Racing News

·  Rajiv Sethu: Clockingbest practice lap time of 2:26:858, Rajiv pushes hard to Top 7 for the First time

·  Senthil Kumar: 18-yearold rookie rider shows his mettle, 17 position in his ARRC debut practice!

·  Aftertoday’s strong practice, Honda’s soloIndian team eyes top 10 finish in tomorrow’s qualifying

·  New expert riding coach ex-MotoGPrider Mr. Koyama brings new value to team in 2019 season

Sepang International Circuit (Malaysia), 8March 2019:A week after announcing its international motorsport plans for 2019, the soloteam from India – ‘IDEMITSU Honda RacingIndia’ is now charging full steam ahead in the first round of Asia’s mostprestigious motorsport championship – FIMAsia Road Racing Championship (ARRC).

The 2019season start is setting the mood for the season ahead with 25 riders from 7nations fighting for podium in the hot and humid Sepang Internationalcircuit.  The competition in Malaysia isa tough and intense with top 10 riders finishing in just a 2 second gap.

Honda’ssolo Indian team turns the heat to full in today’s practice:

Afterfinishing the 2 day pre-season testing yesterday, the team finished today’s 3practices on a high note. Both the riders of IDEMITSU Honda Racing India team -the experienced 3^rd timer Rajiv Sethu and rookie rider Senthil Kumarin the Asia Production 250cc class consistently showed aggression and resultson track.

Clocking animpressive best practice lap time of 2:26:858, Rajiv Sethu is now in the top 7bunch of the race ending todays practice. This is his best ever finish in theAsia Road Racing Championship practice ever.

Meanwhile,Senthil is coming under spotlight in his debut racing season itself. Earlier inhis pre-test, Senthil clocked 14^th fastest best lap time of 2:29:873.The combined practice result saw Senthil finish at 17^th with hisbest lap time of 2:30:288. 

Sharing anoverview on the team performance today, Mr.Prabhu Nagaraj, Vice President – Brand and Communications, Honda Motorcycle& Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. said, “Withan aim to develop iconic Indian rider for India and the World, the IDEMITSUHonda Racing India team has returned stronger in 2019. Malaysia is a trickyround as the track is new to both the team and riders who are riding theCBR250RR. But our boys performance in pre-test and today’s practice has beenvery strong and encouraging. Rajiv’s first time entry in top 7 in practice andSenthil coming in top 17 is great news for the qualifier and race 1 tomorrow. Weare now challenge ourselves in top 10 finish this season.”

Leading from the front, young talented Hondarider Rajiv Sethu said, “Malaysia being a new track for me, it tooksome time to adapt to Sepang. For me, the focus was on working on both bikesetting with team and improving my riding style with Koyama san’s expertguidance. The result was my top 7^th finish in combined practice. Withthe full support of IDEMITSU Honda Racing India team, I am now challengingmyself to push more and finish in top 10 tomorrow. I target is to win pointstomorrow itself and make India proud.”

Talking on his debut season with fresh energyand confidence, the 18 year rookierider Senthil Kumar said, “For me, the first day was a big struggle.The machine was new, so was the track and the aggressive riding style of mycompetition. The hot and humid weather made riding even more physicallychallenging. But I am happy with my results today. In pre-test, I clocked myfastest lap time of 2:29:873. Today was all about experimenting to improve mytechnique and riding style. Honda has given me wings to realize my dreams torace at an MotoGP track internationally and I aim to go ahead full steam andfinish in top 15 tomorrow.”

Parallely, Honda Group Companies HondaAsia-Dream Racing with SHOWA team pulled strong in the inaugural Asia Superbike1000cc class at the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship 2019 too. The team has recruitedtop personnel from Honda subsidiaries and other Honda racing teams across theAsia & Oceania region including a race technician from India. Led by formerMotoGP racer Makoto Tamada as team manager, the Malaysian rider Zaqhwan Zaidi closedtoday’s combined ASB1000 practice at 6^th position on the CBR1000RRSP2 racing machine.

REFERENCE ANNEXURE:

IDEMITSU Honda RacingIndia team – Rider Profile

About 2019 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship:

FIM Asia Road Racing Championship (ARRC) isAsia’s most competitive motorcycle road racing championship in its 24^thyear. The 2019 season has 7 rounds across 5 countries (Malaysia* 2, Australia,Thailand * 2, Japan & South Korea). The battle for 2019 championship startsthis weekend (8-10 March) at Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia.

In 2019 ARRC features four classes - thenewly introduced premier class of Asia Superbike 1000 (ASB1000), SuperSports600 (SS600), Asia Production 250 (AP250) and Underbone class (UB150).

Representing the solo Indian team at theevent - IDEMITSU Honda Racing India are two riders – Rajiv Sethu and the rookieSenthil Kumar who fight on the CBR250RR.

For more information, contact Public.relations@honda2wheelersindia.com