A refurbished Madras Motor Race Track is all set for some top-drawer action as it hosts the fourth round of FIM Asia road racing championships (ARRC) commencing Friday.
A bunch of seasoned campaigners besides a clutch of teenagers will be parading their talent over the weekend in SuperSport 600cc, Asia Production 250cc and the Underbone 150cc categories, alongside two support events — the Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup (CBR 250, Open) organised by MMSC and the TVS One-Make Championship (Open, Apache R310).
On the track, the spotlight will be on the premier SuperSport 600cc category that has the familiar faces of veterans Anthony West (Australia), Decha Kraisart (Thailand), Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman (Malaysia) and Tomoyoshi Koyama (Japan) apart from a clutch of young, hungry bucks who have been keeping the established stars on their toes.
Current championship leader West, who competed in the World Championship for over a decade, and last year’s champion Karmaruzaman, a former Moto2 rider, who trails the Aussie star by 12 points, will no doubt start firm favourites.
Also in the mix are two Japanese riders, 35-year old Koyama and Keisuke Kurihara, 20, and Yuki Ito, 27, who won Race 2 in Australia.
From India’s perspective, Chennai’s Rajiv Sethu, 20, and Bengaluru-based Anish Damodara Shetty, 24, will be keenly followed in the Asia Production 250cc category that Indonesian Rheza Danica Ahrens has dominated with four consecutive wins in six races.
The two Indians are part of the Idemitsu Honda India Racing team along with Japan’s Taiga Hada, 19, who is competing in the 600cc class.
Shetty, in his debut ARRC season, managed to pick up two points by finishing 15th in both the races in Australia while Sethu is still searching for his first points in his second season.