IDEMITSU Honda Racing India team rider Rajiv Sethu grabbed one point while his rookie teammate Senthil Kumar finished 20th in the fifth round of the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship (ARRC) here on Saturday.
Starting strongly, Rajiv shed 1.115 seconds over his Friday’s best lap time to qualify Top 14 with a best lap time of 1:55:006. Senthil too improved his lap timing by 1.605s, which put him 19th on starting grid.
The afternoon Race 1 saw Rajiv gain three positions at the beginning itself. By lap 3, he bettered his fastest lap time to 1:54:450, narrowing the gap with lead rider to just 0:322 seconds.
In a race where microseconds mattered, Rajiv fell back, losing his slipstream advantage in the long straights but defended his position to finish 15th and add one point (19:21:788).
Despite a good start which pushed Senthil two positions ahead to 17th, a gear-shifting error in turn 4 eroded all his gains and pulled him down to 24th in lap 1.
Thereafter riding with four riders, Senthil recovered to 20th position by lap 5 and was overtaken by two riders in lap 7. He finally overtook them back in lap 8 and defended his position till the end of the 10-lap race.
