Honda Racing India Team Shines at the 2022 ARRC

Rajiv Sethu and Senthil Kumar of the Honda Racing India team scored seven points in the inaugural race of the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship (ARRC) at Sepang. Rajiv passed Indonesian rider Fitriansyah Kete on the opening lap after starting 16th on the grid. He remained in 14th position after that. In the fifth and sixth laps, he moved up one spot each time.

Rajiv crossed the finish line in 12th place with a time of 20:12.398, earning 4 points for the team. Senthil finished just behind his partner Rajiv, avoiding errors and maintaining a steady pace till the conclusion. Senthil Kumar scored three points for finishing in P13, for a total of seven points on the first day.

The second day of Round 2 was action-packed. At the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia, 14 riders across five categories lost traction and crashed out. However, the Honda Racing India squad finished the round on a high note, earning another point in the Asia Production 250 class (AP250) of the championship. Rajiv Sethu got off to a terrific start in the race, easily climbing from 16th to 14th before the first lap was completed.

But then he got into a fight with Fitriansyah Kete of Indonesia and local rider Md Idlan Haqimi. Rajiv identified the ideal time after the race and overtook the rider ahead of him to finish 15th and give Honda Racing India another point.

Senthil Kumar, Rajiv’s teammate, started in P17. Senthil revved up and raced ahead of his competitors between laps 4 and 5, taking P14 and setting a personal best lap of 2:29.078 at Sepang. Senthil ran wide at the penultimate bend of the eight-lap race as he struggled to maintain his pace, but he recovered and finished the race.