Bike India – August 2019

H

ondaRacingindiatooka bigstep

aheadintheindianmotorcycleracingsceneby

introducingtheMoto3-inspirednsF250R.eight

youngriderswereidentifiedandhand-pickedfromHonda’s

talenthuntto racethesefastmotorcycles.Forthesecondroundof

thisyear’snationalchampionship,theseridersandtheirsteeds

wereletlooseontheMMRtto battleit outforthefirsttimeever.

NSF250R:RaceOne

MohammadMikail(chennai)hammeredina scorchinglap-time

of 1:48.889andplacedhimselfonpoleposition,aheadofkritik

VasantHabib(gadag)andVaroons(chennai).theracetook

offto a brilliantstartandthewholegroupswarmedintothefirst

corner.Withyoungstergeoffrey(chennai)outof thepicture,the

topfourbeganto builda steadylead.Justafterhalf-racedistance,

MikailwasstillintheleadbutVaroonmanagedto sneakaheadof

Habibinsecondplace.Fromthereonwardsit wasa closefightto

thefinish.

MikailandVaroonfinishedinfirstandsecondplaces

respectively.Meanwhile,kavinsamaarQuintal(chennai)

managedto displaceHabibfromthirdplaceandroundedoffthe

podium.thefastestlapof theweekendwassetbyVaroonat

1:49.446.

The hand-picked eight Honda riders

competed in the first-ever race in

India astride the supremely fast

HondaNSF250Rs

Report:JoshuaVarghese

Racing to the

Next L evel

NSF250R:RaceTwo

thesecondracewasfilledwithdramarightfromthebeginning.off theline,Mikailand

Mohsin(chennai)hadanincidentforcingbothridersto retirefromtherace.theninthe

thirdlap,Habibalsocrashedoutof therace.Unfazedbytheseevents,Varoonkepta cool

headandbuiltupa steadyleadto finishcomfortablyinfirstplace.Quintalfinishedin

secondplace, 10 secondsbehindVaroon,whilegeoffreyroundedoffthepodiumalmost

30 secondsbehindQuintal.

CBR150R:RaceOne

samuelMartin(bengaluru)qualifiedwitha timeof 2:11.964inpoleposition.Rightbehind

himwereLalnunsanga(aizwal)andLalrinzualatlau(aizwal)insecondandthirdplaces

respectively.theracewasdominatedbythesethreefromstartto finish.throughoutthe

race,theymanagedto staycloseto oneanotherwhilesteadilyextendingtheirleadoverthe

restof thegroup.

Martinwasthefirstacrosstheline,lessthana secondaheadof hispodiumcompanions.

althoughnunsangaputupa strongfight,tlaumanagedto overtakehimforsecond

place.thefastestlapof theracewassetbynunsangaat 2:10.462.

CBR150R:RaceTwo

thesecondracewasalmosta replayof thefirstone.thetopthreeonceagainbrokeaway

fromthepackandbeganfightingfortopspotamongthemselves.thistimenunsanga

emergedvictoriousandcrossedthelineinfirstplace.Lessthanhalfa secondbehindhim,

tlautooksecondplacewhileMartinhadto settleforthelaststeponthepodium.the

fourth-placedracerfinisheda good13 secondsbehindMartin.

Mikail at his usual devastating best

ABove: Varoon won the second race

with a comfortable lead

ABove: Martin claims the top step

for the first race

ABove: Lal Nunsanga earned

a well-deserved win

112 Bike India August 2019 http://www.bikeindia.in

Sport IdemItsu Honda IndIatalent Cup