2016 Honda One Make Race Kicks Off Round One at Kari Motor Speedway

Riders are all set to hit the track in Round One

Started back in 2008, the Honda One Make Race is an attempt to promote motorsports in India, which to me, has seen some serious backing by other two-wheeler manufacturers too. Suzuki started its Gixxer Cup last year while TVS and Yamaha have their own racing ventures and Hero (as also TVS) are betting big on rallies as well.

Over the years, the Honda One make Race has particularly seen a lot of changes not only to the format but also to the bikes. The race is split into two categories CBR 250R class and open CBR 150R class categories. HMSI has leased out 16 motorcycles to four teams that will compete in the 2016 season. Now both the bikes - CBR 250R and CBR 150R - are not the stock bikes which are available in the market, they have been modified both cosmetically and mechanically to make them a bit more agile and track worthy. This is why the bikes have no headlamp cluster, no indicators, just a layer of fibre on the driver's seat and all these changes help in reducing the overall weight of the bike.

The Honda CBR250R gets a host of upgrades over the race spec version

On the mechanical side of things, the suspension of the bike is a lot more stiffer than what we see on the on the road going version. Both the bikes also get a new body kit and an endurance exhaust. HMSI along with Ten 10 racing academy will have 5 races this year. With 4 more races to go, 3 will be held at the Madras race track in Chennai and the final race will take place at the Buddh International F1 Circuit in Greater Noida.

This year saw a whopping 63 riders participate from all corners of the country across three categories. With the reprogrammed CBR150R and CBR250R motorcycles available, the riders were in the mood to scorch the track. In the CBR250R open category, Mathana Kumar (13:10:588 minutes) and Rajiv S (13:12:336 minutes) clinched the first 2 spots in the Race 1 of the category.

63 riders participated across three categories in Honda One Make Race

Team Ten10's strong performance at the podium was cut by local Coimbatore boy Kishore VS from Apex Racing, who finished third (13:13:814 minutes). Chennai's Ananth Raj P, who finished fourth on the track, was fastest on the track completing the lap in 1:15:101 minutes. The CBR150R Novice category was equally exciting as Anish D Shetty took the pole position completing the race in 08:48:209 minutes; while also being fastest on the track with a lap time of 1:19:565 minutes. Mahesh Murali M took the second position (08:54:916 minutes), whereas Shreyas Shankar San from Maharashtra finished third clocking 08:55:916 minutes.

This year's Honda One Make Race had something special to offer with the exclusive All Ladies Race as part of the season. Round one of the Honda All Ladies Race was also held at Kari on Saturday, wherein 10 women riders participated on the race spec CBR150R motorcycles, with Pooja Dabhi made it to the pole position.

Honda's exclusive All Ladies Race is the first of its kind in the country

The Pune based rider managed to clock an impressive time of 08:03:969 minutes over 5 laps, to take on the top spot and was followed by Shruthi N from Chennai was a close second with a gap of mere +0.56 seconds. Coming in third was A Ryehana with a gap of +6.128 seconds. Shruthi was however, the fastest on the track with a lap time of just 1:23:691 minutes.