Next-gen Riders Put up an Impressive Show at Motorcycle Racing Championship 2021

CHENNAI:
As the day 1 of Round 3 of the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2021 came to a close today, next-gen riders showcased impressive racing skills on racetrack.

Today’s races of IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup – NSF250R & CBR150R saw the energetic young guns Sarthak Chavan, Kavin Quintal, Ikshan Shanbagh and Prakash Kamat set the track ablaze with their powerful performance. This rise in the level of racing from these young riders bears testimony to the success of the program introduced by Honda 2Wheelers India to nurture the motorsports culture in India. The IDEMITSU Honda SK69 Racing Team’s riders Rajiv Sethu, Mathana Kumar and Senthil Kumar gave a strongcompetition to others in PS165cc category of National Championship and finished at fourth, fifth and eleventh places respectively.

Outlining the performance of the riders today, Prabhu Nagaraj, Senior Vice President – Brand & Communications, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. said, “Today was all about our young stars as they impressed us all with their stellar performances. Sarthak displayed his racing prowess and won the NSF250R race today. It was incredible to see Kavin Quintal quickly moving up the ladder from his 10 th place start in NSF250R. The CBR150R saw an epic battle between Ikshan Shanbhag and Prakash Kamat in the last lap. On the other hand, our Pro-Stock 165cc riders Rajiv, Senthil and Mathana fought hard and displayed true qualities of being great riders on track today by putting up a strong fight till end. Even though it was a tough day for them, our seasoned trio are fully geared to race their best tomorrow. We are all set to better our results tomorrow.”

Newly introduced Honda Hornet 2.0 One Make Race
The adrenaline-fuelled race of Honda Hornet 2.0 One Make race saw Chennai’s Kevin Kannan stealing the podium win from Alwin Sundar who bagged second position with a difference of 0.736 seconds. Joining them on the podium is Ullas Santrupt Nanda who lapped back 0.513 seconds behind Alwin Sundar. Thrissur’s Anfal A while fighting fiercely for podium finish went wide in lap 5 and finished fourth.

IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup – NSF 250R & CBR150R categories
The powerful Moto3 spec machine was put to its true test by young riders in IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup NSF250R. While Pune’s Sarthak Chavan won the race, Chennai’s Kavin Quintal showcased his full potential despite starting from back of the grid after crashing out in morning qualifier. Racing his finest Kavin surpassed the race leader Sarthak Chavan in the last lap. However, Sarthak quickly overtook Kavin and cemented first place on podium with total time of 11:10.598. Kavin Quintal after recording the best lap of 1:49.506, finished second followed by Malappuram’s Mohsin P.

The first race of third round of IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup CBR150R saw Ikshan Shanbhag, Prakash Kamat and Theopaul Leander completing the podium. In a neck-to-neck racing action between the pole starter Prakash and Ikshan, Ikshan steered ahead at Turn 9 of last lap and took the podium win. Recording the best lap of 2:09.733 seconds, 17-year Prakash finished second with just 0.039 seconds behind. While Chennai’s Theopaul Leander after starting from 6 th on the grid, aggressively moved after an intense battle & clawed his way upto 3 rd place after an intense battle with Rakshith Dave who finished fourth.