Chennai, 4 July 2019: Expectations and excitement are on a high as the second round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2019 commence here at the MMRT on Friday with focus on one of country’s leading two-wheeler manufacturer Honda, who are set to introduce the FIM Moto3-spec NSF 250R.
While the NSF 250R besides the CBR 150, which is part of the Idemitsu Honda Talent Cup, a one-make championship organised by the Madras Motor Sports Club is bound to create a buzz, the attention will be as much on the National Championship races, including the two premium Pro-Stock categories, the 301-400cc and the 165cc. Also in the mix are the two Novice classes, Girls and Stock 165cc, that have been as competitive as the other categories.
Completing the card this weekend will be TVS Racing’s One-Make Championship in two categories, the Open (TVS Apache RTR 310), and Novice and Girls (TVS Apache RTR 200). Races in all these categories witnessed extremely close competition in the first round at Coimbatore last month and likely to be no different this weekend.
As in the first round at Coimbatore last month, the number of entries has exceeded 150 with some 15 teams, a record for the National Championship in itself, supporting the riders. Both the Pro-Stock categories will be run on slick tyres provided by the title sponsors MRF Tyres.
In a bid to fast-track their programme to identify and nurture talent that could break into the international arena, Honda have put an age-cap of 19 for the CBR 150 category while the NSF 250R bikes would be ridden by hand-picked riders who have undergone extensive training.
TVS have also been on pace in their talent quest, especially in the Girls category where the riders, following a pan-India selection process, have been shortlisted from 33 entrants to 16 who make up the race grid.
The weekend card has a total of 16 races spread over Saturday and Sunday with qualifying sessions scheduled for Friday.
