintained the three pit stops,” said Harry.
“We supported each other as well. That did a world of good for us today,” said Madanakumar.
Delhi Dragonz (Sathish Kumar / Padmanaban) could have finished ahead of Kovai Singam had it not run out of petrol. “But we are still happy to have finished second,” said Sathish Kumar.
Hyderabad High Riders, despite the disc and handle bar issues, slotted the third place. “We started ninth and we never expected to be on the podium. Obviously, we are pleased,” said Ramesh Kumar.
The results:
MEL: 1. Kovai Singam 1:30:42.103; 2. Delhi Dragonz 1:30:55.907; 3. Hyderabad High Riders 1:31:33.333.
Enduro 130: 1. P.K. Mithun Kumar 41:05.654; 2. Sebastin 41:43.502; 3. T. Rama Krishnan 41:06.962.
Enduro 160: 1. G.A. Sunil 41:11.632; 2. Akash P. Desai 41:17.291; 3. J. Naresh Babu 41:17.889.
Orange Class: Race 1: G. Rajaram 8:45.447; 2. E. Antony Peter 8:51.143; 3. C. Dinesh 9:01.784. Race 2: 1. G. Rajaram 8:43.896; 2. E. Antony Peter 8:50.898; 3. Naveen Kumar 8:55.598.
