Sarath Kumar becomes first Indian rider to bag international points

David Bodapati April 8, 2012

331 1 minute read

Imola, 8 April 2012: The first Indian MotoGP driver Sarath Kumar, became the first Indian to earn International points finishing 7th after his teammate, Riccardo Moretti won the 125GP/Moto3 race of the year at the Italian Championship in Imola’s Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari.

“It is a moment of great pride and I the satisfaction of scoring my first points in an international championship is an amazing feeling,” said an elated Sarath Kumar. “I am thankful to all the encouragement and support given to me by the Mahindra team, my manager and the everyone at the Group,” he added.

Anand Mahindra, Vice Chairman and MD, Mahindra & Mahindra who was present teo witness the historic moment for India said: “We are ecstatic about our second consecutive win in the Italian Championship today. Riccardo Moretti has shown tremendous skill and expertise in negotiating the circuit under damp conditions. We are particularly proud of our fellow Indian Sarath Kumar for scoring his first-ever International points.” Incidentally, they are international points for an Indian rider for the first time.

After heavy rainfall, the Italian track was still wet for the 125/Moto3 race. Riccardo Moretti got a good start and had to fight immediately with Moto3 riders for the first overall position. At the end of the 10th lap Moretti got the chequered flag while his team-mate Kumar ended up with a fantastic 7th position.

At the end of this second race, Moretti maintained the leadership in the standings with 50 points while Kumar is currently ninth, thanks to the 9 points obtained on Sunday.

Next CIV race is scheduled for the 29th of April at Monza.

“It’s been a really tough race. My bike improved a lot compared to yesterday’s qualifying, but we were not still 100% with the set-up. My technicians were still impressive to allow me to win the second race in a row in the Italian Championship,” said a pleased Riccardo Moretti.

“I was involved in some hard fight straight after the start with some Moto3 riders and it’s been a good race, although the track conditions have made it all harder. I’m happy for the win and I want to thank Mahindra and all my team.”

125 GP- Italian Championship – Race : 1. Moretti (Mahindra); 2. Dalla Porta (Aprilia); 3. Mantovani (Aprilia); 4. Carpi (Aprilia); 5. Mazzola (Aprilia); 6. Arciero (Aprilia); 7. Kumar (Mahindra);