By IANS,
Chennai : International racing returns to the city after a lapse of 13 years with the Madras Motor Sports Club (MMSC) hosting the fourth Petronas Asia Road Racing Championship for two wheelers this weekend at the refurbished MMRT track in Sriperumbudur, under the aegis of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI).
The event, being held under the banner of Sidvin Festival of Speed, will comprise of three classes – the featured Supersports 600cc, the Underbone 115cc and the Honda-MRF UAM Nations Cup for the single-make Honda 125cc Stunner machines.
All the three classes have attracted full grids with championship leaders Chalermpol Polamai of Thailand (600cc) and Fitriansyah Kete of Indonesia (Underbone) in the fray.
As many as 10 Indians will be participating in various categories and they include: Krishnan Rajini and Preetham Dev Moses (Red Rooster Racing), Alisha Abdullah (Castrol Amrutanjan Team Blue Arrow Racing), Emmanuel Jebaraj (Ten10 Racing), Dilip Rogger (Blue Arrow Racing), Vivek Pillai (Blue Arrow Racing), K Jagan, TK Vishwanath, Harry Sylvester and Karthik.
Releasing the schedule at a media conference here Thursday, MMSC president Ajit Thomas said there will be free practice sessions Friday, followed by qualifying rounds Saturday and the races Sunday.
Vicky Chandhok, chairman of FMSCI’s international racing commission, said the track has been upgraded to conform to the safety standards laid down by the Asian Motorcycle Union (UAM) whose officials had visited the venue a few months back.
“We have not compromised on anything and carried out all the changes as suggested by the UAM officials. We have spent about Rs.70 lakh in the past three months to upgrade the track and also install Tag Heur electronic timing that will also provide sector timings,” he said.
Main sponsor Mohan Nagarajan, Chairman and Managing Director of Bangalore-based Sidvin Coretech, hoped that the “festival of speed” would evolve into a major international event in the region and progress to four-wheeler racing.
Incidentally, the grids do not contain any rider from Japan, but is packed with participants from Indonesia, Malaysia, China and Thailand besides a few from Sri Lanka and the Philippines.
According to FMSCI Chief Executive Rajan Syal, the sale of tickets, priced at Rs.1,000, Rs.400 and Rs.200 has picked up considerably in the last couple of days and he hoped for a sizeable turnout Sunday.
Entry is kept free for Friday and Saturday though access to the paddock and pitlane would be restricted to authorized personnel.
The three previous rounds were held in Malaysia, Japan and Indonesia, and the caravan will move on to China where the final two rounds will be held.
Speaking on the sidelines of the conference, Ron Hogg of Two Wheels Motor Racing Malaysia, the promoters, said that the series could return to Chennai next year depending on the feedback they receive from the participants and the sponsors.