Meanwhile history was made today at the MMRT when for the first time in Indian two-wheeler racing, protective air bags vests were worn by the riders.

The 10 under-18 riders, participating in the Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup Open (NSF 250R) category, donned the airbag vest that inflates on impact, thus providing additional protection to the racers in the event of a fall.

Biding his time, Shetty, starting fifth on the grid, made a strong move in the second half of the six-lap race to finished ahead of a strong TVS Racing combination of multiple champion Jagan Kumar and defending champion Deepak Ravikumar who raced nursing an injured knee following a crash during practice session earlier in the week.

Equally impressive winner today was TVS Racing’s KY Ahamed who held off Eneos Honda Erula Racing riders Mathana Kumar and Rajiv Sethu, in the Pro-Stock 165cc category. Sethu, the Race-1 winner yesterday, could not capitalise on a pole-position start. Ahamed’s victory somewhat compensated for the absence of team-mate and multiple champion Jagan Kumar whose bike stalled on the out-lap before the race.

Elsewhere, local challenger Aravind Selvam (Rulexx Rockstar Racing) won a tight race in the Novice (Stock 165cc) class while Ann Jennifer (Sparks Racing), also from Chennai, and winner of yesterday’s Race-1, scored another dominant win for a grand double in the Girls (Stock 165cc) category. The race was reduced to three laps following a red flag stoppage due to a crash.

Bengaluru’s Abhishek Vasudev today roared to victory in both the Open category races of the TVS One-Make Championship organised by the MMSC for a fine treble following his win in Race-1 yesterday while Navneeth Kumar from Puducherry completed a double in the Novice class of the same championship.

Pune’s Sarthak Chavan, all of 14 years, became the youngest winner of the weekend when he streaked to victory in the Open (NSF 250R) class of the Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup.