Hat-trick for Mikail
The third round of the Honda CBR 150R One Make Championship was dominated by one youngster, Mohamed Mikail, as he posted a three-for-three victory
Afleet of race-spec Honda cBr 150rs were lined up inside the Honda pits on race day. the motorcycles looked stunning in the new Idemitsu Honda India talent cup livery and were all set for two days of racing action. this time, the open class were not part of the action because they had already completed the third round during the asia road racing championship (arrc) weekend. all eyes were on the youngsters in the novice category who had three races over two days to showcase their best performance.
NOVICE CLASS
Race One
mohamed mikail (chennai) showed great promise by qualifying on pole position for the first race on Saturday. The youngster from chennai posted a time of 2:08.584. Less than a second behind him were Kartik Vasant Habib (Karnataka) and akshay Vm (Kerala) in second and third places respectively.
mohamed was quick off the line and took off to a great start. By the third lap, he had settled into a good rhythm and was pulling off consistent lap times. early in the race, it was evident that the podium fight was going to be among Mohamed, Kartik, and akshay. By the end of the six-lap race, mohamed rushed to a comfortable victory; with a 10-second lead over second-placed Kartik. akshay was unable to race at the pace of his rivals and slipped down to the bottom of the table. Anandhu KK (Chennai) occupied the final spot on the podium.
the fastest lap of the weekend was set by mohamed at 2:07.435.
Race Two
starting from the front of the pack once again, mohamed took off with his podiummates from the previous race hounding him. The youngster seemed confident and continued his splendid form, leaving his rivals to play catch-up. spectators may have believed that they were experiencing déjà vu, because the leaders from the previous race crossed the finish-line in the same order. However, some drama awaited them when the results were announced. With a pronounced 10-second lead, mohamed was the clear winner. Kartik lost second place to anandhu because the former was awarded a 15-second penalty for a false start. However, Kartik did manage to secure a respectable third place.
Race Three
The final race for the novice class was held on Sunday. All eyes were on Mohamed, waiting to see if he could rack up a three-for-three victory and finish the weekend on a high note. mohamed seemed unfazed by the pressure of achieving a hat-trick. His calm demeanour was reflected in his riding as well and he zoomed away to a win, much to the joy of his supporters. second and third places were claimed by anandhu and charan t (chennai) respectively.
at the end of the race weekend, mohamed showcased exemplary skill. the youngster shows remarkable promise and could bring home honours if given proper training and exposure. By providing a platform like the Idemitsu Honda India talent cup, Honda have done a commendable job of promoting motor sport in the country and bringing talent like mohamed to the fore.