INDIA in F1

Category: FIM MiniGP

  • Geoffrey Emmanuel to take part in FIM Junior World Championship 2024

    Geoffrey Emmanuel to take part in FIM Junior World Championship 2024

    Chennai, 2 Jan 2024: Nineteen-year Chennai’s Geoffrey Emmanuel has confirmed his participation in the FIM Junior World Championship 2024 and he will be representing AGR Team astride a KTM.

    The FIM JuniorGP 2024 comprises 14 races spread across seven rounds. The first round is scheduled to be held in Italy (April 20-21). Spain will host two rounds and Portugal, four, including the final round (Nov 23-24).

    Looking ahead to the new season, Geoffrey, who made his international debut in 2022, participating in the Hawkers European Talent Cup at the age of 17, said: “I’m very excited to be part of the AGR Team and to be able to train with 111 Management to improve my career as a professional rider. I can’t wait to have new experiences with my new team!” Geoffrey will be shifting to Spain in February to prepare for the 2024 season.


    Geoffrey Emmanuel file photo

    According to team owner Anscari Nadal, having an Indian rider like Geoffrey is a challenge, but the goal is to nurture his talent and help him progress in the FIM Junior GP, eventually leading to a Wild Card promotion in the World Championship.

    In 2023, Geoffrey made history as the first and only Indian competitor in the FIM JuniorGP, riding a KTM for the Cuna de Campeones team. Although he didn’t score any points, his overall improvement was encouraging.

    Reflecting on his 2023 experience, Geoffrey said: “It was a steep learning curve. Adapting to a new bike, unfamiliar tracks, and tough competition was not easy. However, I managed to narrow the gap with the front-runners, placing more emphasis on personal growth and improvement rather than specific results.”

    Geoffrey, however, tasted success in the Malaysian Superbike Championship 2023, competing in the Group A MSBK 250 category. Despite facing challenges in Round 2 where he finished fifth, he showcased his skills in the Round-3 double-header by securing third place in Race 1 and topping Race 2 for his maiden international victory. He also achieved an overall third place finish in the Championship standings.

  • MiniGP: Summary from 2022’s Round 1 at Meco Kartopia

    MiniGP: Summary from 2022’s Round 1 at Meco Kartopia

    Kolhapur’s Jinendra Kiran Sangave displayed calmness and plenty of skill to score a double in the first round of the FIM MiniGP World Series India 2022 at the Meco Kartopia circuit, here over the weekend.

    Jinendra, 13, held off Shreyas Hareesh, who likes to be known as “The Bengaluru Kid” and a few days short of his 12th birthday, in both the 15-lap races with Chennai’s 13-year old Rakshith S Dave, trailing the front-running duo in third place. The trio dominated the field through the weekend with some fearless riding and filled the podium spots in both races.

    Meanwhile, 12-year old Nithila Das from Bengaluru, was the lone girl among four who competed, to complete both the races in sixth and fifth positions.

    Jinendra and Shreyas, who had qualified for pole position, put on a thrilling contest marked by slight contacts at high speeds, but both displayed tremendous skill to stay astride their respective Italian Ohvale mini bikes. Jinendra’s calmness eventually helped him to get past Shreyas.

    The Bengaluru schoolboy, who, despite posting fastest laps in both the races, paid the price for small errors, while surviving a huge moment in the second outing when he averted a potential high-side.

    The pace in the second race was particularly stunning. As in the first race, Shreyas led at the start but yielded ground to an aggressive and a bit more experienced Jinendra who never held back in attacking the corner or exploiting the slightest of openings Shreyas presented.

    The weekend programme was compressed for an early finish in view of the inclement weather with spells of showers and consequent safety issues on a wet track.

    The FIM MiniGP World Series India is part of the global programme, comprising a total of 15 countries, and initiated by the FIM, the World governing body for two-wheeler racing, in conjunction with Dorna Sports, promoters of the FIM MotoGP.

    The FIM launched the MiniGP Series in 2021, as part of the Road To MotoGP programme, aiming to create an equal platform for young riders around the World to begin their motorcycle racing careers.

    The results:

    Race-1 (15 laps): 1. Jinendra Kiran Sangave (Kolhapur) (16mins, 39.078secs); 2. Shreyas Hareesh (Bengaluru) (16:39.261); 3. Rakshith S Dave (Chennai) (16:52.251).

    Race-2 (15 laps): 1. Jinendra Kiran Sangave (16:00.218); 2. Shreyas Hareesh (16:01.277); 3. Rakshith S Dave (16:24.502).

    Qualifying (top 4): 1. Shreyas Hareesh (01:03.369); 2. Jinendra Sangave (01:03.641); 3. Rakshith Dave (01:04.103); 4. Nandanan Mahendran (Chennai) (01:04.603).

  • Jinendra Sangave wins MiniGP historic races; Shreyas wins hearts

    Jinendra Sangave wins MiniGP historic races; Shreyas wins hearts

    Bengaluru, 23 July 2022: Kolhapur’s Jinendra Kiran Sangave displayed calmness and plenty of skill to create history as he won a double in the first Road-to-MotoGP international event for young riders under-14 years in India, the FIM MiniGP World Series India 2022 at the Meco Kartopia circuit, here on Saturday.

    Jinendra, 13, held off Shreyas Hareesh, who is popularly known as “The Bengaluru Kid” in both the 15-lap races with Chennai’s 13-year old Rakshith S Dave, trailing the front-running duo in third place. The trio dominated the field through the weekend with some fearless riding and filled the podium spots in both races.

    “I am thrilled and very happy to have won the first round. This is new bike and new championship and I am learning to improve my riding skills and adapt to the bike. This bike helps me to dream,” said a visibly pleased Jinendra, who switched over to Hindi, unable to control the emotional delight. It was a treat to watch both the rivals on track meet after the race. “I am not disappointed. I tried my best. It is not my day. Actually I would have crashed,” said the 11-year old Shreyas, who spoke like a mature rider, but he never misses a chance to have fun with his co-riders. The amazing maturity he showed on the bike, with great control and balance, to avoid a high side is proof enough that he would go places, if groomed properly. His great save in Race 2, two corners after the blind left, speak volumes about his riding skills. This is a perfect launch for the Bengaluru kid, who gave himself a birthday gift, three days ahead of July 26. But he would be having three more years in this championship which is wonderful prospect to go after his MotoGP dream.

    From left: Shreyas Hareesh, 2nd, Jinendra Sangave, winner and Rakshith Dave, 3rd in both the inaugural two races in the MiniGP India series at Meco Kartopia on Saturday.

    The surprise packet of the day, was 12-year Nithila Das, from Bengaluru. A champion cycling talent, her foray into motorsports went unnoticed at the National Road races at the Madras International Circuit in the TVS one-make championship as the only girl. But on Saturday, the Trivandrum-born 6th standard student of Chinmaya Vidyalaya in Bengaluru, is the lone girl among four who competed, to complete both the races in sixth and fifth positions, respectively. Rest of the three girls, were allowed to do only three laps each as they failed to come within the time of the fastest rider’s 115 per cent, a rule that is place for safety reasons.

    Jinendra and Shreyas, who had qualified for pole position, put on a thrilling contest marked by slight contacts at high speeds, but both displayed tremendous skill to stay astride their respective Italian Ohvale mini bikes. Jinendra’s calmness eventually helped him to get past Shreyas.

    Jinendra Sangave, defended well and cleverly outfoxed the young rival to win both the races in the inaugural MiniGP India series round at Meco Kartopia on Sunday.

    The Bengaluru schoolboy, who, despite posting fastest laps in both the races, paid the price for small errors, while surviving a huge moment in the second outing when he averted a potential high-side.

    The pace in the second race was particularly stunning. As in the first race, Shreyas led at the start but yielded ground to an aggressive and a bit more experienced Jinendra who never held back in attacking the corner or exploiting the slightest of openings Shreyas presented.

    The weekend programme was compressed for an early finish in view of the inclement weather with spells of showers and consequent safety issues on a wet track. Thus, both races were completed on Saturday.

    The FIM MiniGP World Series India is part of the global programme, comprising a total of 15 countries, and initiated by the FIM, the World governing body for two-wheeler racing, in conjunction with Dorna Sports, promoters of the FIM MotoGP.

    The FIM launched the MiniGP Series in 2021, as part of the Road To MotoGP programme, aiming to create an equal platform for young riders around the World to begin their motorcycle racing careers.

    The results:

    Race-1 (15 laps): 1. Jinendra Kiran Sangave (Kolhapur) (16mins, 39.078secs); 2. Shreyas Hareesh (Bengaluru) (16:39.261); 3. Rakshith S Dave (Chennai) (16:52.251).

    Race-2 (15 laps): 1. Jinendra Kiran Sangave (16:00.218); 2. Shreyas Hareesh (16:01.277); 3. Rakshith S Dave (16:24.502).

    Qualifying (top 4): 1. Shreyas Hareesh (01:03.369); 2. Jinendra Sangave (01:03.641); 3. Rakshith Dave (01:04.103); 4. Nandanan Mahendran (Chennai) (01:04.603).

    Caption: Podium – Winner Jinendra Sangave (centre), second-placed Shreyas Hareesh (left) and third-placed Rakshith Dave at Meco Kartopia on 24 July 2022.

  • Four girls, 11 boys all set for FIM MiniGP India Series

    Four girls, 11 boys all set for FIM MiniGP India Series

    Bengaluru, 22 July 2022: The inaugural FIM MiniGP World Series India 2022 will kickstart at the Meco Kartopia track here on Saturday with a full grid of 15 riders, including four girls, and all aged between 10-14 years, taking the start. A card of two races has been scheduled for the event.

    The riders, who were shortlisted after a couple of rounds of trials earlier this month, are: Darshit Chetan Chavan (10 years), Sahil Vaibhav Shelukar (11) and Yash Shinde (12), all from Pune; Rehbar Baktoo (11) from New Delhi; Shreyas Hareesh (11), Dev Agastya (11), Nithila Das (12), Aleena Mansur Sheikh (11) and Anastya Pol (12), all from Bengaluru; Nandanan Mahendran (11), KR Kabilesh (12), Rakshith S Dave (13) and Rakshitha S Dave (13), all from Chennai; Jinendra Kiran Sangave (13), from Kolhapur; and Muhammed Zain Correya (13), from Kochi.

    Quite a few of these riders have been taking part in various categories of the National Championships with some of them even achieving podium finishes. As such, keen competition is expected in the FIM MiniGP World Series India.

    Rakshith S Dave of Chennai at the Meco Kartopia trials recently.

    Free practice and qualifying sessions will be held on Saturday between 10.40 am and 3.25 pm. Two races of 15 laps each have also been scheduled.

    The series will be held on karting tracks that meet minimum standards set by the FIM or the national federation, with Bengaluru (3 rounds) and Hyderabad (2 rounds) being the venues. The top two riders, classified by total points scored after 10 races, will participate in the World Finals to be held in Valencia, Spain, during the final round of the FIM MotoGP World Championship in November.

    All riders will compete on equal Ohvale GP-0 160 machinery (Mini bikes), manufactured in Italy, while Pirelli is the official single tyre supplier for all the FIM MiniGP World Series.

    The FIM MiniGP World Series India is part of the global programme, comprising a total of 15 countries, and initiated by the FIM, the World governing body for two-wheeler racing, in conjunction with Dorna Sports, promoters of the FIM MotoGP.

    The FIM launched the MiniGP Series in 2021, as part of the Road To MotoGP programme, aiming to create an equal platform for young riders around the World to begin their motorcycle racing careers.

    Fmsci president Akbar Ebrahim said: “We begin a new journey this weekend with the FIM MiniGP World Series India 2022. It is a programme designed to help young riders take first steps towards achieving their short and long-term racing goals. There is no dearth of talent in India and we are sure that the youngsters will take advantage of this platform to showcase their talent and skill.”

    Marco Rossetto, Product Manager, Ohvale, India, said: “We are happy to present a full grid of 15 riders for the FIM MiniGP World Series India. Four of these riders are girls. Hopefully, for next year, the girls will fill up all the five spots that we have reserved for them in the grid of 15. Through this series, we provide a platform for talented young riders and it is our earnest hope that one day in future, we will see an Indian rider in the FIM MotoGP World Championships.”