Honda announces biggest revolution in Indian racing to develop iconic Indian rider for the World

Chennai, June 4, 2019

Honda is the First in India to announce start of National racing championship on Moto3 machine

• In 2019, IDEMITSU Honda Racing India to focus on 2 areas - Brand Leadership & Structural Development

Focus area 1: Structural Development

• Indian Racing to match world standards with new IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup - NSF250R
• Fast-track rider development:8 of India’s most promising talent to race in the inaugural NSF250R Cup
• Identifying Next-Gen riders in 13-17 years age bracket, Honda to conduct IDEMITSU Honda Talent Hunt in 5 cities this year
• Continuous cycle of rider development: Shortlisted novice riders to be groomed on IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup2019 - CBR 150R
• Accelerated career development for Best performing riders of 2019

Focus area 2: Brand Leadership

• Enters the ProStock 200-300cc class of Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship (INMRC)
• Aggressive Aim to lead all classes in the 2019 INMRC
• Announces 6 riders powering the IDEMITSU Honda Ten10 Racing Team in2019 INMRC season

       ­- Pro-Stock 300cc       : Sarath Kumar, Anish Shetty, Abhishek Vasudev

       ­- Pro-Stock 165cc       : B Aravind, Yashas R.L, K Kannan

Chennai, June 4, 2019: A decade after spreading motorsports culture in India, Honda 2Wheelers India today announced the biggest paradigm shift in domestic two-wheeler motorsport by any two-wheeler manufacturer in India till date.

Raising the bar of Indian two-wheeler racing to world level, Mr. Minoru Kato – President & CEO, Honda 2Wheelers India President & CEO today heralded the next era of racing in India.

Mr. Kato announced Honda’s 2019 game-changing motorsport plans with aggressive focus on 2 areas - Brand Leadership & Structural Development. The 2019 plans are the next step towards realizing Honda’s racing direction ‘To develop ICONIC Indian rider for National & International Championships’.

Sharing an overview of Honda’s domestic racing plans for 2019 and the future roadmap, Mr. Minoru Kato, President & CEO - Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. said, “With our constant endeavors to expand the sport in step-wise manner in the past decade, Honda is now synonymous with motorsports in India. In 2018, we were first to create a solo Indian Team at international Asia Road Racing Championship. In 2019, we are taking the next step and bringing the best of world’s motorsport to India. I am proud to share that Indian riders will now race on the same machine platform as World Champions of Moto3. Honda’s two-pronged approach of Brand leadership &Structural development, not only spells our ambition to lead motorsport culture in India today; but moreover, create the next iconic rider from India and fast-track their development to the world level with a 360-degree roadmap. My dream is to create a future Iconic rider for the World from India.”

Elaborating on Honda’s plan, Mr. Prabhu Nagaraj, Vice President – Brand and Communications, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. said, “Worldwide, racing starts at very young age. To address this problem in India, we introduced the IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Hunt - a platform to identify young riders in 2018. Already, these young guns are showing high-potential. As next step, Honda is now bringing the World to India with the Moto3 machine NSF250R. This revolutionary step is the first ever by any manufacturer and will exponentially accelerate development of future stars of racing and propel them in the international arena too. Parallely, with the debut into Pro-Stock 200-300 category, Honda will challenge itself to further lead and expand the motorsport culture in India.”

Also dignifying the occasion with his presence, Mr. Yoshitaka Shiraga - Deputy Managing Director, IDEMITSU Lube India Pvt. Ltd. said, “With over 100 years of group expertise in automotive and industrial lubricants, IDEMITSU Lube India Pvt. Ltd. is manufacturing advance technology lubricants for Indian market. Making the most of its deep roots in motor racing activity, IDEMITSU has been associated with Honda racing in India for long and is excited to take the passion and talent of Indian motorcyclists to the next level.”

Leading IDEMISTU Honda India Racing team with the aim to conquer two categories will be 6 exceptional riders.

Taking its aggression to the next level, the IDEMITSU Honda India Racing team is all set to debut in the marquee Pro-Stock 200-300cc category of Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship.

Taking the Honda charge ahead in Pro-Stock 200-300cc category will be our most experienced rider Sarath Kumar, joining him will be the last year Pro stock 165cc champion & ARRC 2018 rider Anish Shetty along with last year Talent Cup CBR250R champion Abhishek Vasudev.

In 2018, Sarath Kumar showed promising results by grabbing the 5^th position in the Super Sport 165cc National Championship, whereas Anish Shetty stole the show by winning the Pro Stock 165cc National championship. The young Bengaluru riding star Abhishek Vasudev sealed the championship win in the CBR 250R category with the total 171 points n Round 5.

To further strengthen Honda’s triple crown victory in the Pro Stock 165 category for the 5^th consecutive year will be our expert rider trio of B Aravind, Yashas R.L and K. Kannan.

The promising rider from Chennai, Aravind B is the winner of Endurance Race Championship for 2 consecutive years whereas Yashas R.L, with a positive perspective, started racing from 2016 and has been part of the One-Make Championship. Kavin Kannan was the close contender in the Pro-Stock 165cc national championship last year.

Racing will match world with the all new IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup – NSF250R category

NSF250R is the original race machine developed exclusively by Honda Racing Corporation for world’s best racing championship.

The new NSF250R Honda Talent Cup is the perfect stepping stone for India’s talented young riders to improve their skill giving them an opportunity to fast track their international racing career.

In the debut season, 8 of India’s stars of future will ride the same Honda machine as Moto3 champions.

These 8 torch-bearers of Indian racing are finds of 2018 IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Hunt.

These include youngest rider to be selected – 12-year-old Sarthak from Pune, 14-year-olds Kavin and Geoffrey from Chennai, 15 year-old Mohammad Mikail (2018 Honda CBR150R Talent Cup winner), 16-year-old S. Varoon, 17-year-old Mohsin from Mallapuram, 18-year-old Charan T. from Chennai and finally 19-year-old Kritik Habib from Gadag, Karnataka (2018 IDEMITSU Honda India CBR150R Talent Cup– First Runner Up).

< Overview of Honda’s ridersin 2019>

< REFERENCE 1: Riders for 2019 MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship (INMRC)

< REFERENCE 2: Riders for IDEMITSU Honda India NSF250R Talent Cup >

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