Mahindra Racing felicitates Sarath Kumar for scoring points in Italian Championships
April 23,2012

Chennai : Mahindra Racing today felicitated Indian rider Sarath Kumar for his recent achievement of scoring points in the 2nd round of 125GP Italian National Championships at Imola. The 22yrs old Chennai lad becomes the first ever Indian rider to score points in top level Championships in Europe.

Riding Mahindra Racing team's 125GP bike, Sarath Kumar finished 7th and scored points in his second ever outing in the Italian Championships which is one of the most competitive in Europe and also a feeder series to MotoGP producing riders like Valentino Rossi, Marco Melandri and others.

Mahindra Racing Team won both the races so far this season with the experienced ex-Italian Champion Riccardo Moretti while Sarath retired due to a technical snag in the first round and finished an amazing 7th in the second round starting from 20th. Coming from a substandard racing scenario like India where riders start racing only at 16 or 18 compared to the European riders starting to race as early as 5 that too with exceptional machinery and technology to play with, Sarath's progress in the International scene is much appreciated with the backing of Mahindra Racing.

Sarath Kumar won the Indian National Championship in 2010 on a 4stroke road version Yamaha R15 in the Group B category has many national records to his credits. Sarath was selected to ride for the MotoGP 125cc class in 2011 but lack of exposure to international competitive racing and hi-end racing machinery set him aback with many crashes and injuries, ultimately retiring out of the season. He is also the first Indian to start and race in a Grand Prix.

Mahindra Racing in a bid to bring forward Indian talents to the world front spotted Sarath with his achievements in the National level and his hard work at the 125 Grand Prix races. Mahindra Racing decided to enter Sarath for the Italian Championships so that he can develop for the World Championship by giving him the right exposure and learning curve. Mahindra Racing was very sensible to support and enter an Indian rider in the European level championships to develop the rider skills for the world championships.

Now Sarath is getting more confident racing with European riders and at European circuits with high end machinery. He gets inputs and support from the 2 time Italian champion team mate Riccardo Morreti and is now getting exposed to professional racing.

Mr.Mufaddal Choonia, COO, Mahindra Racing said "Sarath didnt have the best of starts, he had to retire due to a technical issue in Mugello. Imola was fantastic, he finished 7th starting from 20th which is a great achievement. We hope he only improves from here on and we will be very happy to see him on the podium. We dont want to pressurize him by saying you have to finish 2nd or 3rd, he is here to learn what it is to complete one whole season in the Italian championship. Let him really learn and lets see, for him he has get groomed in the best circuits of the world."

Speaking about his achievement Sarath said "Definetly very very happy to be the first Indian to get points in Europe. I had problems in the qualfying and had big crash after which we found the right step up. This year I want to finish in good level with some podium which will be my target. If I get some more training like the other European rider I hope I can get good results."

With the next round in Monza around the corner, we will be looking forward to watch an Indian manufacturer and Indian rider fire the Italian tracks which will be telecast live on TEN Sports.