Exclusive: Honda Sets Eyes On Indian SX And Rally Events

• Honda India already has a road racing program in place.

• Will aim to nurture and grow national off-road talent.

• Seems likely to have factory involvement.

There's no debating that TVS Racing has been the team to beat when it comes to Indian motorsports, be it on road or off it. Boasting a racing pedigree of over 36 years, it is the champions’ circle. They have won the the past umpteen seasons of national supercross (SX) as well as rally/rally raids. However, that wasn't always the case as at one point in them, TVS Racing faced stiff competition from Yamaha. Yes, Yamaha used to be an active participant in SX but it fizzled out as the effort did not have factory backing.

There are rumours floating that another Japanese manufacturer is quite interested in entering the fray. Honda is said to be working on a proper off-road team to take on the might of TVS. The two are already going head to head in road racing and now they would be jostling about in the dirt as well. And more importantly, the Honda effort will be factory-backed, unlike Yamaha. This will be a big boost for Indian motorsports as this will help unearth talent and build the sport. Also, competition will also help grow the stature of the proceedings get better.

It will be interesting to see how Honda goes about bringing the off-road motorcycles to India for competition as currently they do not offer any MX bikes. Interestingly, Kawasaki and Suzuki have such race-prepped machines on sale but both Japanese manufacturers have shown no inclination of joining the sport.

Honda is also gearing up for the inaugural season of racing the NSF 250R, their Moto2-spec racer, in India. The aim is to find talent worthy enough to make it to MotoGP one day. These 84kg prototype racers make roughly 49PS from a 249.3cc single-cylinder motor. That's some insane power-to-weight ratio.

Source: zigwheels.com