Moto Racing National season begins at new-look MMSC
Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship entries hit a century;
Chennai, 19 August 2021: A fully sanitised MMRT will witness another grand congregation of country’s top talent and two-wheeler manufacturers when the first round of the 2021 MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship commences on Friday, August 20, with over 100 entries in fray in a card of 19 races that will be held behind closed doors, while strictly complying with the Covid-19 safety protocols.
TVS, Honda, 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.
Honda, as part of their highly-acclaimed Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup, will again parade their Moto3-spec NSF 250R ridden by a clutch of talented teenagers, all under 19 years of age, besides races in the CBR 150 while Hornet 2.0 will be seen in action for the first time as a support event.
TVS will be showcasing their popular Apache RR 310 in the highly competitive Open class besides the RTR 200 in the Rookie (restricted to those below 19 years of age) which was earlier known as Novice, Girls and Media categories.
MMSC president Ajit Thomas said: “We again welcome the two-wheeler racing fraternity to the MMRT with all the Covid-19 safety protocols in place. In these troubling and uncertain times, it is extremely heartening that we have India’s top riders and the leading bike manufacturers competing after overcoming all the challenges. We are also very grateful to MRF Tyres who continue to support our championships which, as in the past, is expected to be a humdinger.”
The Pro-Stock 301-400cc class will headline the weekend programme. In the fray are several international riders led by National champion KY Ahamed, Jagan Kumar and Deepak Ravikumar (all TVS Racing), Anish Shetty (Race Concepts, KTM) and veteran Rajini Krishnan (RACR, Yamaha R3).
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.
The Novice category (under-23) has yet again proved to be extremely popular with the organisers forced to close the entries ahead of schedule, while the Girls grid will be headed by defending champion Ann Jennifer (Sparks Racing).
About Madras Motor Sports Club
Since its humble beginnings in 1953, the Madras Motor Sports Club has grown in stature as the hub of motorsport activity in India. Having moved its racing activities from Sholavaram to its present location, the MMRT circuit in Sriperumbudur in 1979, MMSC has kept pace with changing times by upgrading facilities. At a cost of about Rs 20 Crore, the MMSC built a pit complex comprising 20 garages, VIP hospitality suites and a viewing gallery, on the eastern side, apart from a second Paddock on the western side with its own short circuit. Parallelly, MMSC imported timing equipment specifically for Drag racing. The Control Room too was upgraded with state-of-the-art hardware while the track itself was improved to meet the exacting FIA standards for Grade-2 certification. MMSC also constructed a 500-capacity grand stand with provision for garages / storage below. In another upgrade, the MMSC purchased Digi flags from TAG Heuer Chronolec that will be positioned strategically around the track. The facilities are also extensively used by various vehicle manufacturers for testing their products, displays and corporate days.
