Buriram [Thailand], March 26 : With the first round of Asia's most coveted Asia Road Racing Championship underway, Honda Racing India's teen rider Kavin Quintal scored a point for the team in his first-ever outing itself. Proving his mettle at the Chang International Circuit in Buriram, the 17-year-old rider from Chennai battled with 21 of the toughest riders from across seven Asian countries (Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, Japan and India).
After getting some time on track in yesterday's practice and morning qualifying session, Kavin quickly grasped the ways of the track and jumped from 17th position start to 15th position finish in the first race of AP250cc class of 2023 ARRC, gaining one point for himself and the team.
His rookie team-mate, Mohsin P skillfully manoeuvred on the racetrack and gained two positions from his 21-position start, thus ending the race at 19th place on the leaderboard.
Speaking on race 1 of ARRC Round 1, Prabhu Nagaraj, Operating Officer - Brand and Communication, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India said, "This was the first race experience for our next-gen riders in ARRC and TTC. It is important that these young boys gain the knowledge and experience of manoeuvring through competition at such an established platform and further unleash their potential. The round has begun with a good start and I am happy with our riders' performance today. We are confident that our boys will do well and are looking forward to an even more thrilling race tomorrow."
"I was both excited and anxious today. Though the race was tough it was a fantastic day of learning for me. I started strong and consistently focused to keep my pace till the finish line. Personally, I am both humbled to earn points for the only Indian team in my debut ARRC race itself and am excited to do even better in race 2 tomorrow, " Honda Racing India, Kavin Samaar Quintal.
"It was my first race at ARRC today and I am happy that I made a good start. Overall, the race was extremely insightful and I'll be using the learnings of this race tomorrow. I am confident that tomorrow will be a better day and with Honda by my side I am optimistic of gaining a good spot," said Honda Racing India rider Mohsin Paramban.
Raheesh Khatri showed the might of confident young Indian riders in his debut race. Starting 13th on the grid of 17 riders, Raheesh made a good start and quickly moved to 12th place. From thereon, he raced his hardest and crossed the chequered line at 11th place. Masterful race performance by this youngest Indian rider in the Thailand Talent Cup (Honda's development program for Asian riders run on NSF250R) earned him and the Honda Racing India team 5 points. Unfortunately, his teammate Shyam Sundar did not start the race.
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