Rajini hopeful of strong showing in Asia Road Racing

Indian champion Krishnan Rajini hopes to get some momentum in his campaign as he prepares for the fifth round of the FIM Petronas Asia Road Racing Championship here this weekend.

Presently in 27th position with just four points as against his Moto-Rev India team-mate Toshiyuki Hamagachi who is fifth with 64, Rajini, fresh from winning the National title in Chennai last week, hoped that he would put in a strong performance here.

"I am very excited to be back in China, because this is a bike-friendly track. In 2009, I was timing 1:42:200 around the ZIC (Zhuhai International circuit). So I cannot wait to see how much better I have got, through all the fitness programs combined with the superior technical ability of my team's Race Engineers," said Rajini, the 31-year old Chennai-based rider.

Hamaguchi said: "I had a bad crash last week in the JSB1000 race in Japan. But I am 100 percent fit and raring to go for the Zhuhai GP. We are surely targeting the podium."

Rajini among points in China

CHENNAI: It may have come a little too late in the season but national bike racing champion K Rajini finally got his act together, earning valuable points for his team Moto-Rev India with a top-10 finish in the fifth and penultimate round races of the FIM Petronas Asia Road Racing Championship at Zhuhai International Circuit in China on Sunday.

Rajini's good showing came on a day when Manual Tech-Beet Kawasaki Racing's Japanese rider Katsuaki Fujiwara rode a flawless Race 1 from pole to chequered flag to seal the 600cc Super Sport category title with 196.5 points. With just a round to go in the season, Malaysian Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman of Boon Siew Honda Racing (140 points) is too far away in the standings to catch up with Fujiwara. The race for second and third place is still on though with Malaysian Md Zamri Baba of Petronas Yamaha Malaysia (107 points) still having a theoretical chance to upstage his compatriot from second place.

For Rajini, the points finish came at a right time as the Indian, back to form, is now confident of a good show at next month's FIM World Endurance Championship race at Losail Circuit in Qatar.

In Race 1 of the 600cc Super Sport category on Sunday, Rajini, who started in 18th position, climbed eight spots to finish 10th and score six points. The 29-year-old Chennai biker continued his good form in Race 2 too, with a 15th place finish that earned him another point.

The weekend is Zhuhai was a mixed one for Rajini's team Moto-Rev India though.

The team's lead rider, five-time Asian champion Toshiyuki Hamaguchi of Japan had a massive 200-kmph crash which resulted in four broken ribs and a minor abrasion to his lungs. The Japanese rider underwent a surgery and is reportedly safe though he will have to remain in the hospital for two weeks.

Moto-Rev's second Japanese rider Makoto Inagaki had a better outing, finishing seventh in Race 1 to score nine points. He did not finish Race 2 though, crashing out in the second lap.

Hamaguchi is now in eighth place in the championship standings with 64 points while Rajini and Inagaki are in 25th and 26th spots on the table with 11 and nine points respectively.

Garware Motors launches new sports bike

The 650 cc motorcycle is priced at Rs.4.39 lakh (ex-Delhi)

Garware Motors along with Korean giant S&T Motors on Thursday launched the second variant of Hyosung GT 650N, called the GT 650N (Naked). The 650cc sports bike is priced at Rs.4.39 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) and will be available in three colours — red black and white. It will be sold and serviced exclusively through the Garware Motors' dealership network for premium motorcycles across India.

At racing fitness levels, the GT 650N is touted as an ideal bike for speed. Bookings for these bikes, opened on October 13, will be available across Mumbai, Delhi, Gurgaon, Pune, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Chennai, Goa, Cochin, Kolhapur, Indore and Chandigarh.

According to Garware Motors Managing Director Diya Garware, “the GT 650N is a global success for Hyosung and we want to give you the best of what we have. We believe that today's young and mobile Indian has a strong appetite for stylish bikes, and so, we see significant potential for these bikes in India.''

Garware Motors is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Garware Bestretch. Garware Motors has made a foray into the fast growing automobile segment by entering the niche segment of powerful bikes. It entered into a partnership with S&T Motors, South Korea, manufacturers of the Hyosung brand — a brand which has earned a reputation amongst the global biking fraternity. The brand has gained excellent acceptance in the U.S., South America, the U.K., Australia and many Asian countries.

National Motorcycle Championship Set for Close Finish

Chennai, Sep 30 (IANS): The MRF FMSCI National Motorcycle Racing Championship is set for a tight finish as the fifth and concluding round gets underway here Saturday with titles in four of the five classes still up for grabs. The only class where the championship is effectively sealed is the Group D Open (165cc) with Shyam Shankar of Moto-Rev India enjoys an unbeatable lead with a tally of 74 points to his team-mate D Dinesh Kumar's 43. Of particular interest would be the tussle in the Group B Open (165cc) with Deepak Ravikumar (58) just one point ahead of K Jagan of TVS Racing and who in turn has a 10-point lead over team-mate Harry Sylvester. Deepak is also in line for the championship in the premium Superbikes (Group A, 600cc) class as he trails Krishnan Rajini (70) by six points. However, Rajini has seven consecutive wins as against just one by Deepak. Likewise, S Madhan (63) and Abhishek N of Moto-Rev (54) go head-to-head in the Group D Novice (165cc) class while just eight points separate the top three in the Group D Novice (130cc) category with Rajesh Ratna Kumar (56), Anand P (52) and S Prativ (48) in contention. In the Honda MMSC One Make Championship, M Sudhakar leads the Stunner category with 68 points while Arvind Ganesh heads in the CBR150 with 30 and Shyam Shankar tops the CBR 250 with 36. In the Yamaha MMSC One Make Championship, S Madhan and Shyam Shankankar are leading in the R15 Novice Open classes, respectively, with 70 points apiece.

A ‘race’ of survival!

Nearly 20,000 screaming fans turned up to catch a glimpse of McLaren-Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton on September 27. In sharp contrast, Bengaluru’s own motorsport stars have none of the support even as they prepare to enter the final round of the MRF FMSCI National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2011. Racers Rohit Giri and Prithvi Nath spoke ahead of the finals in Chennai this weekend.
The boys will be racing in the super sport 600 cc expert category, says 25-year-old Rohit, a two-time Asia Pacific champion. “The run up to the last round has been pretty intense, with four rounds completed since May. My team has already sealed the championship and I’m confident about this weekend’s races,” he says. However, Rohit, who is riding for Chennai-based Preethi Racing, is racing on a budget. “I’m planning to put in about 30 minutes of practice and try to save my tyres because I’m paying from my own pocket.” At Rs 25,000, a set of racing tyres last only a weekend and that burns a hole in one’s pocket. The multiple time champion sold his bike and car this year to fund his races.
The other Bengaluru boy in the running for a podium finish, Prithvi Nath has 33 points against Rohit’s 39. The 22-year-old says, “Rohit has helped me throughout my career.” The youngster, who started racing three years ago, laments the lack of infrastructure in the state. “Chennai is the racing capital of the country with the only track, besides the small one in Coimbatore. Motorsports needs support so that more youngsters have the opportunity to race professionally.”
The story of Bengaluru’s Red Rooster Racing (RRR) reflects a sorry state of affairs. The company pulled out of motorsports due to lack of sponsors. Former head of RRR’s motorcycle racing division, Amit Sandill explains, “We had the top motorcycle racers in the country but still couldn’t get corporate sponsors. This is why we have so much talent at the national level, but we don’t make it to the international level. Hopefully, after the foray of Formula One into India, motorsports in general will get a boost.”

Double points finish for Mahindra in 125cc

CHENNAI: Marcel Schrotter had to struggle hard, a numb hand hampering his ability to go full throttle. But Mahindra's German rider rode bravely to finish 11th while his English teammate Danny Webb came in 15th to complete a double points finish for the Indian team in the MotoGP 125cc race at Aragon GP in Spain on Sunday.

Schrotter, who had qualified 15th, had a flying start and climbed three places. The 18-year-old German was pushing for a top-10 finish by half-way stage when his throttle hand turned numb.

Schrotter continued to push his bike though and scored five championship points to climb to 16th in the standings with a total of 23 points. Webb, who scored a point on Sunday is currently 20th on the table with 15 points after 14 rounds of the 18-round championship.

"I made a good start and I was able to pass some people and get in a good group. After seven or eight laps my hand started to go numb like always, so it was a struggle to keep the pace. But I can be happy with my position, and I hope to do the same or better the rest of the year," said Schrotter.

The race was won by Spaniard Nicolas Terol on his Aprilia, who finished ahead of championship rival Johann Zarco of France (Derbi) and countryman Maverick Vinales.

Terol, now has 241 points in his kitty and has a healthy lead of 36 points over Zarco.

Meanwhile, it was yet another close miss for WTR Ten10 Racing, the second Indian team in the 125cc segment.

Ten10's Dutch rider Sturla Fagerhaug finshed 16th, just outside the points, while his teammate Francesco Mauriello of Italy crashed out in the sixth lap.

This Rajini is a racing superstar

K Rajini

Adversity and success are strange bedfellows. Wherever man is faced with adversity, human determination comes to the fore to meet the challenge and eventually triumphs. From an auto mechanic to the fastest Indian on two wheels, K. Rajini has turned every bump on the road into a stepping stone to success. An elementary school dropout, Rajini, was shouldering the burden beyond a 16-year-old’s capacity. After the demise of his father, Rajini was sweating it out at his family-run auto lining workshop to make ends meet. Back then, racing was the least of his priorities.
However, a trip with a friend to the Irungattukot-tai race track, near Chennai, changed Rajini’s life for ever. “I fell in love with the sound of the revving engines. I started training on my own and the money I earned from the workshop paid for my racing pursuits. Had I continued with the auto lining work, I’m sure I would have made more money. But racing has given me a new identity,” said Rajini, who is a force to reckon with in the national championships with 10 titles already to his credit.
Rajini was an instant success at the race track. His fearlessness and hunger to achieve more saw him defeat his rivals effortlessly. After his stunning show in 2003, Rajini was signed up by TVS Racing for a two-year contract, which proved to be the turning point of his career. Till date, Rajini is the only Indian to get onto the podium at the Asian Road Racing Championship, the continent’s premier two-wheeler event.
With great difficulty, Rajini managed to come up with Rs 4 lakh, the participation fee for the 2006 Malaysian Super Series, where he won the Kawasaki Cup. India is the largest producer of two-wheelers, but the auto industry has done little to support this motor sport. “In other countries, being part of racing is a vital part of marketing. In the Indian national championship, TVS has been the sole factory-run team for more than a decade. The quality of racing will improve only when there is more competition. We drastically need the involvement of large brands like Yamaha, Honda, Kawasaki and Suzuki in the racing arena,” said the 31-year-old Rajini.
With organisers of the i1 Series planning a “Super Bike” league next year and Moto GP set to foray into India, Rajini is keeping his fingers crossed. “i1’s initiative of the franchisee system such as the IPL will surely improve bike racing in India. We have been craving for television coverage, which is very important to take the sport to the masses,” he added. Like every biker, Rajini’s ultimate goal is to compete in MotoGP. “I need Rs 5.5 crore to complete a season in Moto2 (600cc). With the Indian GP drawing a lot of attention, I am hopeful of soliciting the help of some sponsors,” he said.