BURURAM CIRCUIT (THAILAND):
Today turned out to be another day of gaining points for IDEMITSU Honda Racing India team’s riders duo of Rajiv Sethu and Senthil in the final race of Round 3 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship (ARRC) in Buriram.
Boosted by his maiden third row start from 7 th , Rajiv made a good start overtaking 2 riders at start line itself. For the next 5, Rajiv was in top 9 riding in less than 1 second gap. In turn 4 of lap 6, Indonesian rider Rafid had a high-side and Rajiv exceeded track limit to save himself from crash slipping to 10 th . From 7 th lap onwards, Rajiv, Rafid and 3 more riders fought to maintain their positions. It was on the slipstream in home straight of lap 9 that Rajiv emerged 12 th . Fighting till the last corner, Rajiv took the call to avoid the risk of crash and maintained his position to win 4 points in race 2.
This round, Rajiv showed remarkable improvement, recording the first Indian rider Qualifier finish in Top 7, new fastest lap time (1:53:573) and over 33% reduction in total race time gap with lead rider from 18 seconds to just 5 seconds in the 10 lap race. His rookie team-mate, Senthil ended the race with no gain, no loss at 20 th out of 25 riders.
The hot and sweltering weather condition was matched by heated AP250 race 2 on track too. After Thai rider Muklada returned to pits in starting lap, the frenzy continued till end line with A.P Honda’s Thai rider Tatchakorn Buasri stopping the clock followed by Indonesian Honda rider Awhin Sanjaya (2 nd ) and Muhammad Faerozy completing the AP 250 race 2 podium.
With curtains down at Buriram, IDEMITSU Honda Racing India has breached the 20 points mark with total of 22 points in its kitty, before mid of 2019 season, taking it to TOP 7 teams of the AP250 championship. Snapping another 4 points, Rajiv is ranked 14 th with 22 points and Senthil at 21 st with 2 points in his debut season.
Minoru Kato, President & CEO, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd said. “Honda wants to lead motorsports in India and create an iconic World champion from here. Historically, India might not have been at the forefront of racing in Asian region, but looking at the progress of our team at ARRC in last 2 years, I strongly believe that we are on the right track. Our riders have started coming in the top bunch, the team is much more experienced now and experts like ex-MotoGP rider Koyama are further adding new value. Parallely, Honda’s Indian technicians are already learning the ropes for next level of racing in the ASB1000 class.”
Prabhu Nagaraj, Vice President – Brand and Communications, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd said. “After today, I can confidently say that our team has entered the next level of racing. Rajiv raced in the top bunch for the first time. Learning race-craft from Asia’s best riders gives him new insights to accelerate his performance exponentially moving ahead. For Senthil, the learning phase will continue on how to ride with Asia’s best by adapting fast to the new machine and new tracks. While the round ends today, preparation for next challenge starts tomorrow when the team flies to Japan for Suzuka 4-Hour Endurance race for first time. This will further add to their track and riding style before Round 4 in June end at Suzuka circuit itself.”
IDEMITSU Honda Racing India rider Rajiv Sethu said: “Today, I raced my best out of my 24 ARRC races in 3 years. For the first time, I fought in top 5 in 2 laps and I had my maiden opportunity to taste the front bunch of AP250. Overall, I learnt a lot in Thai round and will be using this experience going forward. Last year, after my wrist fracture I couldn’t race well in Japan. This year I will surely benefit from my experience in Suzuka 4-Hour Endurance race next weekend and will apply the learning in upcoming June end round in Suzuka.”
IDEMITSU Honda Racing India rider Senthil Kumar said: “Race 2 started on a good note for me. By turn 3 of lap 1, I had overtaken 6 riders but exceeded track limit while cornering. I had returned to starting 20 th position by lap 4 but Malaysian rider Shahrol had an impact with me on Turn 3. While Shahrol crashed out, I went in the mud to save myself but couldn’t join the front bunch due to increased gap. Overall, I couldn’t match my targets with results in Buriram but I learnt a lot here. With the next race in Suzuka circuit, Japan probably the toughest track in the world, I am excited and waiting to learn there.”
In ASB1000cc class, Malaysian rider Zaqhwan Zaidi of Honda Asia-Dream Racing with SHOWA team continued his golden run and finished 4 th , taking Honda’s solo team and rider both to Top 4 in flagship class. Parallely, development of NextGen millennial riders of India too got a push. Honda’s Indian teen rider duo racing in the Honda Talent Cup (Honda’s development program for Asian riders run on NSF250R) made further gains. Afer his first ever Top 9 finish in debut season yesterday, Kritik Habib crashed out in lap 8 after the bike behind him hit him on the corner. Mohammad Mikail was the 13 th to cross the chequered line.
