National Motorcycle Racing: Spotlight trained on young guns in Round 2

Chennai: A new generation of young and hungry-for-success riders is expected to continue its progress through the ranks in the second round of the MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2024 commencing at the Madras International Circuit, here on Thursday.

During last month’s Round 1 at the same venue, several talented teenagers, across categories, announced their arrival on the National stage, giving the established stars a run for their money, and in some instances, even overshadowing the seasoned lot.

The trend is likely to continue this action-packed weekend which will see 18 races besides 10 qualifying and 11 practice sessions with over 100 riders from across India lining up on various grids.

Even as the youngsters are creating a buzz in the paddock, title sponsors MRF Tyres, have decided to allocate slick tyres to the Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open category that should bring down the lap times. Incidentally, the other premier class, the Pro-Stock 165cc Open has also greatly benefitted from slick tyres in the past few seasons.

The best demonstration of the new generation’s takeover is evident in these two highly competitive Pro-Stock categories. Two 17-year-old riders and TVS Racing team-mates, Sarthak Chavan from Pune and Bengaluru’s Chiranth Vishwanath have established themselves as the front-runners and pace-setters in both classes that contain very experienced riders who have been around for over a decade. The intense rivalry between the two is already the talk of the championship.

Another 17-year-old, Abdul Basim from Chennai, looks set to dominate the Novice (Stock 165cc) category, having won both the races in Round 1 ahead of much older riders.

In the other National Championship category, the Stock 301-400cc (Novice), Chennai youngster Kaushik Subbaiah Ganesan (RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate) also enjoyed a good start to the season with a double in Round-1, from a big grid of 30 riders.

Down the field, a 15-year-old schoolgirl from Chennai, Rakshitha Dave, caused a sensation by winning both the Round-1 races in the Girls (Stock 165cc) category, defeating a couple of former National champions.

Rakshitha also made her debut in the Honda India Talent Cup astride the super-quick NSF 250R bike, while sharing the grid with her twin brother, Rakshith, who won the first race and was third in the next outing last month.

Likewise, the TVS One-Make Championship organised by the promoters, Madras Motor Sports Club, has thrown up a few promising youngsters. Coimbatore’s Senthilkumar (Apache Open 310RR) and Bengaluru’s Harshith V. Bogar (Rookie, RTR 200) began their 2024 campaigns by notching a double apiece in their respective categories while Sarah Khan from Mumbai (Girls, RTR 200) looked dominant while winning the race in her class.

Chairman of the Event and Race Director Manoj P. Dalal felt that the 2024 season could be a breakthrough year for several young riders. “The Championship, over the years, has been a breeding ground for talent. We are very pleased that the 2024 season has already seen the emergence of a fresh crop of youngsters who hold out rich promise and we can look forward to an exciting year of highly competitive racing.”