Amidst the
chaos
A new
revolution!
News
HE KARI MOTOR
Speedway, Coimbatore was
host to the opening round
of the Indian National Motorcycle
Racing Championship 2019. TVS
Racing’s Jagan Kumar and KY
Ahmad bagged top honours despite
Jagan suffering many setbacks in
both the classes he participated in.
The seven-time national champ
started with a good lead but lost two
places to Idemitsu Honda Racing’s
Sarath Kumar and teammate
Ahmed, finally finishing third in
the Pro-Stock 165cc class, and could
only manage sixth in the 301-400cc
in Friday’s races.
He recovered in the second race
of the 165cc class with a win in a
race that was reduced to a mere
three laps from the planned 12
due to numerous crashes. Sarath
Kumar finished second. Ahmed
went on to win the 301-400cc race
with teammate Deepak Ravi Kumar
in tow. However, both riders were
disqualified as their bikes failed
the post-race scrutiny, handing
the victory to Gusto Racing’s Raju.
Ahmed and Ravi Kumar pushed
their luck again, with a 1-2 finish in
the second race.
The first race of the Stock 165cc
class was won by Vijay S of Sparks
Racing and the second by Speed
Up Racing’s Annish Samson. In an
eight lap, all-women’s race, Sparks’
Ann Jennifer came out strong with
Ryhana Bee in second place. LONDA RACING INDIA PLANS
to revolutionise motorcycle racing
by grooming young riders for the
national and international championships.
Programmes such as the Honda India
Talent Hunt will help pick young riders to
compete in the CBR150R novice cup. As
per Honda’s roadmap, the NSF250R has
been brought to India at the right time,
where eight young riders have already
been selected to race in the NSF250R
Honda Talent Cup, a perfect stepping stone
for India’s talented young riders.
The NSF250R powered by a 249cc
four-stroke, liquid-cooled, DOHC, single-
cylinder engine with a 6-speed gearbox
that produces 47.6bhp at 13,000rpm and
28Nm of torque at 10,500rpm is a Moto3-
spec race machine developed by Honda
Racing Corporation for the Moto3 series.
To make matters faster, the bike weighs a
scant 84kg! LFTER THREE HEATED
rounds of the Asia Road Racing
Championship 2019, Manual
Tech KYT Kawasaki’s Andi Fadly and
A.P. Honda’s Muklada Sarapuech are tied
at 86 points for the championship lead.
Idemitsu Honda Racing team is also in
good form this season, with riders Senthil
Kumar and Rajiv Sethu taking the assault
to international shores. Rajiv claimed eight
points in the first round at Sepang, opening
his 2019 campaign at 14th place on the
charts. He made progress in the next round
at The Bend Motorsport Park, Australia,
racking up 10 points and putting the team
one place higher on the leaderboard.
Senthil, on the other hand, lacked the pace
and could manage only two points until
the third round at Buriram, Thailand. Rajiv
registered his best ever lap time of 1 minute
and 53.573 seconds in Thailand, making
him the first Indian to qualify within the
top seven. He got off to a poor start in the
first race, losing 14 positions. He recovered
to 10th place but later crashed, finishing
the race with no points, while Senthil
finished 18th. A good start in Race 2 gave
Rajiv enough momentum to pass two
riders at the start line. He was riding inside
the top nine, but dropped to 10th following
Rafid Topan’s crash where he was forced
to take evasive action. Ultimately, Rajiv
finished in 12th place earning four more
points for the team. LH
A
The fight for top five!
WORDS by HARI KUDCHADKAR
T