BURIRAM (Thailand): Rajiv Sethu of IDEMITSU Honda Racing India team secured the 13th position but Senthil Kumar couldn't finish the race after crashing in lap 4 in the inaugural race of Asia Road Racing Championship on Saturday.
Showcasing his skills at Chang International Circuit, Rajiv maintained his steady position till the last lap of Asia Production 250 class to score three valuable points in Race 1.
Dropping down from 13th place start to the 16th at the end of Lap 3, Rajiv was decisive and sharp and worked his magic on the track.
Overtaking the competitors, Rajiv quickly climbed to 14th place and continued the momentum till the penultimate lap. A crash between the two competition riders in the last lap confirmed his 13th place.
Rajiv's teammate Senthil quickly climbed two positions to 14th in lap 2 from a 16th position start on the grid. But he unfortunately suffered a crash due to opening the throttle early at turn 12 of lap 4.
"I was both excited and nervous to step on the track for the race today. My strategy for today's race was maintaining the pace till the end and gaining points for the team," Rajiv said in a release.
"I am confident that I will benefit from my experience and training added in these 2 years going ahead in the championship. I am looking forward to tomorrow's race where I am confident of better results."
In Race 1 of the AP250 class, Honda riders grabbed two positions on the podium. Leading the bunch was Astra Honda Racing's Rheza Danica Ahrens (1st) followed by Piyawat Patoomyos (2nd) of Honda Racing Thailand.
In the ASB1000cc class, Malaysian rider Md Zaqhwan Zaidi of Honda Asia-Dream Racing with SHOWA team fought intensely till the end and won first gold of the 2022 Asia Road Racing Championship.
Honda's Indian teen rider duo of Sarthak Chavan and Kavin Quintal racing in the Thailand Talent Cup (Honda's development programme for Asian riders run on NSF250R) secured 11th and 12th positions respectively in Round 1 qualifying.
Making a strong push in race 1, Sarthak finished in 12th position, while Kavin did not participate in the race due to poor health.
