Chennai, Aug 19 (Motorsport news): The first round of the 2021 MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship gets underway at the MMRT in nearby Sriperumbudur on Friday with leading riders like Rajiv Sethu, Senthil Kumar, Ahmed and Jagan among others and teams including Honda and TVS set to vie for honours.
A fully sanitised MMRT track will witness a congregation of country’s top racing talent and two-wheeler manufacturers with over 100 entries in the fray in a card of 19 races that will be held behind closed doors, while strictly complying with the Covid-19 safety protocols, said a press release from the organisers.
Honda, TVS, KTM and Yamaha will be competing in four categories of the National championships – the Pro-Stock 301-400cc, Pro-Stock 165cc, Novice (Stock 165cc) and Girls (Stock 165cc) – which also boasts of record 17 private teams. Also in the mix are the two One-Make Championships organised by MMSC for Honda and TVS.
With an impressive line-up of two seasoned riders in the Pro-stock 165cc category, IDEMITSU Honda SK 69 racing team will be eying the championship this year.
The popular Pro-Stock 165cc which is set to witness the return of Pacer Yamaha team after a long gap, boasts of a very competitive field. TVS Racing’s Ahamed, Jagan and Ravikumar will be up against Idemitsu Honda SK69 Racing’s Rajiv Sethu and Senthil Kumar and Pacer Yamaha riders.
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Leading the Honda charge will be the duo of Rajiv Sethu and Senthil Kumar. Backed by international racing experience in the Asia Road Racing Championship, both riders would be gunning for top spots this year.
Meanwhile, the IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup 2021 will focus on developing and nurturing young potential riders of today to become India’s star riders of tomorrow, a press note from Honda 2Wheelers India said.
The 12 next-gen riders will ride on the Moto3 spec NSF250R in IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup NSF250R. Feeding into this as first step will be the CBR150R category of the talent cup with 14 riders, including the youngest, who is only 11 years old.
Speaking about the 2021 season, Prabhu Nagaraj, senior Vice President – Brand & Communication, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India. Pvt. Ltd. said "Led by the challenging spirit, we are ready for 2021 season of the Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship with an all-rounder line-up across categories and introduction of Honda Hornet 2.0 One Make Race. With two of our expert riders in Pro-stock 165cc category, we aim for the national championship this year." The IDEMITSU Honda Racing India Talent Cup NSF250R will see 12 riders including Kavin Quintal, Varoon S, Geoffrey Emanuel, Charan T from Chennai and Sarthak Chavan vie for honours while the IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup CBR150R category will see a 11-year-old Ashwin Vivek from Chennai, who was identified at Honda India Talent Hunt 2021, in action.
News source: PTI
