• NSF20R Open class: Pune’s 14-year-old Sarthak claim his first NSF 250R championship closely followed by Kavin Quintal at the second position and Varoon S at third.

• CBR150R Novice class: Rookie rider ShyamSundar takes home the winning title of IDEMITSU Honda India Talent CupCBR150R Novice class. Rounding him at the second and third are Vivek Rohit Kapadia and Rakshith S Dave

Chennai, December 20, 2020: Withtheracing action limited to only two weekends, the 2020 Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship and IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup has been a challenging, fun, and reckoning experience for Honda riders across categories of championship.

Exemplifying Honda’s racing DNA, Honda’s 24 youthful riders of IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup across NSF250R Open class and CBR150R Novice class left no stone unturned with their fireball performances. Topping the leader board is the Pune’sSarthakChavan.The 14-year-old has taken over the championship title for the IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup NSF20R Open class with his dazzling performance followed by Chennai boys Kavin Quintal at the second position and Varoon S at third position.

Throttling fearlessly with confidence is Chennai’s Shyam Sundar who became the champion of the 2020 IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup CBR150R Novice class followed by Vivek Rohit Kapadia from Belgaum at the second position and the youngest of all, the 12-year-old Rakshith S Dave from Chennai securing the third position.

ENEOS Honda Erula Racing team riders grabbed 10 podiums in the 2020 season of Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship PS165cc including 3 victories. Sunday was the day of hope and courage for the ace rider Mathana Kumar. In the morning race, we saw his battling skills and completing the round at the third position with the best lap time of 2:00.711. The afternoon finale race of the season, saw Mathanaconquering fearlessly and finally grabbing his 1^st win of the season. With this, Mathana scored 4 podiums this season and secured third position in the 2020 championship.

Expressing his feelings, Mr. Prabhu Nagaraj, Senior Vice President, Brand & Communication, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. Said, “Sunday was filled with mixed feelings, while Rajiv Sethu continued to face technical issues with his machines, Mathana Kumar rose to the occasion and achieved double podium for the Team Honda. Despite many limitations and time constraints, I am overwhelmed with the performances of our young guns in the IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup. Both Sarthak and Shayam have shown outstanding performances in their respective categories. Our debut riders have also got great exposure and are all prepped up for the next season. I congratulate all the riders for putting up their best efforts and now we look forward to the 2021 season.”

Mathana Kumar leads with the best lap time in race 4of Pro-Stock 165cc

Leading the intense battle for the podium win, Honda’s Mathana Kumar was fully boosted for the victory. In the morning round, he fought neck to neck for the podium and completed the race at third position with the only difference of 0.077 seconds from his nearest competitor and 4.238 seconds from the podium win. Showing his confidence, Mathana who started from the third position in the afternoon took over his competition comfortably won the podium with a difference of 4.185 seconds with the best lap time of 2:01.498. While it was a hard-luck for Rajiv Sethu who couldn’t compete in the races due to the technical issues in his machines on the PS 165 class.

IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup – NSF 250R & CBR 150R categories

The NSF 250R saw the exciting race by the youngest ladSarthakChavan who despite starting from the last grid showed his racing DNA and crossed the finish line claiming the podium win. This made him the winner of the 2020 season of IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup NSF20R Open class. Following him was Bengaluru boy Samuel Martin who finished at 2^nd place followed by Mohsin P from Valanchery at 3^rd place. Fighting for the podium win, Sarthak completed with the lap time of 14:59.511 with a large difference of 0.52.128 seconds ahead of Samuel. This Race was with twists with top riders of the race, gave an opportunity for some new riders on the podium.

The action-packed race of CBR150R Novice class saw the nail-biting performances the Honda’s millennial riders, where the class champion ShyamSundar gave claimed the podium win with a lap time 13:30.923 and become the champion of 2020 IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup CBR150R Novice class. Giving him the tough competition on the track was IkshanShanbhag from Satara who in his debut season claimed 1^st podium in the final race and crossed the finish line at 2^nd position with the only difference 0.415 seconds. Following him was Vivek Rohit Kapadia who was competing for the 1^st position in the beginning of the race but turned to 3^rd position by the time of 6^th lap. The other best performance was seen by Pune’s boy Shubankar Joshi who completed the race with the best lap time of 2:12.918 and finished at 4^th position.

For more information, contact – public.relations@honda2wheelersindia.com

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Pune, 11 December 2019: After fast-tracking the racing career of young racing talent from Chennai and Bengaluru to IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup 2019, the round 3 of ‘IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Hunt 2019’ has now arrived in Pune to hunt for next-gen racing talent from the racing hub of West region.

The IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Hunt is Honda’s unique initiative to identify young racers starting as early as 10 years of age. Through this platform, Honda 2Wheelers India is grooming the best of young Indian riders for a racing career, spanning national and international championships.

The 3^rdround in Pune saw overwhelming participation of 22youngsters from Pune, Mumbai, Vadodra, Dehradun, Chennai, Kohlapur, Nagpur, Pimpri, Satara, and Jalgaon. The candidates went through rigorous 3 levels of tests. First being their physical fitness, second their race orientation and riding skills especially for the race track. This was followed by a one-on-one interview with candidates and parents/guardians to understand both their motorsport passion and family support to become the next iconic rider from India.

After shortlisting in phase 1, the top candidates of the Talent Hunt of Pune will be trained and given opportunity to improve their skills at the Chennai race track in Phase II. From this pool of riders, Honda will then pick the best talent and provide them with direct entry to the Honda Talent Cup CBR 150R class in 2020 season in the first phase.

Further continuing our hunt to find the next racing sensation, Honda shortlisted 3 riders from the Chennai leg of 2^nd edition of IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Hunt. Post the Pune edition, Honda’s Talent Hunt will travel to 2 more cities across India in the coming months.

Honda’s two pronged approach of creating development structure for new riders and creating best of domestic and international racing platforms has boosted motorsport in India.

Sharing an overview on Honda’s aim for developing ‘Iconic Indian Riders’, Mr. Prabhu Nagaraj, Vice President – Brand & Communication, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. said, “The 2019 racing season was extremely successful for Team Honda. Our 19 selected riders of IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup 2019 got step up opportunity in national racing. After the initial leg of CBR 150R talent cup, we fast-tracked the career of 8 riders by giving them opportunity to race on NSF250R – Honda’s world class Moto3 machine. In fact, Honda gave the opportunity to 2of our Talent Hunt riders to ride with best of Asian riders at Thailand Talent Cup. In long term, our focus is to put young Indian talent on multiple world class platforms from CEV, Asian Talent Cup, going up to premier class MotoGP. This weekend, the racing passion of young boys and girls from Pune to make a career in professional racing has been overwhelming. This is just the start. With the grooming from Honda, our budding riders will change motorsport scenario in not just India but make a mark at world stage too.”

Past success stories of IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Hunt: Our 2019 season find 15-year-old Md. Mikail has already created fastest lap time record at MMRT on a 250cc, won the NSF250R cup and in the same year itself got chance to upskill on international platform. Accompanying him was another young talent – KritikHabib from Karnataka. Similarly, Aizawl’s budding racer LalNunsanga won the CBR150R Cup.

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Sepang, 01 November 2019: Committed to developing iconic motorsport rider from India for the world, Honda 2Wheelers India Pvt.Ltd. today announced that Mohamed Mikail – the 2018 IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Hunt find and running 2019 IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup (NSF250R) champion has made a new record. Just 2 years into racing with Honda, the 15-year-old rider Mohamed Mikail from Chennai is now the first Indian rider to join the prestigious 2020 IDEMITSU Asia Talent Cup (IATC) grid.

Mohamed Mikail was among the 5 young riders from India to participate in the selection for the 2020 season of IATC at the Sepang circuit of Malaysia. These included 13-year-old Sarthak Shrikant Chavan from Pune, 14-year-old Kavin Samar Quintal,15-year-old Geoffrey, and 16-year-old Varoon S. from Chennai.

Since its inaugural season in 2014, the IDEMITSU Asia Talent Cup is Dorna’s development platform for young riders in the Asia&Oceania region. One of the key objectives is to ensure the development of future generations of such new talented riders, who will eventually take the place of current stars of MotoGP and WorldSBK.

Honda Racing India’s Mikail journeys from 90 registrations to final 12:

This year’s Selection Event saw drier skies than last year, allowing nearly 90 young riders from over 15 countries to prove their racing mettle throughout the day around the Sepang Go-Kart track. After 3 consecutive short listings based on actual riding, the Selection Committee, led by Talent Promotion Director Alberto Puig (a former premier class racer and renowned talent scout) selected a total of 17 riders from India, Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Japan, and Turkey. While 12 selected riders including India’s Mikail are selected to join the grid next year, another 5 are on the reserve list.

Elaborating on this achievement by Indian riders and Honda’s plans to nurture Indian riders for the world, Mr.Prabhu Nagaraj, Vice President – Brand and Communications, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. said, “In 2018, Honda announced its biggest racing shift. Since then, our focus is to develop next-generation iconic Indian rider for the world. Our first step was to identify high-potential riders as young as 13 years with our ‘IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Hunt. These stars of the future were further armed with the world-class racing infrastructure. We were the first to bring NSF250R – Honda’s Moto3 race machine for Indian riders. In our journey to develop a top Indian rider for MotoGP, we are giving young Indian riders international racing opportunities like ARRC and Thailand Talent Cup. We are confident that, boosted by his team, Mikhail will make India proud at the world stage and inspire young riders like him.”

Mohamed Mikail’s racing journey began in 2018 when the Chennai racing prodigy was first identified by Honda 2Wheelers India in the Season 1 of IDEMITSU Honda Talent Hunt.
In his inaugural year itself, 15-year-old Mikail showed raw racing talent and closed the season as Champion of IDEMITSU Honda Talent Cup in CBR 150R class. Spotting his potential earlier on, Honda put him on an accelerated growth path.

In 2019, Mikail got his first international racing taste in the ongoing Thailand Talent Cup. In the national road racing scenario too, Mikail was also among the first 8 next-gen Indian riders to get the opportunity to race on NSF250R – Honda’s legendary Moto3 race machine platform. Showing true challenging spirit, Mikhail created a new best ever lap time record on a 250cc motorcycle at MMRT circuit (Chennai) and ultimately won the inaugural IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup in NSF250R class too.

Quote by Mohamed Mikail, IDEMITSU Honda Racing India rider, “First, I would like to thank Honda 2Wheelers India, my team and our sponsors for giving me this big opportunity to race on the world stage. My racing journey ever since Honda 2Wheelers India shortlisted me in the 2018 season of Honda Talent Hunt has been nothing short of a dream come true. With Honda 2Wheelers India giving wings to me, I got the opportunity to improve my skills internationally with the best of Thai riders in the 2019 Thailand Talent Cup. Thanks to Honda for bringing IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup on NSF250R – Honda’s Moto3 platform machine, I feel more confident about this world-class race machine. As the solo Honda rider from India, I will work hard with the team and do my best in every race.”

2020 IDEMITSU Asia Talent Cup race calendar:

For Mohamed Mikail and the other Asia-Oceania stars of the future, racing action starts from February 2020 with pre-season testing. This will give Mikail a closer look at the characteristics of the Honda NSF250R Moto3 bikes and his competition. This will also help him learn the trajectories, response of the suspension, and also better his understanding of the limits of braking – a challenge for the talented young riders as they take a step up onto this more demanding machinery.

Overall, the 7thedition of IDEMITSU Asia Talent Cup will be a 12-race championship held over 6 rounds from March to November 2020. The2020 season kick-starts from Qatar (Losail circuit) and then travels to Thailand (Buriram) in the MotoGPTM weekends. Round 3 at Australia (Bend) and Round 4 at Malaysia (Sepang) will be staged alongside the Australian & Malaysian Superbike Championships. The last 2 rounds will once again see Asia’s young stars battle it out in Japan (Motegi) and then Malaysia (Sepang) in MotoGP race weekends.

Champions of previous editions of IDEMITSU Asia Talent Cup (IATC):

Springing to life in 2014, the IDEMITSU Asia Talent Cup has birthed some real gems who are now making a name for themselves on the world stage. The 2014 title winner of IATC, Kaito Toba (Honda Team Asia) won the 2019 Qatar GP in Moto3 class. Making impressive debut in Grand Prix with IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia are also the 2016 IATC Champion SomkiatChantra from Thailand in Moto2 class and 2016 IATC runner-up Ai Ogura made impressive debuts in Moto 3 class.

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Zhuhai International Circuit (China), 8 August 2019: ‘IDEMITSU Honda Racing India’- the only Indian team has now reached Zhuhai in its next bid to make India proud in Round 5 of FIM Asia Road Racing Championship 2019 (ARRC) – Asia’s toughest road racing championship.

The IDEMITSU Honda Racing India Team enters Zhuhai among the Top 9 of the total 20 teams in Asia Production 250 (AP250) class. Fresh from his resounding victory in the national championship last weekend Rajiv Sethu eyes to better his record within the Top 10. Meanwhile, for his rookie teammateSenthil Kumar, this will be a great opportunity to make the most of this new track.

Elaborating on the team’s performance and expectations from China round, Mr. Prabhu Nagaraj, Vice President – Brand and Communication, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. said, “Asia’s toughest racing championship returns to China after 7 years. Not only will our Indian rider duo but nearly all the 26 riders will be new to this 4.3km track located in the southern tip of China.We see this as a great opportunity. Rajiv is in top form and he has finished in top 10 in this season before. Senthil is also showing improvement. This weekend in Zhuhai, Honda’s solo Indian team is ready to take on new challenges ourselves and better our result in top 10 even more.”

In his 3^rd year at ARRC, Rajiv is now a serious competitor. 2019’s season-opener at Malaysia saw him become the first Indian to score 10 points. In Australia, he finished a race in Top 10 for the first time ever. Next up in Thailand,Rajiv recorded his best ever Qualifier finish in Top 7. Round 4 at Japan’s Suzuka circuit proved his growth as he finished 14^th in a race which saw as many as 9 riders crashing out in the wet tarmac. The 21-year-old Chennai rider now enters China round in Top 10 of AP250 class – abig jump over his previous championship standing of 27^th in 2018 and 46^th in 2017. Meanwhile, teammate Senthil Kumar stands in Top 25 with 2 points under his belt in his debut season at ARRC.

ARRC’s return to Zhuhai International Circuit after 7 years is potentially the biggest mid-season twist in Asia’s toughest championship. With the exception of one Chinese wildcard entry Zhou Sheng Jun Jie in Asia Production 250 (AP250) class, Zhuhai circuit will be a level playing field for most of the 26 riders from Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taipei and India.

Sharing his thoughts, Rajiv Sethu, the experienced IDEMITSU Honda Racing India rider said, “Practicing my craft in PS-165cc class of national championship and winning both races was a boost for me. As a track new to most of us, Zhuhai will pose a new challenge. Together with the team and guidance of Mr. Koyama our Ex-MotoGP rider as our coach, my aim will be to understand, the intricacies of riding here fast and gain an edge over others. I have finished in top 10 earlier and in China I want to better my record even more.”

Senthil Kumartherookie IDEMITSU Honda Racing India rider also added, “Barring Thailand, all the tracks were new to me. But after riding for the first time in Australia, Japan and Malaysia, I am now more comfortable on the machine and adapting much faster to new tracks. I will give my 100% to earning points for India in the Zhuhai round.”

Zhuhai will see if current leader Andy Muhammad Fadly (127 points)continues to defy the odds of equalizer rule or finally finds his match in the trio of Honda riders. While Indonesian rider duo Irfan Ardiansyahand Awhin Sanjaya (tied at 104 points) are yet to face an rpm cut, Thailand’s Muklada Sarapuech can be a tough rival as she returns fired up as the first female rider to win Suzuka 4 Hours.

Parallelly, the marquee Asia SuperBike 1000cc (ASB) class of ARRC 2019 will see Malaysian rider Zaqhwan Zaidi of Honda Asia-Dream Racing with SHOWA team return in full form. The team has top personnel from Honda subsidiaries across Asia & Oceania, including a race technician from India.

About 2019 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship: FIM Asia Road Racing Championship (ARRC) is Asia’s most competitive motorcycle road racing championship, now in its 24th year. The 2019 season has 7 rounds across 5 countries (Malaysia* 2, Australia, Thailand * 2, Japan &China). In 2019, ARRC features four classes – the newly introduced premier class of Asia Superbike 1000 (ASB1000), SuperSports 600 (SS600), Asia Production 250 (AP250) and Underbone class (UB150). Representing the solo Indian team at the event – IDEMITSU Honda Racing India, are two riders – Rajiv Sethu and rookie Senthil Kumar on the CBR250RR.

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