R15 Championship 2008
I managed to take some time off from the nationals this year to take part in the R15 races that Yamaha had organized. This wasn't a serious event so i was able to take a breather and just have fun with it. There were 4 races that were organized between Sep 08 and Dec 14 and i took part in 3 of the races.
Sep. 7, 2008 - R15 Championship
This was the first race and there were no classes for this one. By a process of elimination, multiple heats of 24 riders each were organized and the top 5 or so of each heat were then allowed on to the next heat. At the end of the day the finals were organized with winners from the previous heats. I didnt really have competition and went on to win the final with a good lead.
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Video
Results
Oct. 19, 2008 - R15 Championship
For this second race yamaha decided to put up an 'experienced racers' category (Group B) so that we wouldnt have people running off and winning by half a lap ;-) The competition in the group B class was tougher and my closest competitor Vivek was also leader of the national championship 2 stroke novice category. My R15 had been fully stripped down for the national championship races so i couldn't get it for the race. My friend Easha however, who was recovering from an accident, was kind enough to let me use his bike for the R15 race. This time we didnt have to go through multiple heats as there were only a few racers in the Group B class. Once again i was able to register a comfortable win with a best lap time of 2min 15seconds, the fastest time for a stock Yamaha R15 around the Chennai circuit.
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Dec. 14, 2008 - R15 Championship
Due to unavoidable circumstances i had been unable to attend the 3rd R15 championship which was held in November. In the meanwhile though there were a couple of questionable developments which came up. At the beginning of the championship Yamaha has set some very clear rules, only R15 customers could take part and professional teams particularly those that had anything to do with Yamaha racing would not be allowed for obvious reasons. So it was indeed a surprise when Anya Racing, the only Yamaha supported racing team in India were suddenly allowed to take part.
The race as expected was the toughest for me and i had to fight against 3 national champion riders from Anya Racing. The Grand Finale race was close and i fought hard with the 2 top Anya riders in front, Vishwa and Sri. Early on I was able to build a good lead over the 3rd Anya rider Sudhakar, ironically he was also the same guy that took away my 1st place title by one point in this years Ucal Rolon National Championship. Though i was able to lead the race for a while the Anya bikes were just too fast and Vishwa and Sri easily went past me on the back straight. In the end despite making a couple of passes i had to settle for 3rd, but it was close, all 3 of us finishing within a bike-lengths distance of each other.
With a promise from Yamaha that next years championship would be better organized, that marked the end to the years racing for me.
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Results - Yet to be updated on the Yamaha site