Image credit : Illustrative image

Coimbatore : Prabhu Arunagiri of team Alisha Abdullah scorched the track and qualified for pole position in the premium Pro-Stock 301-400cc class as the first round of the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship commenced at Kari Motor Speedway here today.

Arunagiri came up with the flier in his very second lap, clocking 1 minute, 09.241 seconds, while TVS Racing duo of Jagan Kumar (01:09.269) and KY Ahamed (01:09.270) completed the front row of the grid for tomorrow’s race.

Finishing a close fourth was young Rahil Shetty (Sparks Racing) with a best of 01:10.130.

Jagan Kumar yet again underlined his calibre and class with a brilliant performance to top the practice session in the Pro-Stock 165cc class with a flying lap of 01:13:529 ahead of Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing’s Sarath Kumar (01:13.544) and team-mate Ahamed (01:13.688).

The trio was separated by less than a second, pointing to an exciting battle tomorrow when the qualifying and first of the two races are to be run.

Jagan, who last season clinched his seventh national title in the Super Sport Indian 165cc class which was not in the first round here, has since moved to the Pro-Stock category, but adapted himself well to top the timesheets. Sarath and Ahamed also participated in the Super Sport category last year.