Honda India Aim for Podium Finish in Asia Road Racing C'ship 2019
Buoyed by a top-15 finish of their rider Rajiv Sethu, Honda India will aim for a podium finish in the next season of Asia Road Racing Championship, a company official said here Sunday.
Buriram (Thailand), Dec 2 (PTI) Buoyed by a top-15 finish of their rider Rajiv Sethu, Honda India will aim for a podium finish in the next season of Asia Road Racing Championship, a company official said here Sunday.
Competing in their maiden year as a team, Idemitsu Honda Racing India's rider Sethu made a top-15 finish in the Asia Production 250cc class in the final round of the ARRC at the Chang International Circuit.
With Sethu in their scheme of things, the team will test four riders which include promising 18-year-old Karnataka boy Kritik Habib to finalise the line-up for next season, operating head - brand and communication vice-president of Honda Motorocycle and Scooters India Pvt Ltd, Prabhu Nagaraj told PTI in an interview here.
"Definitely, we want to be in the top bunch and will look for a podium finish. For that we will be testing and finalising the riders for the next season," Nagaraj said.
Sethu has made a remarkable improvement. Compared to his 46th position in the overall AP 250 championship last year, he has jumped 19 spots and won seven points for the first time in 2018.
"We wanted to be in the top-15. I'm happy that Rajiv is among top 15. We have progressed. Being the first year for us as a team, this was more of a learning curve for our riders and the technical team."
Honda India have already selected 12 in the age group of 13-18 from all-India Talent Hunt which will go on.
"We have two three more rounds left in India. We will be testing all of them and decide which rider will go where. We have got Kritik to test here on Tuesday and Wednesday," he said.
With motorsports still at a very nascent stage in the country, it's very ambitious to think of a MotoGP rider from India.
"We are fighting for it," he said, citing example of how India lost out on a golden chance to host MotoGP at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida.
The Jaypee group has to clear dues of Rs 108 crore by the end of this year or it may lose the 1,000-acre land allotted for its Formula One Buddh International Circuit and Jaypee Sports City.
"Now BIC is into trouble with the government. That's one of the reasons why next year ARRC is not coming to India as BIC not available. Infrastructure wise it's a big challenge," he said.
"When the circuit was available, they were not able to make a deal (with MotoGP)."
But Nagaraj believes there's still a ray of hope with the Madras Motor Race Track (MMRT) working on upgrading by 2020.
"I'm no one to make a comment but I've heard from sources that MMRT probably is working. They will be doing something probably they are looking at something in 2020," Nagaraj said.
He further stated they would be introducing the NSF-250 machines, which will help riders get accustomed to international standards.
"In India till this season we have been using the modified mass-production machines, while the development of riders of the other Asian countries happen on the NSF-250, which are race machines. We will introduce these machines next season.
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