Honda riders set tone in CBR150R qualifier & PS165cc practice

Auto giant Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India on Friday began the new era of racing in the country with round 1 of the IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup and the Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship (INMRC) being held at the Kari Motor Speedway (KMS) here.

Developing the next generation of riders, Friday's qualifying round of IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup, the CBR 150R Novice Class, saw 18 riders eying the top slot before Saturday's season inaugural race.

With the fastest lap time of 1:19.214, Chennai boy Varoon S. will start from the pole position on Saturday, followed by Lal Nunsanga from Mizoram who trailed him by a 2.335-second gap.

At the third spot was Chennai boy Samuel Martin, who recorded the fastest lap time of 1:22.577. The competition among the trio of young riders Samuel, Geoffrey and Lalrinuala Tlau was tough with their fastest lap difference being in microseconds.

Shortlisted out of 132 potential young talents by Honda last year, the IDEMITSU Honda India CBR 150R Novice Class riders starting as young as 12 years of age come from across India, be it Pune, Chennai, Mizoram, Bengaluru or Visakhapatnam.

The trio of expert riders, B. Arvind, Yashas R.L. and K. Kannan, will further strengthen Honda's streak of leading the Pro-Stock 165cc category for the fifth consecutive year.

Also racing with this trio in this round of INMRC Pro-Stock 165cc category are Honda riders Sarath Kumar from IDEMITSU Honda Ten 10 racing team and Rajkamal K.B. from Prolap Racing team.

Friday's practice saw Sarath Kumar among top 2 riders. His best lap time of 1:13:529 was merely 0.015 seconds off Jagan. Meanwhile Yashas R.L. lead the second pack at 4th spot in today's practice with fastest lap time of 1:15:035 seconds.

Promising rider from Chennai, Aravind B. is the winner of Endurance Race Championship for two consecutive years whereas Yashas R.L. started racing in 2016 and has been part of the One-Make Championship. Kevin Kannan was the close contender in the Pro-Stock 165cc national championships last year.

--IANS

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