Team TVS Racing’s C.D. Jinan opened his campaign with a scorching double in the race for the big boys, the foreign open class, in the first round of the MRF MoGrip FMSCI National Supercross championship at the Codissia grounds here on Sunday.
The 44-year-old from Kerala, returning to the team after 11 years, proved to his mates that he has still got the fire to fight it out with the best in the business. He did not get the kind of start that he wanted in both races but fought his way up quite early to finish on top in the first and the last race of the day.
“I really enjoyed the competition today. The weather condition, hot and humid, was pretty tough but it was even hot on the track with everybody giving it their best shot. But I managed it all as the team provided me with a bike that did not let me down,’ said Jinan, who was declared the Best Rider for his gutsy show.
A.W. Tanveer of TVS Racing, came up with an equally pleasant performance in the same class. “The track looked easy in the first race but everything turned bumpy and tricky at the end. It’s been a long time for me as well and I am happy that I have improved much and in good shape too,” he said.
Anand Hariharan, Team TVS Racing’s manager, was a happy man. “The Saturday evening storm threw a spanner in our works but the mechanics showed lots of patience and so did the riders.”
The results (provisional): Foreign Open class SX1: 1. C.D. Jinan (TVS Racing, 20 &, 20) 40 pts; 2. A,W. Tanveer (TVS Racing, 15 & 17) 32; 3. Rugved Barguje (TVS Racing, 13 & 13) 26.
Novice: 1. M. Karan Kumar; 2. K. Saravana Kumar (both Coimbatore); 3. R.E. Rajendra (TVS Racing).
Locals: 1. Kalimohan (TVS Racing); 2. S. Asaraddin; 3. Varun Kumar (both Coimbatore).
Indian Experts: 1. Kalimohan; 2. Jagadeesh Kumar; 3. R. Sabarish (both Coimbatore).
Private Experts: 1. S. Asaruddin; 2. T. Arun (Hassan); 3. Jagadeesh Kumar.
SX 2: 1. V.M. Mahesh (Thrissur, 11 & 20) 31 pts; 2. Suhail Ahmed (Bengaluru, 15 & 15) 30; 3. Prithvi Dhillon (Chandigarh, 13 & 13) 26.
Junior SX 1: 1. Yuvaraj Kondedeshmukh (Ajmera Racing); 2/ Sarthak Chavan (Pune); 3. Prajwal (Bengaluru). Junior SX 2: 1. Shlok Ghorpade (Satara); 2. Jinendra Sangave Ichalkaranji); 3. Ikshan Shanbhag (Satara).
