Chennai, May 1 (IANS) Indian team Moto-Rev picked up 21 points from the first round of the 2011 Asian Road Racing Championship for two-wheelers at the Sepang International Circuit in Kuala Lumpur Sunday.
Moto-Rev’s Toshiyuki Hamaguchi finished 12th in the first race despite crashing when battling for a podium position and fourth in the next outing to collect 17 championship points, according to a press release.
Teammate Rajini Krishnan came in 13th and 15th in the two races for a total of four points in his debut outing for Moto-Rev India.
The third Moto-Rev rider Gautham Mayilvagnan, making his international debut, retired in the first race with engine problems and crashed in the second.
‘This is my first race with my new team Moto-Rev India and I am already feeling at home thanks to our chief mechanic Mohan who is of Indian origin and understands my style of riding.
‘My bike was overheating to 106-110 degrees on Saturday, but my team worked through the night to give me a really good setup bike and was able to do around 16,000 RPM down the straights at over 270 Kmph without any issues.
‘This is the first time I was able to do a lap time of around 01:08:5 at Sepang. I am really working on my fitness, doing 200kms of cycling and 100kms of running a week and that’s the reason why I could keep that pace even in the final laps,’ said Rajini.
Gautham said: ‘It feels really incredible to be racing for my home team in the FIM ARRC. On Friday, I felt a little intimidated by the level of competition sharing the grid with MSS, MOTO 2, World Superbike and Supersport riders.
‘But thanks to tips from Hammer (Hamaguchi) I started feeling a little more comfortable. This morning, just before the race, I blew my engine as I was over revving a little into the corners.
‘I was really amazed to see my team do a complete engine rebuild in under 35 minutes! Seeing this kind of technical expertise and professionalism is a first for me and makes me push myself more than 100% due to which I fell.’
