Veer Creates History - First Privateer To Win National Supercross Title

Pune:
Defying all odds Baroda rider Veer Patel created history of sorts when he became the first privateer to clinch the MRF National Supercross championship in the Foreign Open (Class 1, Group A) category.

The concluding round of the six-leg championship was held at the Shahu College ground, Sahakarnagar, on Saturday evening.

The factory supported TVS Racing team have dominated the sport for some years now. This tradition was broken by the eighteen-year-old Patel who represents Pune-based Team Pashankar racing. It was a memorable moment for the latter as two of the riders grabbed podium spots.

Patel finished second in both motos in round 6 to finish with an overall aggregate of 203 points. Arvind K.P. of TVS Racing took second spot with 177 points while Pune privateer Eeshan Lokhande was third logging 169 points. Lokhande is backed by Team Pashankar racing.

“It feels good to win the title.. All my hard work of training in America has paid off. I plan to return and defend my title next year,” said Patel who has been in the sport for three years now.

Courtesy: TOI

Oh what an event!

These riders are too damn good. It was a visual and an aural treat.

The event started on time (15 min delay is not considered late !)

Excellent venue and crowd control.

The track was watered down nicely so hardly any dust rose up in the air.

The dignitaries arrived on time!!!!!

The first race of foreign bikes was flagged of by MP Suresh Kalmadi followed by others including the newly crowned Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Pune.

The track was challenging and fast with a lot of overtaking opportunities present and duly used by the riders.

Hats off to the bikers who rode (rather flew) that evening. Overall a breathtaking event. The organisers have to be commended for their efforts and maybe they could teach the 4W guys a thing or two......or many.

Pune witnessed the crowning of a new National Champion at the 6th and final round of the MRF National Supercross Championship 2009. This mega off road motorcycle event was held at the Shahu College Grounds on Saturday in a one of its kind ‘Flood Lit’ event of this nature in India. Such Flood Lit Supercross event only happen in the Supercross series in the USA and for the organizers to pull this feat in India for the second time is a huge achievement. The logistics for such an event multiply in volumes.



The event was flagged of by Shri. Suresh Kalmadiji and he was also made the occasion a special one for the winners by doing the honors.

Making all this possible is the long standing support from the ‘MAIN & TITLE’ sponsor – MRF Tyres who have successfully partnered with Sportstrek for over 10 years and have been instrumental in making this extreme sport so huge in India. Mr. Antony Rodricks from MRF has most successfully led the ‘Racing’ initiation across all motorsports and dominated them.

Co-sponsor support comes from the TVS Motor Company who also have a team dedicated to their racing initiative have been at the helm of nurturing new and up coming talent and providing complete support to these youngsters and in turn creating the maximum number of Champion’s in the history of 2 wheeler motorsports. The man who leads the TVS bandwagon in Mr. Arvind Pangaonkar.

BPCL’s ‘SPEED’ & ‘MAK’ are extremely popular products amongst the racing fraternity and a prime choice with most racers. Mr. M.V. Shet of BPCL has provided his complete support to this Championship. SIDVIN Oil & Gas headed by Mr. Mohan Nagrajan, an avid motorsports enthusiast, has immensely helped the growth of motorsports in India with his support and taken India into the international circuit with their cars running the prestigious PWRC – Production World Rally Championship.

Kapil Pashankar the man responsible for making ‘Pashankar’ auto a name to reckon with in Maharashtra & Goa circles with his dealership’s for ‘General Motors’, ‘Skoda’, & ‘Audi’ has taken his passion to the next level by creating his own racing team. His team which has made such progress in a short time that they have already bagged this years Championship.

Pune witnessed the ‘Champions of 2009’ being created here today in 4 categories after accumulating points over 6 rounds in the year gone by. The previous 5 rounds were held in Goa, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Jaipur & Bangalore. This is the biggest challenge of such ‘National Championship’ sporting events as competitors need to consistently perform and score points which all add up and the winner is adjudged on this overall performance.

The 1st and most prestigious race of the day, the ‘Foreign Open Class’ saw Santosh C.S take the holeshot in the Moto and the race was tight with Veer Patel and Aravind K.P following him in hot pursuit but in the end Santosh was un beaten. This order was identical in Moto 2 as well only difference being that the distance covering them was much lesser and it was anybody’s race till the end. All in all it was Santosh who bagged both races of the foreign open.


CLASS 1 – Foreign Motorcycles – Group ‘A’ Upto 250cc- 2 Stroke & 450cc – 4 Stroke

RANK
NAME
COMP.NO
MOTO 1
MOTO 2
POINTS
VEHICLE
TEAM/PLACE

1
Santosh C S
22
20
20
40
TVS 250X
TVS - B’lore

2
Veer Patel
09
17
17
34
CR 250 F
Pashankar

3
Aravind K P
69
15
15
30
TVS 250X
TVS - B’lore


The Class 2 - which is the Novice class consist of new comers from all over India and after having placed here move onto the bigger categories. This race was brilliant given that the top 3 finishers in this race switched places a few times in the duration of this race keeping the crowds in its feet.


CLASS 2 – Indian Motorcycles – Group ‘B’ 80cc Upto 150cc- 2 Stroke
RANK
NAME
COMP. NO
POINTS
VEHICLE
TEAM/PLACE

1
R. Natraj
16
20
TVS RTR
TVS B’lore

2
Sudeep Kotegar
64
17
TVS RTR
TVS B’lore

3
Gaurav Premallu
05
15
RX 135
Pune


Class 3 comes under 'Group B' which means that the machines used in this race are mostly imported for e.g. - Shocks, swing arms and chassis. These machines are most prepared to race on such track and the Indian bikes have been consistently proven to have amongst the best engines for such a gruelling race.

CLASS 3 – Indian Motorcycles – Group ‘D’ 110cc Upto 250cc- 4 Stroke
RANK
NAME
COMP. NO
POINTS
VEHICLE
TEAM/PLACE

1
Aravind K P
96
20
TVS RTR
TVS B’lore

2
Pramod Joshua
11
17
TVS RTR
TVS B’lore

3
Vishal Barguje
86
15
TVS RTR
TVS B’lore


The 'Locals Class' is for riders from only that city or state and in Pune the honorable 'Mayor - Shri, Rajpalji' handed over the Mayors Trophy. This is a prestigious race for new comers in the region as they get the opportunity in front of their home crowds.


CLASS 4 – Indian Motorcycles (Novice) – Group ‘D’ 80cc Upto 160cc- 2/4 Stroke

RANK
NAME
COMP. NO
POINTS
VEHICLE
TEAM/PLACE

1
Lokesh Bhosale
30
20
Victor
Pune

2
Nikhil Kamthe
14
17
Shogun
Pune

3
Amit Grover
12
15
RX 135
Mumbai


This is the class wherein all the expert riders participate on 'Group C' bikes which means with only Indian modifications.


CLASS 5 – Indian Motorcycles – Group ‘B’ 125cc Upto 250cc- 2/4 Stroke
RANK
NAME
COMP. NO
POINTS
VEHICLE
TEAM/PLACE

1
Pramod Joshua
10
20
TVS RTR
TVS B’lore

2
R Natraj
16
17
TVS RTR
TVS B’lore

3
Sudeep Kotegar
64
15
TVS RTR
TVS B’lore


Based on this flawless performance on the day, the 'Best Rider' trophy was presented to Santosh C.S from TVS Racing.

The 2009 Championship consisted of '4' National Championship status and the winners of each category based on the total points they accumulated in the course of this 6 round championship are as follows:


Class 1 – Veer Patel - 203 Points

Class 2 – R. Natraj - 105 Points

Class 3 – Aravind K.P - 110 Points

Class 5 – Pramod Joshua - 111 Points

The event in Pune was a complete entertainer for the 10,000 odd strong crowds. A complete melange of some serious adventure sports and glamour. The crowds were also entertained with a dance troupe from Mumbai along with a display of pyrotechnics. To give away the prizes were Shri. Suresh Kalmadiji - MP, Shri. Rajpalji - H'on Mayor of Pune, Mr. Arvind Pangaonkar - Head of R&D for TVS Motors, Mr. Gautam Pashankar and his son Mr. Kapil Pashankar who run the successful Pashankar Auto & its racing team.