The IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup 2021 sees new riders taking home the championship trophy

• PS165cc class: With total of 8 podium finishes, Rajiv Sethu locks third position in PS165cc class of national championship
• NSF250R class: Kavin Quintal seals his maiden championship win of NSF250R Open class closely followed by Sarthak Chavan at second and Mohsin P at third
• CBR150R class: Prakash Kamat crowned as champion of CBR150R Novice class. Joining him at the 2^nd and 3^rd are Rakshith S Dave & Theopaul Leander
• Honda Hornet 2.0 One Make Race: The trio of G Balaji, Udayi Prakash and Shankar Guru gets 1-2-3 position in race 3

Chennai, 6 February 2022 (GPN): With racing action came to an end today at Madras Motor Race Track in Chennai, the 2021 season of Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship (INMRC) and IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup was filled with fun and experiencing new learnings for Honda Racing India riders across categories.

Starting the season on a high note, the experienced riders of IDEMITSU Honda SK69 Racing team and millennial riders of IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup displayed exemplary performances on racetrack.

The IDEMITSU Honda SK69 Racing team rounds-off ProStock 165cc class of 2021 INMRC with a total 9 podiums. After clinching third position in today’s race, Rajiv Sethu grabs third position in ProStock 165cc class of national championship.

Displaying the true capabilities and power of Moto3 machine in the IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup NSF250R Open class, the 9 next-gen riders left no stone unturned in proving their mettle. Maintaining his calm throughout the season, Chennai’sKavin Quintal has taken over the championship title followed by Pune’s Sarthak Chavan at second position and Valencherry’s Mohsin P at third.

Whereas, 12 of the IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup CBR150R Novice class riders rode on track with confidence and passion delivering some of the best races of 2021. With 158 points, Bokaro’s Prakash Kamat tops the 2021 IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup CBR150R Novice class. The Chennai duo of Rakshith S Dave and Theopaul Leander are placedsecond and third respectively on the championship tally.

Sharing his view on 2021 season, Mr. Prabhu Nagaraj, Senior Vice President – Brand & Communication, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. said “Today, I am happy with the commendable performance by our rider Rajiv Sethu who fought well this season and finished  third in the national championship. I am further pleased to see Kavin Quintal and Prakash Kamat who showed true merit by emerging victorious in the IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup – NSF 250R & CBR150R categories. We have also received a great response for our newly introduced Honda Hornet 2.0 One Make Race. I congratulate all riders for putting up their best efforts and we shall be back with more excitement in the 2022 season. We are definitely on the right path that we had set to develop Indian young talent for International championships” 

Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship (INMRC) – ProStock 165cc

Leading Honda’s charge in today’s finale race of Pro-Stock 165cc class of national championship was the ace rider Rajiv Sethu who remained consistent with his performance from start to finish, earning third place on podium with a difference of just 0.79 seconds with the nearest competitor. Recording the best lap of 1:56.030 in today’s race, Rajiv gave tough competition by putting up a strong fight till the end. Meanwhile teammate Senthil Kumar closed the race on seventh place. It was an unfortunate day for Mathana Kumar who went back to pit due to some technical glitch in his machine.

IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup – NSF 250R

The finale race saw a repeat of show by Sarthak Chavan, Kavin Quintal and Mohsin P. Fighting for the podium win, 15-year-old Sarthak Chavan consistently maintained his pace till the chequered flag. The Pune youngster completed today’s race with total time of 14:45.513 having a large difference of 8.502 seconds over Chennai’s Kavin Quintal who finished second. Valanchery’s Mohsin P too showcased his full potential and confirmed 3^rd place on podium, leaving behind Geoffrey R Emmanuel at 4^th and Shyam Sundar at 5^th. While Samuel Martin and Deepak S could not finish the race.

IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup – CBR150R

The young guns of IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup CBR150R Novice category showed their strong resilience in final races of the season. It was a double 1-2 for Chennai’s Theopaul Leander and Uttur’s Siddesh Sawant as they finished race 2 and race 3 of CBR150R class at first and second places respectively. Whereas the 14-year-old Raheesh Khatri got third place in race 2, Patna’s Vivek Gaurav secured third place in race 3 of the category today.

Newly introduced Honda Hornet 2.0 One Make Race

Round 5 of the newly introduced Honda Hornet 2.0 One Make Race came to an end with some exciting performances by 15 veteran riders. The final race saw a three-way fight between Kevin Kannan, Ajai Xavier and G Balaji till the last lap. Fighting fiercely for podium win, a contact between Ajai Xavier and Kevin Kannan in the last lap resulted in a crash for Kevin while Ajai Xavier went wide on track. This made way for G Balaji who earned 1^st position on podium followed by Udayi Prakash and Shankar Guru on 2^nd and 3^rd place respectively.