Honda Riders bag 5 Podium Finishes Including 2 Wins in Day 1

CHENNAI:
A month after Round 2, the IDEMISTU Honda Racing India team has returned stronger in round 3 of MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship. Making gains over their first row start in Pro-Stock 165 and Pro-Stock 201-300 class, IDEMITSU Honda India Racing team riders added 5 more podiums to the team’s kitty today.

Sharing overview of today’s race results and team’s preparation for tomorrow, Prabhu Nagaraj, Vice President – Brand and Communications, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. said, “Today was a great day for IDEMISTU Honda Racing India team. A week before his next ARRC race in Chennai, Rajiv is in top form. His decision making on the track and getting his strategy right helped him make a move in the last lap and win his third consecutive PS-165cc race. Sarath too defended his Top 2 rank in championship finishing 3 rd . Our rider trio in the PS 201-300cc class snapped up all 3 podium finishes in today’s race. Meanwhile, as a result of regular training and track practice, IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup next-gen talent like Mikail, Varoon, Kritik, Kavin are showing good improvement on their lap timings on the NSF250R.”

ProStock 165cc: Rajiv scores 3 rd win in a row, Anish (3 rd ) makes it a double podium for Honda Todays PS 165 race was a thrill till the end with the top 3 riders closing in less than 1 second gap. Once again for the third consecutive race, Honda’s Asia Road Racing Championship rider Rajiv Sethu had a good start over his first position start on the grid. Despite a quick overtake by Jagan in lap 3, Rajiv kept his cool and tailed him closely waiting for an opportunity to break through. Finally, it came in the last 6 th lap when Rajiv’s quick maneuver resulted in his being the first to cross the chequered line in just 12:01:973.

Making it a double podium for IDEMISTU Honda Racing India team was his team-mate Sarath Kumar who finished 3 rd with total time of 12:02:833. ProStock 201-300cc: IDEMITSU Honda Racing India trio laps up all the podium finishes In its debut season in the ProStock 201-300cc class, the rider trio from IDEMISTU Honda Racing India team continues to dominate the ranks.

After his morning qualifier of 1:57:384, Hubli boy Anish Shetty maintained his momentum in the race too. Stopping the clock at 12:11:667, Anish grabbed his second win in this class. Completing the podium were Bengaluru boy Abhishek V (2 nd ) and local boy Aravind B. (3 rd ).

IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup – NSF250R
Honda has accelerated the structural development of 8 handpicked young riders and taken Indian motorsport to world stage by bringing its Moto3 race machine NSF250R to Indian racing circuit. Boosted by his best lap time of 1:48:949 in the qualifier and a strong start in today’s race, 15-year-old Mohd. Mikhail from Chennai who overpowered others with a massive lead of 8 seconds (Total lap time 11:04:391). Today’s 6 lap race saw Mikail notching his second win this season. The race saw multiple back and forths between the top 3. Varoon from Chennai finish 2 nd after his quick overtake of Gadag, Karnataka boy Kritik Habib (3 rd ) in the last lap.

IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup – CBR150R
The CBR 150R race was a close battle between 9 talent hunt riders on the grid. The fight for supremacy waged on until the chequered flag. Finally, it was Lal Nunsanga who pushed ahead to clinch his third victory of this season with total time of 13:16:118 and fastest lap time of 2:10:170. Trailing a mere 0.122 seconds behind him was Bengaluru boy Samuel Martin (2 nd ) with total time of 13:16:240. Completing the podium was Deepak Kumar (3 rd ) from Chennai, who finished mere 0.410 seconds behind the winner.