The first round to be held at the MMST in Chennai also happens to be the fourth round of the National Road Racing Championships. This time, we had more classes than before with the Royal Enfields and Yamaha RD 350s participating in a Demo class race.

Venue: Madras MotorSports Club racetrack, Irungattukottai, Sriperumbudur
Date: September 03, 2006
Weather: Varying: Damp in pratice, dry for the race

These two classes are open classes where anything goes as of now, and IF they do become an official class for next year, the rules will be set. As of this time, we had ultra trick Enfields with Factory Special parts, Hitchcock’s parts, unreleased models to the completely stock motorcycles, with only the glass etc removed, like how it would be for a normal track day.

The superbikes also raced, but this time we had a great line up of them, more than in Coimbi. Emmanuel Jebaraj was also going to be racing on a CBR600. But unfortunately, a large pileup in turn 3 took out quite a few of the riders including him, for the weekend. A lot of broken pieces of fairing, frames etc.

Last time I came to Chennai to be on the track, I blew the engine on the Bullet in the track day. This time I was back here with both the CBZ and the T’bird. So, I’ll just split this report into 2 separate sections so that I can out line them out better.

160cc 4stroke Group D:

From my CBZ’s perspective it was a learning weekend being the first time I would be riding anything else other than the bullet on it. Missing on Round 3 in Coimbatore didn’t do any good to the standings, more so because you miss 2 races if you miss a round. Continued using the same tyres that I have had on the bike for the first two rounds. Having taken the CBZ out for normal practice and I put it on the grid in 4^th on Saturday. For the race, it was a great start and I got into the first corner right up with the expert class riders, by the time we came back to the Bridge section, two distinct groups had formed. Needless to say, I was fighting for the places, in the second group, quickly losing touch at the front. I had to settle in for 4^th.

The second race also started off just as the first one had and it was a hard duel with the worn tyres and the engine now showing its age. Diverting a bit here, one of the things to-do for me is to get the motorcycle a fresh bore-piston kit one of these races as the current one has already run about 35,000kms. And, this is what the person who sold me the motorcycle claims. Knowing our brokers penchant for pushing motorcycles with the reading on the odometers modified, it wouldn’t be surprising to learn of a higher figure. I had to finish this race also in 4^th, after racing with the Chennai lads at their home track.

Not a totally bad weekend, considering it was my first at Chennai.

Royal Enfield Open class (Demo Class):

This would be fun is what most of the participants thought and they were perfect. A horde of guys from RTMC Bangalore decided to make the trip to the race weekend. Prashanth, Sidharth (Bose) and Sachin had two of the bikes that looked the part. Full blow café racing 535cc machines. The other attraction was Devaiah’s AVL 500 which he’d got from the Royal Enfield factory, working there has it’s perks from time to time. This bike is still not sold to the general public and was quick. Bad luck struck Prashi and his bike blew (and blew big time) and despite all the rebuilding could not get it back on track. When the bike blew on track, the bike locked up, sending both the bike and rider straight onto the ground and into my path. On a damp track there was nothing much I could do and I took the fall too. Luckily for me, the Oxtar boots protected properly as I had my foot stuck under the bike, with me on the ground waiting for someone to lift it off. Well worth the investment on gear.

The races themselves were fun, with the grid being set on the basis of what capacity your motorcycle was. The big bore (500+cc) machines took the front of the grid while our smaller machines (350+ cc) were at the back. As the race started, it was all 500s into turn one. I remember passing a few going into turn 3. By the time we finished the never ending right hand corner and on the back straight I had only Sachin on the tricked out 535 and Devaiah on the AVL 500 in front of me. I paced myself as those machines were much faster than mine and wouldn’t be able to catch them. As luck would have it, Devaiah started slowing down and I passed him for 2^nd position overall and maintained 1^st amongst the 350s. Poor chap ran out of fuel!

The second race was also similar, but the AVL 500 was now topped up and I had to settle for 3^rd overall and 1^st of the 350s. Sidharth riding Mr.Bose’s (his dad) motorcycle ran real close upto me in the closing stages of the race, when I had settled in at a comfortable pace. I didn’t want to blow up this freshly run in new engine trying really hard to catch the 500+cc machines up front. I had to just fend him off and take the win amongst the 350s.

So, in all, it was two 4^th places (160cc Group D class) and 2 wins (350cc class) for me this weekend.