Mahindra Racing forays into Italian Championship with Sarath Kumar

Dec 1, 2011
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Mahindra Racing announces entry into Italian Road-Racing Championship and its rider line-up including Indian rider Sarath Kumar and Italian rider Ricardo Moretti

The first Indian team to venture into MotoGP, the pinnacle of motorcycle road-racing, Mahindra Racing has announced that the team will spread its wings and now enter into the Italian Motor Racing Championship in the 125cc category. The only Indian rider to ever ride in the 125cc class of MotoGP, Sarath Kumar will ride for the team alongside Italian rider Ricardo Moretti, who also won the 125cc Italian Championship in 2009. The 19-year-old Indian rider who rode for WTR-Ten10 Racing team last year has been a top seeded rider in India with the 2010 National Championship in the 165CC Expert class and the 2008 National Champion in the130cc 4-stroke novice class under his belt.

His Italian team-mate, Ricardo started of as a motocross rider, but owing to a major injury was forced to take a break of three years before making his foray into the world of road-racing. In 2007, Ricardo finished fifth in the Italian Championship and then went on to clinch second spot in the championship the following year before clinching the title in 2009 with phenomenal five victories and five pole positions in just six races. The Italaian Road-Racing Championship is held across some of the finest race-tracks that Italy has to offer starting from March and going on till October consisting of eight rounds. The championship acts as a gateway for young Italian riders into the world of international road-racing.

Mufaddal Choonia, Team Principal, Mahindra Racing, who presented Sarath Kumar with the Mahindra Racing Team t-shirt said on the occassion, “We are proud to announce our entry into the Italian Motor Racing Championship with Sarath Kumar. This is a conscious step being taken by Mahindra Racing to nurture and grow riding talent in India. Some of the best names in the World MotoGP championship like Valentino Rossi, Giacomo Agostini, Marco Melandri have been Italian Championship winners. Riding in a championship with such high standards of competition would be a great opportunity for Sarath. This will provide him with the right opportunity to hone his skills and compete at the international level with some of the finest emerging talent in motorcycle racing.”