Chennai: After the success in identifying 19 young riders from across India and grooming them in 2018, the ‘IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Hunt’ season 2 of the ‘IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Hunt’ started on Saturday.
According to a release, The IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Hunt is Honda’s unique initiative which aims to identify young racers starting as early as 12 years of age. Through this platform, Honda 2Wheelers India will groom the best of young Indian riders for a racing career spanning national and international championships.
The first round in Chennai saw an overwhelming participation of 18 youngsters from Kolhapur, Mumbai, Satara, Puducherry, Tirur, Bengaluru, Patna, Bokaro and Vizag. The candidates went through rigorous 3 levels of tests. First being their physical fitness, second their race orientation and riding skills especially for the race track. This was followed by a one-on-one interview with candidates and parents/guardians to understand both their motorsport passion and family support to become the next iconic rider from India.
After shortlisting in phase 1, the top candidates of the Talent Hunt of Delhi & NCR will be trained and given the opportunity to ride on the track in Phase II. It is from this pool of talent that Honda will pick up the best talent for future development. These final riders will then join the 12 selected riders to race in the Honda Talent Cup CBR 150R category in the 2019 season.
Vice President, Brand & Communication, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Pvt. Ltd, Prabhu Nagaraj, said, “In 2018 we took a big leap to develop racers from a young age as our structural development path. The young talent which we got from last year is already showing phenomenal results. To accelerate their development, we are constantly providing them with exposure and have brought the Moto3 machine NSF250R to India. We further extend our leap and start the second edition of the IDEMITSU Honda India Talent Hunt. This year, we will travel to four more cities after Chennai to identify India’s next big racing sensations. I am confident that these budding riders will change the scenario of motorsports in India.”