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Rally Mexico: ŠKODA’s Tidemand wins WRC2 and takes series lead; first points for Rovanperä
Pontus Tidemand and Jonas Andersson who won the WRC2 category at Rally Mexico. Photo: SKODA AUTO
León (Mexico): ŠKODA factory crew Pontus Tidemand and co-driver Jonas Andersson from Sweden achieved a dominant WRC2 win at Rally Guanajuato Mexico on Sunday, finishing seventh overall with their ŠKODA FABIA R5. With his first WRC2 win of 2018, Tidemand took the championship lead after three rounds of the 2018 FIA World Rally Championship.
Team-mates Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen from Finland had to retire after the second stage, but could re-start under Rally-2 regulations on Saturday and Sunday. They scored five fastest times, finished fifth in WRC2 category and collected their first championship points of the season.
Reigning WRC2 champions Tidemand and Andersson proved their speed and reliability on the tough gravel roads of Rally Mexico. With a faultless drive, they led from start to finish, won 17 of the 22 Special Stages and repeated their Mexico victory of last year.
Their ŠKODA FABIA R5 was well prepared for the tough conditions in Mexico. The race engines not only had to face the heat of 30 degrees Celsius and more but also the extreme altitudes, the highest point being 2,737 metres.
The correct engine mapping was crucial, because the thin air causes a power loss of more than 20 per cent. While a lot of other teams struggled under these conditions, Tidemand’s ŠKODA FABIA R5 was running like clockwork.
The Swedish pairing moved as well into the lead of the WRC2 category standings. Driving his 24th rally within the WRC2 since 2014, Tidemand continued to build up an impressive track record: He finished 19 times on the podium including nine victories, which made him the most successful driver in WRC 2 history.
On Sunday, the final day of Rally Mexico, Tidemand set another two fastest times, totalling 17 stage wins. “I have to thank the whole team for the great support. My ŠKODA FABIA R5 was really fantastic and a pleasure to drive it on these gravel roads,” said Tidemand.
After they hit a stone on the second stage of the rally, 17 years old Rovanperä, set five fastest times on re-start. Rovanperä was happy to finish his first rally for the factory team ŠKODA Motorsport.
“It´s a pity, that we had this mishap on the second stage. But I am happy that the team could repair my car, so that I could continue on Saturday and Sunday to get more valuable experience of the World Rally Championship. For my next WRC rally, I will benefit from what I learnt in Mexico,” commented the Finnish youngster.
“Congratulations to Pontus and Kalle. Between them they set all fastest times of the WRC2 category for ŠKODA, proving speed and reliability at the same time,” emphasized ŠKODA Motorsport boss Michal Hrabánek on the podium in León, the country’s fifth largest city some 400 kms north-west of Mexico City.
Final Result (WRC2): 1. Tidemand/Andersson (SWE/SWE), ŠKODA FABIA R5; 2. Greensmith/Parry (GBR/GBR), Ford Fiesta R5; 3. Heller/Olmos (CHL/ARG), Ford Fiesta R5; 4. Bulacia Wilkinson/Mussano (BOL/ARG), Ford Fiesta R5; 5. Rovanperä/Halttunen (FIN/FIN), ŠKODA FABIA R5.
Current WRC2 standings (after 3 of 13 rounds): 1. Tidemand (ŠKODA), 43 points; 2. Kopecký (ŠKODA) and Katsuta (Ford), 25 points; 4. Greensmith (Ford) und Sciessere (Citroën), 18 points.
SKODA AUTO Press Release
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F1 to promote FIA F3 Championship from 2019
The Formula One, (F1) group of companies has been selected by the FIA as the promoter for the new FIA Formula 3 Championship, which will begin from 2019. The decision has been confirmed by the World Motor Sport Council at the meeting held on Friday in Geneva. Indian Federation head Akbar Ebrahim, represented FMSCI in the meeting.
The international championship will be hosted on the FIA Formula One World Championship platform and feature an all-new car, with a single supplier for chassis, engines, and tyres to be selected by the FIA in collaboration with Formula 1.
The introduction of this new FIA Formula 3 Championship will benefit both competitors and fans, providing the unparalleled platform of F1 for young drivers working their way up the FIA’s single-seater pyramid, which now spans the full spectrum of the discipline from Formula 3 to Formula 2 and Formula 1.
Having the top three tiers of FIA single-seater competition together at the same events will make it easier than ever for fans to follow the careers of aspiring young drivers and see the dramatic journey towards Formula 1 unfold.
A maximum grid of 30 cars will be accepted, with the championship planned to run between nine and ten events, with two races per event.
The new car will integrate the latest FIA safety technologies, making it the benchmark in safety standards for the F3 category. It will feature increased chassis strength, increased cockpit rim height and strength that will be the same standard as in F1, the Halo frontal impact protection device, and will be the first car to feature a frontal anti-intrusion panel.
FIA press release
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Driven to be bold: Motorsport & women
Around the globe International Women’s Day 2017 will be marked in many ways, with thousands of different activities planned to celebrate this year’s theme, ‘Be Bold for Change’. It’s a theme woman involved in motorsport have championed since the dawn of the motoring age.
Within a decade of motor racing first capturing the public imagination in the 1890s, women such as French racer Camille du Gast (competing in the Paris-Berlin race) and English driver Dorothy Levitt (at the Shelsley Walsh Hillclimb in the UK) were boldly pushing the boundaries of speed.
The trend continued through the interwar period as a succession of pioneering female drivers competed in events such as illustrious Targa Floria but female motorsport entered its first Golden Age after World War II, with Pat Moss and Anne Hall breaking new ground in rallying and Maria Teresa de Filippis becoming the first woman to take part in a Formula One race at the 1958 Belgian Grand Prix.
These and other pioneers have been joined by many others in the decades since, but it was on the rally stages that the greatest mark was made, with Michèle Mouton and co-driver Fabrizia Pons becoming the first women to win a World Championship rally in Sanremo in 1981. The following year the female crew were Vice World Champions.
Throughout, the pathway for women to the top of the motorsport remained tough, with Mouton believing that more needed to be done to encourage female participation in motorsport.
It was fitting, then, that when FIA President Jean Todt resolved to tackle the issue he called on Mouton to head up the Federation’s Women in Motorsport Commission.
In the years since, the Commission has grown in strength and purpose, with 74 national Women in Motorsport representatives now working on behalf of their ASNs and with the Commission.
At grassroots level the Commission has supported the development of a number of young racers including France’s Lucile Cypriano and Spaniard Marta Garcia who competed in the CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy, with Garcia taking the title in 2015. Cypriano has since become a race winner in the SEAT Leon Eurocup and is this year targeting participation in the French Porsche Carrera Cup. Garcia last year made the transition to single seaters in Spanish Formula 4 and is hoping to undertake a full campaign in the Spanish national F4 championship this year.
In rallying the Commission last year organised its most ambitious talent search yet. Launched in conjunction with the Qatar Motor & Motorcycle Federation, the Women’s Cross Country Rally Selection initiative provided three all-female crews with the chance to compete in a round of the FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies.
The success of the venture led to the driver and co-driver who showed the most promise – Emma Gilmour and Sandra Labuscagne – receiving a funded drive in the 2016 Italian Baja and the Baja Portalegre, with the support of the Automóvel Club de Portugal.
The Commission has also supported the rise of young rally star Tamara Molinaro and this year the Italian will step up to the FIA ERC Junior Under-27 category alongside co-driver Ursula Mayrhofer as a factory Opel driver
Elsewhere, Molly Taylor, who has been supported by the Commission, last year became the first woman to win the Australian Rally Championship. Her title defence, as a works Subaru driver, begins this month.
2016 was also a notable year for providing a female drag racing champion in the shape of Finland’s Anita Mäkëla who won the FIA European Top Fuel category for the second time in her long career.
Women are increasingly represented at the pinnacle of motorsport, in Formula One, with Former F3 racer Tatiana Calderon from Colombia recently being appointed to the role of development driver at the Sauber F1 Team where FIA Women in Motorsport Ambassador Monisha Kaltenborn is Team Principal.
Kaltenborn is not the only female powerbroker in F1, with Claire Williams – also a member of the FIA’s Commission – continuing to help guide the Williams F1 team in her role as Deputy Team Principal.
Elsewhere, former Indycar driver and F1 hopeful Simona de Silvestro is this year competing in the highly competitive V8 Supercars series in Australia as a full-time driver with Nissan Motorsport. The drive follows de Silvestro became the first woman to score points in a Formula E race, with ninth place at last year’s Long Beach ePrix.
Away from the track, the motorsport continues to give women the chance to excel in a huge array of disciplines – with an increasing number of women involved at the highest levels of officialdom, in engineering, design and in administration and promotion. A key example was last year’s FIA World Rallycross Championship round in Norway, which was officiated over by an all-female panel of stewards for the first time in FIA World Championship history.
This year is set to be another year of intense activity for the Commission. At last year’s Commission seminar in Portugal, Mouton announced details of a new Europe-wide driver search programme, which Mouton said: “we hope to develop in different countries and regions.”
As the world celebrates International Women’s Day, motor sport can confidently claim to be a truly equal opportunities endeavour that has been (and continues to be) bold enough to drive change.
FIA release
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Arjun Maini sets 6th fastest time in the morning session: FIA Formula 2 pre-season test
Le Castellet (France): Indian racer Arjun Maini set the sixth fastest time in the morning session and ended up 11th in the afternoon at the Formula 2 first pre-season test on Tuesday. At the end of the first hour, new Trident recruit Maini led the proceedings ahead of team-mate Santino Ferrucci.However, it was Lando Norris who set the day’s fastest lap. The Carlin driver set a 1:43.095 lap during the afternoon session to head the time sheets ahead of Nyck De Vries and teammate Sergio Sette Camara.A damp, overcast Circuit Paul Ricard greeted the teams as they sought to clock in their customary installation laps at the start of the day. Oliver Rowland was the first driver to hit the track on wet weather tyres for the DAMS team, narrowly beating MP Motorsport’s Ralph Boschung out of the garage.The first hour was punctuated with a few brief red flags following early spins, with Trident’s Santino Ferrucci and Sette Camara prompting stoppages as they got to grips with the wet track, while Louis Delétraz of Charouz Racing System came to a halt at the exit of the pitlane.Norris was first to break the two-minute boundary at the midway point of the session, with the track slowly drying out. Soon, a number of cars were dipping into the 1m59s as they became accustomed to the conditions, although the circuit was not dry enough throughout the session for anyone to attempt a lap on slick tyres.
A red flag in the final half-hour of the session was called for Alexander Albon (DAMS) who stopped at turn 2 due to mechanical gremlins, as running got back underway with 10 minutes remaining. Although Boschung was quick on the draw at the restart to eat into Norris’ advantage, edging to within three-tenths of the leader, the British driver was able to put the first position well out of reach by going 0.6s quicker than his best time.
Norris was the only driver to break into the 1m56s, as his teammate Sette Camara slotted in behind Boschung for third. Albon was fourth quickest, ahead of Maini – who set a session high of 36 laps – and Arden’s Maximilian Günther. Roberto Merhi (MP Motorsport) was seventh ahead of Delétraz, while Antonio Fuoco (Charouz) and Ferrucci completed the top ten.ART Grand Prix’s Jack Aitken kicked off proceedings after the break to make up for a lack of mileage across the morning’s session, bolting on a set of medium compound tyres after the circuit had dried. The Brit had the track to himself in the opening stages, before teammate George Russell and the Campos Vexatec Racing duo of Luca Ghiotto and Roy Nissany joined him.After the first hour, PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing’s De Vries led the standings ahead of Russell, the pace decidedly faster than the morning’s benchmark. Norris then immediately stamped his authority on the time sheets and was joined by Sette Camara for a Carlin 1-2.A brief red flag was called for Günther who suffered a spin and stopped on the track, but after the action returned Norris continued to whittle away at his best time, dropping below the 1m44s mark with a full house of fastest sectors.Sean Gelael (PERTAMINA PREMA) wrested the second sector away from Norris, slotting in between the two Carlins as the session wound into the final hour. Ghiotto and de Vries briefly seized control of the timing boards, but with 20 minutes remaining, Norris once again reclaimed the fastest time. It proved to be unassailable, despite De Vries’ best efforts in the latter stages.Sette Camara was third quickest, ahead of Ghiotto and Russell. Gelael finished the day sixth fastest, completing a session-best of 40 laps, while Aitken beat Nirei Fukuzumi (BWT Arden) to seventh. Günther and Rowland ended the session in the top ten. Over the day, 881 laps were for a cumulative total of 5000 km.The action will resume tomorrow at 9 am for the second day of the test; the morning’s running ends at 12 pm, before the afternoon session takes place from 2 pm to 5 pm.FIA Formula 2 Le Castellet Test – Day 1 Morning SessionDriverTeamLaptimeLaps1Lando NorrisCarlin1:56.136302Ralph BoschungMP Motorsport1:57.037273Sergio Sette CamaraCarlin1:57.289224Alexander AlbonDAMS1:57.357285Arjun MainiTrident1:57.591366Maximilian GüntherBWT Arden1:57.742257Roberto MerhiMP Motorsport1:58.358208Louis DelétrazCharouz Racing System1:58.619199Antonio FuocoCharouz Racing System1:58.7801810Santino FerrucciTrident1:58.8992511Nirei FukuzumiBWT Arden1:59.7591712Luca GhiottoCampos Vexatec Racing2:00.0672013Nyck De VriesPERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing2:00.0881114Sean GelaelPERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing2:00.0952315Tadasuke MakinoRUSSIAN TIME2:03.229816Roy NissanyCampos Vexatec Racing2:03.9831517George RussellART Grand Prix2:04.282818Artem MarkelovRUSSIAN TIME2:10.4431319Oliver RowlandDAMS2:12.894220Jack AitkenART Grand Prix——FIA Formula 2 Le Castellet Test – Day 1 Afternoon SessionDriverTeamLaptimeLaps1Lando NorrisCarlin1:43.095292Nyck De VriesPERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing1:43.282323Sergio Sette CamaraCarlin1:43.401294Luca GhiottoCampos Vexatec Racing1:43.707335George RussellART Grand Prix1:43.745206Sean GelaelPERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing1:43.844407Jack AitkenART Grand Prix1:44.115348Nirei FukuzumiBWT Arden1:44.232359Maximilian GüntherBWT Arden1:44.2772610Oliver RowlandDAMS1:44.3452511Arjun MainiTrident1:44.5223112Ralph BoschungMP Motorsport1:44.6032813Louis DelétrazCharouz Racing System1:44.8071114Alexander AlbonDAMS1:44.950415Santino FerrucciTrident1:45.0232516Roberto MerhiMP Motorsport1:45.0862917Roy NissanyCampos Vexatec Racing1:46.1663618Antonio FuocoCharouz Racing System1:46.480319Tadasuke MakinoRUSSIAN TIME1:47.0501120Artem MarkelovRUSSIAN TIME—13eom/david/F2 release
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Icy junior debut for Ruhaan Alva in Italy
Jesolo (Italy): A shunt when in line for a possible podium spot, ended Ruhaan Alva’s debut race in the junior category of the Easykart Italian Championship here on Sund
Ruhaan Alva file photo by Anand Philar ay.
Having moved up to the junior category after finishing second runner-up in the Cadet class last season, the first round of the 2018 championship was an acid test for the 11-year old schoolboy from Bengaluru who is supported by Play Factory and Birel Art, the leading Italian kart manufacturer.
Ruhaan also had his first taste of driving in the snow with Europe in the grip of a cold wave. Snow and rain apart from sub-zero temperatures, besides longer races, tested his driving skills and stamina.
“It was a novel experience for me to be driving in the snow. Also, the conditions kept changing from snow to wet to dry or the other way around. So, it was quite confusing as my racing lines also kept changing. There was some fog too and it was quite tough,” said Ruhaan who showed rare determination and pluck to stay on pace with the front-runners.
The race weekend saw Ruhaan qualifying fifth for the pre-Final where he finished eighth. He was fourth quickest in the warm-up session preceding the 20-lap Final that he started in the sixth position.
Ruhaan was off to a good start and quickly made three places to move to third by the seventh lap and looked good to hold the position. However, he got entangled in an incident and was bumped off the track which ended his race.
The Easykart Italia Championship comprises of seven rounds and the next round is on April 7-8.
eom/posted by AP
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Rally Mexico: ŠKODA Motorsport’s Pontus Tidemand chasing WRC 2 Championship lead
Worldwide Copyright: Skoda Motorsport / McKlein Mladá Boleslav: ŠKODA Motorsport has entered reigning WRC 2 Champions Pontus Tidemand (co-driver Jonas Andersson) from Sweden and 17-year old from Finland Kalle Rovanperä with co-driver Jonne Halttunen into the season’s third WRC round in Mexico where the tough gravel roads await the competitors after the ice and snow on the opening rounds of the 2018 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) in Monte Carlo and Sweden.
The Rally Guanajuato Mexico (March 8-11) pose a different challenge. While Pontus Tidemand wants to move into the WRC 2 championship lead by repeating his victory from last year, Kalle Rovanperä is nominated for WRC2 for the first time, being an official ŠKODA Motorsport driver.
“In Mexico, we will field a unique combination of experience and speed. Pontus won the WRC2 category in Mexico last year and will again be the man to beat. Kalle already proved his speed on lose surface.
“Our ŠKODA FABIA R5 are well prepared for the challenge on the tough gravel roads of Rally Mexico,” said ŠKODA Motorsport boss Michal Hrabánek.
“After temperatures below zero in Monte Carlo and Sweden, in Mexico the engines not only have to face 30 degrees Celsius and more. The stages also reach extreme altitudes, the highest point at 2,737 metres. The correct engine mapping is crucial, because the thin air causes a power loss of up to 20 per cent,” Hrabánek added.
Pontus Tidemand has good memories of Rally Mexico. “Last year, I could win after a tense fight. With another good result, I could take the lead of 2018 WRC2 championship standings. But I am pretty sure, my competitors, including my young and fast teammate Kalle, will give me a hard time,” said the reigning WRC2 champion.
Kalle Rovanperä, on the other hand, is starting the first time in Mexico. “I am here to learn. I love to drive on gravel and my ŠKODA FABIA R5 is perfectly prepared for the extreme conditions of Mexico,” said the young Finn.
Incidentally Kalle Rovanperä will be accompanied by his father Harri, who won Rally Mexico in 2002, when it was a candidate event for the FIA World Rally Championship.
Rally Mexico will start with the spectacular street stage in Guanajuato on Thursday (March 8) which features an underground road through a former mining tunnel.
On Friday (March 9), the longest day of the rally, the crews are facing nine Special Stages covering 155 Kms on rough gravel. The longest stage of the rally, the 31.44 Kms long “El Chocolate”, will climb up to an altitude of more than 2,700 metres.
On Saturday and Sunday (March 10/11), the rally features 12 more Stages covering additional 186.81 kms, including the Powerstage “Las Minas”, before the winner will be on the podium. Rally Guanajuato Mexico is based in Léon, the country’s fifth largest city, some 400 kms north-west of Mexico City.
SKODA release
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WRC: Stage set for Rally Mexico; Sebastien Loeb to drive Citroen C3
Leon (Mexico): The third round of the 2018 FIA World Rally Championship takes the contenders to the Americas, the sunshine and gravel that is Rally Mexico (8-11 March). Celebrating its 15-year anniversary, the León-based rally has always been a firm favourite on the calendar, consistently maintaining its signature compact route, high percentage of special stages and colourful fiesta atmosphere.
Rally Mexico is the first gravel round of the season, but like the two previous events has its own unique challenge. Running in the stunning Sierra de Lobos and Sierra de Guanajuato mountains, it is quite literally breath-taking as the contenders climb to heady oxygen-sapping heights of 2,700 metres above sea level. With this brings a reduction in power and, coupled with potentially high temperatures, yet more stress on engines and transmissions as drivers are forced to adapt their driving style to minimise the effect of the altitude.
Much like last year, the Championship is again shaping up to be a very unpredictable affair with two different winners already taking the top step of the podium. Of the 11 World Rally Car drivers on the Mexico entry list, just one – Teemu Suninen – has yet to win at the highest level. He returns with M-Sport Ford and Dani Sordo is back with Hyundai, having sat out Sweden in place of team-mate Hayden Paddon.
WATCH OUT FOR SEB LOEB!
Toyota’s three-car line up remains unchanged, but the attention will undoubtedly be on the second Citroën C3 piloted by Sébastien Loeb. The French nine-time FIA World Rally Champion, who will contest three events this year, remains the sport’s most successful driver and with 78 victories and six consecutive WRC Rally Mexico wins to his name, cannot be discounted as a serious challenger, despite being out of full time rally competition since 2013.
Three stages will be broadcast live on television; SS13 (El Brinco) on Saturday as well as the two passes of the Las Minas stage on Sunday. All stages are however live on WRC ‘All Live on the WRC+’ platform.
– FIA release
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Hamilton tops time sheets as first F1 Test ends in Barcelona
Barcelona: Reigning F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton went quickest on the final day of the first pre-season Formula One test ahead of the 2018 FIA Formula 1 Championship, beating Stoffel Vandoorne by half a second on Thursday.
After a wet morning during which Mercedes’ W09 challenger was driven by Valtteri Bottas, Hamilton took over in the afternoon and used medium tyres to post a time of 1:19.333. That 0.521s clear of Vandoorne’s best which had been set on Pirelli’s new hypersoft tyres, one of seven dry compounds of offer this year.
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was third quickest with a time of 1:20.214 set on soft tyres, while Haas’ Kevin Magnussen was eight-hundredths of a second further back in fourth place with a lap set on supersoft tyres.
While most drivers took the circuit in the wet conditions in the morning, Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen was a notable absentee, with the Renault-powered team choosing to wait until the track dried before sending the Dutchman out.
But when he did take to the track Verstappen’s outing was a stop-start affair as mechanical gremlins affected his progress and then, later on, he suffered an off at Turn 12 which left him beached in the gravel. The car was recovered but Verstappen sat out the remainder of the session and completed just 35 laps all day.
After limited mileage in the early part of the week, McLaren enjoyed a solid final day in Barcelona. Second-placed Vandoorne handed over to team-mate Fernando Alonso in the afternoon and the Spaniard added a further 51 laps to Vandoorne’s 110 for the day’s biggest team lap total.
However, the individual honours went to Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly, with the French driver posting a total of 147 laps to round out an enviably reliable test for the Honda-powered team.
Formula 1 Pre-Season Test 1, Barcelona – Day Four
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:19.333 69
2 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 1:19.854 0.521 110
3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:20.241 0.908 120
4 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:20.317 0.984 96
5 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:20.929 1.596 51
6 Carlos Sainz Renault 1:20.940 1.607 60
7 Lance Stroll Williams 1:21.142 1.809 54
8 Sergio Perez Force India 1:21.973 2.640 65
9 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:22.058 2.725 35
10 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 1:22.134 2.801 147
11 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:22.507 3.174 49
12 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:22.789 3.456 60
13 Charles Leclerc Sauber 1:22.808 3.475 59
14 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:23.825 4.492 79
15 Sergey Sirotkin Williams 1:31.979 12.646 47eom/FIA release
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Ajgar, Musthafa win JK Tyre Himalayan Drive
Darjeeling, 2 March 2018: The pair of Ajgar Ali and Mohammed Musthafa successfully defended their title at the Biswa Bangla JK Tyre Himalayan Drive 6 beating the hot-in-pursuit Kolkata duo of Subir Roy and Nirav Mehta by a narrow five-penalty margin to bring the rally to an exciting finish in Darjeeling on Sunday.
The five-day event, India’s Tri-Nation TSD rally, took 24 teams across Nepal, North Bengal and Bhutan over 1,615 tough kilometers. Leg 2 and 3 in Nepal were cancelled due to technical problems arising out of rallying through different time zones.
In the Open category too, the Aaj Tak team of Gagan Sethi and Dhiraj Arora maintained their lead right from the Day 1 and emerged winners. The team of Govind Dalmia and Anand Agarwala from Siliguri finished a distant second. Pranjal More and Milindo Paul, also from Siliguri, came third.
In the SUV category, Amit Dhanotia and Anuragh Agarwala emerged winners while in the Above- 1300 cc category, Pranai Rai and Nanki Kharki from Kalimpong won the title. Another Kalimpong team of Bimal Kumar Poudel and Rajendra Gaire won the Under-1,300cc category.
The final leg was flagged off from the Tashi Namgay Grand Hotel above Phuentsholing in Bhutan The rally then hit the hills and passed through Samsing, Gorubathan, Lava and the charming hill station of Kalimpong and continued after lunch through the steep, tea bush-covered hills of Peshoke to reach Darjeeling in the evening through Jore bungalow.
The scenic and iconic Mall in Darjeeling provided the perfect setting for the prize distribution ceremony.
ends/david/release
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Honda-backed Rajiv Sethu and Anish Shetty for Asia Road Racing Championship
Anish D Shetty from Hubballi (left) and Chennai’s Rajiv Sethu set for 2018 ARRC campaign. New Delhi, March 2: Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd has decided to enter a two-rider team in the 2018 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship with Rajiv Sethu from Chennai and Hubballi’s Anish D Shetty wearing the company’s livery.
Sethu, in his second season, and debutant Shetty will be riding in the Asia Production 250cc class in the upcoming season that commences this weekend at the Chang International Circuit, Thailand, according to an official release from Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd.
This is the first time that Honda is promoting Indian riders in an Indian team in international motorsports arena. The IDEMITSU Honda Racing India team by T Pro Ten10 will see Sethu and rookie Shetty battling it out with 23 other Asian riders in the Asia Production 250cc class.
The marquee SuperSport 600cc will see the team’s third rider, 23-year old Japanese Taiga Hada compete with 21 others in the SuperSports 600cc class.
Rajiv Sethu, 20, said: “This is my second year at the ARRC, I had an amazing debut last year. By providing me with this global platform, Honda 2Wheelers has given me wings to achieve my dream of becoming an international Indian motorsport rider.
“Taking the learning from 2017 season, I have worked diligently this year. I am very excited to be a part of the first Indian team and aim to deliver my best this year for my team and my country.”
Shetty, 24, said: “I am elated and honored to be a part of the historical first all Indian team at the 23rd season of ARRC. For any Indian racer, getting global exposure is a big opportunity. Honda 2Wheelers India has made my dream come true.
“I look forward to ride and learn from the most experienced racers in the World. The 2018 season for me is all about improving my riding and presence in international races. This is my first exposure in ARRC and it’s a big deal for me. I will do my best to make my team and country proud.”
Globally, Honda is synonymous with Racing with a glorious history of iconic riders since 1959. In India, Honda 2Wheelers made its debut in motorsports in 2008.
For the first 10 years (2008-2017), Honda 2Wheelers India’s motorsport direction was to ‘Promote Fun Culture in India’ with focus on nurturing, developing and giving professional platforms to Indian riding enthusiasts.
And now in 2018, Honda has announced its new direction ‘To develop iconic Indian rider for National & International Championships’ which encapsulates Honda’s aggressive vision to nurture and develop Indian riders of international stature.
Minoru Kato, President & CEO, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd said: “Honda 2Wheelers India is proud to announce that for the first time, an Indian team will be participating solo in the 23rd season of Asia Road Racing Championship (ARRC) 2018.
“It is our next step towards realizing the dream to develop iconic Indian riders for both only national but more so international racing championships. My best wishes to the ‘IDEMITSU Honda Racing India’ by T Pro Ten10 and the two riders Rajiv Sethu and Anish D Shetty. The motorsport excitement will continue in 2018. Honda will announce a slew of new programs to promote and expand professional motorsport in India.”
Speaking on Indian riders skilling up and going global, Prabhu Nagaraj, Vice President – Customer Service, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. said: “Honda India is making gradual and consistent progress in motorsport and our boys going international is great for the sport.
“We are extremely delighted to extend learning curve of Rajiv while giving debut international exposure to the promising rider Anish. We are confident that they will put up a great show and supporting dreams for many more young riders to make a career in racing. With the ARRC returning to India later this year, this will be another great opportunity for the riders as well as the motorsport fans in India.”
Sponsored by IDEMITSU Lube India Pvt. Ltd., Honda 2Wheelers India will oversee overall team management of the first ever Indian team at the ARRC. The team’s rider management will be undertaken by professional Indian team Ten10 Racing Pvt. Ltd while technical support including bike performance enhancement, modification, data analysis, maintenance and repairs will be looked after by T-Pro Innovation, a professional Japanese team, the release added.
