2018 INMRC: Close to 200 entries for Round 1 of national motorcycle racing championship in Coimbatore

Team OD Published: June 07, 2018, 06:32 PM IST

The first round of the 2018 MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2018, the Rolon Round held at the Kari Motor Speedway, begins tomorrow, June 8, 2018. The round sees a huge number of entries - nearly 200 - which promises a weekend of thrilling racing action. The new season not only features the existing championships, but also features new one-make championships too.

The 2018 INMRC comprises five rounds, and each of these five rounds will also feature one-make championships by TVS and Honda. The National Championship categories include the top-end Super Sport Indian Open class (165cc) which boasts of country's top riders and dominated by TVS Racing and Honda Ten10 Racing teams, the Pro-Stock 301-400cc class, the Pro-Stock 165cc class and the Stock 165cc (Novice and Girls) classes.

One of the key moves that has been made by title sponsors MRF, in order to ensure closer racing, is the provision of slick tyres to all motorcycles in the Super Sport Indian (165cc) and Pro-Stock (301-400cc) classes from Round 2 of the championship which will be held at the MMRT next month. This will see higher cornering speeds, and improved race timings.

The novice classes, like last year, have attracted a high number of participants this year too. So too has the "Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup 2018 organised by MMSC" which currently sees 36 riders who will this weekend compete for the 16 slots available for the points-scoring race in the Open class (CBR 250). The Novice (CBR 150) class for those under 21 years of age, will join the championship from the next round in Chennai in July.

The TVS One-Make Championship 2018 organised by MMSC has competitions in three categories Open (Apache RR 310), Novice (Apache RTR 200) and Girls (Apache RTR 180) besides races for Media (Apache RTR 200). The Open class has a string of riders of proven ability like Deepak Ravikumar, Vivek Pillai, Arun Muthukrishnan, Abhishek Vasudev and Amarnath Menon, last year's champion in the 300-400cc category. The 15-strong grid for Girls is headlined by Rehana Bee, Haridharani and Haritha R.

A total of 14 races, in addition to qualifying and practice sessions, will be held at the Kari Motor Speedway this weekend.