CHENNAI: Hubballi's Sarvesh Balappa (Axor Sparks Racing), with five wins this season, warmed up for the weekend's double-header by grabbing pole position in the Novice (Stock 165cc) in the fourth round of the MRF MMSC FMSCI National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2022 at the Madras International Circuit near on Friday.
The 23-year old Balappa, who leads the championship race in the Novice category, came up with a lap of 02 mins, 08.591 secs in the qualifying session in blazing afternoon sunshine.
Filling up the front row were Mumbai's Kayan Zubin Patel (Axor Sparks Racing, 02:08.616) and Bengaluru's 12-year old Shreyas Hareesh (Rockers Racing, 02:08.839).
Meanwhile, Petronas TVS Racing's K Y Ahamed was the quickest in both the premier categories, the Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open and the Pro-Stock 165cc Open during the free practice sessions earlier in the day.
Later, Ahamed was again in top form, clocking a flying lap of 01:57.379 in the Pro-Stock 165cc Open class, ahead of Pacer Yamaha's Prabhu Arunagiri (01:58.344), while points table topper Mathana Kumar (Pacer Yamaha) was the seventh quickest in 01:58.740.
Less than a second covered the top eight, thus holding out promise of an intriguing qualifying session and the race to follow.
