After nearly 12 years, the off-road biking competition, National Supercross Championship, has come to Mangaluru, with the fifth round of the competition scheduled on November 23.
For the first time in the championship, which started 15 years ago, the 900 m-dirt-track prepared in Kulur will feature three “table tops” — mounds of dirt at a height — apart from 22 ‘jumps’.
Brad Ripple, an American dirt bike specialist who also designed the “technically demanding” track, said that this would allow bikers to get at least a 20-ft jump.
More than 100 professional and amateur riders are expected to take part in the competition, apart from at least 25 people from the city for the ‘locals’ category, said Shyam Kothari, president of Godspeed Racing, organisers of the competition.
At the end of four rounds held in Nashik, Pune, Chennai and Coimbatore, racers from Hero 9T9 team and Team TVS are head to head, and the round at Mangaluru will be crucial in deciding who takes the championship trophy when it ends its leg in Bengaluru at the end of the month, Mr. Kothari said. However, two-time National Racing Championship winner, K.P. Arvind, who is from Udupi nearby, will not be racing in front of his home audience due to a broken thumb, he added. The competition will be held in eight categories: SX1 (foreign bikes), SX2 (foreign bike and only for privateers), juniors (under the age of 15), Indian expert class (Group B), Indian expert class (Group C), Novice class and Locals class.
Though none of the professional bikers are from the city, Sudhir B.K., president of the Mangalore Motocross Sports Association, said that 15 people had registered for the ‘locals’ category. “We expect many more to apply in the days to come. These will be trained by Mr. Ripple for the competition,” he said.
Though the motorsport is nascent here, Mr. Ripple said that the sport had potential as the children here were brought up with “good balance, motor skills and hand-eye coordination”.
The competitions will start at 10 a.m.