New National Motorcycle Championship season begins at Coimbatore

The series has received nearly 200 entries this year, with a healthy mix of novice and established riders.

As always, the championship is divided into several categories based on engine capacity and rider experience. The Super Sport Open (165cc) remains the flagship division as it attracts some of the finest Indian riders, many of whom are supported by manufacturers Honda and TVS.

The other three categories are Pro-Stock 301-400cc, Pro-Stock 165cc and Stock 165cc, the latter specially catering to novice riders and female participants.

To continuously evolve the series, MRF, the control tyre supplier of the championship, has decided to supply slick rubber for Super Sport Indian (165cc) and Pro-Stock (301-400cc) from the second round of the championship.

Slick tyres provide a larger contact patch than conventional grooved tyres, thus providing more grip to the riders.

Honda Talent Cup

Honda will host its own one-make series, the Honda Talent Cup, as a support category to the National Motorcycle Championship.

36 professional riders from all over the country will race factory-prepared Honda CBR 250s, all of which are built to the same specification to ensure competition is not skewed by machinery.

Honda also runs a 150cc category for novice riders, but it won’t be seen in action until the next round of the championship in Chennai.

TVS one-make series

The TVS one-make series is split into three categories: Open (Apache RR 310), Novice (Apache RTR 200) and Girls (Apache RTR 180).

The Open class will be something to look forward to it, for it will feature some quality riders like Deepak Ravikumar, Vivek Pillai, Arun Muthukrishnan and last year’s 300-400cc category champion Amarnath Menon.

Weather

Rain showers are expected throughout the race weekend, potentially serving up some cracking wet races.

New National Motorcycle Championship season begins at Coimbatore