Some great news for the future of motorsports in our country as the FIM MiniGP World Series 2022 comes to India. The series will include a five-round championship under the aegis of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI).
The FIM MiniGP World Series 2022 in India will comprise 10 races, that will be held in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, from July. FIM, the World governing body for two-wheeler racing, in conjunction with Dorna Sports, promoters of the FIM MotoGP, launched the MiniGP Series in 2021, as part of the Road To MotoGP programme, aiming to create an equal platform for young riders around the World to begin their motorcycle racing careers. To qualify for this series, riders must be between 10 to 14 years of age.
The FIM MiniGP World Series India 2022 kicks off with selection trials in Bengaluru on July 2-3 at Meco Kartopia. The first of the five rounds will be held on July 23-24, before moving to Hyderabad for the next two rounds and then returning to Bengaluru for the final two rounds. Each round will comprise two races. The selected riders will compete on equal Ohvale GP-0 160 machinery (Mini bikes) while Pirelli is the official tyre supplier for all the races with a standard tyre allocation given per event. All the five rounds (10 races) will be run on karting tracks that meet minimum standards set by the FIM or the national federation.
The uniqueness of this series is that reputed Italian manufacturer Ohvale will provide mini bikes and full racing kit besides service at no cost to the competitor. KYT will provide helmets while Videm, Ohvale India, and RMS Motorsport are the main sponsors. India, along with Australia, Austria, Indonesia, Japan and Qatar are the new additions to the Series that already includes 10 other countries – France, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, the Netherlands, North America, Portugal, Spain, the UK, and Alpe-Adria.
Fmsci president Akbar Ebrahim said: “We welcome the FIM MiniGP World Series to India. It is a big step forward in our efforts to identify, nurture and promote young talent in our country. The Series also presents a massive platform for talented youngsters to showcase their skills and pursue their racing dreams. It is a great initiative on part of Ohvale to provide the machines and riding gear without charge and hopefully, this incentive will encourage and inspire more youngsters to take to the sport.”
Marco Rossetto, Product Manager, Ohvale India, said: “The FIM MiniGP World Series India is a fruition of the groundwork we did in the past few years. India is a logical choice considering the two-wheeler population. We plan to tap and harness the abundant racing talent, and hopefully, India will produce a MotoGP rider in the near future. The response thus far has been tremendous and we are grateful to the FMSCI for granting us permission besides actively being involvied in the programme.”
This is surely great news for the future of motorsports in our country. We hope to get astride one of the Ohvale MiniGP bikes in the near future to bring you our review. Stay tuned.
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