The Hindu : Sport / Racing : Motor : Vijay Kumar steals the show

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Aug 02, 2004

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Sport - Racing : Motor

Vijay Kumar steals the show

By Our Sports Reporter

CHENNAI, AUG. 1. Current National champion C. Vijay Kumar of Team TVS emerged as the star of the day in the third round of the MRF National motocross championship at Kandaswami Naidu College here on Sunday.

The 22-year-old finished first in the Indian Experts Moto 1 Foreign Class upto 250 cc and came second in the Moto 2 Foreign class race (upto 250cc). With the good showing, Vijay was adjudged the best rider.

Starting well off the blocks, Vijay continued to lead till the half-way mark of the 12-lap Moto 1 race with 14-year-old Karan Kadam and Syed Eathasam both of Yamaha close on the heels. Into the 7th lap, Karan's seat and later his number plate fell off forcing him to retire.

Yogesh Barguje of Yamaha, Bangalore, encountered the double jumps and the curves to beat the challenge of Sayed to come a distant second.

In the Moto 2 race, Vijay blazed away into the lead ahead of Karan and Sayed. With his daredevilry, Vijay maintained the lead as Karan continued to apply pressure by closing in on him.

The fifth lap saw Sayed create a flutter when he raced past Vijay, Santosh and Karan. Sayed raced ahead to emerge a close winner just ahead of Vijay. Karan, who promised initially, fell off midway but recovered considerably to finish third.

Shivakumar of Yamaha won the Indian Experts (Group D) upto 110cc and upto 180cc categories.

The winner, runner-up and third place finisher got 20, 17 and 15 points respectively.

The Stewards dismissed the protest from Karan Kadam, citing "safety reasons."

In the Chennai round of the Foriegn Motorcycles Class Group A, Vijay emerged winner with 37 points followed by Sayed Eathasham (35) and Yogesh Barguje with 28 points.

At the end of the Chennai leg, Vijay Kumar is in the lead with 105 points while Sayed Eathasham is in second place with 78 points. The fourth round will be held in Pune on September 26.

The results:

Class 1: Indian Experts Foreign Motorcycles--Group A (upto 250cc): Moto 1: 1. C. Vijay Kumar (Team TVS, Bangalore), 2. Yogesh Barguje (Yamaha, Bangalore), 3. Sayed Eathasham (Yamaha); Moto 2: 1. Eathasham, 2. Vijay Kumar, 3. Karan Kadam (Yamaha).

Class 2: Indian Experts--Group B (above 80cc upto 150cc): 1. Sayed Eathasham (Yamaha), 2. Yogesh Barguje (Yamaha), 3. C.S. Santosh (TVS).

Class 3: Indian Experts--Group B (110cc upto 250cc): 1. Rustom Patel (TVS), 2. B.V. Suresh (TVS), 3. Sayed Zubair (TVS).

Class 4: Indian Novice--Group D (above 80cc upto 150cc): 1. Wasim Mohd. (TVS), 2. Deepak John (TVS), 3. K.P. Chandan (TVS).

Class 5: Indian Experts--Group D (80cc upto 110cc): 1. Shivakumar (Yamaha), 2. V. Lokesh (Yamaha), 3. N. Sridhar Urs (Yamaha).

Class 6: Indian Experts--Group D (110cc upto 180cc): 1. Shivakumar (Yamaha), 2. C.D. Jinan (TVS), 3. N. Sridhar Urs (Yamaha).

Class 7: Local Class--Group B (above 110 upto 180cc): 1. C.S. Anandkumar (Rx 135, Chennai), 2. E. Clark (Fiero, Chennai), 3. T.K. Rajesh (Rx 135, Chennai).

Class 8: Intermediate Class--Group A (upto 250cc): 1. Bharath Kadam (Pune), 2. Abhijit Jadhav (Pune), 3. Imol Temghare (Pune).

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