In what will be a big boost for aspiring riders in the country, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) will bring its Moto 3 NSF 250R bike to India for the 2019 season with a dedicated championship IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Cup-NSF250R. The bike is used by Honda’s Moto 3 riders who have four of the last five titles in that competition.
Eight riders have been selected, including the youngest 12-year-old Sarthak (Pune), 14-year-olds Kavin and Geoffrey (Chennai), 15-year-old Mohammad Mikail (2018 Honda CBR150R Talent Cup winner), 16-year-old S. Varoon, 17-year-old Mohsin (Malappuram), 18-year-old Charan T. (Chennai) and 19-year-old Kritik Habib from Gadag, Karnataka (2018 IDEMITSU Honda India CBR150R Talent Cup, first runner-up).
Speaking at an event in Chennai, Minoru Kato, president and CEO of HMSI, said, “In 2018, we became the first solo Indian team at the international level — the Asian Road Racing Championship. In 2019, we are taking the next step and bringing the best of world’s motorsport to India.”
Honda also announced six riders, three each for the Pro-Stock 300cc (Sarath Kumar, Anish Shetty, Abhishek Vasudev) and Pro-Stock 165cc (B. Aravind, Yashas R.L., K. Kannan) who will take part in the IDEMITSU Honda Ten10 Racing Team in the 2019 INMRC season.
Honda also plans to identify the next generation riders in the 13-17 age category with the IDEMITSU Honda Talent Cup to be held in five cities this year. The shortlisted novice riders will be groomed in the CBR 150 India Talent Cup.
