Young talent steals the show at Round 1 of IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup
The curtain went down today at Madras Motor Race Track with the final day of 2021 Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship Round 1. Continuing to gain on the points tally, the IDEMITSU Honda SK 69 racing team’s Rajiv Sethu with his consistent performance grabbed a double podium finish for the team. Alongside the national championship, the IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup saw energetic Kavin Quintal sealing top spot in NSF250R open class whereas it is a double 1-2 for Rakshith S Dave and Prakash Kamath in the CBR150R Novice class.
The newly introduced Honda Hornet 2.0 One Make Race saw brilliant performances from veteran riders across India. With back-to-back victories, Chennai’s Kevin Kannan leads the category while Sudheer Sudhakar at second.
Speaking on the final race day of round 1, Mr. Prabhu Nagaraj, Senior Vice President, Brand & Communication, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. Said,
“IDEMITSU Honda SK 69 racing team has wrapped up the opening round with 2 podiums in PS165cc of a national championship. Rajiv Sethu’s strong performance in this round confirmed his 2nd place in the championship. Parallelly, Kevin Kannan left no stone unturned in exhibiting the capabilities of the all-new Hornet 2.0 on the racetrack. Our 26 young guns had put up a wonderful show today. NSF250R rider Sarthak Chavan proved his mettle on the racetrack after an incredible jump of 10 positions in today’s race. I am confident that our riders will be back with same motivation and strength to perform best to their abilities in the upcoming rounds.”
MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship – ProStock 165cc
The IDEMITSU Honda SK 69 racing team’s ace rider Rajiv Sethu throttled fearlessly in race 2 of the Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship Pro-Stock 165cc category. Constantly trying to make his move for the top spot till the chequered flag, Rajiv finished at a second place today with just 0.047 seconds behind the leader. Meanwhile, his teammate Senthil Kumar gained momentum in the last lap and crossed the finish line at fifth position.
IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup – NSF 250R & CBR 150R categories
Racing on the Moto3 machine, race 2 of NSF250R was dominated by Chennai’s Kavin Quintal who overpowered others with a massive lead of 9.863 seconds. Outpacing the pack was Pune’s Sarthak Chavan who started the race from last, steered ahead of the rest claiming 2nd position on podium with total time of 15:01.335. Behind Sarthak was Varoon S who in his battle for getting the third place, crashed out in during lap 6. After Varoon’s unfortunate crash, the battle raged on for 3rd spot between Bengaluru’s Samuel Martin and Chennai’s Geoffrey Emmanuel who finally finished 3rd and 4th respectively.
Setting the track on fire were the 14 young guns of IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup CBR150R Novice category. Proving his riding skills from the get-go, Chennai’s Rakshith S Dave shined on the race track once again with a comfortable lead of 6.313 seconds. He was followed back home by Prakash Kamath of Bokaro Steel City. Competing neck to neck for the third spot, Shubankar Joshi and Theopaul Leander crashed in the last lap. Their crash confirmed Shyam Babu’s third place at podium.
Inaugural round of Honda Hornet 2.0 One Make Race The race 2 of Honda Hornet 2.0 One Make race saw changing statistics with every lap. Quickly moving up from 5th position start to 3rd position in Lap 1, Alwin Sundar held in a 3 way side-by-side racing action with Sudheer Sudhakar & Kavin Kannan. In a nail-biting race to battle for glory, Chennai’s Kevin Kannan lapped back home just 0.010 seconds ahead of Delhi’s Sudheer Sudhakar. Entering the track after five years, Chennai’s Alwin Sundar completed the race at third position, registering the best lap time of 2:12.371.