Veteran Prabhu Arunagiri  (Pacer Yamaha)  and Mumbai youngster Kayan Zubin Patel (Axor Sparks Racing) qualified for pole positions in Pro-Stock 165cc and Novice (Stock 165cc) categories, respectively, in the third round of the Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship at the Madras International Circuit, here on Friday.

Clocking a hot lap of one minute, 55.942secs, Arunagiri,  scored over fellow-Chennai riders, Rajiv Sethu (Idemitsu Honda SK69 Racing) and KY Ahamed (Petronas TVS Racing) with less than a second separating the trio.

Arunagiri,  had just enough pace to hold off his rivals that included the experienced Petronas TVS Racing duo of Deepak Ravikumar and defending champion Jagan Kumar, who qualified P4 and P5. Mathana Kumar (Pacer Yamaha) who leads the championship in this category, could manage only P6.

Kayan (02.08.016) edged out team-mate Varun Nanjundegowda (02:08.175) from Mysuru while Hyderabad’s Md Samrul Zuair qualified third in 02:08.665. Hubbali’s Sarvesh Balappa (Axor Sparks Racing), winner of all four races in the previous two rounds, was fourth in 02:08.705.

KY Ahamed enjoyed a fine Free Practice session in the premier Pro-stock 301-400cc category which he topped with a blazing lap of 01:51.085, followed by his Petronas TVS Racing team-mate Deepak Ravikumar (01:51.366) and National champion Rajini Krishnan (01:52.746) of RACR Castrol Power1.

Former champion Ann Jennifer (Alpha Racing), winner in the first round, topped the Free Practice time sheet in the Girls (Stock 165cc) category, clocking a best lap of two minutes, 09.980secs, ahead of defending champion Ryhana Bee (Pacer Yamaha) who did 02:10.180, and Lani Zena Fernandez (02:11.357) of  RACR Castrol Power1. Championship leader, Aditi Krishnan (Winverve Apex Racing Academy) from Bengaluru was fifth fastest in 02:14.011.