The TVS Racing International Championship has gone to a European racetrack for the first time. The second-last round of the season unfolded at the Misano World Circuit in Italy, alongside the Coppa Italia racing weekend, which includes superbike races, a Yamaha R7 one-make and an Aprilia RS 457 one-make racing championship.
- 14 riders competed in the TVS championship during the weekend
- Three of the 14 TVS Racing riders were from India
TVS Racing International Championship: First European racing weekend
Italian rider Cristian Borelli takes P1; Sarthak Chavan was the best Indian rider
Racing is hardly new for TVS as the company has had a factory racing program since 1982, starting with the TVS 50 moped. Two of its biggest developments in recent times were the team’s entry into the Asia Road Racing Championship (ARRC) in 2020 and a partnership with Petronas in 2022, which resulted in the creation of TVS Racing One Make Championship in Asia; now known as the TVS Racing International Championship.
However, this is the first time the championship has gone to Europe. In this case, to the Misano World Circuit in Italy. The paddock and the circuit last weekend were shared with Coppa Italia (Italian Cup), with 14 riders of the TVS Racing programme participating in two races of seven laps each. Three of the fourteen riders were from India, with Sarthak Chavan being the best performer of the three, finishing P7 in the first race and P6 in the second. The other two Indian riders, Chiranth Vishwanath and Rakshith Srihari Dave, finished their races in P10 and P11 in the first, and P8 and P12 in the second, respectively. Chavan began both races last after a crash in qualifying. The best overall performer was Italian rider Cristian Borrelli, who finished P1 in both races; the gap between him and Chavan was just 1.973 seconds in the second race.
With the previous round three in Motegi, Japan, Malaysian rider Mohd Ramdan Rosli tops the ARRC standings with 101 points. India’s Sarthak Chavan follows him with 80 points. Luis Miguel (Spain) with 54 points, Oratilwe Phiri (Republic of South Africa) also with 54 points, and Chiranth Vishwanath (India) with 49 points follow the two in P3, P4 and P5 respectively. Chiranth won the first of two races conducted in Round 3 with a 0.014 second lead awarding him the win.
The concluded round in Italy was round four and the second last round of the championship, with the last round slated to happen in Buriram, Thailand alongside ARRC. While this was the first time the championship went to an European racetrack, it certainly won’t be the last time. TVS Racing is likely to take the championship out of Asia again next year for at least one round, although exact details are yet to be revealed.