Idemitsu Honda India Talent Hunt is back

In the first session of the Idemitsu Honda India Talent Hunt in 2018, the team was able to identify 19 young riders from across the country. The second season of the talent hunt started on August 27, 2019 in Chennai. The shortlisted candidates from this session will undergo training at the Honda Ten10 Racing Academy and the top novice riders will be trained to handle the CBR150R which is a part of the Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship along with the newest addition of the Honda NSF250R one make series.

Honda NSF250R comes to India! - Find out here

The first round in Chennai saw overwhelming participation of 18 youngsters from Kolhapur, Mumbai, Satara, Puducherry, Tirur, Bengaluru, Patna, Bokaro and Vizag. The candidates went through rigorous 3 levels of tests. First being their physical fitness, second their race orientation and riding skills especially for the race track. This was followed by a one-on-one interview with candidates and parents/guardians to understand both their motorsport passion and family support to become the next iconic rider from India.

After shortlisting in phase 1, the top candidates of the Talent Hunt of Delhi & NCR will be trained and given opportunity to ride on the track in Phase II. It is from this pool of talent that Honda will pick up the best talent for future development. These final riders will then join the 12 selected riders to race in the Honda Talent Cup CBR150R category in the 2019 season.

Sharing an overview on Honda’s aim for developing ‘Iconic Indian Riders’, Prabhu Nagaraj, Vice President – Brand & Communication, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. said, “In 2018 we took a big leap to develop racers from young age as our structural development path. The young talent which we got from last year are already showing phenomenal results. To accelerate their development, we are constantly providing them exposure and have brought the Moto3 machine NSF250R to India. Looking at the immense passion and potential of these riders, we further extend our leap and start the second edition of the Idemitsu Honda India Talent Hunt. This year, the Idemitsu Honda India Talent Hunt will travel to 4 more cities after Chennai to identify India’s next big racing sensations. I am confident that these budding riders will change the scenario of motorsports in India and make the nation proud at the international podiums as well.”