Mahindra & Mahindra is set to participate in this year’s FIM Road Racing World Championship, popularly known as MotoGP, with the first of the 18 races scheduled to begin in Qatar in March.
The $7.1-billion Mahindra Group is the second entrant in the motorcycle racing championship from India after Bangalore-based Ten10 Racing declared their entry through a tie-up with the San Marino-based WTR Team.
M&M participation in the race is aimed at making the brand name globally recognised. A group company, Mahindra Two Wheelers, recently marked its entry into the motorcycle category with the launch of a 110cc bike.
“The entry into the MotoGP gives us a great opportunity for brand building,” said Anoop Mathur, president, two wheeler sector.
The group’s entry into the race follows its acquisition of Engines Engineering of Italy, a company that has been constructing race bikes and providing specialised components and technical support for teams in MotoGP since 2003. The motorcycle has been designed and developed by the Italian two-wheeler specialist.
M&M has decided to go ahead with non-Indian riders for the race. Great Britain’s Danny Webb (20) and Germany’s Marcel Schrotter (18) will be the riders for Mahindra Racing, the team set up by the Mumbai-based group. This will be Webb’s fourth season with the 125cc category while it will be second for Schrotter.
The group, however, said it was scouting for Indian talents to ride for it in the following seasons after the upcoming one. Ten10 Racing, meanwhile, has gone ahead with the inclusion of one Indian rider in its line-up along with an Italian national.
Chennai’s Sarath Kumar (18) will make his debut in the 125cc class in the WTR-Ten10 Racing with his teammate Francesco Mauriello, the 125cc winner of Italian National 125cc Champion last year.
Mahindra is not be the only company to mark an entry into an international racing event like MotoGP. Liquor baron Vijay Mallya has been a part of the Formula One World Championship for the past few years through his racing team Force India. Tata Motors-owned luxury British brand Jaguar entered the 24 hours Le Mans race after a hiatus of 15 years with JaguarRSR team.
While India will hold its maiden Formula 1 race in October this year in New Delhi, the MotoGP races are to be held at 18 different venues globally.
