Mahindra Racing plans for MotoGP debut

Mahindra Racing, set to make its debut at Qatar later this month at the Motorcycle World Championship, had its final pre-season test in the run up to the MotoGP season with riders Danny Webb and Marcel Schr?tter at Jerez, Spain, last week-end. Despite a predominantly wet first day at the test, held on the 4.4-km Jerez circuit, significant mileage was covered in the dry weather of the last two days (March 5 and 6), a release from Mahindra Racing said on Monday.

Faster of Mahindra's two riders over the three-day test was 19-year-old Briton Webb. "We've definitely taken a step forwards. On Friday we didn't get much running because of the weather, and on Saturday we suffered from a few electrical gremlins, but I'm satisfied that there's more speed to come from the bike, and I've a fair idea where that speed can be found," Webb said.

Schr?tter had an early fall on the first day which hindered his progress at the test. "My fall was not too bad but I was not able to push as hard as I would otherwise. I tried to concentrate on developing the set-up of the bike and developing my confidence with it and everything is pointing in the right direction to continue improving," he said. The team ran through a programme to evaluate new components and team manager Nicola Casadei was impressed with the results.

"Jerez is a good testing ground as it's a punishing circuit and our previous knowledge here gives good basis for evaluation. We tested a new carburettor on Danny's bike and initial impressions are good, so we will now analyse the data to see if we will have it on both bikes for Qatar," Casadei said. "We could do with more time to test, but we will just keep improving through the season," he added. The team's bikes will now be freighted direct from Jerez to Qatar where Mahindra will make their race debut at the Losail International Circuit in the first round of the 125cc World Championship.

Long term goal to care for Indian riders: Mahindra

Last year, when Mahindra announced its entry into two-wheeler racing and that too at the big league (FIM MotoGP 125cc World Championship), it was greeted with more skepticism than excitement by many motorsport enthusiasts in the country.

But last weekend, when German rider Marcel Schrotter won the first championship points for the Indian team at the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez, the management and the riders had reasons to celebrate. The 13th-place finish and three points not just marked the entry of Mahindra Racing into the points table, but it was also proof that the team was not just making the numbers in MotoGP, but fighting for some serious silverware.

Anand Mahindra, vice chairman and MD of Mahindra Group, believes the team has a long way to go to reach its full potential. And apart from "establishing themselves as a force in the circuit and further enhancing the reputation of the country in the sport," Mahindra's long-term goal is to start a programme through which Indian riders can be nurtured for the big league.

"That is indeed our long term goal," says Mahindra. "But that is for later. My belief is that we can't nurture riders if we don't know the game ourselves.

"We want to establish ourselves as one of the strongest teams in the circuit and then we will slowly bring up Indian riders. Of course, slowly we will graduate to Moto2 (250cc). That's the next logical step," he adds.

"We are just two races old and it's great that we already made a mark by scoring our first points. But there is a lot more to do in this season itself," says Mahindra.

"Our riders, Danny Webb (of England) and Marcel, are very experienced in the circuit. Last Sunday's race was proof enough of their quality. As a manufacturer, we are glad that we were able to provide the riders the best hardware possible. That was my primary concern," he added.

The Mahindra bikes were indeed competitive in wet conditions at Jerez on Sunday with Webb setting sights on a top-10 finish before he crashed out. Schrotter, the junior rider in the team, took over though. Starting 23rd on the Grid, the 18-year-old German made his way through the field to finish 13th.

Nico Terol wins at Jerez and scores Mahindra Racing’s first ever points!

On a wet race day at Jerez, Spain, Nico Terol of Aprilia won the 2011 Spanish 125cc Grand Prix which his team mate Hector Faubel locked in a close battle for the race lead for a large part of the race. Faubel took the race lead on lap seven but Terol quickly snatched it back on the 11th lap and from then on led the race with Faubel fighting for track position all the way and briefly passing him once again before Terol retook the race lead. Faubel had a fall on the last lap leading to him finishing down in 11th place.

Super exciting race that, like 125s have always been. While Danny Webb riding of the Indian MotoGP team, Team Mahindra Racing crashed out of the race, his team mate Marcel Schrotter managed to bring his GP125 bike in 13th place, thus giving Team Mahindra Racing their first points of the 2011 125cc MotoGP Championship. A proud moment for India, really. Meanwhile, The WTR-TenTen Racing team from India could make it to the race as the talented Indian rider Sarath Kumar just missed the 107% qualifying time by a whisker.

Asked about the location of the new plant, he said: "It should be a place where it has an advantage for exports over and above catering to the Indian market."
Suzuki, however, did not comment on investments and the size of the proposed plant. He said the long term plan for India Yamaha is to manufacture mass market products at the third plant while the upper segment and premium bikes are rolled out from the Surajpur plant.